"Jomo, please," Brie said. "For the hundredth time, shut up!"
The little monkey giggled, making Brie dislike him even more. But he was useful, and proving so: the weird scent that Brie had smelled earlier was even stronger now, so strong it made her head pound. It was so familiar! Jomo told her again that it came from some odd-looking tree. To Brie, though, all of the trees were odd; she'd never been in a rain forest before. She swore she saw a red flower eat a butterfly.
"We almost there, Jomo says."
"For a rain forest, this place is pretty mellow," Brie said. "I learned in school this place has the most animals on the planet or something."
Jomo didn't understand what she was talking about, but he kept on smiling. "Everyone is either hunting or trying not to be hunted," he told her. "Panther was quiet when he try to eat me."
"I talked to a panther," Brie said aloud, trying to believe it herself. "I talked to a monkey, but then I talked to a panther. I mean...that's not disturbing at all to you?" She then rolled her eyes. "Of course not. You're a monkey. The only thing disturbing to you would be if all your banana's went missing from your dumb little tree."
Jomo continued to lead her, not shutting his little mouth, which gave Brie quite the headache. Jomo nearly made her ears bleed before she saw him stop and wave to another monkey. The monkey was bigger and of the same species. Brie smiled, but in doing so showed her long, white teeth and scared the other monkey to death.
"No, this is Brie. She my friend." Jomo said.
The other monkey approached her. "What are you?"
"A wolf," she replied, tired of repeating herself.
"Where are you off to?" the monkey asked.
"We're going to the strange tree, mommy, where the smell comes from."
The monkey--Jomo's mother--gasped. "No you will not! You don't know what lives there! What if it kills you?"
Brie jumped in, "Listen, Jomo's Mom, I need to investigate what's going on. I'm here from America and--"
"What's America?"
Brie shook her head. "You monkeys don't get around a lot, do you?" She continued walking, passing Jomo. She could rely on her sense of smell to find the strange place, she was sure. But Jomo wanted to follow, and so he did. Brie laughed to herself as she felt him jump on her back. "What did mommy say?" she asked in a mocking manner.
"I want to go. You friend."
"Lucky me..." Brie's nose suddenly started to burn. "We must be getting close," she said aloud. She walked faster, her eyes tearing now. Whatever it was she was smelling had some effect on her body!
Jomo jumped off her back abruptly. Brie turned her head to look at him. His face was grave. He pointed. "It there."
Brie nodded. "Stay here if you want to. I'm checking it out." And she didn't even ask for a reply. She just kept walking, ducking her head from low-lying trees.
She knew she had found it as soon as she saw it. "Woah," was all she said. Jomo had tagged along, hiding behind her back leg. "What is it?"
"It's a...building..." she mumbled, confused. "A building...out here?"
A/N: Sorry about the length! I know, I'm terrible. I will not be updating for a week or two--it's my birthday and also midterms, which means more studying and partying(they go together well in the same sentence, huh?) and less time for fanficing. I'll try to get on, though. Sorry, and enjoy!
