Oasis

Pearl seemed almost excited as it processed Ratty's latest thoughts, it actually had an idea of how it might be able to assist it's host this time, by making use of it's analytical abilities that let it so easily break down and reproduce magic in a form that even Ratty's small, magically deficient body could handle, and decided to show it's thinking to Ratty in a series of images, too busy calculating to bother attempting to difficult task of synthesising words in the way it had recently taken to doing.
The images were simple, first showing Ratty eating the stone from the ruins, and then Ratty creating the sleep spell on the guards... The followed up with Ratty eating... Something? It was less an image and more a feeling of unknown, likely referring to the anomaly.
It seemed Pearl was suggesting that if the source of the anomaly was edible... It could turn out to be a way to hide the Nest from scrying attempts, as it clearly had the ability to do that judging from the Elder's words.
Of course though this did bring up the problem of fuelling a spell like that in the long term, or keeping it going if Ratty was elsewhere, but it seemed magic was often found in stones, perhaps eventually Ratty could work out how to put magic in stones too?

The elder seemed to understand at least some of Ratty's attempt to communicate without needing a translation this time and gave what Ratty was reasonably sure was a small smile.
"Indeed, may our next meeting bring joy and good news".
She agreed before Ratty was led out to their room, the beds were quite comfortable, and Ratty would have a whole bed of their own to lay in, as well as a blanket and pillow, Lizzy meanwhile seemed all too happy to fall into hers, judging from her sudden change in body language she had been just as tired as Ratty and simply doing her best to hide it, which made sense, she was still somewhat sickly and recovering from malnourishment, and they had been travelling quite a lot.
"I missed beds..."
She mumbled to no one in particular, lazily kicking off her boots and disappearing under the blankets, basking in the warmth of cotton.
 
Trudging along in the rear of the line, the rodent paused only for a moment to go over these ideas being pushed into its head. Its tail lashed to the side in glee at the prospect of eating more strange rocks, or... any other shape of edible magic that it might happen across. The very thought sent a shiver down the creature's spine: it was like trying a new plant or animal for the first time, except different. Nourishing? Questionably so. Still, the tired mammal could rest easy, knowing its closest companion had already worked out the solution to a problem that wouldn't even arise for many, many moons, probably. Now, reaching that level of magical understanding? That could take time too, but time was something the creature had plenty of.

It took only a moment to watch the reptile kick off her boots before gaining an understanding of this 'bed' concept, and after climbing up one of the sheets, the creature burrowed inside and curled up for a long rest.

The dream, this time, lacked conversation. Again the rat was half-person and half-rodent, but small. Walking down a street, looking at a number of small houses, each surrounded by trees, even the roar of the metal monstrosities from other glimpses of this realm were minimal. The strange creatures lie stationary near houses, and were ignored on the walk. However, every few homes the rodent felt itself drawn to one of them, and would call out in one way or another: a whistle, a pat on the legs, and a four-legged beast would come running up to sniff and greet.

Like the children did for the rat earler that day, it reached down to pet them, and when moving on from the house, the strange animals would follow. One had short fur, and another's fur stood straight up and bristled. Another yet had long, curly, golden fur. Another visit to another house, and another creature would come along for the walk, that possibly should have ended back at the first house, but the rat kept walking past it, into the trees, and past a barbed-wire barrier of some sort.

Into the sea of trees they all went, exploring trails and admiring a strange pond. Time seemed to have lost all meaning out here, but at some point the rodent had found its way back to the houses, lying down in the grass and just surrounded by the happy, cuddly, barking creatures in a pile. They all had names, the rodent realized. It had called them by name, but what those names were, it couldn't remember.

It didn't matter anymore. They were good friends, but long gone. They'd have to be, to appear in dreams like this one.

When the rat awakened, it would awaken refreshed, but unless it was disturbed by something it would likely sleep in. Beds were soft, warm, cozy. This one could imagine wanting to keep one for itself.
 
Waking would eventually come whether the rodent wished for it or not, their rest was pierced and ended by a loud crowing, that was vaguely recognisable as a feathered creature of some variety, there were such things in the forest, and even some that made that noise, though usually it resulted in them being eaten quite fast, so it was rarely a problem for sleeping creatures, clearly this one was under the protection of the tall people for some indecipherable reason, after all who would WANT to be woken up early? The dull light streaming through the window showed that it was barely light outdoors... But It was probably for the best, Ratty did have an important mission to do that day after all! Step one, find the 'goblins' the elder had mentioned, and see if they could offer more information about the anomaly causing so much trouble.

