Johnny doesn't remember when he wound up alone again; wasn't he with someone? Someones? There were people with him, and he felt safe. Things never come out at him when he's with someone.

Nova's ears turn obsessively this way and that. Johnny's keeping his nervousness pretty well tamped down, or maybe she's just shouldering the full weight of it on his behalf. But when she stiffens, he stops short, a twig cracking loudly beneath his feet.

"What?" he hisses.

"Someone's there," she whispers. "Someone bad."

He looks up, trying to see anything, but all he can see is trees. He hears a certain rustling, maybe coming toward them, maybe circling round - hard to tell.

"I remember that smell." She's trembling now, and he knows, already he knows, but he doesn't want to believe it. Not again. Not so soon after the last time. "Johnny, we have to get out of here, now."

He should run, probably. What are the chances of anyone catching him in this environment, even Zagreus? But he can't. He stands still.

"Johnny," she urges.

He starts moving, but slowly - quiet little steps back the way he came, trying to eke out a path away from the encroaching presence. Trying to put some distance in. This never works, but it might work this time, right?