The two quickly gathered everything they put down. Jyuzou finished his crafts, Morio proudly wore his new garment and then, they continued moving through the Uno Mountains, not speaking much, still hoping to hear something out of the hush.

They went down into a small gorge, which marked the river's ending point and continued from there, passing by trees that seemed to only get smaller from now on, and empty on the inside, with no fresh Herbes sap. Grass eventually grew shorter, before disappearing, turning into damp dirt. Later on, it was swapped with dry brownstone, before eventually disappearing altogether.

The gorge ended, and what now was left before their eyes were empty plains with nature desperately trying to carve its way around the harsh environment. Moss climbed up onto big dark boulders but gave up soon.

It was eerie, to say the least. They hadn't noticed the obvious signs of something being slightly off earlier. Now, though, they couldn't shake off that feeling. It was quiet, and that didn't concern them stepping on branches or the leaves carried by the wind. It was a dead silence.

Nothing would respond to their calls except for their voices. For a moment there, they even wished that demons appeared and spoke through to them, showing some signs of life.

But, no. Even the wild nature that painted the entire Uno Mountains disappeared with each minute that passed.

A headache grew in both their heads. It was a pulsing one, not that it hurt, but it only added to this strange uneasiness. The sun above was bleak, and then again, a mist started forming around.

What once were brown and green barks turned into big boulders, some stretching into the sky or erecting roads in between the big rocks. Morio and Jyuzou climbed up on a steep formation, looking out for anything different in the landscape far away, but nothing could be made out amongst the dense fog. Soon, even the traces of the light above were covered by thick silver clouds, and the two were left to aimlessly wander, possibly forward, but they weren't even sure where they were supposed to go.

The paths kept splitting into many bifurcations and had no real rule to them. At first, they headed up, but the roads only looped back to the same location where they started. The name of this place, the Horhor Basin, essentially meant 'the winding basin' in Old Manjuno, and as time went on, one could say such was accurate.

Passing by the same rocks, for a moment they thought of climbing up and walking over what only seemed to be a maze with no exit. The shining mist covered its sides, turning it into a moist surface.

The ground was made out of something even stranger. It didn't resemble the small stones, nor was it dirt or dead grass, but a weird mix of all those, with a subtle brown colour and cracks connecting from one formation to the other.

Plants? There were none, and there's not much to mention about the liveliness of this place.

Deep inside their hearts, they dreaded that they'd find nothing but disappointment and emptiness and that this strange feeling would carry on and grow bigger the further they went if they were to find a way through.

Morio's mind raced. At the same time, he was afraid, yet strangely curious about the things he hadn't yet experienced. Jyuzou became more worried with time, seldom panicking but quickly calming down, figuring that's not the way to go.

They had these moments where they stopped and talked about the landscape stretching before their eyes, and how it all changed in just a matter of a few kilometres. Otherwise, they didn't chat much, both trying to focus on the spiralling thoughts concerning their surroundings.

For one moment, they unknowingly split apart, following different paths. Jyuzou trod forward, squinting his eyes and trying to see something from the mist, only to be greeted by the dark silhouettes of the boulders left and right, with its higher tops extending above the fog. He gulped, turning around.

"Morio?" he asked, not seeing his friend. "Morio!" he yelled out, and then the Morian appeared from behind, breathing in and out.

"Shin, I lost you for a moment there!" Morio raised his voice, and Jyuzou sighed.

"We b-better stick together. I feel like this fog only grows bigger and thicker the longer we are in this damn place." Jyuzou looked up at the sky, greeted by, unfortunately, nothing new. "I can't even tell when nighttime arrives..." he shook his head, noticing that his voice echoed in the hollowness of the paths.

Morio put his hand on his neck, grinding his teeth, before blinking twice. He folded his hands and started walking forward, with Jyuzou following. They made it to a small dent in the ground, and Morio looked up, holding charcoal and a piece of paper.