Well... In actuality the first step was leaving the bed, it was incredibly soft and comfortable and warm, beating even a sleeping pile with Ratty's fellow rodents! Truly this was one aspect of civilisation that would need to be brought to the nest and shared with all, with the added warmth it would even make the occasional dangerously harsh winter much easier to deal with, though admittedly the warm stones in the ruins and abundant natural growth already largely reduced the risks associated with the cold.
Lizzy had amazingly somehow risen from her bed, though clearly reluctant to do so, and was sleepily attempting to don her boots again, while there were scales around her feet, they did not seem to cover enough that walking barefoot was practical, at least in a place like the great forest where there were so many things that would be bad to step on.
She did seem to be trying to avoid making much noise, perhaps she had not noticed Ratty's consciousness and was attempting to allow them to sleep? It seemed like something the lizard would attempt to do.

There was also something else to consider... Pearl it seemed had been watching while Ratty dreamed, and recording, in fact, Ratty's dream was nearly perfectly remembered, as if it was a memory of an event that just happened, apparently the sentient pearl had deemed it important to remember and ensured that it would be, though for what reason even it didn't know... It just instinctually knew that the strange world of Ratty's dream was important, and, admittedly, quite interesting for the being that had seen so little even of their current world.
 
Entrapment. Entrapment of the comfortable kind, blended with the annoyance of a bird that should have learned not to sing like a <?????> before the great big ball of flammable fumes in the sky reached its peak: the dozing rodent tried covering its ears, rolling further into the cocoon of linens, and mentally trying to shut itself back off, but nothing could prevail against the abominable crowing. Eventually the creature bundled up so much it slipped from the bed itself, bringing the blanket down with it with a sudden thud.

The jolt woke the creature up, and after a moment it shambled from its cloth burrow, shaking its head and body about. That wasn't enough sleep, at least to the creature's own perception, but the rest had pulled the rat from the mental haze that had plagued it the day before. Something about reaching into the depths of its memory for knowledge seemed... dangerous, as though it might be better off not doing so without purpose. But, the hazards had been worth the knowledge before; perhaps they would be once more? Well, perhaps if the rat didn't have an important investigation to undertake.

The creature yawned, trying to sort through what it was thinking about while looking its reptilian friend over. What should have been a blur by recent memory felt... real? And vivid! The creature wasn't sure what to make of the different style of homes, but last night's dream seemed a little more comfortable than the ones before it, almost relaxing. And, the important takeaway from the experience was the knowledge that the rat.... loved puppies in its previous life? And it could also communicate with them, even if they did not share a language! Perhaps there were other creatures like them in this world, if humans also lived here, but the rodent had yet to lay eyes upon them.

The rodent stood up and waved to its friend, calling out with a squeak. They had a big day ahead.

Ready to go, or eat?
 
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The otherworldly knowledge that lurked just beyond the edge of Ratty's conscious mind seemed to be an ever present threat, having leaked into dreams multiple times and even revealed things while the rodent was awake and active, at least it seemed to be becoming easier to process and understand without head pains and sickness though, showing that perhaps in time Ratty might be able to view more without risk, and possibly even learn useful things from said dreams, after all, it seemed Pearl was learning things from that knowledge as well, filling it's extensive gaps in basic knowledge and communication by accessing Ratty's dreams, perhaps that studying of said dreams was why Pearl had ended up saving them as such vivid and clear memories?

At first the latest dream didn't seem entirely useful, it was a good dream to be sure, especially as Ratty had so few to compare it to, their dreams before Pearl's intervention being incredibly simplistic or not even remembered, but at first glance didn't contain much knowledge other than the fact that puppies were good, and likely could be communicated if they existed in this world, after all humans were able to be communicated with, or at least understood.
There was one important take from the dream, though it could have been something Ratty had already deduced, and that was that other races, even ones without a complex wordy language could be talked to and befriended, even without a magical pearl to assist with the translation and motions required, in fact... Since Pearl gained so much of it's knowledge from Ratty, wasn't it possible that it's assistance with communication was at least in part derived from that otherworld knowledge? Either way Pearl was too busy analysing the current dream to say anything.

Lizzy was in the process of stretching when Ratty questioned her, and finished before answering.
"I believe this mission is important and we should not delay too much..."
She started to say before being interrupted by the all too familiar stomach growling of a hungry creature, a noise that was apparently universal among species, though Ratty fortunately had not heard it too often in their life.
"But... Maybe food is needed first..."
She seemed slightly embarrassed for some reason, the noise was just a noise that declared someone required food but seemed to be the source of her shame.
It wasn't even strange for her to be hungry, she had been eating similar amounts and things to Ratty recently, despite being much larger.
Fortunately she had easily accessible food within her now much more full pack, and withdrew something resembling flesh, but dried out and a different colour, smelt much better than raw flesh from a dying creature too.
 
Pausing to stare at the lizard as she expressed her hunger and embarrassment thereof, the rat curled up near the door's exit for a moment, waiting for its companion to finish up with her snack before entertaining any notion of wandering out into the town, much less the forest itself. For some reason or another, the rodent felt it would get nowhere quickly if it made the journey out alone, but it also seemed polite not to encourage eating and walking at the same time. A few moments' delay would mean little in the face of the time they had left.

