Hyunjin's heart beat wildly in his chest, his eyes wide with fear and his hands shaking where they clutched the strange copper bowl to his front. The sounds of pursuit were still coming from behind him, but he was too exhausted to run anymore - he had to hope that his hiding place would suffice to keep him safe. As they drew closer he took a deep breath and slipped beneath the freezing water, letting himself sink to the bottom of the rocky stream. Pounding footsteps crashed through the water and one sharp hoof-like foot came down right next to his head, the sharp edges clipping pieces of his long black hair as easily as if they were scissors. The fact that the monsters didn't see him or step on him was a miracle in and of itself, though by the time they were out of the water and off into the woods on the other side by the time he ran out of air was a miracle too.

Overall, he was overwhelmed and exhausted, far out of his comfort zone and in the world of nightmares come to life. This wasn't the time to dwell on that, though - he knew deep in his bones that if he didn't get himself into a better hiding spot, he wasn't going to survive much longer. As it was he was lucky he had found the stream. These... things... were much faster than humans and it had only been the fact that he had a lead on them at first sight that had allowed him to evade them. He had quite literally tripped his way into the stream, holding to the copper bowl with a white knuckled grip, and only after panicking did he realize that he could hide under the water. It was dark enough out that he could barely see maybe five feet ahead of him, and as such he carefully made his way back to the bank, opposite the way the monsters went, and dragged himself back into the dry weeds there. His body was shaking with fear and his muscles screaming from exhaustion, but he knew he had to move. If he stayed in this water he would freeze, and if he didn't find a better hiding place, he would die.

He could make out a pale strip cutting through the dried weeds, and he could guess that was some sort of trail into the woods on this side of the stream. He hadn't been running down any trail before, evidenced by the multiple bruises and cuts he had gained on his flight through rocky terrain and stinging tree branches. Maybe that meant this trail wouldn't lead to monsters? It seemed too small for them, anyway - from what he could make out from the earlier pursuit, the beings chasing him had to be at least seven feet tall. This trail was just big enough for him to follow by placing one foot directly in front of the other, and covered by dry grass often enough that he had to keep bending over to move the grass aside and make sure the trail was still there.

"Are you trying to be bait or what?!"

He hadn't realized how little attention he was paying to his surroundings until the sharp whisper made him jump. He spun in a panic, unable to really see his surroundings or make out if there were anyone there, when the voice came again.

"Stop panicking, you're going to call them down on us!"

It was a young male voice, but he realized now that it was coming from above. He also realized that the speaker was probably right - Hyunjin was making a good amount of noise in his search for the voice. He stilled his movements but that didn't stop his inward panic. "I... I'm trying to find a hiding spot," he confessed in a quiet voice.

There was a long moment of silence before the speaker gave a heavy sigh. "You're new. I should have known. Dammit," and muffled cursing came from what Hyunjin was now sure was above him, "Okay look, you're going to have to climb. I don't care if you don't know how. These es can't climb and that's your only chance, okay? Get up into a tree and wait for the sun to rise."

Well. He carefully made his way over to the nearest tree, using the hand that was not clutching the copper bowl to see if he could navigate this particular one. "There aren't any branches," he whispered back to the unseen speaker, uncertainty lacing his words. "I don't know how to climb without branches."

"Oh for..." more muffled curses, and then a soft scraping noise came from the tree to his left. Someone thumped down onto the ground next to him, someone shorter than Hyunjin though he couldn't make out any features, and then their hands were on his shoulders. "Here, you're going to..."

The sound of several somethings coming through the forest caught both of their attention then, and Hyunjin's heart began to beat wildly with panic. The monsters were