Ernest watched the trees warily, every bone in her body screaming at her not to be here. But she'd had to come. The whispers, the rumours… they all pointed here. The legends of this place were equally fascinating as the tales of riches. A small part of her quietly wanted to see one of the wandering spirits. The thought fascinated her. 

The branches were dark over her head, and wispy lights glimmered in the distance as Ernest slid through the trees. Luckily for her, no one had noticed her arrive. She was beginning to think there would be nothing in this forest, though, when she saw the first hint of something extraordinary. A fallen tree trunk, ten times her height, sat in the middle of her path, seemingly daring her to try to climb over it. She knew better. She turned to walk beside it, not getting too near, yet.

As she continued her walk, she began to see what looked like faces in the trees. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned slightly away from her path to look at one of them. Yes, there was definitely a face, and it seemed like a pair of hands as well. The legends were true.

Taking her knife, she cut a piece of bark from the tree, as well as a short branch with a few leaves on it. She was loath to leave an area without collecting samples. She also pulled out her record orb. "I'm not sure if you can remember pictures, but if you can, remember this for me, okay?" she said. "I'll give you an official rundown when we camp tonight." She had been increasingly talking to the orb like a person lately.

Walking back to what she thought was the remains of the world tree, she cut a piece of bark from its surface and tucked that in her bag as well. "Can you remember this one for me, too?" she asked the orb. She continued her walk.

Just when she thought it was about time to make camp, she thought she saw something glittering near the base of the tree trunk. Intrigued, she kneeled to look at the odd little treasure.