Drifus was sleeping, and so was Jay.
Lenora, however, stood quite awake. Back resting against the wall, she stared at the distant city lights. She'd been here before. Back then the city wasn't as green. It wasn't as alive.
A fire had spread, and it had spread everywhere, burning down even the biggest of trees. Destroying everything.
One of the many reasons she'd come to the past was to prevent a lot of the events from happening. But she'd changed one of the most important things and that changed what was going to happen next. There was a good chance the fire incident wasn't going to happen or it could happen sooner than later. She didn't know how the future would change. She could guess but that was all.
Still, now that she was here, and she knew what to change or what to look out for, she had hope things would be alright. People would be saved and in the end he would-
But he's taken. Shouldn't I let him be happy? She'd heard it often, 'if you truly love someone, let them be happy, even if you're not the one they're happy with.'
She knew it. And agreed to that in some degree. But at the same time, what about her? Didn't she deserve happiness? In practice, letting the other party be happy with someone who wasn't her, probably hurt more than if he was- no, it'd hurt more if he was dead.
The more she thought about it, the more her thoughts became fuzzy. Eventually, she fell asleep.
Rustle… someone was at the entrance. He slowly tiptoed in and hung in the shadows, looming over the trio.
Green eyes glinted in the dark, as did the teeth and saliva. The closer he got, the more he panted. Finally, he could taste some sweet soft flesh. Some-
"Touch a hair on her and I'll rip your furry guts to pieces," a faint whisper.
But the shadow froze. He'd heard it. He'd heard it well. None of the trio were awake. They were all sleeping, at least in hindsight.
Yet, the shadow sweated. It'd gotten awfully frosty in here, yet he poured buckets: where was this water even coming from? His fur dampened and he started smelling like a wet dog. Shiver. One step back, then two steps and then he just jumped off from the temple, whimpering when he landed; almost as though he'd seen death.
Lenora though, was still fast asleep, away from all her haunting thoughts.
***
The next day, Lenora proposed they exchange currencies at the guild and eat something good.
The guild took a small fee but they had enough cash to last them weeks here even without working. The thought of 'work' gave Drifus shivers but he tried his best to remain natural. He wasn't very good at it though.
A lot of fluffy creatures passed the trio. The vast majority of them being diurnal. Sheep, oxen, even cow people. Of course, there were still some nocturnal or hunter classes going about like felines and canines but the numbers were rather low.
The biggest of the beastmen were bears. They mostly stuck to the ground but when they walked, the whole area around them shook.
"Do you think if I asked nicely, he'd let me ride on his head?" Jay mumbled.
Stores were open, shouting their wares and prices. Monkeymen ran around the trees, throwing newspapers and letters. Some drunk hippo lady was sleeping on the corner and a lot of guys were checking out her exposed behind.
"Yeah, probably," Lenora said. "He might squish you like a bug afterward though."
His young hopeful eyes immediately succumbed to the sad reality of imminent death.
"About that knight, do you have a name?" Drifus said.
"It started with Y? I'm not sure what it was. Yen or something," she said. "Oh wait, that's a currency."
"What currency is Yen?"
"Not important," Lenora said. "Anyway, I know his mother lives in the central. She's also the 'sage of the woods' the person we're visiting." She smiled. "Incidentally the knight's a half-elf and a rather good-looking one."
Drifus' brows furrowed. "Heretics." He spoke coldly, brimming with hatred which oozed out of him, perhaps not consciously.
"I suppose to you all half-breeds are heretics."
Drifus chose not to open his mouth and just walked ahead. "The central is this way, right?"
Instead of walking on the wooden pathway above, they chose to walk on the ground. Sure it was a lot like a maze down here, but the ground was strategically a better place to be for people who weren't specialized beastmen.
"It should be. The forest often plays tricks on you, so it'd be best to hire a guide. I think some adventurers specialize in that."
"Looking for a guide, miss!" A cat lady showed up instantaneously.
"Can I touch your ears?" Jay said.
"Can I scratch your nose?" The cat lady said.
Jay pursed his lips. The cat lady smiled.
"We're looking to head to the central, hoping to get a glimpse of the sage of the woods."
"I know the way! I just came back yesterday! Wonderful place! Lots of danger though!" Very high pitched.
Black fur with some white stripes. A leather vest with short pants. One lonely naked knife hung in her waist.
"Let's go to the guild and-" Drifus attempted.
"I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be outside if she was looking to make money that way," Lenora said.
"They take a small cut," the cat lady confessed, blushing slightly.
"Oh, their furs change colors!" Jay observed but the others just ignored the kid.
"Standard rate is 5 silvers, right?" Lenora said.
"I can do for 4!"
"But it'll be dangerous and the guild, usually vouches for you in case something goes wrong," Drifus whispered.
"It'll be fine," Lenora said. "You'll get the rest when we get there," she gave the girl one silver.
"Right!"
"If you say so," Drifus said, following the cat lady's lead.
"It's daytime, what can go wrong?" Lenora said.