20th of Cobre, 4pm, 1659 (165 days before Starflower's trial)

Crossing the border was an easy yet time-consuming experience.

The entirety of Helix was a kingdom, but the Jaguar Lands was its own nation, and crossing the border meant getting inspected before being given the thumbs up to proceed. Adventurers were not an uncommon sight, so weapons and magic items were not blacklisted by the Jaguar-Helix border guards. In fact, only drugs were outright banned, and items requiring gunpowder only received visible suspicion at best.

The trio camped out in the wilderness of the Jaguar Lands not long afterwards and woke up early on the day of the 20th to move forward. They were officially past the halfway point, and once they crossed the northern border back to Helix, it was home stretch to the cable car station, which would take them to Thule.

But thanks to the permission granted by Gabrielle, the group decided to take their time crossing the Jaguar Lands. The path to the next settlement, Ezmestli, was a dirt road in the middle of the rainforest. The trip was put on hold for a moment because, during their lunch break, Lenoria consumed a concerning amount of water after Alistair tried his hand at making spicy food.

Results were...inconclusive. And now Lenoria wandered into the woods to get it all out of her system one way or another.

"Darn it. Lenoria looked like she was poisoned." Alistair had finished packing everything up and sat on the driver's seat of the wagon. "Miss Clara, can you look for her? I'd like to go, but..."

"No need to worry, Alistair. I got this." The two heard footsteps approach. "Oh, there she is now."

"My tummy hurts..." Lenoria pouted as she sat next to Alistair. "Thanks for waiting, you two."

The trip immediately resumed once the girls sat down at the front. The girls would usually spend most of the time in the back, but every now and then they'd move up next to Alistair.

Lenoria tried to grab Alistair by the cheek, but he stopped her. "W-what are you doing?"

"Can't I admire my love's chiseled face?" She paused. "Oh, right. I washed my hands by the river, Al. It's okay."

"That's not the point," Alistair said softly. He tried holding her back while keeping his eyes on the road, but the girl successfully managed to pinch one of his cheeks. "H-hey!"

"My hands are clean! Promise!"

"Again, not the point!" Hard as he tried, Alistair was unsuccessful in his attempts to wrestle Lenoria away from himself. Once he used his strength to grapple both of her hands, Lenoria slipped away and restarted her struggle anew.

They both laughed as they played, but all four of them (counting Chestnut) froze at the sound of a scream echoing through the forest.

"Did anyone else hear that?" Clara asked.

"I felt that." Lenoria shivered. "It sounded close, too."

"Someone's in trouble. We have to help them." Alistair released the reins and jumped off his seat.

"Wait a minute, Alistair." Clara jumped from the wagon after him, and Lenoria did the same soon afterwards. "We'll go with you."

"No. Stay here and watch the wagon. Bandits pose as injured people all the time. I'm confident you can take them on if they come for you."

"What if you need backup?" Lenoria asked. "Or worse, what if it's something out of your league?"

"We've been able to handle everything so far. I promise I'll be back if I don't find anything in the next minute."

"It's just..." Lenoria gulped. "Last time I rushed in to save someone without a plan...I died. It was only for a little while, but I had never felt as scared as I was during that short amount of time."

"I see." Alistair immediately abandoned the side of the road to met back up with Lenoria. "I won't let anyone hurt you like that eagle did. We'll come up with a plan, but we need to work fast. Any ideas on what we can do?"

Luckily for everyone, Lenoria already had a plan. She reached into a pocket on her duster and from it pulled a golden orb. With a finger tap, the orb sprouted spindly legs and arms, and a single glass eye at the top. It hopped from Lenoria's hand and awaited its orders patiently. "Hello again, Hayate. Would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Ready and waiting, mistress," the tiny machine replied.

"I need you to head northwest for a minute. If you hear nothing, report back here. If you do hear a scream, follow the noise to its source, then report it back."

"At once, ma'am." Hayate ran off into a denser part of the forest. The sound of footsteps wading through the forest undergrowth grew fainter and fainter by the second until they were completely silent.

"I should follow him. Every second counts," Alistair said impatiently.

"I have an idea." Alistair and Lenoria turned to Clara. "Why don't I stay here? Tsukuyomi can stick close to Chestnut in case something attacks, and I can stay in the wagon in case someone attacks. That way, you have each other's backs in case something goes wrong, and I can scream as loud as I can if bandits come out of hiding after you leave."