"Ugh! It's the same place for the seventh time!" Morio's grasp tightened, as he almost chucked the map out of frustration. "Every route leads back right here!"

"Th-there has to be some way out of this place," Jyuzou muttered.

"I know. I'm not planning to rest until we see something new." Morio stated.

"Really? This could as well take as another day." Jyuzou put his hand on the side.

He turned, with a gasp. "Do you expect me to fall asleep in these inhumane environments?! I wouldn't even sit down on something like this! Bet it's dirty!"

Jyuzou chuckled a bit. "You slept on the boat just fine back then."

"Wood is comfortable!" Morio laughed too, easing on the atmosphere.

"We need to get our w-wits together if that's the case." Jyuzou nodded.

"Mhm. Looking for a place to sleep." he pointed forward.

Jyuzou put a book over his head, trying to think of something, but no idea appeared. He breathed out, slowly putting it back in his backpack, while Morio strutted away.

The white-haired Morian followed a notion of a few strange sounds as if something shuffled among the stone. He immediately turned his head, with a cold sweat rolling down his face.

"Man." Jyuzou came by. "There's nothing here-"

"Shh!" Morio shushed him, sticking his finger out. He slowly gazed up, before seeing something strange. A hollow figure's eyes blinked before it quickly climbed down a rock. Morio gulped.

"What the hell?" Jyuzou asked. "Was that a demon?"

Morio scratched his cheek, opening his eyes a bit wider.

"Morio?"

"No," Morio uttered. "I think I can feel a demon's presence. It was something else."

"What?" Jyuzou squinted his eyes, while Morio waddled around.

"I don't know. I just noticed that whenever I get this strange headache a demon is hurling towards me the next minute." Morio shook his head. "It warned me of the Tilted Hill-" he counted on his fingers. "-the Tukman Woods, then when the army of demons was coming. It works, sometimes." he grinned.

Jyuzou eyed him before he focused his gaze on the emblem falling out of Morio's vest. The Morian quickly put it back in, sighing.

"Back when..." Jyuzou spoke up. "N-No, never mind." he turned around.

Stepping back, he heard another strange sound.

"AH!" Jyuzou yelled out in fear, spotting a creature crawling on the ground towards him. He jumped back, putting his hand on his weapon and blindly struck, as the creature flew up with a pair of wings. "A demon!" he cried out, panicked.

Morio immediately stepped forth and put his hand on Gloria's sheath, grinding his teeth.

Jyuzou moved both hands, closing his eyes, as it observed from above, quickly climbing down. It started speeding up towards Morio, who subconsciously raised his weapon, as a flash of small lightning appeared around its blade, clearing some of the mist around.

The Morian struck at the ground, missing the creature, before it hopped onto his body, sticking its sharp claw-like hands into his sides and growling. Morio screamed out, and Jyuzou immediately threw his spear, which went through the creature's wing.

It screeched, falling to the ground and Morio tripped, dropping the weapon. Jyuzou immediately looked back and forth, stressed, before moving towards it and putting a knee down on its broken wing. It raised its voice before Jyuzou pointed his weapon right at its shadowy face, trembling. It quieted down, looking stressed.

Morio got up, waddling over.

"L-Leave us be, you demon!" Jyuzou stated. "We'll kill you!"

"Ahh, ahhh..." the creature breathed out, as its eyes rolled towards Jyuzou's face. "Demon? Not a demon!" it screamed, alerted.

"What?" Morio raised an eyebrow.

"Uuh, uuh." It put its hand around Jyuzou's spear. "No, I'm not a demon!" it shook its head, revealing its rather average-looking mouth, a cap covering its eyes and hands which were connected to wings. "Dorians, you're good Dorians! Please, I don't want to die. I don't want to die!" it screamed.

Morio squinted his eyes and clenched his fist.

"I don't want to die!" It yelled out again.

"JYUZOU!" Morio pushed him to the side and picked up his weapon, stepping over towards the creature.

