Verdant green leaves swayed in the breeze, carrying the scent of morning dew along with it as droplets of water fell from their green seating.
"This stinks." Thought a cat-eared girl Looking down at a small horde of undead from where she sat, perched high up on the branch of tree. She pinched her nose. "Literally."
Before, she'd been proud that her senses were so much sharper compared to her human counterparts, but now not so much, the smell of rot wafting upwards forming a ball in her stomach trying to force up last night's dinner.
Now she cupped her mouth, doing her best to avoid vomiting. The feeling of nausea increasing at the sight of the undeads' decaying flesh, giving way to their maggot infested body's inner workings, their fingertips wearing away at the rough bark as they clawed at its trunk trying to get at her.
It was just her luck to have come so far without incident only for a group of undead to take her by surprise. Her face went red from embarrassment, recalling shrieking like a bat and clambering up the tree she'd been sheltering under, with such speed one would think lightning had shot from the ground. All because she mistook the shambling corpse of a long haired old man for the Azure Eyes.
"I'm so glad Miss Erika wasn't here to see that. I'd never hear the end of her teasing. Especially if Leander..." She bit her lip at the thought of her older brother. When was the last time she thought about her brother, or her home? It had been almost five years since she had been driven out of the great forest.
She missed it. The colossal red leaved trees, the sprawling ridges overlooking roaring streams that would be rioting with scores of fish this time of year. Along with the spring festival that accompanied them, where ladies would sing and and dance and the men would get into drunken brawls. She smiled somberly remembering the sight of her brother tossing people around like rag dolls, and swinging them overhead.
Yes, she missed it, like the sea would miss the moon were it to depart the night sky. But she couldn't go back. Returning would be the same as dying. No, worse. If she went back there what would be done to her…
Tears welled in her eyes, heart thumping she shook her head trying to push these thoughts from her mind. "This isn't the time to be thinking about such things." She told herself, focusing back on the situation at hand.
It was a bad predicament to be in. Simply climbing down wasn't an option. Jumping might work, she'd leapt from high places before, not quite this high mind you, but places higher than normal people should fall from.
Though if she landed wrong and hurt her leg that'd be it. She chewed her lip. Perhaps climbing down part of the way and then springing off? "If only I hadn't panicked this wouldn't be so difficult." She lamented.
It might be best to wait. Should an animal wander by the undead might chase after it. It was a viable option, probably the safest option. "Don't gamble with your life if you can help it. Unless the situation requires a split second decision, sit tight and think things through." Erika's tutoring echoed in her mind.
She couldn't wait forever however. The undead could attract a lot of attention and once night fell, such attention could be lethal. Afterall the Azure Eyes hunted at night… CRACK "huh?" The situation had just gone from bad to worse.
On the ground a mane of incredibly long white hair swirled, as undead heads were cracked open by what looked to be a tree branch. "Is that… there's no way my luck can be this bad right?" She thought, shaking.
In a flash skulls shattered with a splattering of decayed flesh. A swift upward strike sent another head spinning through the air.
More heads were crushed and shattered. Eventually the branch they were using as a weapon broke, and they jabbed the remains through the eye socket of an undead before opting to simply kick.
Now the heads spun on snapped necks, one going flying like a ball punted from its shoulders. It ended as quickly as it had begun with the last undead being thrown to ground and its rotten brain matter sent splattering with a stomp.
With bated breath the feline-like girl stared down at the long mane of white hair, her heart thumping hard. That can't be the Azure Eyes could it? It was only supposed to be active at night.
The figure turned looking over their shoulder up at her. Even though they were far apart they locked eyes, a single blue eyed gaze meeting her own. "Haa. Thank Mannus." She mumbled, huffing in relief.
A small voice called out. "Big brother!" Causing the figure to turn away and walk up to another smaller tree. He held up his hands, and caught what looked to be a small girl. The little one waved at her from where she hung in her brothers arms. "Hey! It's safe to come down now!" She shouted with her tiny voice.
The cat like girl smiled at this and slid down the tree hopping down the last few feet. "Blegh. The undead smell even worse up close." She thought cupping her nose and mouth trying to keep out the vile air as she approached her rescuers.
Now that she was closer she got a better look at the two. The little girl sat in her brothers arms. She was fair skinned and as cute as a button, soft round blue eyes and platinum hair which hung past her shoulders, she wore a dirty red dress and was small, looking no older than four judging by size alone.
She was taken back by the older brother. If she hadn't seen it, it would've been hard to believe he'd bludgeoned so many undead with such ease. He stood at level height with her and was terribly emaciated, with skin paler than a ghosts, his cheeks sunken and body thin. Were he to strip you'd probably be able to count more than just his ribs.
