Isekai'd into a Nightmare! (Job Topic)

Yona Hisamori was determined to get the to bottom of this once and for all. The story of mages, usually of the lower levels of strength, receiving mail from unknown sources had even made its way to the Rune Knights. Coupled with the strange vanishing of these mages and even some of the investigative Knights, Yona perceived the mail to be the starting point of this madness. Most disagreed and would choose to investigate the forest itself, but Yona believed if she could somehow get her hands on one of those unusual packages, then maybe she could finally figure out the source of the packages themselves. She had no way of knowing if they were real or illusions, if the people sending them were good or evil, and considering the number of people led to the Spooky Forest, the plant made had to consider the possibility of all of this being some long term sacrificial goal for whatever being or beings was responsible.

The VP had put her roots out months ago with the general post, hoping to direct one of the packages her way. She had had no luck and with other guild activities and jobs on the line the woman had needed to place her investigation on the back burner, hoping that the others involved would figure it out without her. It came as a strange surprise then when a young man had burst in through the guild headquarters large doors shouting her name. The secretary Alisha hadn't even needed to call Yona personally because she had only been in the nearby Mess Hall after all, enjoying a late breakfast. Unnerved by the frantic sound of her name being called, Yona dashed out with a quarter of a buttered bagel still in one hand. When she approached, through Alisha's calming voice, it seemed that the youth was a runner from the post. Alisha handed him a glass of water and he downed it in three large gulps.

Yona tried to wait patiently but her fingers curled in the tense atmosphere, sending rivulets of butter to dribble upon the floor. It wasn't long after that she had learned that while they had been unable to intercept one of those mysterious packages, someone remembered her inquiry after learning of the recent delivery of the items. Stranger still, it had been to someone in a hotel, which meant that the person who received the package wasn't a local. The news wasn't as good as getting her hands on a package herself, but it was a great lead. If Yona could just get to the Spooky Forest in time, she might be able to intercept the person and the package before something terrible befell them. Yona had of course thanked the poor runner and left him with Alisha, racing outside in her pre-guild get up. Jeans, comfortable flats, and a simple white blouse hugging Yona's alluring frame weren't even close to the usual VP attire she wore on jobs but she hadn't the time to go and change. Her heart pounded and she fretted that she might be too late.

Once outside, Yona quickly scarfed down the bagel. She chewed it with large awkward bites, her lips slightly parted as she looked side to side before dashing down the outside stairs. She gave a hearty cough, making sure the bagel was down and out of the way before licking up the butter from her fingers. She looked more like a too-old teen girl than an esteemed VP of the Company. She made her way around the side of the market and into the forest. "Where are you going so fast and early this morning?" Came a voice inside of her head. It was her demon Ketsueki. She wiped her hand on her pants and shook her head, "I got a lead. I'm going to the Spooky Forest." "Without any other preparation, I see. This should be good. You're not even dressed~" The demon accused as Yona flew between the trees, her feet carrying her to the largest tree she could think of. "This one will be good enough, the best one for the farthest travel." She blinked at the dense cracked wood of the old behemoth tree.

She placed both of her hands on it and took a deep breath. "Should? You can't really be thinking of hopping continents through the plants? There aren't even any roots in-between! Just ocean!" Ketsueki sounded concerned, but Yona knew it was for his own well being. She smirked, "Don't be so scared, demon. You were trapped in a tree for a couple centuries. Lend me some help if you're really worried. Here we go." The woman closed her eyes and felt the demon's dark power rising in her, indeed lending her great strength. It would appear that he really was distressed by her plan. It wasn't the smartest plan, but it was the fastest, and Yona wasn't going to let this lead slip by her again. Taking risks was part of life anyway, right?

It was likely a combination of her great power, and Ketsueki's, and a significant amount of luck that allowed her spell to work. She stepped into the great tree before her, feeling a tight suffocating tension, and then stepped out in a smoky olive green haze from a medium sized skeletal tree in the Spooky Forest. She wrinkled her nose and said, "See, not that bad." To her surprise her luck had panned out even greater than her wild imagination had dared hope. There stood a young male before her and she guessed that it was he who had gotten the package. Why else would he or anyone be out here? "Sorry," She said, swallowing and lying a little, "I talk to myself sometimes. I've got to ask, did you receive an unusual package recently?" Yona's beautiful face was earnest, her shoulder length green hair fluttering around her as the dark green haze of her spell faded into the natural fog of the region.

