The chorus of chirps and yipping and a various number of creatures calling filled the air as Io wandered about in the forest. She clambered over large roots, unable to stop looking up at the trees that loomed over head. Her milky brown hair stuck to her face with sweat, and though she was fascinated, Io was panting heavily. She had been at this for hours, and the sun couldn't possibly being staying up much longer, but all she could see was a continuous expanse of trees, no landmarks to guide her. Someone in the city had given her a map, and it detailed a pathway that lead into and out of the forest- but seeing the way the flora swallowed the earth and sky in this place made her believe that it must be an outdated map. 

Io continued on, her legs aching and her head pounding. The change in pressure, the humidity made her feel sick. Perhaps if it was cool out she wouldn't feel so nauseated, but now each step she took made her wibble and wobble like a child's toy. Her satchel full of papers and charcoal stubs swung at her side, only worsening her balance. For all the water that was hanging in the air, she had et to find anything to drink. it's a rain forest she had thought it'll rain. You don't need to bring too much water. At the moment Io cursed herself for being such an idiot, making assumptions. In the distance she could hear the flow of water and of a raging water fall, but it was too far away, and the light of day was fading. She had planned to make it there before sunset, but the terrain had been a little less forgiving than she had hoped and she had been delayed. Now she would be left in the dark with no shelter and no defense against predators. Maybe you can draw them while they maul you you fool she thought to herself. Io had come to see the creatures that resided in the forest, to document them and perhaps have a close encounter to write about, but now a close encounter seemed like a nightmare. Her impulsiveness had once again landed her in a  less than desirable situation- no preparation or thought giving to this expedition. She was too excited to give any pause as to whether or not this was safe or something important like that. 

Finally as her legs were about to give out beneath her, Io found a spot under and overhang of rocks and vines, that could provide some shelter from the elements. A fire was out of the question, dry wood would be harder to find that a gemstone out here, and the only thing burnable would be her papers- and that was certainly not going to happen. She sighed and leaned back, smacking her head against the rock. "Dammit" she muttered under her breath, not even bothering to move. 

Io woke with a start, realizing that there had been a sound, and it was not her own snoring. There is was again, a rustling of the foliage. The scent of a sodden forest hit her nose and she realized it had begun to rain, almost a down pour, and it was hard to make anything out, visually or through sound. There was the soft roar of water droplets striking the hundreds of thousands of leaves up above- and there it was again! Something moving about. She crouched onto her knees, grabbing a nearby stick and sitting in wait, her heartbeat pounding in her ears as her pale green eyes desperately searched through the veil of the rain and vines. She dared not make a sound, trying to hush her breath. Hopefully the storm would cover her scent if it was a predator, but it still would likely not be enough. Io only moved slightly to peer out closer to the vines trying to make out a figure in the dark.

To the right. Now, to the left. OK. To the right again. What's that? Just a bird. No need to worry. OK. 

These were Adaeli's thoughts as she was fox. Short, harsh sentences forged from instinct that kept her alive as took form as a small woodland creature. Her paws tread over the moist earth as her scarlet coat stood out shockingly against the emerald green of the rain forest she was now in. One might wonder was such a creature would be doing here as it was not usual to see Vulpes vulpes out here.

But still, the fox looked as if it had taken this untrodden path a hundred times before with nose to ground and tail sweeping its away any evidence of prints. 

What's this smell? Human. Human! Where?

The fox froze, its large ears swiveling like radar and then clear as a bell, Adaeli had heard the clumsy foot steps of someone unfamiliar with the terrian. Pinning her ears to her head, she contemplated. Should she find the find? Surely, someone who made this much noise in the forest posed no threat to someone who had spent the last decade roaming from forest to forest. 

The fox decided it was best to check it out. If nothing, Adaeli could flee back into the dense vegetation of the forest. She already knew this human would not be able to catch her, especially with the on coming rain. And with that she followed the scent of the woman until she caught the stronger smell of human unsureness tinged a bit heavier with salt from dehydration. 

Adaeli sat behind a some sort of tropical plant. She wasn't so much familiar with the plants of the rainforest but its frauns made for good coverage. The fox watched as the woman suddenly looked alarm as a downpour of water struck her. Even as a fox, Adaeli smirked, Humans, enter something called a rainforest. Look shocked when it rains. 

That is when Adaeli let herself be seen. The fox, still amused, cocked its head to the side, eyes narrowing on the woman. She sat on her hunches and curled her tail gently around her paws, unaffected by the heavy droplets of rain smacking into pelt.

Jake was walking through this forest, on what he though was an increasingly bad tip from another bard that this was a shortcut to the town Jake planned on visiting next. "Ohh just go north through the forest you'll reach your destination in no time" jake mockingly said to himself. Jake thought all bards followed the code of honor his mentor had taught him, "everything's more cut throat on canelux I suppose" he thought to himself. Well it wasn't all bad, the forest was very interesting there was nothing like this anywhere else he'd been in the world, though it would've been nice to come here under the want to see all of this rather than bad directions. Never look a gift horse in the mouth was very much the first thought that crossed his mind after that, "well I'm here so I might as well explore, even if that guy either really hates me or just was extremely misinformed he'll get what's coming to him though." Jake said seemingly just talking to himself. At least he had brought a weeks worth of supplies, he was cheap in many areas, but after a rather close call on the Harena Wastes he always brought more supplies than he thought, or was told he needed.

Jake began heading towards what sounded like rushing water, looking at all the local plants with a sense of wonder he'd never seen anything like this before. While walking Jake pulled out his lute and began trying to play in tune with the forest, he had middling success with this just like with most everywhere else in the world. The problem isn't actually staying in tune he could do that quite easily, the real issue was staying in rhythm with the forest every place had it's own distinct rhythm which was extremely challenging to replicate, he had managed to do it with one place but that was probably just luck. Eventually he managed to find the source of the rushing water, it wasn't a river like he expected well okay it was but this river was different all the water was spilling off a cliff. This left Jake awestruck to the point where he stopped playing his instrument, though after staring at it for a minute he had an idea and he suddenly had a wide grin on his face. That was before he stopped and thought about it for another minute before confirming to himself out loud "as much fun as it looks climbing up this waterfall would end terribly".

Jake decided to leave the falling river as it seems likely that most animals gather there to drink and camping there would not be a smart way to avoid predators, plus there was so much more cool stuff to see. Though his thoughts about shelter only increased when it began to rain, the way he saw it he either had to find shelter, or build shelter. The latter option seeming not feasible considering after it was done the inside was be as wet as the outside, also it would have more holes than the room in the last tavern he stayed in, a room he had got on the cheap. Jake was a notoriously bad builder, not for lack of trying though he could write music but give him a hammer and he'd find some way to ruin it or not use it properly. While thinking about his lack of ability to construct things he stumbled his was past some roots and right near a girl looking rather scared at a fox and the fox looking quizzically back at her. It was then that Jake noticed how tired his legs had become and promptly sat down on the wet muddy ground. He then pulled out his lute seemingly ignoring the other two living things nearby and began pondering what to play "Hmm The butchers folly, or The Kings Requiem?".