Trek

"You're going to just abandon the forest!?" Talitha was shocked. Clearly her newfound leader had completely lost his mind. Never before in heldran history had a chieftain so casually left their own forest.

"As I said, we need to get to Rainfell to avoid me being turned into a fucking shish kebab by the Inquisition." Jonathan was starting to lose his patience with his new tribal groupie. He had explained his situation to her a few times over the last several hours and it wasn't sinking in. He didn't know what else to say. The addition of one more member to the group meant that their supplies would run out a lot faster, around the 80-day mark. It would still be enough to get to where they needed to, but Jonathan wasn't comfortable with a smaller margin for error. They may have to turn Stew into stew after all. Probably not though, Jonathan had grown attached to the big shaggy guy. It would feel wrong, like eating a family pet. 

If Talitha didn't want to come with them, he wasn't going to force her. Although, having a strong warrior with them could prove to be very useful if the Adearathian Empire ever did find Jonathan. 

"A shish kebab?" Talitha had never heard that word before, perhaps it was some sort of magical device.

"It's uh..." Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck trying to think of the best way to describe it. "A meat delivery system," nailed it, "and one I am not fond of being turned into."

Talitha didn't understand. She didn't understand a lot of what Jonathan said. He had strange words and idioms that she had never encountered before. She'd always prided herself on being articulate and cultured among her peers… when she still had peers. Never before had she heard of a 'fucking shish kebab'. Neither had she ever heard of this strange beast known as bull that Jonathan had kept mentioning, apparently, they had quite the propensity for shitting. 

"Well, you know what's best, I'm sure the forest is guiding you to do what's right." She didn't quite believe her own words as she said them, but the forest moved in mysterious ways, and it wasn't for her to question where it's winds would blow.

"Alright then, good I guess." Jonathan didn't believe he was being guided around by any mystical force, but he wasn't going to rule out the possibility that this world had some sort of pantheon or at the very least malicious spirits that inhabited the forest. It would be best not to potentially piss them off by denying their existence.

"Talitha." Saikhi piped up. "Do your people worship the trees? I never could find a good book on the heldran belief system."

"No, not the trees, sister." Talitha had already taken to calling Saikhi her sister, the familiarity made Saikhi a bit uncomfortable. "We worship the forest. The forest is more than just the trees, it is the plants, it is the animals, it is the people. It is where we are born and where we die. In a way, we are a part of the forest. But the forest has a will and mind of its own that is greater than any of its individual parts."

Saikhi got lost deep in thought. She pulled out a piece of parchment and an ink quill from a pouch on Stew's back. She began frantically jotting down notes on what Talitha had revealed to her. "Thank you Talitha, this is all very wonderful knowledge." Jonathan peered over towards Saikhi and tried to read her furious scribblings.

"I didn't know you were a writer." Jonathan marvelled.

"Not really master, I just dabble and take notes." Saikhi replied timidly.

"We all have to start somewhere. I am sure you are great." Saikhi seemed to light-up at that remark. No one had ever encouraged her writing before, it was a refreshing change from the usual scorn and mockery that people had for ashborn authors. Writing books was seen to be above their station.

Jonathan looked down the long winding road ahead, the path was steadily growing more and more dilapidated the deeper they travelled. It wasn't long until the path had completely faded away, obscured by the forest's foliage.

"Welp, that's not good." Jonathan muttered to himself. He kicked around some of the leaves in front of him to no avail. The path had ended.

"People rarely make it in this far anymore." Talitha announced as she pushed forward through the undergrowth. "The forest has a way of scaring off all but the most determined of travellers. Don't worry, I know the way. We can stop and rest at my village. It isn't too far from here." Jonathan and Saikhi did their best to keep up with Talitha, each one of her steps were precisely and effortlessly placed. She glided above the forest floor, easily outpacing the pair. "Just be careful not to touch any of the slither vines. They have a tendency of not letting go." Talitha pressed forward and beyond the sight of Jonathan and Saikhi.

"Eep!" Saikhi let out a squeak as something wrapped around her ankle. "Something is grabbing me!" Jonathan rushed to Saikhi's side, knife in hand. He saw a green tendril slithering around Saikhi's leg, slowly making its way up.

"Stay still, I'll cut you out." Jonathan said as he crouched down to inspect the vine. The single tendril was smooth and scaly. It looked like it originated from a nearby tree trunk. He attempted to hack it off at the base, but it was no use. It was like trying to cut through Kevlar, each cut did little to hinder the slither vine's progress. "Talitha! We need a little help here!" Jonathan called out. He looked over in the direction of where Talitha had been heading but she was nowhere to be seen. Jonathan moved back over to Saikhi. "Alright, I'm going to try and pull this thing off of you." Saikhi nodded, the vine had already made its way up to her knee.

Jonathan grabbed the vine, then immediately regretted his decision. The vine started to move in a frenzy tripping Saikhi over and slithering up her body. It weaved itself around Saikhi's curves and between her breasts. "Oh come on!" Jonathan complained. Plants should not have libidos. Saikhi struggled against the vine as it closed in on her sensitive regions. Jonathan had seen enough hentai to know where this was going. A loud crunch echoed out from beside the pair. It was Talitha. She had crushed the base of the vine with a heavy boulder. How she was able to lift something that large was a mystery. The physics were definitely not on her side. The vine fell limp as Saikhi scurried free.

"As I said, don't touch the slither vines. They are almost impossible to cut through but they are crushed easily enough." Talitha dusted off her hands. She had never seen a slither vine act quite like that. They were generally harmless and slow to act, never before had she seen one move with such vigour.

"That was unpleasant." Saikhi stood up and rearranged her clothes that had shifted around in the ordeal.

"Come on, we are almost at my village. Please watch your step." Talitha continued to lead the group deeper into the heart of the forest.