"Of course. Tsukuyomi's pretty big. I'm sure he can scare most animals and people away." Lenoria grinned. "I got your back, Al. Let's keep a good distance from Hayate. That way, we'll be closer to Clara in case something moves in."

"Excellent. We'll be back before long, Miss Clara!"

Alistair and Lenoria darted off towards the same direction Hayate went off to. They waded through tall grass and low-hanging tree branches, but the way was far from impassable. Lenoria took the lead, unable to discern Hayate's location but she walked as if she knew where she was going. Alistair did his best to keep up while wearing plate mail, but he urged Lenoria to slow down in hushed whispers.

Then they heard the roar of a beast. The two stopped and focused their hearing by closing their eyes. Hearing the grass rustle, Lenoria took out her pistol only to lower it at the sight of her robotic companion. "What did you find, Hayate?"

"A jaguar family, mistress. Unidentified humanoids are currently fighting it. They all wore azure capes."

"It can't be..." Grabbing his mace, Alistair took the lead and continued down the path Hayate came from. "Stay close, you two."

"Right!" Lenoria crouched and placed her hand on the wet rainforest ground. Hayate jumped on it, and with a tap of a button, the robot's limbs and eye went back inside the body. "Good job, Hayate! Please take a break."

Alistair hid behind the trees once the forest opened up again. What he saw in the small open area did not surprise him, but it also did not make him any less angry. One hulking humanoid with short, dark fur, wearing leather armor and an azure cape aimed his bow and arrow at a family of spotted big cats. One big cat - bigger than the rest, with a bone plate protruding from its back - bravely bared its fangs on the humanoid as yet another big cat stood behind it in a defensive posture. Huddled into a corner behind the second big cat was a pair of cubs.

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When Lenoria finally caught up, she hid right next to Alistair. "A jaguar family and a bugbear..." She looked next to the hunter, where she spotted several little green men bleeding out from claw and bite marks. One in particular had his skull split open. "Looks like his goblin entourage didn't make it..." Next to them was the body of yet another big cat, with arrows and knives wedged on its body.

"What are the Blue Jays doing here?"

"They're part of an organization that is publicly known for being righteous, Al. I'm pretty sure the border guards just let them through."

"We can't leave them be. I have to interrogate them."

Lenoria blocked Alistair with her arm. "Let's try to cause as little bloodshed as possible. This doesn't look right, but for all we know, he could be within his rights to hunt these jaguars. If he's as stupid and awful as Spark and his lackeys, then he'll get what's coming to him. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things. I'll have Hayate update Clara on what's going on, and tell her it may take some time before we go back."

"Got it." Alistair calmly came out of his hiding spot and into the opening with his hands raised. The bugbear and the jaguars turned to look at him, the former being much more happier than the latter.

"Hey, kid!" The bugbear kept his eyes on the big cats, whose gazes shifted between him and Alistair. "Good timing. You look like you can fight. Can you help us?"

Alistair remained wary, but he believed it was best to get on the man's good side. After all, bugbears were known to be bullies, but it was folly to believe all of them were like that. "What are you doing wandering in the rainforest like this?"

"My pals and I were out exploring, but these monsters decided to hunt us." The bugbear nervously pointed at the injured jaguar, then gesturing to his bow. "W-we had no choice! You can see what they did to my friends!"

There was no denying the carnage in front of him. With a nod, Alistair carefully made his way to the bugbear and stood between him and the jaguar family. "Very well. I'll cover your escape. Back away slowly and don't take your eyes off of them."

He had recalled some of the animal facts Clara imparted on him when they first entered the Jaguar Lands. Jaguars were solitary creatures, and encountering a family of them was rare. As long as prey animals were abundant, they left humanoids alone. But even if attacks on people were rare, willingly marching into their territory was considered stupid and suicidal. Jaguars were behind only lions and tigers in terms of power, and taking your eyes off of them was an invitation for them to chase you.

With this in mind, the chances of the jaguars attacking unprovoked were next to zero. Something happened here, and Alistair was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Back away? Are you stupid?" The bugbear approached the injured jaguar. "I'm not walking away without my prize!"

The injured jaguar shifted to one side and roared at the bugbear, who quickly backed away from it. Its weak, labored breathing could not be ignored, prompting Alistair to place his mace on the rainforest ground while keeping his shield up. Taking a moment to stare at the pile of goblins on the ground, Alistair then made his way to the injured animal. "There's no saving them. All of them are dead."