The moment the reptile had opened the door, however, the creature pulled itself upright and scurried outside: a short journey to the entrance of the meeting hall, where the creature expected either to meet its guide to the forest, or be invited for food before their departure. In either case, there wasn't much left for exploration apart from the market stalls and the treetops themselves. Perhaps another day, no? They had to return at some point.

As for feeding itself, the rat placed little preference between a meal with the elves, and nibbling whatever looked tasty on the way to their destination. Then again, the reptile did express a need. Perhaps she'd appreciate not being forced to dig into her rations so soon?
 
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Once Lizzy had downed a small snack to control her hunger for the moment, she got up and opened the door for Ratty, she was pretty sure her companion would have found a way to get it open eventually but didn't want to make it necessary, she distinctly remembered wishing more people would open doors for her as a young hatchling, having often resorted to dragging chairs and other things to doors to stand upon so she could reach, fortunately, she was fairly tall now, at least as large as the average human man, it had been awkward at first but eventually purely a boon, it seemed that many people were less likely to target someone larger than them for violence or unkindness, well, at least smart people anyway.

The area they were in seemed quite bare of other people, it was apparently something of a guest hall, but there was a distinct lack of guests, whether it was normal or had some special cause was anyone's guess, and fortunately, not Ratty's problem, probably anyway.
They did soon run into someone, a young looking elven lady who seemed to perk up upon seeing them, having looked half asleep before.
"Ahh! The guests... Umm, I was told to wait here for you, food has been prepared for you in the meeting hall you attended yesterday, you will also meet your guide there, unfortunately the Elder had other business to attend to, but she wishes you the best and will be eagerly waiting your return once you have purged the anomaly..."
The woman explained.

Assuming Ratty had no sudden complaints about acquiring food and meeting their guide, she would lead them back to the meeting room (just in case Ratty had failed to memorise the way there while half asleep and exhausted).
Within the room were three plates, one was loaded with clearly fresh vegetables and salad, while the other had similar things but also a small amount of meat, the third was half empty and sat in front of the child from the previous day, while the sentry stood nearby, this close up it was much easier to see the resemblance the two shared.
"I hope the food is acceptable, the merchants informed us that your companion was fond of meat, however we were not certain which foods you enjoyed".
He explained to Ratty.
 
Tilting its head at the receptionist, the rat stared for a moment before turning to follow. Though part of the creature expected a meal to be prepared, it couldn't help just a little confusion at the lengths these people traveled to make a mere rodent comfortable. Another lesson in that etiquette thing, perhaps? A stray thought suggested that this was how such a person would like to be treated if it were the guest in the home of another, or if the elder were far more perceptive than her admission to scrying hinted, this was her way of trying to teach the rat about civilization, perhaps to contradict anything that the other village might have taught the rodent.

A stretch, surely.

With a nod to both the reptile and the girl, the rodent scurried along the walls back into the meeting hall (and only got lost a little bit before finding the receptionist again) and scaled whichever chair had cushions prepared for it. Once atop, a quick scan across the table revealed food! Food enough for three, it appeared, as well as some familiar faces. It took a few seconds for the creature to realize just who the child was, at which point both its ears perked upright and it gave a sudden, almost frantic-looking wave of its hand. It even squeaked out loud in an attempt to say hello. Of course, this child's presence was worrying on its own: not to doubt the capability of what must have been one of the only two elves that understood the rodent's method of communication or anything. Clearly there could be none better for the task, yet to send a fledgling into certain danger, the rat couldn't ascertain whether this was a statement of the amount of trust these people were placing in it, or of their desperation to see this crisis averted. The word 'gravity' came to mind.

Hello <again>, kind <friends>! Never eat these <before>. Are we to walk together?

After a moment to await an answer, the creature acknowledged it and started digging into the plate before it, nibbling at the different strange vegetables to get a taste for everything. It seemed... edible? But again, no real preference established itself, except for a few oddities that were left with a single bite. If there were olives, corn, or onions on the plate, those would likely be the only things left intact after eating. But, the rat thought it strange that it wanted no part in those specific things: fragments of its past life finding their way through, perhaps?
 
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It was likely just a stretch... Though the Elder had been watching and probably had observed Ratty's encounters in the human village... And it would make sense that she wished to display the kinder, more polite side of society, after all if Ratty had decided they hated society, and was fine with the two leggers and some predatory animals being driven from the forest, then her people would likely have been forced to leave their homes forever, and it seemed doubtful that they had many places where it would be safe for them to flee to, judging from how different races seemed to dislike each other for some reason.
Of course it still made just as much sense that this was just how their society acted, honoring guests and ensuring they had what they needed, especially if those guests were potentially going to help them.

The same seat as before had been prepared, notably with slightly different cushions, so they had not just left them there but replaced them with clean, and slightly warm cushions, an act that seemed somewhat unnecessary but perhaps they had needed the chair for something else? There were after all many people in this town who might need to speak with their elder.
Notably the child also had a cushion on their seat, though only one, suggesting that somewhere there was a stockpile of cushions for shorter guests.

