"As real as you mate," one of the men said with a Australian accent, coming closer, intending to give him a slap on the back. But being unfamiliar with the gesture, Choden could only see him reach out to see if he was real. Suddenly there came a rustling sound from all around them at once. For a moment he thought it was the sound of dozens of rodents climbing up the trees, all at the same time. Then they saw the branches of the trees began to shake in ever wider undulations. The needles of the trees rained down on them as they all came loose all at once. Then they rapidly began to sprout leaves, and the branches convulsed as they took on the shape of deciduous trees. The convulsions didn't stop, however. On the contrary, the branches began to whip around them as they grew longer, gripping the legs of one of the men, who cried out a curse that sounded Russian. Another of the men kicked at the branches but then began to run. In the meantime the woman tried to pull him loose. It seemed clear they wouldn't get him loose with brute force, and if they stayed here for much longer they might all get ensnared.<br/>Not for a moment did Choden think the trees acted on a while of their own, or that they would do anything more to harm them once they were snared. It looked to him like the flailing of the branches was entirely random, and that seemed to give them time. He observed the movements of the branches to know how to avoid them. If he didn't rush it, he could walk past them without getting hit. But the group was splitting up. Choden had to think fast.<br/>"This way!" he said. "I have an idea."<br/>Choden didn't wait to see if the others followed him as he ran back to the mountain. Its lower flank was made up of countless of flat rocks as thin as slates. He picked up a few of them, but threw each of them away until one of them broke. He looked at its pieces for a moment, then picked up the largest rock he could find and threw it down the mountain. One of the pieces was as sharp as flint.<br/>He took it and ran back through the woods. By now most of the trees had stopped moving, their branches having coiled up around each other. This allowed him to quickly reach the place where he'd left the Russian.<br/><br/>(OOC: See OOC thread.)