Resting against one of the few trees on the piece of land, the pair of large sacks, crafted out of strong material, remained untouched. This state, however, did not last much longer when the striped rabbit started to sprint towards them.

As he approached the large bags, Jack jumped forward and the most powerful kick he could in that moment towards the one on his left. The force of it had no effect, as the sacks was weighted down by whatever contents were inside of it, incapable of just falling over onto the grass.

From there, the buck proceeded to throw several small jabs towards the sack as if he were in an actual fight. He then practiced his ability to duck, and also continued to work on his high kick as well.

A short moment of time went by, and the lagomorph took a short break. He backed up a few spaces, looking behind him as the figure of an armadillo came strolling forward.

After hearing the tale being recited by the village's storyteller, something else came to pass. The armadillo who was walking up to him approached him and the others as they were leaving the Storyteller's Circle not too long ago. He introduced himself to them as Daiki, informing them that he was a good friend of Emmitt, who they had just returned back to his beloved family. After thanking them for returning the otter back to the village, the subject matter went to Leodore and how they planned to stop him.

What followed from there was Daiki offering to repay Jack and the others for helping Emmitt. He did this by allowing them to use the land he owned to practice their fighting abilities in preparation for their battle against the villainous lion. The armadillo had objects, such as the sacks resting against the tree, that were like punching bags back in the realm the buck and the others came from.

Knowing how the majority of the denizens within this realm were, it was still crazy to Jack how Daiki and the other residents of the village were all so hospitable to them. He and the others were technically sojourners to them, and didn't have to treat them as kindly as they did.

It was like they were the odd ones out in a world that consisted primarily of unfriendly faces, criminals, sorcerers, and mammals bent on the ideas of tyranny and total control. But Jack remembered what Lord Bogo had said not too long ago. If things went as they should and Leodore was defeated, he would request that the members of the village would be given new and much better lives. Lives that no longer consisted of the worries they had at the present moment.

While Jack was momentarily collecting his breath, the armadillo near him remarked, "You are quite skilled, I see."

"Thank you, sir," the striped buck responded.

The armor-shelled mammal continued, "I will admit that I do not have much knowledge when it comes to the art of fighting. However, with the abilities that you just displayed, I just know inside that you will be more than able to stop that menacing lion once and for all."

"I hope so," Jack replied.

The others started to walk up behind them, and the rabbit turned his head so he could see them all. Alongside those who were with him from the other realm was Benjamin, the large cheetah who was also a resident of the quaint village.

The jackrabbit turned back to the armadillo and said, "I believe we must get going now. Thank you, sir, for kindly letting us come here. You and the rest of the village have been very kind to us."

The armadillo responded, "It was my pleasure."

With that, Jack started to walk away from him and join the others where they were. Skye, Lord Bogo, and the rest of them all stood together, proceeding to assess where they would go now.

"I believe it is time we set out from the village and towards the next province away from it," Lord Bogo suggested.

As the others continued to talk with one another, the portly cheetah of the group raised his paw. When they asked him what it was that he wanted to tell them, he asked, "Can I join you?"

They was hesitation amongst the others for a brief moment., but Lord Bogo was the one to end the silence. "Are you certain you wish to trek alongside us?" he inquired in reply. "I am certain whatever awaits us next is quite perilous. We won't forget you or the other villagers if you choose not to come."

With certainty in his voice, the spotted feline answered, "I'm coming with you. I wish to be part of something important, and this is exactly that. I want to join you all in bringing an end to Leodore's reign."

The cape buffalo nodded his head. "Very well."

The cheetah couldn't help but squeal with delight as he and the others started to walk away from the armadillo's land. "This is so exciting!" he remarked. "First I got to take my boat out to the water and help rescue Emmitt, and now I get to help in the defeat of an evil ruler. This day's turning out to be a lot more eventful than I would have ever expected it to be!"

"I understand your enthusiasm for adventure," Lord Bogo said, "but like I said before, things could get dangerous along the way."

Benjamin nodded his head understandingly. "I am quite aware of the possible peril," he replied. "I'm not afraid of much, so I feel certain that I will be okay. And I also happen to have some knowledge of fighting, if I do say so myself. Not as much as you guys might, but enough for me to defend myself if anyone tries to harm me."

Some Time Later...

The words of Benjamin Clawhauser filled the air as he and the other six mammals trekked onward. After he was bided safe travels by a couple of his friends, he and the others all left the quaint village and its humble inhabitant. The lodgings now way out in the distance, they were heading outside of the safe haven that village seemed to provide and into a different section of the dark realm of Outworld.