The youngling notably perked up at Ratty's greeting, it was slightly similar to the way Lizzy reacted when people spoke to her, which Ratty was fairly sure was not the standard response judging from other people they had met so far.
"Oh! Friend! These are really good, some of the bigger people grow them in the village".
The child explained, their eyes doing a similar flash as they took in Ratty's attempt to communicate as if it was fluent... Elvish? Was it strange to assume a particular sub group of elves might be using a language dubbed as elvish? After all, humans did not speak Humanish and it was unknown if lizards even HAD their own language.
Perhaps Ratty would need to ask some time in the future, if it ever became important information.
"Umm... Yes! The Elder said I am to go along and help guide you... I hope it's not a problem..."
The child seemed somewhat insecure, picking at the hem of their tunic.

Fortunately the sentry seemed to pick up on that and decided to step in to explain.
"Children are somewhat less affected by the anomaly, likely due to their lesser attunement to the forest's energies, Daoin especially has a talent for keeping others calm around the anomaly's edges, of course I will be coming as well, at least as far as I possibly can, ideally Daoin will not go anywhere I cannot as well".
He seemed protective of the child, and with how similar they appeared, it was probably safe to say they were close family, at least going off of Ratty's limited knowledge of the subject.

Most of the things on the plate were things Ratty had no prior experience of, there was one thing that resembled a wild onion, with similar taste and coloring, and would as such be left alone, the child too left some things on their plate so clearly it wasn't required in this society to eat everything you were served, Lizzy however cleared her plate, likely trying to catch up on a past of missed meals.
 
The shy elf-child had clearly left an impression on the rat: not even food could interrupt their little conversation completely, and the way the creature perked up to gives its responses seemed almost bounce-y. Whether it was just a matter of their previous interactions not containing any serious matters, or just a circumstance of the two being on similar age wave-lengths, well.... The rodent wouldn't be the one to catch onto that, especially not this soon after waking. At least it was perceptive enough to acknowledge that other people would require the elder's attention, though the rat couldn't think of much reason the elder would have need to speak with it further.

We know! Friends showed <squeak> at the outskirts yesterday. Lots of good things here. Many thanks for the tour! Would love to visit again sometime, when things are less dire. And of course it's not a problem if we are to travel together! Just... if danger shows itself, be sure to get behind us. Reptile is good at warding it away, but ideally we'll part ways long before anything worthy of attention crosses our path. How well do you know the forest?

The rodent must have looked strange, stopping between bites and chomps to wave its arms around, to say nothing of how much more talkative it was this morning. After a good few minutes it calmed down a bit, turning its attention toward the sentry himself, and nodding in response to the explanation, even appearing relieved that it wouldn't have to find a safe place to leave the youngling on its own when they neared the anomaly itself. Though, with the receptionist in on the contents of their meeting, it was starting to sound like the nature of this favor was everyone's concern.

The creature's ears flickered at the mention of one's connection to the forest. If that was the catalyst for people losing their wits, then... perhaps this was something that was designed to disrupt nature? Again, without any visual data to go on, it was just more guesswork to be worked out later, but for now at least a plan could be discussed. Of course, with the nature of this being a tad more serious than any discussion with the smaller elf, the rodent's motions were more evenly measured, less excitable.

We can set forth as soon as you are ready. The plan so far is to investigate the settlement we discussed yesterday and possibly use it as a rendezvous point should any of us get separated. Supposedly we've -some- time before that location becomes unsafe, and perhaps they would like to know this matter is being investigated. It could help with tension. There is also the possibility that they have investigated this themselves and found something, but for now we shall assume that Reptile will be the only one to accompany into the shroud. Thoughts?
 
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The child seemed just as happy to talk as Ratty was, their enhanced communication abilities had ensured that it was difficult to make friends with other children, something about knowing exactly what the other person truly meant any time they began to say something or gesture or muttered under their breath was undoubtedly an incredibly useful skill... However it meant that one could functionally hide nothing from them, and things such as subtlety or double meaning were effectively useless, meaning that other children tended to not want to talk, in case they gave something away.
This large rat was different though! Their ability was so busy just establishing basic communication that it didn't have time to analyse every single word and gesture for meaning, and they could just... Talk, it didn't hurt that for some reason Ratty FELT like a child, or at least someone in the same general age range.