He wore baggy and ill fitting clothes. A long sleeved white linen tunic, his left hand was completely bandaged with bandages also wrapped around his head acting as an eyepatch covering his left eye. Black trousers and scuffed brown leather boots covered his legs and feet.
He had the same blue eyes and white hair as the girl but it lacked the same luster and was far longer reaching down to his waist. As it stood she couldn't fully divine his age from his appearance, but he couldn't be very old.
What stuck out to her the most though was the curved sword at his hip which was worn edge up. "What a weird way to wear a sword." She thought.
"Miss?" The little girl asked. "Oh, where are my manners." She said, placing a hand on her chest and standing with the other on her hip she declared proudly. "I am Tora of the Vandili, you have my thanks for saving me." Her tail whipped and a double canined smile beamed.
The little girl had stars in her eyes. "My names Sophia, and this is my big brother Asher!" She replied excitedly. "It's nice to meet you Sophia!" Tora replied just as excitedly.
"And…" She locked eyes with the boy. She was used to the way men looked at her, she was beautiful and exotic. Not many of her female tribesmen wandered the human kingdoms.
It was always eyes of lust or swooning fervor, like looking at a piece of meat. These eyes though seemed to be trying to swallow her whole. Never in her life had she been looked at like this.
It reminded her of a wounded dire bear that her and her brother had been hunting. Bristling with an air of death, dangerous, ready to tear everything apart for the sake of survival.
The little girl tugged at his ear. "Big brother! You're being rude." She huffed. "…Nice to meet you." He said flatly, diverting his gaze, his voice scratchy and hoarse.
He had been sizing her up. A threat, not a threat? Kill, or don't kill? Taking in every inch of her. She had feline ears and dark gray shaggy hair, thick and somewhat wild trying to cling to her face contouring with her neck leaving her nape exposed.
She had full pink lips, and bright eyes the color of amber; fair skinned and slender, with a medium chest and fine hips. An absolutely stunning woman, but the fact of her beauty was lost on Asher.
Her clothing consisted of a black long sleeved shirt under a dark brown leather breastplate and a dust-brown cropped vest. On her legs were a pair of tight black trousers under a pair of knee length shorts the same color as her vest and buckled brown boots. A pair of single edged curved short swords were sheathed beside each other on her left side.
She didn't appear threatening and he didn't sense the least bit of hostility. Rather an un-beguiling curiosity shone in her eyes. That was dangerous in its own right, curiosity leads to questions, questions could lead to understanding and understanding could lead to realization.
Curiosity could kill this cat and there wouldn't be any satisfaction to bring it back. Anyone else would've found the sentiment amusing given the near literal context of the situation. Yet he was want to laugh, being neither in the mood or able to indulge in such morbid humor.
He would ask her questions both to acquire information and to throw her off till he rehearsed good answers for the harder questions she might ask him. "So how'd you end up in that tree?" Asher asked.
Tora perked up "Oh, I'm an adventurer. I was on a scouting quest when I got ta… woke up to find the tree I was sleeping in surrounded." She blushed slightly, doing a poor job of changing the story mid sentence.
"I see. I suppose you're lucky we wondered by." Asher replied. "Ah yeah, thanks again for your help. You were really something." She said, whipping her tail.
Wait, a scouting quest? The possibility of danger clicked in his head. Scouting for what, a military operation? If a battle was going to break out in the area then he needed to leave with Sophia asap. "You said you were on a scouting mission, may I ask for what?"
She tilted her head to the side, shooting a glance at Sophia. "Hmm, well a monster of sorts." Asher realized she didn't want to scare his sister by saying exactly what she was hunting. "I see." If it was just a monster he didn't need to worry. There's not anything out here worse than he is.
"A monster, what kind?" Sophia chirped innocently. Tora paused her mouth slightly open, unsure of how to answer. "The scary kind, that go like ragghhh!" Asher said, feigning a monsters roar and tickling her. "Quit it!" She giggled.
"That a good old brother he is" Tora thought. "Anyways. Why are you two out here?" She asked, looking to change the subject and hopefully avoid frightening the little girl with talk of monsters.
Asher thought for a moment unsure of what to say. "We don't have anywhere to go." Sophia said meekly, before he could answer.
Tora looked at the two. The little girls somber expression. Her brothers face betrayed nothing, but she could feel a sort of helplessness there.
"I wonder if this is how Miss Erika felt when she found me." She wondered, heart aching. Perhaps the undead drove them out of their home or maybe it was wiped out by a plague.
Regardless, It's obvious they'd been through a lot, especially the brother. To be able to fight like that in such a state. Just what kind of hell had he been subjected to?
Her mind was made up, she resolved to help them as much as she could. Like how Erika did for her. It was the least she could do for them after saving her life.