'Mistress Bei, stop running! You've been at it for six hours!'

"Yeah, and I haven't found him!" Bei yelled, nearly tripping over her own paws.

Like Kaelyn said, she'd been running for an extremely long time. Only because she wanted to see Casten again–only to make sure they weren't bullying him! Stupid Casten, letting himself get caught. Bei paused in her thoughts. "Caught"? Neptune said he decided to aid them…

No good, she thought, keeping up with her previous pace, I'm beginning to doubt him again.

She wanted to trust him. Even if she hated him after everything happened, she wanted to trust him. She didn't believe he would help them and he would just have to believe she was beating them up for him, too. They could go back to hating each other. It was okay with her. So long as he wasn't being bullied. So long as they trusted each other.

With that thought finished, she felt something ache within her. Wincing, she paused in her tracks, coughing. That was an unfamiliar ache. It wasn't a usual stomach ache or anything like that… it was really inside. Of her. Beyond the fur, skin, intestines–she felt something hurt. It was weird.

No–wait, she had to be saving Casten!

Casten?

The thought of him suddenly made the ache rage against her even more, angrily burning. She winced, and she felt something sting in her eyes. Wait–no. No. She had to ignore whatever that feeling was and continue.

'Mistress Bei, I trust that you're okay.'

"Yep." Bei continued through the jungle, trees whizzing past her and the ground seemed to be running away from her under her paws. As much as it hurt, whatever did, she was free, she reminded herself. She never felt so free and eager, or wild. Perhaps Casten's absence was the cause of it.

But even that feeling couldn't support her for long.

Without warning, her legs crumbled beneath her and she collapsed, breath hitching. She lay on the ground, unmoving and exhausted. She'd never felt so tired before. With a choke on her breath, she crawled towards the nearest tree, collapsing against it and closing her eyes. Too… tired. The search for Casten was seemingly impossible. But she wouldn't give up, no. But just a short break… wouldn't hurt, surely…

"Are you tired?" a gentle voice from above cooed, and Bei's head shot up, seeing a pair of red eyes gleam down at her. She nearly squeaked. What was that? "Come on up and rest here! It's dangerous down there."

Without thinking, Bei slowly climbed up the tree, onto the branch. The tree's leaves were thick, hiding all presence from her. But the tree felt… comforting. In a strange way. All she wanted to do was to doze off and rest…

"You can rest here, for free," the voice continued, and she heard a hiss. Yeah. I'll rest here. Only until the heard the last word did she feel alarmed:

"Permanently."

Bei shot to her feet, mind alert all of a sudden, but the serperior came crashing into her all too fast. She yelped, slamming against the thick stem of the tree, wincing. The serperior swiftly coiled itself around her, trapping her and she felt something bite her foot. Great, another opponent. Bei growled, electricity crackling at her cheeks. This was just insufferable.

When people betrayed her like that, she hated it.

Both cries drew her attention back to reality–the zap was enough to persuade them to let her go. She bounced off to the end of the branch, lowering her belly closer to the piece of wood, noting her opponents were a serperior and a young snivy. Her lips curled their way into a sneer.

I'll kill them just like I killed the pyroar.

"W-Wait, stop!" the serperior suddenly pleaded. She narrowed her eyes. "My child and I are simply very hungry! We have no grudge against you. Please, all we need is food! If you help us find food, we will let you rest in this tree for the time being."

A serperior, pleading? How ironic. Bei snorted. But she had to take her chances. Slowly, she approached them, glaring, and slowly nodding. Don't be foolish.

"One more condition, though."

"Anything if you let us live," the serperior promised.

"Do you know who… Neptune is?"

The serperior slowly nodded, blinking. She seemed rather confused. "Neptune is the Observer of the forest. We all know who she is and we respect her. Do you need to speak with her?"

"For a very long while," Bei huffed. "I need to know where she stays." She paused. If she told the serperior the entire situation, there was no way she'd be getting any help. "A friend is at her place and I need to visit him, but I'm new to the forest and I'm rather lost."

Quietly nodding, the serperior slithered over to Bei. "I know where she stays, but since this is a non-emergency case, we can only get there at dawn. Any other time of the day is reserved for emergency cases. I hope you're okay with that."

No, this is an emergency case! She'll hunt me down anytime!

She needed another plan. Bei bit her bottom lip. "I don't mean to trouble you so much. So, you can just tell me how to get there, and at dawn, I will travel there myself."

"There's no need for that trouble, really."

"I insist." Bei always got what she wanted, whatever it was. This was no exception.

The serperior turned her head. "Well, there's a cliff overlooking the forest. It's very easy to find. I'm sure you've seen it before." Well, she had… but she never really thought about it. It wasn't anything big. "There's a weeping willow–it sticks out like a sore thumb. If you pluck a leaf from there and use it as a whistle, a path will open up. Though, I've never really done it before."

It sounded simple. Bei bit her bottom lip. "All right."

With a short smile, the serperior gestured to the ground. "Now, about the food…"

Bei groaned, rolling her eyes. Her eyes dragged themselves up to see the sun in the sky. It was nearly evening.

…

She did not have a lot of time.