WC: 1003

The VP blinked at the young man and used a hand to stifle a hearty mellifluous laugh. She hadn't meant to surprise him, but it was incredible serendipity to appear directly before the one she had sought out. Only life could be so equally misfortunate and lucky at the same time; after all, the package if he had gotten one would lead next to his likely disappearance. She couldn't help but laugh harder at the insinuation that she had waited in this particular tree for years perhaps in order to purposely scare people who wandered through the Spooky Forest. She inhaled and waved a hand dismissively, "Sorry you can't really believe I would survive very long by hiding inside of a tree do you?" She smiled at him and gestured at her chest where normally her white coat would reveal a formal mage with an emblem of her guild. "My name is Yona Hisamori, Vice President of the West Fiore Trading Company. Consider yourself very lucky that I found you so soon," She added with a serious look. His anger didn't seem to bother her because she probably would have reacted like that if she were in his shoes.

"We can start with names but I'll need to know about if you got that package I mentioned before." He didn't seem to carry the package outwardly, just a long bag with the hilt of a weapon inside. Maybe he kept it inside the bag  or was using magic to keep it small enough to fit into a pocket. Yona looked around at the eerie forest and frowned, "I've always wanted to know what kind of person would just walk out here by themselves. It's like every tree is a broken sign, fingers pointing back the way you came, warning you not to go on." She slid her green eyes over at him curiously waiting his reply. Yona supposed she could be underestimating him, a powerful enough mage might be out investigating the package same as her.

She relaxed and shivered in the wind, her white blouse rippling and gooseflesh speckling her arms. Yona could hear the sounds of distant screams on the wind as it blew around the two of them. As it moved through the trees she picked up on gentle moans, slow and shambling, the sound like an exhausted old man lumbering in the dark to his bed. This place was creepy and the demon within her seemed to perk up excitedly, "Such life here, girl, oh the things they say.. the things they want to do~.." Yona tried to ignore Ketsueki, whether he was trying to scare her and get her to lower her guard or if there was genuine living dangers around her she didn't know, but the first step was to get the male before her talking. She bent over and touched her lithe fingers to the moss at the foot of the great tree. It glowed lightly in a bright beautiful green, same as the color of her hair, as it transformed into a large sheet of soft emerald moss. Moments later the VP wrapped the moss around her, fastening the moss with a too-convenient twig as a clasp so that when she stood back up she wore a shielding shawl for warmth.

WC: 550+1003= 1553

@Sojiro Sakura

The part about him staying in a hotel now made sense if he was seeking out relatives, but Sojiro had to be desperate or crazy to think any family would be living all the way out here in the Spooky Forest. He was twitchy, nervous, and she softened a bit while looking at him. The Forest was already getting to him. Not that it wasn't getting to her, but Yona expected the Spooky Forest to have tricks and dangers do it and with a demon constantly abiding in her head it was harder for those sounds to affect her in the same way.

Yona tugged her mossy shawl tighter over her, trying to use it to warm up. As Sojiro introduced himself, he did so in a formal way and she thought he must be one of those types of people who preferred it. She took the package from him and tilted it over in her hands. The initials 'SM' stood out to her but she couldn't think of anyone who they stood for. Thankfully upon opening the package with care and discovering a diary owned by a Samuel Martin, she didn't need to wonder for long. She listened to the lacrima and shuddered at the sounds. "Sounds like someone or something ambushed the Rune Knights. Do you know a Samuel Martin or were you familiar with any of the Knights? The Lt. Lars maybe?" Sojiro had thought someone who knew him had sent him this package, but unless it was a wild trick or he knew the Knights, it was unlikely. After listening to whatever his reply would be, the VP would continue, her tone deadly serious.

"I've been investigating these packages. All of the mages who receive them have so far had nothing in common except for the fact of being mages and except for the fact that they vanish shortly after. I've never gotten this close to a package or a mage with one." She sighed a bit turning the diary over in her hand, "You have no idea how grateful I am to have found you alive, but you really shouldn't be out here alone, Mr. Sakura." Her eyes caught the dark stain on the books binding and on the corner pages as well. "Real blood," the demon confirmed in her head, "Too old for my taste though." The plant mage was grateful that Ketsueki wasn't going to demand she try suckling the dusty old pages for the blood left behind.

Her green hair floated up around her neck in a strong gust and it finally caught her attention that with such constant breezes it was strange for the fog to be so dense. Another series of screams rose up on the wind, sounding closer and she tensed. In-between the cries, Yona thought she could hear a crazed echoing laughter. She blinked twice and narrowed her eyes on Sojiro, "Allow me to take you back to town. No mage should be alone out here." She packed up the small box and held it underneath her right arm. She ignored the hypocrisy in her statement and waited for Sojiro's response. That was when the rocks varying from the size of jewels to the size of baseballs started shooting out at the pair from all around them in the trees.

WC: 1553+552 = 2105

@Sojiro Sakura