I have No Map and I must navigate

The ship’s hull groaned as it settled into the clearing. The forest loomed ahead, vast and uncharted, its canopy swallowing the last of the light.

Tanuki stepped down first. His HUD was blank. There were no coordinates, no markers, just empty space. Atlas muttered under his breath, NV’s eyes narrowed, and Celeste held the Tarot close, its glow pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

“This isn’t on any map,” Atlas said.

Celeste’s voice was steady. “It is now.”

They crossed the threshold into the trees.

The air was damp, heavy with moss and rot. Every step echoed too loudly, as if the forest itself was listening.

The wolves came without warning. Red‑eyed, their animations jerky, they lunged from the underbrush. Atlas roared, NV’s arrows whistled, Celeste’s cloak flickered as she cut through them. Tanuki’s daggers flashed, and the wolves dissolved into shards of light.

The forest fell silent again.

Atlas exhaled. “Too easy.”

They pressed on as the path curved and the trees thickened. The wolves came again. Same number. Same formation. Same fight.

Atlas froze mid‑swing. “Wait. Haven’t we-”

The fight played out exactly as before. Atlas’s shield bash. NV’s arrows. Celeste’s cloak stuttering. Tanuki’s daggers striking the same wolf in the same place.

When the last one fell, the silence returned.

NV’s voice was flat. “We’re in a loop.”

They moved faster, pushing forward as the path curved and the trees thickened.

The wolves came for a third time. But this time, one didn’t move.

It stood still, its head twitching unnaturally, its model flickering between frames. When it opened its mouth, no growl came. Instead, a voice emanated, a distorted, broken, almost human voice.

“Don’t let it-”

The words froze Tanuki in place. His HUD flickered, error messages crawling across the screen.

Atlas swore, his shield trembling. “What the $%&# was that?”

The wolf lunged then, snapping back into its animation. The fight resumed, but Tanuki’s hands shook as he struck.

When the last wolf dissolved, the silence pressed in heavier than before.

Celeste stepped forward, pulling the Tarot from her inventory. Its static glow pulsed brighter, jagged lines of light crawling across the ground like veins.

“It’s reacting,” she said. “The card is pulling us forward… but something doesn’t want us here.”

Tanuki’s throat tightened. “Then how do we break it?”

Celeste’s eyes flicked to the minimap, still spinning wildly. “We don’t follow the marker. We go against it.”

Atlas shook his head. “That’s suicide.”

“Insane is walking the same path until it consumes us,” NV said. Her voice was calm, but her knuckles were white on her bowstring.

Tanuki hesitated, then nodded. “We go against it.”

They turned off the path, forcing their way through the underbrush. The forest resisted as branches thickened, shadows deepened, and the air itself became heavy. The ground seemed to stretch beneath their feet, pulling them back.

Then, with a sound like glass shattering, the loop broke.The trees opened into a clearing. The wolves did not return. They stopped in the center of the clearing, catching their breath. The air was still, too still, as if the forest itself was holding back.

Atlas wiped sweat from his brow. “I hate this place.”

NV crouched, running her fingers through the soil. It flickered between dirt and static, her hand passing through it like smoke. She pulled back quickly.

Celeste held the Tarot close, its glow dimming again. “It won’t stop. The closer we get, the harder it will fight.”

Tanuki stared at the trees, his grip tightening on his daggers. The voice echoed in his mind, distorted and pleading.

Don’t let it-.

They made camp in the clearing. The fire flickered between burning and extinguished, sometimes both at once.

Atlas tried to joke, but his laugh was hollow. NV kept watch, her bow across her knees, eyes never leaving the shadows. Celeste sat apart, the Tarot pulsing faintly in her lap.

Tanuki lay awake, staring at the canopy. The silence pressed in, broken only by the faint tick‑tick‑tick of a gear that wasn’t moving.

He closed his eyes, but the whisper followed him into his dreams.

Don’t let it out.