"Oh! Yes! Please do come back... There is more to show! Next time I wanna show you the trees! Almost half the town is up there and it's so fun to climb! Oh and the play area! It's for kids but you're allowed to play on it too".
They gave solemn permission to access what was clearly an important place for the elven children, already trusting Ratty perhaps a tiny but more than they should at this point, but they WANTED to trust someone, and to make a friend... So it was okay.
"Oh! Right, I'm not allowed to fight yet so I will hide behind someone, I don't think Hin will let any danger get near me though, he's the best archer in the town!"
The praise seemed to fluster the sentry just a little bit, though he didn't blush.
"Umm... I know the forest really well, I spend loads of time in it! I even visited the Uhar before! They gave me tea but it wasn't sweet so I didn't like it".
That was a new word, it seemed familiar though... It quickly occurred that that word has previously been understood as 'Goblin' when Pearl was translating.
During their conversation Lizzy had been glancing at Ratty and... Smiling? It was faint but she seemed to like seeing her only friend talkative like this, she herself... Still had issues with talking to people but had hope she might improve!

Peal had some comments on Ratty's thoughts it seemed.
"If... Disrupt Nature... Why not. Affect Ratkind?"
It asked, mostly to itself, figuring it was more likely to figure it out itself than for Ratty to, Ratty wasn't stupid or anything, just had more to focus on while Pearl just had to focus on assisting Ratty whenever possible and sometimes helping with translating, something it didn't even need to do with these strange elves.

"We are prepared to leave immediately".
The sentry declared after a quick look over of Daoin, checking that the child was indeed ready and had finished eating.
"We have been in communication with the Uhar until recently when the anomaly began to make it difficult to travel or communicate with magic, they had no new insights at the time but have have learned more since".
He explained, before nodding in confirmation.
"Yes, at the moment unless the Uhar have discovered something new, you would be the only two able to enter the anomaly at this point".
 
Trees! We'd never thought to climb them! Big, scary birds like to live up there, and it's not safe to climb with a bird-stone in hand. But if you are with us, then... - More peculiarities with the rodent's speech pattern. One could assume its insistence on using 'we' was because of the reptile's presence, or perhaps due to its thinking typically circling about to the warren as an entire entity that this rodent was simply part of. The pearl would likely have caught on to the rat's lack of a sense of self by now, but the others might not. Perhaps that's what made deciding on a name for itself so difficult?

Apart from the small talk, it appeared there was still more important information to gleam from the tall elf's words: magical communication over long distances. A messenger spell, if one would. Also, the name of the people that inhabited the settlement would be useful to know... possibly, if the rodent ever learned some sort of verbal or written speech and had need to communicate with them after this journey. It seemed a stretch, but given the effort the rodent's translator was putting into communicating with... pretty much anyone close by? It seemed too prudent a detail to ignore. But, if the Uhar were a type of people, wouldn't it make more sense in this instance to call them by the settlement they inhabit? More questions too rude to ask; not enough satisfying answers.

With a glance in the reptile's direction, the rodent took a moment to confirm her readiness to depart (and another to look at the new stick she had with her) before getting one last nibble in and jumping down to the floor. From there, it stood by the door until somebody opened it and scurried back into the labyrinth of halls in search of the exit!

....and assuming nothing else worthy of note happened, allowed the Hin and the Daoin to lead it away, back into the forest for another long journey.
 
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That was one thing that, despite their supernatural translation abilities, both of the elven translators struggled with, the way their guest referred to themselves as 'we' rather than I or similar words, it was clearly a plural meaning and didn't seem like it would apply to Lizzy... And as it seemed instinctual, with Ratty not attempting to use it to convey some hidden meaning, they couldn't understand it as anything but a random word in a sentence, they of course didn't know about Pearl's existence so even that wasn't an option.
Ultimately though they decided not to press the matter, after all, who could know what was cultural and what was a verbal tick when it came to a race none of them even knew COULD communicate on such a level before?

Lizzy was most certainly ready, having fully awoken after her food, the sluggishness from earlier nowhere to be seen and her equipment seemingly all stowed away in the bag she carried, while her staff was in her right hand, it seemed there was a place she could put it on her back, a loop it could be put through to hang from, but she was using it almost like a third leg, placing it against the floor when she walked, presumably it aided in walking, after all, as Ratty very well knew, having more than two legs was clearly the superior way of locomotion, though the one older rat with only three legs certainly didn't seem to move around as easily as Lizzy could.

Observing the staff gave odd insights, the stick was clearly magical, something Ratty had become exceptionally good at sensing, at least in inanimate objects, likely due to Pearl's handiwork, but more than that, it seemed almost... Asleep? Like the magic was resting, waiting until it was needed, much like Pearl would often do.
More interesting was that the magic was mostly in the wood, though there was a small shiny rock on the top of it with some magic in it... Of course this rock was likely off limits, since eating it might break Lizzy's new special stick and that wouldn't be a nice thing to do to a friend.

The journey was at a surprisingly brisk pace, even Daion was able to move through the woods as well as any mature forest dwelling creature, despite being a youngling, and not even among the larger of the younglings seen in the village, Lizzy was able to ignore most plants, her new, tough robes easily standing up to the many branches and thorns, and her scaled patches seemingly enough to protect against anything her robes didn't stop, the sentry was most impressive though, he seemed to almost effortlessly avoid every branch and thorn, even avoiding stepping upon most plants, it was almost weird to look at as he displayed more of the weird uncanny grace of his people.

