With pocketed hands, Lyric cast an absent stare onward.

"Something about all this still doesn't feel totally real."

It wasn't as though he was in any place to deny that claim. After all, he was the one being dragged along in all of this... But it still didn't ease any nerves when his partner wasn't in good spirits. Similarly to his bouts of amnesia, he couldn't understand why the girl was able to sway him the way she did.

Whether it was because his people-skills were dulled beyond repair, or she was hiding some sort of will-bending technique, it ate away at him, regardless. He was never one to be too considerate, so why was it the case with her?

"With how you're shouldering all this, I would've thrown in the towel ages ago. Just lemme' know if I can give you a hand with anything, 'kay?"

She shied away from speaking for a moment, but soon found words again.

"C'mon, Blue... You don't have to go to the lengths."

"Tch, like hell I don't. What help would I be as a partner if I just let these things get to you?"

The Seraph relented a sigh, continuing.

"I don't really know what it is. You just... You just keep giving, without asking for anything. I feel like I've just been pulling you along as though you'll never say no-"

"You really do think too hard."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that you shouldn't pay it so much mind; leaving you to handle everything would leave a bad taste in my mouth..." He blanked for a moment. "...Plus, this whole thing's shaping up to be a pretty big deal. I'd hate to miss out on the fun."

"Well, now that I've up and heard it, I guess it can't be helped." Following that, a brief bout of silence met its end when she perked up at the sight of something ahead of them. "Right there! Dip left onto that little path between the trees."

A dull retort quickly worked its way out of him.

"There's a lot more than one of those."

Her eyes rolled hard enough to give him whiplash, a sassy turn in front of them preluding her standing before the presumed trail.

"I was gonna say to use your head, but now I'm convinced it's hollow in there. Come on, we're nearly through."

Having determined that his breath was best spent elsewhere, Kyoya followed without further word.

Claustrophobia ensued much sooner than he'd been readily prepared for, but walking only a few feet behind Lyric kept him from getting too absorbed in his own head. The trail was constricting, growing narrower with every passing stride, and forcing the ambient light to dim even further. While the dark wasn't something he gave the privilege of being a fear, their tightening path easily kept him right in line with his partner.

Every so often, Lyric found herself having to reach out and push low-lying branches and leaves just to get through, some of which being whipped back toward him once she'd passed. While the lot of them missed, he couldn't help but wonder if a couple were aimed between his eyes.

The thought had kept him so occupied that he didn't even notice Lyric had stopped until bumping into her back.

"My bad-"

"Don't move."

Her eyes were widened, an intense glare stationed forward toward something he couldn't see.

Instantly, Kyoya's body locked in place.

A fierce tension had overthrown the grove's tranquility, leaving them both in varying states of anticipation. Lyric swiftly fell to a crouch, reaching a hand forward, straight out into the middle of the path.

She slowly, carefully maneuvered in a pattern that suggested some form of obstacle, until her arm nicked something. "Ow!"

Lyric yelped and reeled back, a fine cut drawn upon the pad of her right index finger.

However, the girl pricking herself revealed plenty.

Just as she'd come into contact with whatever had cut her, sounds reminiscent of a guitar being strummed rang out into the forest.

Kyoya stared ahead at thousands of hair-thin cords, meticulously strung about the pathway. Each one dimly glistened in what little light pierced the canopy, with the one Lyric touched now laced with a fine, red coating.

"Tripwires...?"

Still clutching her finger, Lyric nodded in reply.

"No kidding... As far as I know, I was the only one that used this shortcut, but why would somebody..."

As the Seraph's voice sauntered off, so too did the grove's ambient chorus. Predatory silence lingered as if a putrid after-taste: a tell-tale indicator of an encroaching threat.

Neither of them dared to so much as twitch, both for fear of the wires and alerting whatever stalked them beyond the trail's edge.

A darting blur to his left challenged that notion, ultimately forcing his hand; he wouldn't be a sitting duck for any longer. The Miscreant inched down to his partner's crouch, leaning low to her ear.

"I'm gonna give you a count."

"Listening."

"On three, we leg it."

"Loud n' clear."

Silence remained for an eternity, enduring until Kyoya shouted the command.

"THREE!"

Kyoya pulled Lyric to his side and heaved a fireball dead ahead, searing away the wires that occupied any of the space they'd need to run straight forward. She spared no time in seeing his intention, breaking away and taking to the front once more to use her glaive on whatever else threatened their advancement.

Frantic glances to his sides revealed it to be moving, matching them in stride even through completely wooded terrain. It was clear enough now that they weren't up against animals that happened upon them after they'd found the tripwires.

Someone had known of this hidden path, and even gone so far as to concoct a deathtrap for the next time it would be taken. Should another soul have stumbled upon this trail before the pair, Kyoya was certain that these woods would have ended up witnesses to a grizzly tale.

In hindsight, he thought, that was still on the table.