We waited in the clearing for what seemed like hours, and in that time, I showed Alan a small body of water in the place, and he decided to draw me next to it. I have no idea why he brought art tools to a place like this, but... maybe he just didn't have a choice, or something. [color=lightcoral]"So... they should be here by now, right?"[/color] I asked Alan, who as usual, shrugged. What was unusual, however, was the fact that he actually spoke, as well, this time [color=lightgreen]"Dunno. Maybe they found some sort of mission to do in the forest, and we're just getting left out of everything,"[/color] I was surprised by him speaking, but then just assumed that it meant he was more comfortable around me than he was, earlier. Once the picture was done, I headed off towards a particularly large tree, of course, knowing this place, it could have just as easily been a moderately large tree, or even a somewhat small one. [color=lightcoral]"Well, this place doesn't have much going for it. This tree's pretty neat, though,"[/color] I explained to Alan as he approached the tree. He sat under it for a while before finally saying [color=lightgreen]"Yeah, I wonder where the others are. I mean, at least over here, we won't have to listen to that guy talk our ears off,"[/color] I gave my best try at a shrug, and decided it would be best to just wait back at the edge of the clearing, just in case someone decided to actually try to find us. Of course, I could tell that Alan preferred to be alone, but, let's face it, we'd just be the blind leading the blind here, nobody would get anywhere, and we'd get there slowly.

	We continued waiting for the others, and then it finally hit Alan [color=lightgreen]"They're not going to head in this direction. We have to go check on them, at least,"[/color] I tried to protest, but he picked me up, and headed in, anyways. [color=lightcoral]"Alan... why can't we just wait longer? I'm sure they'll get here, soon enough..."[/color] I tried to tell him, but he answered with [color=lightgreen]"I'm not sure they will. Besides, what if they're in a fight with that thing?"[/color] I would have said something about how I probably won't be much help in a fight right now, given just how weak I feel, but it seemed like they were all in the same boat as I was. The other creatures, the 'non-meatures' as I knew them, or, us? Either way, they all seemed to be at about the same strength level, that is, none, so the only way to beat something like him would be through numbers... which wouldn't work when one group has wandered off. I then just secretly hoped that they'd be able to at least stall until we can get there to... sort of... help...? Alan held onto me during the entire time where we retraced our steps to get back to the original clearing, and... thankfully, no fight was happening. He nudged me a few times once we got there, as if trying to ask me something without having to say anything, and I gave him a confused look. He then whispered [color=lightgreen]"Well? Apologize. You were the one who convinced me to leave this place... apologize to everyone,"[/color] that's when I figured out what the nudging was about, and I finally said [color=lightcoral]"I'm sorry, everyone. I thought we were leaving, but we weren't. I'm sorry for trying to split up the group,"[/color] I hoped that was enough, though, it didn't seem like we were that close to begin with, so... maybe it'll be forgotten about just as quickly.