It was after they moved a short way from the village that it became clear... They were being followed, whatever was following them was clearly a creature of the forest... Perhaps even a predator, but was by no means exceptionally stealthy, in fact it barely seemed like it was trying to be stealthy, it was hard to identify as... it smelled like something vaguely tasty but obviously not natural in any way.
Whatever it was the elves didn't seem to take much note of, though judging from the slight flick that Hin's ears performed, he was aware it was there, whatever it was, and it would be up to Ratty to decide whether to investigate or not.
 
Somehow the rodent missed its friend's new robes from her journey through the marketplace yesterday, but it couldn't not notice that she was infinitely more prepared for a foray into the unknown than when they first met. Even her presence seemed less like a timid servant, though her silence for the past few conversations didn't do as much to make her seem wizardly(?) as her new robes did. Perhaps she just wasn't a social creature? But then again, why would she be, knowing how people tend to treat her?

It mattered little in the great forest. Surely there were things to talk about, but saving one's breath meant more energy for the journey, and not disturbing the forest as much as one had to while traveling through it. Clearly these leggy people had turned such a concept into a form of art, to dance with the trees as Hin does, but something caught the rodent's attention a bit late, and while it pondered in the middle of its walk what this possibly-tasty-maybe-predator creature was that was following it, its stride didn't stop for several minutes as it tried to decide what to do about it.

In the end, the rat suddenly stopped and turned around, waiting for the creature to either approach or move on. It wasn't a good sneak... or at least, it was intentionally prowling for a good ambush. Perhaps it wanted to talk? Hopefully the rodent wouldn't need to break out its little magic spell just yet, but having that as an option for made it a little more confident in letting the stranger approach.
 
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Lizzy was generally a quiet person, she had only really talked to a select group of people for most of her life in social situations, and had always been sure to only speak when spoken to when around superiors in the guild, that was simple respect, drilled into all mages during their training, however that was exactly why she had been so quiet around the elder.
She could tell at a glance when a mage was vastly more skilled and experienced than her, she was simply running on instinct despite her burning desire to ask questions about the scrying methods the elves used, the guild had fairly unreliable scrying that lacked detail or sound, and as for long range communication... That normally took at least three mages to perform, one for the targeting, one to convert the message into magical energy and one to actually push it along the established connection.
Of course she felt more able to speak with the sentry and the child but... Ratty seemed to be having so much fun chatting and the sentry didn't seem like they'd be fond of talking and was giving information to ratty anyway... So she resigned herself to sit still and be quiet, something she happened to be an expert at!

"I don't like how few wild creatures there are... Normally there are birds and small fluffy things around when I wander through the forest..."
Daoin commented as they walked, clearly not winded, these long legged folk were something else, they seemed so naturally athletic, their endurance apparently near endless, at least compared to humans and many creatures.
That comment also revealed something... Less birds likely was related to the anomaly, though it was supposedly not this far along yet... Perhaps birds could feel it and decided not to nest near something clearly dangerous? AS flying creatures they had much more choice in where they chose to make their homes after all.
The smaller creatures were likely similar, though it seemed odd that they would have moved already, small creatures often had established burrows with family, younglings and elders alike.

Ratty's sudden actions caught the sloppy creature off guard, it had been in the process of moving from one bush to another, and was caught out in sight, or at least partially so, and after standing frozen for a moment, apparently decided to step forwards, revealing the familiar shape of a bull cat, specifically one with small wooden blocks on it's horns.
"Sarash! You followed us? Silly!"
Daoin declared, running over to give affectionate rubs to the creature's head.
"Hahh... That crazy Bull Cat was always so eager to look out for the young ones... I don't suppose there'd be a reason to send you away... You'd just come back wouldn't you?"
Hin asked the cat, though it was impossible to tell if it understood or if Hin even intended to be understood, instead, he walked over and gently removed the wooden blocks, revealing razor sharp horns that could easily skewer any unfortunate target, it seemed Hin had decided the creature would accompany them as extra security.

The Bull cat, who's smell was now more notable since it was so close, even though said Bull Cat smell was mixed with that strange nostalgic tasty scent, proceeded to give Ratty a long look, Bull Cats and Large Rodents rarely had interaction, Bull Cats were too large for Rats to eat, but had small enough groups that attacking rats would usually be suicide, fortunately this one seemed to see Ratty as an ally, at least from what could be gleaned from a look.
 
When the song of the bird and the chirp of the bug cannot be heard, it can be inferred that a disturbance of some sort is afoot. The elders are oft quick to notice, as it tells of the presence of unwelcome guests: those who drive us from our nests. Have yet to see this, but am reminded of its looming presence. We moved nests over a similar disturbance. Not ready to move nests again, but.... people in large numbers would frighten many creatures from their roost, and where one treads, more are certain to follow. No reason to doubt this shroud's further expansion.

