Lukas and Chaerin froze in their tracks at the sound of the voice. It didn't belong to Theodore and instead it was coming from the faraway trees, so Lukas immediately prepared to summon his dagger.
However, his worry vanished a little when he realized it was Vulpine. Her orange hair swayed slightly as she appeared from one branch and then leaped onto a wooden platform.
Vulpine's purple eyes glanced wildly around the two of them, and her earlier confident appearance vanished in exchange for a distraught one.
"Where's the other one? Weren't there supposed to be three of you?" she asked.
"What's the problem?" Lukas frowned. He exchanged a look with Chaerin and somehow, the words of Theodore earlier seemed to come back to him. The Forest Dwellers wanted something else.
"How are our other companions?" Chaerin asked.
"Well, that's–"
The trees suddenly started shaking beneath them as if they were in some kind of earthquake and Lukas held on to the nearest tree hut's wall. Or should they jump?
"Stay where you are." Vulpine's eyes widened and she also clung to the tree hut. Her voice became softer almost as if she didn't want to be heard and that was all the encouragement that Lukas and Chaerin needed to stay put.
Lukas' mind was already running a mile per minute–probably faster than that. The sudden lack of answer from Theodore now seemed to be more of an indication of something wrong than anything else.
Chaerin thought the same thing as well.
"Theodore–"
"He'll be fine." Lukas tried to comfort her, but he also didn't know what exactly happened. Vulpine herself didn't seem to give any direct answers and they stayed in their huts for about a minute or two before Vulpine relaxed a little and looked at the two love birds.
"We need to get going and regroup with everyone." Vulpine said and turned towards the trees. "I need both of you to trust me when I say when to jump and where to do it–because I don't think it's safe to go below and travel on foot."
"That's not comforting at all." Lukas crossed his arms. "It's better for you to explain things rather than just expect us to come with you and put our lives at even more risk."
"If we wanted you folks dead–we would have let you travel on your own without interference." Vulpine pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes on him. "There are other forces in the forest besides us. Cervus, can and will explain it to you."
"Your Great Leader said that they were going to throw us some party." Lukas raised a brow. "What do you call that? Was that actually a lie?"
"No, but I'm sure that he had intended to tell you people everything once he was more or less sure with your characters." Vulpine explained.
"Huh, so he's actually a he–" Lukas said. It was one of the greater mysteries that was now solved in his head but then he received a nudge from Chaerin.
"Not the time, Lukas." she said and shot him a look.
There were far greater stakes right now than just the androgynous identity of their leader.
"Oh right, my bad." Lukas rubbed the back of his head but then looked at Vulpine. He regained his bearings and interrogated the fox girl. "What about the rest of our companions? Are they okay? Did they get endangered too or was it just us?"
"Your companions have been accompanied by more warriors than now. They are perfectly fine–none would have reached that part of the forest as well." Vulpine reassured them. "So will you now come with me? I am sure that there's a lot more to explain and apologies to be given."
It didn't take too long for them to reach the same exact clearing. Except this time, there was a certain hubbub in the air that was charged with electricity. Cervus was already talking with several warriors and he had a grave expression on his face.
When he looked at Lukas and Chaerin, he didn't give them much of an apologetic look as compared to a disheartened one.
"Oh, so they've also managed to get one of your companions. Theodore, wasn't it?" Cervus shook his head. "That's another one."
"Hold up, that's barely enough of an explanation." Lukas' temper was tested. He clicked his tongue and was prepared to grab the deer guy by his leafy robes–screw the rest of the warriors present.
Cervus sighed and raised a placating hand.
"You must understand that there is conflict within the Veil Forest and as much as I'd prefer to keep the outsiders safe from this, it cannot be helped. She has awakened from her hibernation."
"She?" Lukas raised a brow. He glanced around the warriors surrounding them and then at the androgynous deer guy with an unimpressed look. "Don't tell me that you're scared of one individual when you're surrounded by multiple warriors now."
"It's not so simple." Cervus sighed.
Lukas shot a look at Vulpine who was already slinking away because she probably didn't want to get scolded for not being entirely truthful. When she caught the gaze of Lukas, she stopped guiltily and coughed.
"And that's why you were interested in throwing them a feast right?" Vulpine smiled and clapped her hands. "Compared to just us, these people might be the ones who'll be able to turn the fortunes into our favor, right?"
Somehow, it became clear that Vulpine was the more diplomatic one out of the two. Lukas glanced at Cervus and waited for answers, although he already had enough to get it.
"The reason why you've been so hospitable with us is in order for us to solve your problems for you?" Chaerin frowned slightly and crossed her arms.
"When you say it that way, it does seem like a terrible thing." Cervus admitted with a pained smile. "But we would have not interfered if we really did think that your group could have passed the Veil Forest unharmed. That's impossible with Ursa around."
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