Nevin had been finishing up the last few bites of his sandwich when he noticed something... Strange, a short distance away. It almost looked like a bush that was staring back at him? Fascinated by what promised to be yet another rare plant, the Alchemist stood up and picked up his satchel again and began cautiously approaching it. The redhead could not believe his luck - this forest was a veritable treasure trove of plants he had never seen before, or had only heard of! So he approached, wondering what a plant with what looked like eye spots might be useful for.

And then the thing roared. And everything for that moment went terribly, terribly awry, and Nevin's good mood vanished like ice in the summer sun. The alchemist should have trusted his eyes when he thought he saw something moving in the brush repeatedly. Animals would not have stayed so close to an intruding presence, so Nevin really, really should have been more suspicious. But his excitement and obsession with finding new and rare plants had blinded him to the danger that was quite literally stalking his footsteps, and now as the twisted creature of vines and bones shriek/roared in his face, Nevin knew he had only one option.

So he took off, sprinting away from the creature as fast as he could. Discarded were the thoughts of wandering in the sun-dappled forest, examining the various plants that he found along the way. No longer did he plan on trying to set up a small camp and stay over night in these woods. No more collecting samples as he traveled.

Nevin needed to get away. And he needed to get away now, whatever the thing that had - a quick check over his shoulder filled Nevin with dread as he realized the thing was pursuing him, far faster than a plant thing should be able to - begun chasing him was not something he had any hope of handling. This forest was supposed to be relatively peaceful, so he had only bothered bringing his dagger with him today!

His terror and panic reached Aphrael, who trilled out in alarm high over head. Nevin could feel her dead, and pushed away, driving thoughts of escape and flight into her head. Whatever this creature was, maybe it was just territorial, and getting far enough away would me it stop chasing him - but he did not want his familiar to be injured trying to protect him. Nevin doubted her claws could so more than annoy this thing anyway. She tried to fight, but she was still too young to resist the urge to flee that Nevin was pouring into her mind, so she stayed high up in the air, safely out of danger's way.

Through the woods he ran, always feeling like the creature was right behind him. Whenever he looked back the thing looked like it was just as close as it had been minutes ago, and not for the first time Nevin wished he was more of a traditional mage. Being able to cast a spell of some kind would be immensely useful here, even as just a distraction, but that was not possible. All he had were blood whips, and he thought that would have about the same effect as Aphrael's claws. That is to say, absolutely none against the monstrosity of vine, flesh, and bone that was pursuing him. Trying to duck through the trees to throw the thing off his trail didn't work either - it seemed to always know where he was, and the one time he had tried to hide behind a tree, vines and tendrils had begun curling around the wood, nearly grabbing him by the neck before he gave up and took off running again.

Just as he was about to give up and let this thing capture him, and likely eat him, Nevin was given hope. Through the trees he could see the glint of sunlight on water, and he sprinted for it. Plants couldn't swim, right? As he broke through the tree line he saw an even better option. A stonework building, moss-covered and without windows, stood on one side of what the alchemist could now see was a lake. With a surge of fresh energy Nevin ran for it - realizing too late there was a stone wall in the way. He tried to jump it, but one foot caught on the edge of the wall and he tumbled head over heels, smashing his face against the ground.

He didn't give himself time to recover though, he could hear the vine-beast closing in on him. With a grunt he threw himself to his feet and sprinted, running through the door and throwing it closed behind him. Nevin slammed his back against it, hoping the wood would hold.