14

                                    

                                          
     Stan shakily grabs his hand as Gregory helps him up to his feet.
     "You said La Resistance?" Stan whispers out, still shaken and weary.
     "Yes," Gregory states, calm and stern at the same time.
     Stan glances him up and down, just now taking in his appearance. Gregory wears an orange collared shirt with a leather vest overtop. He has leather work gloves on both hands and almost black trousers. A vine is wrapped around his head, almost like a crown.
     Stan then looks up to his face, seeing curly blond hair with a single strand bouncing across his forehead.
     Suddenly, he pats the satchel Stan just notices connected to his belt, "You seem quite lost, were you looking for us?"
     Stan purses his lips together, nodding his head.
     "Well, my good man, you should have said so sooner!"
     And with that, Gregory tugs on Stan's arm and suddenly drags him along the forest, making slight turns and ducks at just the right moments, which Stan could barely keep up with.
     Gregory has completely memorized the territory. He has most definitely lived here for years.
     With a final turn, Stan is propelled outwards and falls, using his hands to catch himself. Gregory gives a small chuckle, "What use will you be... not too sure," He clicks his tongue "Eh, we will find you a place!"
     Suddenly, Gregory walks over to the mountainside, picking up a little stone and examining it.
     "Meh," He drops it, letting it fly to a special nowhere, "Come now, follow."
     Gregory holds another hand out and Stan reluctantly takes it, still scarred from the last experience.
     He glances back at Stan before zooming off, still taking odd turns and twists. Finally, after Stan feels the bile rise in the back of his throat, Gregory comes to a halt in front of a vine screen. Stan immediately keels over and retches, Gregory making a concerned yet disturbed face.
     As he wipes the residue from his mouth, coughing and spitting, Stan looks over at the green entrance, "Is this the-"
     "La Resistance, yes," He interrupts Stan, rocking his body over and now appearing at Stan's other side, making him flinch.
     "Ah, we must introduce you! This will surely be fun!"
     Stan watches as Gregory enters the screen, looking like he suddenly vanishes behind it. He follows shortly behind, squinting his eyes in suspense for what is behind the vines.
     Once he passes through, Stan opens them. He expects some grand, extravagant area, but instead, he is met with a small cave with a hole in the ground.
     Gregory sees the confusion on his face, "Now now, we are not there yet, good sir."
     He moves over to the middle of the cave and gingerly jumps up, before, to Stan's horror, jumping straight into the hole with a grin on his face.
     "Gregory?!" Stan runs up to the side, squinting down into the dark abyss, "Are you alive?"
     "Yes! Come now, jump down!"
     Stan takes a gulp before blinking a few times, trying to gain some courage.
     "What is the matter?" Gregory calls from below.
     One deep inhale later, Stan steps back in anticipation and quickly lunges forward, jumping straight into the dark abyss.
     "Ah!"