Cats.
Big cats.
About nine. Some tigers. Some leopards. Some Jaguars. And even one lion.
"You brought to an ambush!" Drifus roared.
"Mew, I dwun know what your tawking about," she winked, lifted up a paw and tilted her head.
Cute.
But also, quite deadly because there were several growling big cats behind her.
Lenora stared, of course with her poker face. No matter what, her face never crumbled- on the outside. She distinctly remembered her last words.
She'd learned something a while ago. Back in high school, a big girl used to bully her. She was easily thrice Lenora's weight and used to taunt her at every opportunity; first it was just words but then Lenora's desk would have scribbles, her things would go missing and be randomly sprawled on the floor of the gym or something. It was around that time, Lenora had developed a smile that didn't crumble no matter what the bully did. Lenora didn't just smile though, she smiled cockily and pissed off the bully into hitting her. She'd done it on purpose because she knew one of the teachers (who doted on Lenora) would be nearby. The bully was punished and her parents were called. Lenora cried extensively and pretended to be extra hurt, and even said things along the lines of 'just think how much her parents must be neglecting her for her to do all these to me and the rest of the class.' The bully hadn't in fact done much to the rest of the class but at that point, she couldn't deny any of the accusations and her parents were just shamed more and more. Lenora effectively put an end to the bullying and also made sure the bully never stood up against her, again. The cocky smile didn't seem to leave her from that point. She knew she'd lied and all that but none of that crap mattered because no matter how many times she'd tried to reason with the teachers or even the bully, nothing worked. So yeah, she had to bend her morals a bit.
Drifus sighed. "Didn't want to do this but I suppose I'll freeze you all to deh-" He paused.
Something or someone had come before him and started bowing profusely. A big wolf. "The hell you doing, you mongrels!" He hissed. Big black wolf.
A bush near rattled from whence the wolf had arrived.
The cats looked skeptical but one of the cats, one big leopard walked closer. "What's wrong, boss?"
"Don't you see, he can kill us all!" The wolf hissed again.
"I don't get it," Lenora mumbled. "Did you do something to him?"
"Nothing," Drifus said.
The cats, still skeptical, all bowed and moved aside.
"Please boss, forgive our past transgressions," he said, addressing Drifus.
"Begone," he said.
And while the cats and the wolf were about to scram, another one, the smaller of the cats was also starting to disappear but Drifus grabbed her neck before she could leave. She almost reached out to scratch him but stopped at the last second when she felt mortal peril oozing out of the elf and gave up.
All her hair stood up, as did her tail…
"We're looking for the central," Drifus said. "I don't know which one of you knows the way, but unless you guys want to die a slow painful death, I suggest you take me there."
The cat lady nearly started crying but nodded furiously. "Leave it to me! Leave it to me!"
"Th-then we'll live to you, Lisa," the wolf said and all the cats scrammed.
The cat lady, Lisa sniffled but started leading them again. Her cheery mood was gone but they were definitely making progress.
***
Vines twisted about. Trees were mighty huge but there was enough space between them for a highway of sorts. Or would have been if the vines and bushes didn't obstruct the hell out of the road. Even Jay had to duck at times. Meanwhile, Drifus had to roll on the ground sometimes or jump over the branches which he couldn't do as often. Lenora didn't have as much trouble though; if anything presented as an obstacle to her, she just jumped up and avoided it. But that too came with a price. Namely, the cape kept on tightening near certain parts. It wasn't suffocating but the constant friction and gentle press kept giving her lewd thoughts and that ticklish delight which only made things worse.
"I feel like she's doing this on purpose," Drifus grumbled.
The cat lady was ahead and often taunted the group to hurry up. "Come on, we're almost there! I don't have all day you know!"
"Probably," Lenora said. But at this point even turning back was an issue. "I could just take us up to the sky," she paused and remembered just how bad it'd be if she had a mini crisis up there whilst having two guys clinging to her. "But it's probably best I don't."
"Right…" Drifus sighed, looking ahead. Another area with dense vines. Luckily, he was just going to have to duck this time.
As soon as he crossed the area, the vines more or less disappeared all of a sudden and the road widened. Soon, the whole area widened and they saw the heart of the city. A building carved into one of the biggest trees in the area. Window here, door there; even the branches were thicker than some of the big trees. Almost all the massive tree highways connected to the branches and the central acted as a circular intersection.
"We have arrived~!" The cat lady declared, pointing at paws behind her, at the nearly hundred-meter-wide tree.
"We can see that," Drifus grumbled. "Let's pay her and forget about her," he said. The scowl never really left his face. Even now, he oozed faint blue smoke and singlehandedly brought down the temperature of the whole forest by a degree or two.
"How mean!" Lisa grabbed Lenora in a tight hug and blew her tongue at Drifus.
"Kindly put it back," Lenora smiled.
Lisa's face froze as she gently put back Lenora's wallet. "Swowwy."
"Cute, but not cute enough," Lenora said, "That's the central, huh?" She wondered aloud, trying to see the top, but it only strained her neck.
"Yup!" Lisa put her hands on her waist, and lifted up her chest with pride. "The central. Home to the sages of the woods!"
"Sage-s?" Lenora said, cocking her head a bit.
"Yes, which one do you want to meet again?" The cat lady said.
"Umm… the Dryad one," Lenora said.
"Dryad? There are no Dryad sages," Lisa said, turning her head to the left. "Do you mean the high priestess, maybe?" She turned her head right and kept alternating. Jay saw that and tried to imitate that and ended up with a stiff neck in no time.
"Maybe…" But I could have sworn she was the sage of the woods… but… sufficed to say, Lenora's head was definitely spinning. Maybe I remembered wrong? But….
Sighing, she paid up. "Let's just go in." Visitors were permitted. As long as she was respectful there was a chance she could meet the sages or the high priest though it wasn't guaranteed.