The rodent explained some of its insights regarding the lack of wildlife in the area, and vented some of its frustrations with this dilemma: a wild tangent that could only scarcely be related, but the circumstances were similar enough. Wild bull-cats and birds-of-prey being driven from the area would certainly be a boon to the new nest's safety, but those could be eluded with cunning and, as the rat's thoughts kept gravitating toward lately, an unpredictable defense. Far more dangerous to the nest was the threat of more would-be archaeologists venturing into the ruins with axes and torches.

And again, the rodent's instincts urged it to find a way to hunt down and silence the two intruders that escaped, but only when staring the bull-cat down did the rat realize what the problem with that was. That long look Sarash gave the creature: alien to the rat's own senses, but indisputably feline; an expression the creature dare not familiarize itself with before now. And, it was alone, too. For just a moment the rat drew closer, getting a better view of the large, horned animal. Better to develop an understanding now than be caught by surprise later: the cat might have a better nose for prey, after all. The creature still scurried away from Sarash after a moment, back onto the trail. The child's friendship with this creature just made sense: when one doesn't spend their time among people, they find friends among the not-people. And, it wasn't just rats that formed relationships like this. Those beasts from the dream last night, the fluffy ones, did the same thing.

Hin's musings all but confirmed the notion. If anyone knew this feline's nature, it'd be him.

With no good reason to hold the group up trying to get to know Sarash, the rat moved back to Lizzy's side, occasionally diving through brush and tugging its strange cape through the foliage. There -was- something the creature needed to ask her, and while it could wait until the other relevant parties were present, to wait until then to bring it up might give the reptile the wrong impression. Plus, given that the new nesting grounds were now in the territory of this unstable shroud, the rodent couldn't shake the possibility that these circumstances were related. At least, not without an answer. Thankfully the creature had an interpreter present; otherwise asking would be an arduous effort.

Reptile. Do you remember the day we met? Have question. Not sure if relevant. For what reason did Charred Corpse venture in? He said something when we fought. 'Rat not supposed to be here.' Is puzzling. He must have known something to even find that place, but only barks in obscenities. Something must have alerted him to the presence of some magical oddity or another, and that led him to the ruins, but did he say anything?

It was a long shot: that corpse-man hated Lizzy, and to a lesser extent he must have disliked Edric and Gora, but that was the reason the rat was so uncertain about finishing them off, and even took measures to help one of them escape pursuit. They might have known something that Lizzy wouldn't be privy to... and perhaps they were not also there for destructive purposes, at least not of their own volition. There might be future attention from local human-types at the nesting grounds, but the survival of those two was not the factor that the rodent initially thought.
 
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The Bull Cat seemed content with Ratty's momentary investigation, it personally knew all it needed from it's nose and investigation the previous day, when it had watched Ratty with the children in case they turned out to be a threat, and the way the tall two leggers treated the strange rodent confirmed that Ratty was not a threat, perhaps they were even similar in a way, both protecting the two legged younglings, the feline had been protecting younglings as long as it could remember, and would not allow simple feline instinct to cause trouble for the group, even if it had no idea WHY the child and older two legger were adventuring when the air was so strange and intimidating.

With their new addition to the group taking a position at the rear, keeping an eye on the group, and Daoin especially, the part moved out, continuing towards their destination of the nameless goblin settlement, by now even Lizzy was starting to show some tiredness, the distance might not have been massive but she was carrying a lot and only had two legs to move with after having put her staff away to use both hands in the task of moving plants and branches out of the way, a task Ratty had to do far less due to their massively lesser height when compared to the two leggers.
Still though she didn't seem ready to stop, they were getting close to their destination now, where they could hopefully rest in some greater comfort than the depths of a forest or perhaps a clearing if they were lucky.

Despite her apparent growing tiredness Lizzy was able to answer Ratty, after some time to consider if she DID know anything worth telling her companion about anyway.
"Of course I do... That was a very important day, I think it might be one of my most important that I have lived through".
She declared firstly, though didn't feel she needed to explain why it was such an important day.
"I... Don't know everything, but he did let things slip... I know he was hired by someone to find something valuable... I was there though not in the room, the person he spoke to felt... Strange, something magical but not a type I have encountered before".
Admittedly she was far from well travelled or even a master of her one school of magic so that wasn't too strange...
"He paid upfront with promises of more, it was a lot of coin, though lots were of older make... I have them with me still".
She gestured to the coin pouch she carried still.

As they talked a scent began to waft near them, it reminded Ratty of burning meat... Though better somehow, perhaps a sign of cooking? If so it meant that their destination was near, a fact confirmed by Hin moments later.
"The settlement is close, we should be able to see the smoke of their fires very soon".
He was correct as soon the village came into view, if it could be called that, it seemed very much more temporary than the elven town, with many odd leather structures and fires out in the open, the ground showed no signs of farming either.
The people were very different too, shorter than the humans, with skin that resembled the foliage around them green various shades, their clothes were simpler as well, though still tough and functional looking.
 
