I was hiking in the woods near Marseille and I climbed up one of those calanque summits. I stayed up there until sunset for some spectacular photos so I had to climb down as it got dark. I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the middle of the forest with no real visible path. Then suddenly it got windy and cloudy and dark as shit. Could barely see my own feet. I used my camera and phone as flashlights for a bit but they both ran out really quickly.
So I was in the middle of the woods, miles away from the city and couldn't see anything, just trying to make my way downwards. Suddenly, I heard some rustling in the shrubs a bit further down. I kept walking in the direction a little but the rustling got louder, so I swerved left a bit. I could hear that something was still in that bush further down. Then the same noise started from a bush behind me, too. And just a little bit later, a third noise appeared further behind and further up, this one moving fast in sort of a half circle around me and the other two.
I was so freaked out that I went all tribal and picked up a big straight branch and slowly moved sideways in a defensive stance until I found a little low ground that was mostly enclosed by bushes, where I just stood and guarded the entrance for something like an hour. The noises didn't come closer but they didn't stop, and I could still hear the third one moving back and forth some distance away. Still couldn't see shit. After standing there forever, I decided to try and make a run for it, so I moved out and tried to get away sideways. But I had to approach the bush where the first noise was coming from. And as I got just a little bit closer, the bush snarled at me. I NOPEd the fuck out and went right back into my hidey-hole. I just stood there, branch up and next to a tree I hoped I could climb up quickly if necessary, while the noises started moving around my location again. Keeping this in mind, I was pretty scared.
I stood there on high alert for another several hours with the rustling still moving circles around me, until it finally seemed to be moving away. I could still hear it thought and occasionally it seemed to approach again and move back away. Eventually, I allowed myself to sit down, still holding gandalf's staff, but sleeping wasn't an option. It was also cold and super windy, and I was sitting on roots and rocks and it was uncomfy as fuck. The night felt fucking eternal and at some point when I thought it was maybe 4am now, the clouds went away for a second and the moon was still high up. It sucked major ass.
In the morning, I was so wasted that by the time there was any light, I was like fuck it, and decided to just roll out with my branch and go caveman on their asses if they were still there, whatever they were. But the noises had already moved far away before and when I got to the bush, there was nothing there and I peacefully made my way back to the city and my hostel room, where I collapsed on my bed and slept all day.
The card with the sunset photos has since been lost.