Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'She's RUNNING?! Why is she RUNNING?! That's the WORST thing to do! She's going to trip! She's going to fall! She's going to get herself KILLED! ROSHAN, GET THE FEMALE!'ฅᨐฅ
Roshan's mind: ฅᨐฅ'NO NO NO NO SHE'S RUNNING THE WRONG WAY! THERE ARE CLIFFS THAT WAY! AND TERRITORIAL WOLVES! AND POISONOUS PLANTS! FEMALE, COME BACK!'ฅᨐฅ
[HAHAHA! OH MY GODS YOU'RE RUNNING!] Puffball cackled, zooming alongside her. [THIS IS AMAZING! THEY LOOK SO PANICKED! I WISH I COULD TAKE A PICTURE!]
"Not. Dying. To. A. Bear!" Faelyn panted, vaulting over a fallen log with absolutely zero grace. "Not today, Satan!"
Behind her, she heard the bear roar again, followed by the sounds of transformation and very aggressive growling that sounded distinctly feline.
And also two male voices yelling her name in absolute panic.
"FEMALE!"
"COME BACK!"
'My name is FAELYN, you absolute—' She ducked under a low branch. 'Nope, no time for that! Running! Still running!'
Her boot caught on a root.
She went down hard, rolled, somehow got back up, and kept sprinting.
'Parkour! Extreme parkour! Thank you, childhood gymnastics classes I hated!'
Roshan's mind, somehow still audible even at this distance: ฅᨐฅ'SHE FELL! SHE FELL AND GOT BACK UP AND SHE'S STILL RUNNING! WHY IS SHE STILL RUNNING?! NYX, FINISH THE BEAR, I'M GOING AFTER HER!'ฅᨐฅ
Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'YOU FINISH THE BEAR, I'LL GET THE FEMALE! SHE'S HEADING TOWARD THE CLIFFS, YOU IDIOT! SHE'LL RUN STRAIGHT OFF THE EDGE!'ฅᨐฅ
'Cliffs?! There are CLIFFS?! Fuck!'
Faelyn skidded to a halt, panting, and looked around wildly.
Trees. More trees. Glowing plants. A stream. More trees.
No obvious cliffs, but she wasn't about to test her luck.
Behind her, the sounds of the fight were getting quieter, which meant either the bear was dead or the men were dead, and either way she needed to make a decision fast.
[So what's the plan now?] Puffball asked cheerfully, bobbing in front of her face. [Because I gotta say, running away from your only sources of protection in a hostile magical forest MIGHT not be your smartest move!]
"Shut up," Faelyn wheezed, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. "I panicked."
[You BOLTED! Like a scared rabbit! It was HILARIOUS!]
"I have a very reasonable fear of being mauled to death by rabid animals, thank you very much!"
[They were literally trying to PROTECT you!]
"By turning into GIANT CATS and fighting a MONSTER BEAR! That's not protection, that's a nature documentary gone wrong!"
She heard crashing through the underbrush behind her.
Getting closer.
Fast.
'Oh shit. Oh fuck. They're coming. They're definitely coming. And they're probably pissed.'
Roshan's voice rang out through the trees. "PLEASE STOP RUNNING! THE BEAR IS DEAD! YOU'RE SAFE!"
Nyx's voice, closer and significantly more irritated: "IF YOU KEEP RUNNING, YOU'RE GOING TO HIT THE CLIFFS AND FALL TO YOUR DEATH!"
'Okay so. Options. Option A: Face the two giant muscular beastmen who can turn into apex predators and explain why I just ditched them mid-bear fight. Option B: Keep running and possibly fall off a cliff.'
'Both options suck.'
[Option C!] Puffball chirped. [Climb a tree and hide like a cat!]
"That's the WORST idea you've had so far, and you've had a LOT of bad ideas!"
[It'll be funny though!]
The crashing got louder.
Faelyn made a split-second decision, grabbed a sturdy-looking branch, and hauled herself up into the nearest tree.
Her arms screamed in protest. Her legs threatened mutiny. But she climbed anyway, adrenaline and pure spite carrying her higher.
She'd made it about fifteen feet up when Roshan burst into the clearing below.
Still shirtless. Now covered in blood that definitely wasn't his. Hair falling out of his man bun. Looking like he'd just gone twelve rounds with a meat grinder and won.
He spun in a circle, green eyes wide and frantic.
Roshan's mind: ฅᨐฅ'Where is she?! I can smell her, she was just here! Did something else get her?! Please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt, PLEASE—'ฅᨐฅ
Nyx appeared a second later, equally blood-covered, red eyes scanning the area like a predator.
Also shirtless.
'Why is everyone in this world allergic to shirts?!'
Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'Her scent stops here. She didn't cross the stream. She didn't go toward the cliffs. She's... up?'ฅᨐฅ
Nyx's gaze snapped upward.
Their eyes met.
Faelyn froze, clinging to her branch like a terrified cat.
There was a beat of absolute silence.
Roshan looked up too.
More silence.
[Oh this is AMAZING,] Puffball wheezed, practically crying with laughter. [The LOOK on their FACES!]
"Hi," Faelyn said weakly.
Roshan's mind: ฅᨐฅ'She's in a tree. She climbed a tree. The female. Climbed. A tree. To escape from us. After we just saved her from a feral bear. She's in a TREE.'ฅᨐฅ
Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'I'm going to kill her. No. I'm going to catch her, THEN kill her. No. I'm going to catch her, make sure she's not injured, THEN maybe kill her? No. We need her! But why is she IN A TREE?!'ฅᨐฅ
"You," Nyx said slowly, voice dangerously calm, "climbed a tree."
"Yes."
"To escape from us."
"...Yes."
"After we just killed a feral bear to protect you."
"In my defense," Faelyn said, grip tightening on the branch, "I panicked."
Roshan's eye twitched.
Nyx looked like he was having a small aneurysm.
[This is the BEST first day EVER,] Puffball cackled.
And Faelyn realized, with dawning horror, that she was going to have to come down from this tree eventually.
And when she did, she was going to have to explain to two very large, very confused, very muscular beastmen why she'd just ditched them mid-rescue to climb a tree like a deranged squirrel.
Faelyn looked down at them, her zookeeper brain finally catching up with her panic.
'Wait. Leopard. Panther. Big cats.'
'Big cats are EXCELLENT climbers.'
'Leopards literally drag their prey UP trees to keep it away from other predators.'
'Panthers can climb vertically up tree trunks.'
'I just climbed a tree to escape from two men who can turn into the BEST tree-climbing predators on the planet.'
'I'm an idiot.'
'I'm a complete and utter idiot.'
As if reading her thoughts, Nyx's lips curved into something that was definitely not a smile. More like a predator baring its teeth.
'Uh oh!'