The rodent's ears pinned back as it listened to its reptilian friend's words, annoyed to have its suspicions confirmed: the nest would be in danger again, likely soon, and stopping the two humanfolk from spreading word about dangerous ruins filled with rats would do nothing to stop it, apart from possibly keeping a certain type of problematic human from the site. The details of this mysterious giver-of-ancient-coin were a touch more worrying: someone with ties to both magic and power, who need not investigate by their own efforts, would surely send more armed guests into the ruins after discovering the previous attempt ended in disaster, and whether they were on the correct trail of whatever it was they sought, only one conclusion could be drawn.

We are going to be very busy after this foray into the shroud. Whoever that person is, they've designs on something in this forest and either already know their last attempt at securing this object ended in failure, or are soon to reach that conclusion from Corpse's silence. - Shroud, castle, tower, and the remaining portion of the temple: daunting. There may not be time to report a success or failure back to the elder of... Tarkhal Enial? The rodent supposed it could send Hin and Daoin back for such a thing, or if they were not fond of waiting, the elder could just investigate on her own: she clearly had the means. In any case, this was disappointing news. Yes, those were going to be the rodent's next destinations, but having serious reasons to explore those ruins and a sense of some urgency surrounding it took some of the fun out of discovering just what lie inside, untouched for a great many moons.

The creature raised its nose up to get a whiff of the burning-meat smell as soon as it caught the scent, surprised to learn that these settlements were merely a day's travel apart, yet all so different from one another. When the tents and smoke became visible, it repositioned itself at the front of the group and started brushing twigs and shrubbery from its little cape, keen on at least attempting to look less haggard on arrival than it did at the elf settlement. All that remain on the approach was to see if someone would come out to greet them before entry.
 
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The revelation was unfortunately not good, though Lizzy felt bad about delivering it, she really wished she could just say it was her previous... Employer's, decision after taking a while guess, but no, someone had seemingly gained knowledge of the ruins and was sending people in, and would probably send more after the first party didn't come back, they were wealthy enough to pay random unlicensed idiots up front after all.
Which meant they would need to either prepare a defense, perhaps train some of the other rats to fight or even acquire some guardians for the nest, much in the way Ratty had collected Lizzy, who certainly didn't seem inclined to leave any time soon...
Or they would need to track down the employer somehow, and MAKE them stop sending people... Of course the latter was a pipe dream, Ratty was just a rodent with a single companion after all.

It was highly likely that the elder could investigate things on their own, after all, they had explained themselves that their incredibly powerful scrying abilities were currently only really limited by the strange anomaly blocking them, in fact it could even be possible that they might search for the person who hired Lizzy's group if Ratty requested it as a reward!
The timeline for exploration wasn't necessarily incredibly urgent either, the employer would still expect to wait a while for the first few to explore and then travel back before they'd have to gather more, and they might not even know of the other ruins either.

The village had many similarities to the elven home, though the buildings were smaller, crude and mostly made of hides, the ground was uneven and rough and they cooked on open fires rather than in homes, the people acted much the same, talking, playing and it looked like a few had returned with various berries and leaves in an odd round thing made of what looked to be dried plants.
They were indeed greeted, by a friendly looking person with a surprisingly fine looking metal stick hanging at his side.
"Ho friends! It is always a fine day to see the Syol visit! And you bring guests too? I... Assume you need the elder?"
His was well spoken, seeming at odds with the simple looking settlement, and had apparently been expecting them.
"The Elder is communing with the Spirits of the forest, I am afraid she cannot be disrupted, but we would be pleased to entertain you as guests while you wait".
 
Looking around the various structures and open flames these people had gathered around, the rodent pondered on why these structures were so inferior to the homes found elsewhere in the forest, but it didn't take very long to piece this puzzle together: these weren't houses, but some sort of portable equivalent that served the same purpose. They wouldn't hold together in a real storm, but they didn't need to, because these people were nomadic. If danger moved too close to them, they would surely pack up and find a better nesting ground for their people: wisdom a wild, overgrown rat could relate to, even if it doubted it would find anything better than the stone halls of its own new nesting grounds.

Clearly these people were in little danger, relative to the... Syol, the local sentry said? The rat turned its head to face Hin for confirmation, registering the name for later use as it turned its head back to face the person greeting them. The creature expressed no disappointment in learning the local elder was busy at the moment: she would be the person to converse with in this situation, but those in charge of looking after the needs of entire settlements led busy lives, even without considering any urgent matters that might be demanding attention. Truly, it was strange that the scrying one made time for a guest on such short notice, but then again, she had time to prepare.

Standing upright, the rodent moved to the side, giving either Hin or Daion a clear view of its signings to translate.

We have time. Was Elder Uhar expecting guests?
 
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