Jack, who remained silent amongst the team of seven, just focused on walking and look as if he were listening attentively to another of the cheetah's stories. For someone who doesn't really step outside of where they reside, he observed, he's had quite a number of tales to spin. Most of them, though, from what he had heard of them, were nothing more than the recounting pf day-to-day life as a member of his village.

The leporine monks have to take a vow of silence, he thought. Perhaps this cheetah taking one could be beneficial. It feels as if he's been talking to us since our travels started.

But he kept those thoughts to himself. As much as he wished to tell him to perhaps stay silent for a moment, he refrained from saying anything. If there was anything he recalled from all of the teachings he had received, it was best to leave thoughts to yourself and not turn them into unnecessarily spoken words.

Focusing on the path ahead of him, he located himself through the uneven terrain of the forestland laying before him and the others. Unlike the other pieces of nature he had walked through in his life, this felt like there was something sticking out of the ground at every turn, ready for someone to trip over it. Poison ivy, as well as several other kinds of plants he knew to remain wary of, grew along the sides of the path, and he did his best to avoid it.

The striped buck looked up at the treetops for a brief moment, bringing his attention back to what was in front of him a few seconds later. As he continued to walk forward, something occurred that made him stopped dead in his tracks. Standing right in front of one of the nearby trees was the ghostly figure of his brother, causing him to let out a small gasp.

"You are getting closer to freeing me, my brother," the apparition said. Even though the figure was a good distance away from where he was standing, it sounded to Jack as if his brother was whispering right into his ear. "The squirrel…"

But as soon as Jack blinked his eyes, the ghost of his brother was gone. The squirrel? he thought. Why do we have to find a squirrel? What does this have to do with avenging my brother and defeating Leodore?

Then his mind went back to what Skye told him when they were sailing on Clawhauser's boat some time ago. It's more than likely that the answers to his question were soon to come. Maybe not at the speed that he wished they would, but eventually.

Skye, who had been walking only a few inches away from him, noticed the sudden look of surprise on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Jack hesitantly responded, "I saw my brother again. It's just like when he came to me before about the talisman."

"What did he tell you?" the arctic vixen inquired in reply.

"He said something about a squirrel," the striped rabbit replied. "But I don't know who exactly that's supposed to be. There's probably many squirrels residing in this realm."

"I don't know," Skye said. "Your previous vision of your brother led us to Benjamin, so I have a feeling that we'll encounter another a mammal that we can consider an ally."

Nick, who was behind the buck and vixen, chimed in on the conversation. "This forest feels like it's been stretching on for a long time now," he remarked, changing the subject from what it had been. "Hopefully there's a clearing in the path pretty soon."

"I believe that there is one coming up soon," Lord Bogo's voice replied from behind him.

The red fox said to the others, "That's good, but I still think we oughta remain wary. I just got this hunch something's gonna emerge from the shadows before us. It's basic story structure for a moment like this."

The sound of paws sprinting through grounds covered with pine needles came from the left, and everyone looked in that direction.

"You just had to jinx us?" Jack said to Nick.

The russet-furred vulpine shrugged. "I'm sorry," he responded. "Don't blame me for something hiding about here, blame the-"

Right then and there, something leaped into the air, making the seven mammals peak their heads up. The figure they all spotted landed slickly in the middle of the passageway, several feet away from all of them.

What they were seeing was another white-furred vixen, nearly identical in appearance to Skye. She wore a mask over her muzzle and a revealing outfit hued with a pink color, and she glared at them with a look of menace. The seven mammals gasped upon her gazing at them.

"Who is this?" Jack muttered, being the first to speak.

The unknown vixen pointed a paw in Skye's direction. "So…" she said. "It seems you are the vixen that matches the description I was given." She then broke out into bubbly laughter that sounded very off-putting.

Skye looked away from who was pointing at her and to the others. "This has Leodore's name written all over it," she said. "All of you go ahead. I'll take care of her."

The six darted to the right, going around the two arctic vixens who were now glaring at one another.

"They will not get far," the vixen in pink snarled to Skye. "I'll make sure of that."

She then proceeded to utter some sort of sound, reminiscent of the pitch of someone singing in falsetto, striking the ground below her the second after she did so. Upon doing this, two beams of light the color of brimstone shot up ahead of the forest path, looking like snakes slithering in an attempt to seek shelter.

"Who are you, and why were you stalking us?" Skye said back.

"The name's Milda, for your information," the other arctic vixen replied. "I've been trying to follow your tracks specifically to find you." She broke out into uncanny laughter once again.

Skye grunted under her breath. "I had a feeling you had some sort of tie to Leodore. You can go tell him that I have no desire to-"

Milda interrupted, "Let's not make assumptions so quickly. The two of us would actually make a good team, believe it or not. We have a lot more in common than you want to believe."

