The sound of birds and russling plants surround the couple as they walk beyond the path. Despite the sun being high in the sky, thus the warmest part of the day, the shade of the tree cover and breeze from the lake made it more a refreshing cool temperature. Which Abe was grateful for as otherwise he would likely have been sweating.

“Come on, it should be around here somewhere based on the book.” They'd already been out here a half hour now. Still, he followed Artemis without complaint.

“Yeah, yeah… I'm coming…” Abe's shoulder bag bumped his side as he took a particularly large step upward to move forward on the incline of the area they were walking. He was noticing quite a lot of interesting plants along the route they were walking but didn't want to slow them down by stopping to get a closer look. That one was an especially pleasant addition to teas and cooking. Maybe just a moment stop to prune off a few sprigs for personal use.

Abe did just that, putting the plant delicately in his bag before continuing on. After a few more steps, the ground started to level off and eventually became almost flat.

And it was with the absence of the slope that he was finally able to see what they'd been trying to find. Who knew how tall it should have been as the tree’s growth had been cut short quite a while ago if signs were correct, but the trunk would probably take at least twelve people to encompass and what was left of it was almost as tall as the still growing trees around it.

“Isn't she beautiful?”

“There is an interesting beauty in the endurance displayed here. The tree is dead, yet still stands firm and proud.” Artemis was already lightly walking around the monumental remains of the tree.

“I found it!” She excitedly exclaimed. Abe followed around and saw what she was referring to. A hole large enough for an adult to crawl through that looked like it had been artificially widened over the years. There were gauges from a knife digging into the wood, but it was also smoothed by the elements in areas. “Well, come on. We can't come all the way out here and not go in…”

Artemis got on her hands and knees before she started making her way in through the hole. She had to wiggle slightly to fit but otherwise didn't seem to have much difficulty. Abe could hear her verbally admiring whatever was inside as he crouched to follow. Being so small, he had an even easier time than Artemis and was through quite quickly.

Inside really was impressive if he was being honest. It was hard to tell where nature's carving ended and where human hand’s helped it along. It could be best  described as what one would imagine a home built inside a tree would look like. There were places to sit and put things carved out of the sides of the trunk’s interior, and it looked like even ways to climb up to ledges higher up the tree. And of course, all lit by the natural sunlight coming through the top of the hollow trunk. 

It was clear generations of students had used this place for various purposes. There were the signs of human touch in the few wrappers and garbage swept to the edges, in addition to the more purposeful details. Abe spotted a few hooks screwed into the wood, likely to hang things like a lantern or jacket. And someone had managed to bring in some thick branches that they used to create a sort of lean-to with one side of the tree's interior to shade it from the elements.

“Wow.”

“I know.” Artemis grinned. “It's even better than the book described. I can see why it's a popular hookup spot. I mean, someone would just have to block the single hole and the people could have complete privacy, unlike a dorm room where they have to usually worry about roommates or noise complaints.” 

Wait, what? Abe didn't remember reading anything about that part. “It's a popular hookup spot?”

“I mean, for those who know about it. It's kinda the sort of place that is usually only found out through word of mouth, it seems, but one of the books I signed out of the library revolved around more of the passed by word of mouth stuff so I don't know how many current students are aware of this place. It at least was a popular hang out and hookup location when the book was written.”

“So, the first place you decided we should try to find was where couples went to have sex in peace?” Abe was sure his face was getting a flushed hue. Artemis also looked like she hadn't realized the implications until he'd said it out loud but was trying to keep a confident face about things.

“It's not that big of a deal, right? It was just the one that seemed easiest to actually find out of all the places referenced in the books.” She turned in a way that was obvious she was trying to be casual. “It's like you allowing me to study in your dorm room, right? We agreed it wasn't like that in that case so it's the same here… Just two friends exploring a cool place. That just happened to have lovers visit in the past too. Nothing weird or anything…” Abe felt like she was going to start rambling if he didn't stop her.

“I get it. You don't need to keep trying to convince me.” He wasn't sure if he was relieved or insulted by how strongly she was trying to convince him things weren't like that. He already knew that girls like Artemis weren't attracted to guys like him. And he was perfectly okay with that. He wasn't here looking for a relationship.

Seemingly trying to move past the awkward conversation, Artemis turned back to look at the impressive structure they stood in. “How about we get some pictures and then go looking for the next place? Now that we found it, we can come back if we want to inspect it in more detail later.” Well, Abe wasn't about to argue with her. He took out his phone and started taking pictures of everything.

Once the two students were satisfied, they crawled out the same way they entered. Abe stretched as he stood up. He hadn't noticed how cozy inside had felt until he left. Artemis, meanwhile, was eager to start looking for the next hidden location.

She walked slightly askew from the opposite direction they came from. Deeper into the woods Abe followed her.

“The next place is only described by landmarks like past a two headed tree, whatever that means, and where the lake invades the forest. So keep an eye out for anything that could be taken that way.” And Abe did just that. 

That's what led to him suddenly grabbing Artemis' arm in an attempt to quickly stop her. She was so firmly built that it was likely she froze more from surprise than his actual actions. He pointed only a few steps in front of her feet. There was a cluster of mushrooms on the forest floor.

“Those look like Hebeloma Syrjense. Maybe we should walk around them instead of walking over them.” Such species were known to grow over decaying bodies. If there really was some creature under them, it felt disrespectful walking over the area when there were signs of it being a resting place.

“Okay… thanks for pointing them out. I guess I was too focused on things closer to eye level to notice where I was stepping.” She started veering around the mushrooms towards the lake direction.

They kept going and some parts of the ground got quite rough. Abe even almost started to trip over a mostly hidden root, but Artemis managed to catch him just as his foot caught on it. They both froze for a second before he righted himself again, trying to laugh the incident off.

After a while more walking, Abe suggested they maybe angle more towards the lake. “After all, the description mentions something about the lake so maybe it's close to the shore somewhere.” And so, they changed direction slightly more.

The ground gradually became more coarse and less covered by greenery. As they traveled closer, he felt like he could hear the sounds of water lapping against land. Of course, that wasn't the only sound that slowly made itself known as they continued to walk through the wooded area.

Abe started to recognize the sound after some time. It was one he'd heard when Nicky hadn't known his younger brother was coming to visit when he was in college himself. The older sibling had had a female guest over and Abe had almost walked in on them having some fun.

“Maybe we should head somewhere else, Artemis. Sounds like the giant stump isn't the only place people go for privacy on campus…” He turned to start walking away from the area when she stopped him.

“Wait! I know those voices… Those are the missing freshmen from the woodsmen team.”