Ghent didn't expect Elayra to be cordial toward him, but he was still taken aback by the hostility in her tone. Sneakers scraping against a few larger vines littering the ground, he kept up with her until she released him from her grasp. Instead of continuing to follow, he stopped and absentmindedly rubbed his forearm, reluctant to venture deeper.
	"I don't know," he mumbled underneath his breath, "would you?" Due to Elayra's stubbornness, he had a feeling it would take more than Drust to keep her from walking. She was wounded in multiple places and was able to hold her own relatively well, as Ghent witnessed several times over the course of the morning and evening prior to it.
	"What the heck are you talking about?" Ghent didn't bother to hide his confusion when she spoke about him calling attention to a weakness. He inadvertently flinched upon receiving the glare, baffled as to why she was so furious with him. His intention was to help, not to give her more of a reason to dislike him. 
	"You know what? Forget it." Waving off the conversation, Ghent gave up on trying to figure out what he did wrong and began to walk again in fear of being chewed out by Drust. "Look, I get that you're mad at me, but I..."
	A single step into Hollow Forest repainted the world around them. The colors were so fantastic, Ghent's mind had difficulty accepting the foliage as real. The beauty of the area was unlike anything he'd ever seen.
	"...Was trying to help." The words were amplified because of the silence. So much, that Ghent cringed, expecting Elayra to scold him for speaking too loudly. 
	Mumbling an apology, he hugged himself through his cold, damp hoodie and walked deeper into the forest, dust motes floating to and fro with each step he took. The newest look into Wonderland should have filled him with awe, but he could only feel dread.
	[i]And I thought Walmart was depressing.[/i] Ghent moved forth slowly, turning his head in every direction to get a full visual of their surroundings. He couldn't help but feel hopeless about their journey; the cruel thoughts seeping into his mind saw to that.
	Disturbed by the influence the forest had over his emotions, Ghent stopped somewhere between Drust and Elayra. Brows furrowed, he faced them, daring to hope that he wasn't alone in what he was experiencing. "What is this place?"