Sewing Hallucinations

Far off the main road, about half an hour's walk from the coast, Morn crouched in a bush at the edge of a small clearing. Situated in the middle of the glade stood a two story log cabin. This was the Florist's headquarters. Due to the Florist being a Leviathan, Morn didn't dare attempt to assassinate the man directly, instead- he planned to follow his rules, let his enemies do the work for him…

After waiting for nightfall, Morn had followed the waiter's directions, passing along the main road until he eventually found the tall white tree. When he discovered the path to the Florist's cabin, he went off-road, creeping through the forest under the cover of shadows. At the moment, he was still dressed as himself, though he wore the black mask just in case.

Currently, an hour of patient waiting had paid off, as Morn watched a small group of eight pirates depart the cabin- the Florist was not among them. Following from afar, and as quietly as he could, Morn stalked the pirates. The group returned to the main road until they had nearly reached the coast, taking a right at a fork in the road. They continued down the right-path for half an hour before arriving at a small wooden shack.

The pirate in the lead, a small man in his mid forties with slicked back, greasy black hair, produced a key from his pocket, unlocking the shack. Inside, rather than the expected interior, was a spiral staircase. The crew carefully descended the staircase, locking the door behind them.

In the nearby treeline, Morn sat still, scheming patiently. He assumed the location was an entrance to a sea-level cave that the pirates used as a hidden port, but he wasn't certain. His guess was only founded on the fact that it was close to their hideout, on the coastal cliffside, and that the pirates had to be storing their ship somewhere.

Eventually, two pirates reemerged from the shack. The greasy haired pirate from before, as well as a muscular pirate with waist-length red hair. The tall pirate carried a sealed crate and followed behind the greasy haired pirate who was carrying a lantern. Morn waited for the pair to return to the road before tailing them through the forest. When they'd returned to the fork, Morn began to put the first step of his plan into action.

Though he had yet to recover from overuse of his Vaihniir, he couldn't pass up this opportunity. Creeping as close as he could to the road while still remaining hidden in the Forest, Morn let out his Vaihniir- an aching sensation filled his body as he had yet to fully heal, but he gritted his teeth and continued. The black fog seeped from his pores, slowly spreading towards the road under his direction. The black fog quickly enveloped the two men, disappearing from their vision as quickly as it appeared.

Under the effects of his Vaihniir, Morn controlled their hallucinations to hide the fog from their vision. None the wiser, the pirates continued their walk forward. No longer worried about being seen, Morn strolled onto the road, casually following the pirates. When they reached a particularly dark part of the road, where the trees formed a canopy that obscured the moonlight, Morn began his show.

***

Gary slicked back his greasy hair with his free hand, then raised a lantern higher with his other hand, spreading its light far and wide. As a pirate of twenty years, first mate to the Florist, he was afraid of very few things- unfortunately, the dark was one of those few things. Ever since he was a child, he had been afraid of dark places, tonight was no exception. The darkness seemed to crowd around him, the ambient noise of the forest seemed to quiet. Despite his companion walking behind him, he felt afraid.

The crunching of gravel under foot echoed into the night, interrupted by the occasional snapping of twigs or shaking of leaves in the undergrowth at the edge of the road. His eyes flicked back and forth, observing the dark treeline. Like all the other times, he saw noth-

Gary's eyelids flung wide open, his gaze shot to the side of the road as a flash of movement caught his attention. Gary paused, pulling his specially upgraded gas-revolver from his pocket. His companion nearly bumped into him from behind, surprised by his sudden stop.

"Hey! Watch it- woah woah, Gary, what's going on?" The muscular pirate stared at Gary who had just drawn his revolver, aiming it into the bushes.

"I saw something! There's something in the forest…" Gary replied, his voice shaking slightly.

The muscular pirate set down the crate he was holding and looked into the treeline, doubtful; however, he too quickly grew nervous as he saw the bushes begin to shake, then a flash of red moved in the bushes, something was really there!

"I see it too, but it must just be a deer, right?" Despite his words, the pirate stood close to Gary's side and drew his sabre.

The two remained in a standstill, staring anxiously into the bushes. Gradually, the shaking of the undergrowth grew more and more intense, until something emerged. A pair of large, clawed hands stuck out from the bush. The hands pried apart the bushes, making way for an eerie visage. A large head with a mouth spanning the entire face emerged from the bushes, a large eye stared at the two pirates, situated in the back of the wide-open mouth's throat.

A low, gurgling laughter filled the pirate's ears, causing them to lose the will to fight. Only thoughts of fleeing remained.

"Holy shit, a- a monster!" No longer of any mind to fight, Gary began to sprint down the road as fast as his legs allowed. The light from his lantern followed, leaving his companion in the darkness.

Terrified, his companion followed quickly behind, "H-hey w-w-wait for me!"

Afraid of losing the light of the lantern, the muscular pirate ran helter skelter down the road, desperate to catch up to the light of Gary's lantern. Suddenly, the darkness of the night felt suffocating, as if it were the monster itself, its clawed hands bearing down on the pirate from all directions.

The two ran through the night, eventually arriving at the Florist's cabin, seeking safety in the supernatural powers of their boss. Tears streaming down their faces and covered in cuts from running haphazardly through the overgrown path to the cabin, the two faced their boss, yelling incoherently about a monster…

Back at the road, Morn smiled widely. The monster, of course, was a hallucination caused by his Vaihniir, a rather ridiculous one at that. After ensuring that the hallucination seeds had been planted successfully, Morn began to walk down the road,

"Ow, ow, ow! Damnit…" Morn's body ached as the pain from using Vaihniir before recovering quickly caught up to him.

Groaning, Morn limped down the path back to the village, ready for a solid night's rest.

***

The next day, Morn stayed at the inn, only leaving his room for lunch and dinner. He needed to rest and recover for the rest of his plan. Although he was resting, he didn't waste any time, as he used his connection to the hallucination seeds he had planted in the two pirates to see through their vision. Using this, he observed the interior of the cabin, making notes for the rest of his plan.

The interior was separated into several parts: The front door led directly into a main dining area with a large table and over a dozen chairs. Past the dining area, separated by a half-wall, there was a kitchen. The last rooms on the first floor were a sleeping quarters with eight bunk beds, an outhouse that had been attached to the building through a crudely constructed hallway, and a hidden cellar that could only be accessed by sliding away a rug to reveal a metal trap door.

The cellar was made entirely of stone and had pipes installed that lead to the outdoors to provide air to the room, though it didn't prevent a stale smell from building up in the small and damp room. The hidden cellar was being used to house the people they had stolen until they could be sold off as slaves. The hidden cellar had four large cages, two on each side of the room with each one holding up to ten people, all chained to the walls. The room was completely isolated from the log cabin above it, something that was beneficial to Morn's plans.

On the second floor were only two rooms: The Florist's bedroom, and a small office with a large metal safe built into the wall. Inside the Florist's room and office were tens of potted plants, likely put in place by the Florist to be used as weapons, or perhaps he just enjoyed the decorations.

From his reconnaissance, Morn also learned several important things about the crew's activity: Firstly, the greasy haired man was the first mate, something Morn had assumed due to his possession of the keys for the coastal shack. Second, the cabin windows on the first floor were always left closed. Third, there were always two people guarding the cabin during the night, and at least nine people in the cabin including the Florist.

Morn finished constructing the last part of his plan, a devious smile forming as he finished his notes. With his plan finished, all Morn needed to do now was wait for the following night…