"Morio?!" Jyuzou was confused.

"If you're not a demon, then what are you?!" Morio uttered.

"Clowinger," it muttered. "Clowinger! I'm a Clowinger, that's right, uuuh!"

"Morio, don't trust its words!" Jyuzou clenched his fist. "It tried to kill you!"

"No, no! This is a big misunderstanding!" it waved its hands around sitting up and simultaneously pleading. "I was protecting myself! I was protecting my people! I thought you were my enemies, I thought you were demons! You're friends, Dorians!"

"Dorians? Y-Your people?" Morio asked.

"Mhm!" it nodded. "You're Demonears! Amazing! Amazing! Oh, you'd be such a surprise and a blessing to our people, yes, our people, ghh!" it hugged Morio's leg. "Please."

Morio tried to step away, breathing heavily, feeling its warm touch. He glanced at Jyuzou, who shook his head.

"Spare me, spare me..." it mumbled. "Spare me, ghh!"

"Your people? So there's civilization here in Morta?"

"Morta?" it looked to the side, gulping. "Yes, Morta! Yes, there is!"

"How far is your homeland?" Morio asked.

"Morio?!" Jyuzou put his hand on his shoulder, shaking it.

"Ooh, far from here." it continued. "Y-Yes, though! Yes, yes!"

"Is there shelter there? Food, information? Is it safe?" Morio continued.

"Of course, of course!" it kept nodding. "Ghh! Clowingers don't mean any harm! I, Daress, will keep you safe!"

"Daress. So you know your way around this land?" Morio gulped, looking down.

"I know of everything in Morta!" it said. "Every single place, and the best possible and safest way home!" it begged. "I can take you there! I can prove I'm harmless, Dorians!"

Jyuzou was deeply unsure, standing in one place.

"Then, you decide for yourself." he breathed out, deeply unsure. "We'll spare your life, on condition, that you'll lead us out of these lands and to your home!" Morio announced, and Jyuzou felt his heart drop.

It opened its mouth, filled with a new hope. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" It bowed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Gah!" It stood up, and the wound on its wing seemingly disappeared, much to Jyuzou's surprise.

It started dancing around, flying up a bit and smiling.

"Morio!" Jyuzou whispered, grabbing his shoulder, and pulling him to the side. "What on Errarion are you doing?!"

"Do you see any other way out of this place?!" Morio whispered. "We have to trust it, w-whether we like it or not!"

"Why did you hesitate to kill it?" Jyuzou continued.

"It's not a demon," Morio explained, clenching his fist. "I told you!" his eye twitched.

"Then, what the hell is a Clowinger, huh?!" Jyuzou muttered.

"Shouldn't that be in that book of yours, Jyuzou?" Morio asked.

"Come on, Dorians! Quickly, quick! We can't waste much time!" it started pulling on Morio's hand and moving forward. Morio turned around. "Night will soon come, we need to make it out of here and someplace safe! Far from the harm! Uuh!" It waved, standing atop a rock. "Up here! You can climb, it's dry, uhh!"

Jyuzou held onto his backpack, as the two looked at each other, a bit unsure.

"Quick, quick! Out towards the Harm Lands!"

"Huh?" Jyuzou seemed concerned. "The Harm Lands?"

Daress avoided his question.

Morio started climbing, and Jyuzou kept eyeing its little happy dance. He sighed, before following suit, seeing as the two were quickly heading off, he sped up, almost tripping.

"I'll lead you, Dorians. I promise Daress will keep you safe!" he nodded, putting his hand near his heart, then turning, sniffing and looking around. "Come on, we tread without stopping!"

The boulders grew bigger, and some holes were filled with small stones splattered around the big edges of the Horhor Basin.

Jyuzou turned around, spotting a red flower growing out of the ground where he stood earlier. He squinted his eyes, but then spun on his heel, sighing.

It soon disappeared, with small pebbles left in its place.