"What are you doing?"

"Sir, if I may be frank, it would be better to preserve your own life at this point. Maybe the whole family would leave us alone if I patched this one up."

"Are you insane? They'll kill both of us!"

"They'll come after you for sure if you linger here!" Alistair kept his eye on the jaguar family. The bigger pair watched his movements in anticipation while the cubs, unaware of the danger around them, swatted at the tail of the bigger member of the pair. "They're not attacking. Would it be safe to take my eyes off of them?"

"Stupid brat! I can't let him do this." The bugbear scanned his surroundings, and smiled gleefully when he spotted the boy's mace on the ground. "What an idiot, putting down his own weapon in front of all this danger." The bugbear picked up the mace, keeping his eye on the jaguar family. The bigger jaguar snarled and kicked the dirt with a bluff charge. "Easy. We don't wanna hurt you."

Meanwhile, Alistair removed the knives that had been plunged on the injured jaguar. The animal growled menacingly, but it could only retaliate with weakened swats at the boy. "It's okay. I'm here to help you." He couldn't pull the arrows away, but they should pop out on their own once he used his healing magic. "O, Hammer of Justice, heal this creature with thy righteous hand."

The bugbear raised the mace he stole and aimed for the unaware boy, who had begun the healing process when holy light emanated from his hands. "Sorry, kid, but that's how the Order does things. I'll have to bring his mace and shield as proof. This is an even better catch than those cats. They can have his corpse."

This was all Lenoria needed to see. The girl rushed in, jumped as high as she could, and connected with a boot to the back of the bugbear's head. Once the bugbear turned to see his assailant, he was greeted with an uppercut to the jaw.

"Leave my man alone!"

"Guh! Two of them?!" The bugbear tried to swing at Lenoria, but he felt his whole body collapse when one of the big cats pounced on him. "Ah! Help! Get 'em off me!"

The injured jaguar's eyes opened widely. It immediately got up, made a dash which shoved Alistair aside, and dove on the bugbear with a bite to the skull, immediately ending his screams. The biggest of the three jaguars looked on as the other two ended the life of their oppressor with just two bites, and prepared to run when Alistair and Lenoria took this opportunity to pick up the mace and escape.

"Let's get out of here!"

The couple had a decent start, but they were too slow and eventually the predator caught up to them by jumping a huge distance above them and landing about five feet in front of them. Alistair kicked the dirt to stop on his tracks, stopping Lenoria as well.

"We don't want to fight you," Lenoria pleaded. "We're not with them, I promise!"

"I'll distract it. You go on ahead and get Miss Clara," Alistair said.

The jaguar stopped on its tracks. Then, it stood on its hind legs. The couple waited to see what it would do, but they did not expect for the jaguar's hind legs to turn into humanoid legs. In fact, the rest of its body took on a human appearance before the terrifying head of the beast finally did the same. The jaguar had taken the form of a human-like male with tan skin and shoulder-length black wavy hair, wearing a simple white tunic, white pants, a green cape over his body, and a green headdress. His cat-like ears, eyes, and tail betrayed his human appearance, giving him a more bestial look.

"Ooh, a local!" Lenoria sighed with relief. "I heard the Jaguar people form druidic societies. So he must be a druid." She casually approached the local man. "Nice to meet you. My name is-"

"Stand back." The stranger grabbed his weapon of choice - a wooden club with several embedded blades of obsidian - and made a jabbing motion to stop Lenoria from getting closer.

image [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Macuahuitl_%28DSC07972a%29.jpg/1024px-Macuahuitl_%28DSC07972a%29.jpg]

Image of ceremonial macuahuitl. (Source: Wikipedia)

"Eeep!"

"We mean no harm. Please put away your weapon," Alistair said.

But the catfolk was persistent. "No. First, you outlanders better tell me what you're doing in our forest! The jaguar population has gone down these past couple of months, and I want to know why."

Lenoria raised her hands submissively. "Sorry, we don't know! We're just passing through!"

"Liar!" The catfolk marched forward menacingly. But the feeling of cold metal pressing against the back of his head made him stop.

"Let them go," Clara said, pressing her crossbow against him. "Whatever it is you're accusing them of, they're totally innocent."

"That voice...it can't be..." The young catfolk dropped his club and turned around. Tears welled up in his eyes, turning the cold-hearted warrior into a sobbing mess. "Clara?"