"I have nothing in common with villainous mammals like you, or anyone else working for Leodore!"

The villainous vixen before her chuckled. "We're both vulpines, aren't we? Is that not a similarity?" She took a few steps closer. "Listen"—she held up a paw like she was swearing under oath in a courthouse—"I will give you my word right now that I have no tricks up my sleeve."

Skye shook her head, refusing to believe any bit of what the other vixen was telling her. "I don't think so," she snapped. "I know you're one of Leodore's delegates. You're lying through your teeth!"

"You mean these teeth?" Her foe pulled the mask covering her muzzle down, revealing a set of naturally-sized teeth, getting a shudder out of Skye. "I should have just killed you on the spot like I was suggested to, but I thought trying to be nice would make things a lot less complicated. It seems I was wrong and that I'm going to have to fight you to the death now." Putting the mask over her face once again, she took a fighting stance. "Time for you to die."

"I don't think so."

Meanwhile...

After running forward a good distance, the group found themselves starting to gradually slow down now that they were far enough away from who they unexpectedly encountered. Behind everyone else was Benjamin, who was letting out a sort of wheezing sound as he tried to catch his breath.

"You okay?" the red fox of the group asked.

The cheetah looked at the vulpine and nodded his head. "Yeah…" he said with a bit of a gasp. "I'm just… not good at sprinting…"

Just then, everyone noticed something beam past at a rapid speed, too quick for them to identify what exactly it was. The only detail they could make out was that whatever they had just saw breeze by was bright in color.

"Did anyone notice that or was it just me?" Jack said, chiming in.

"We all did," Lord Bogo responded. "But I know not-"

The cape buffalo was interrupted by several sudden popping noises. It sounded like they resonated not too far away from where all of them currently were.

"Uh, guys?" Benjamin said after a few seconds of silence. He pointed a shaky paw towards something that was obviously in his vision. "That doesn't look too good."

In that moment, the others looked over and saw what the portly cheetah had spotted. Around where they had heard the abrupt sounds, a dark-tinted clouds of smoke could be seen. The groans of several voices were audible from where the mist was, coming from something that was presumably hiding on the other side of it.

As the smoky cloud they all saw started to disintegrate, they started to see what was ahead of them more clearly. What they were seeing looked like the skeletons of several canids, animated and slowly approaching where they stood.

This was most definitely the work of someone's dark power, or at least someone with knowledge of reanimating the dead. While the origin of these things before them was uncertain at the current moment, what was certain was that they needed to stop them. After all, they were obviously here to prevent them from completing what they set out to do.

"Skeletons brought to life? This is not good," Benjamin muttered before his jaw dropped in shock at what he saw. "They definitely look like they're here to hurt us."

"This is probably the work of that other vixen that surprised us," Jack chimed in. "That's where the light we saw breeze by before the smoke erupted came from, after all."

After making that observation, Jack's mind, for a brief moment, went back to Skye. He prayed in the back of his mind that who she was fighting off didn't harm her.

"Regardless of their origin," Lord Bogo replied, "they must be stopped. They are definitely evil in nature." He turned his head to the cheetah of the group. "You said you had enough fighting skill to defend yourself. Will you be able to defeat what is in front of us?"

"I sure hope I can," the feline responded, a hint of doubt evident in his voice. "I've never had to fight off an animated skeleton before."

"Neither have I," Nick said, "but I guess there's a first time for everything in life."

Lord Bogo got himself ready to face whatever flagitious figures were awaiting them. He made a flicking motion with both hooves and held them several inches apart from one another, a bolt of blue energy forming in between them. The others that were surrounding him all prepared themselves for what was approaching them as well.

Just then, the stumbling skeletal figures went from their unhurried pace and broke into a run.

Taking a fighting stance, Jack remarked, "Let's get rid of these things."

Meanwhile...

Milda ran forward and leaped into the air, and Skye defensively crouched down. From there, the vixen in pink darted up to her and attempted to deliver a kick, which was immediately blocked.

Skye took a tiny step back, raising her paws in front of her to prevent herself from getting hit with the jabs that followed soon after. The moment the foe before her tried to perform a roundhouse kick, she ducked before delivering an uppercut.

Getting up from where she had fallen to, Milda took several steps back. Pulling her mask down to reveal her sharp teeth, she let out shiver-inducing growl and then started ran forward. The moment she lunged forward, the way primitive mammals at one point hunted their prey, Skye uttered a short gasp before quickly getting out of her way.

As soon as she rolled over to her right, the vixen clothed in pink that tried to attack her failed to do so.

Milda let out a disgruntled groan at this failure. "Well, that was uncalled for, wasn't it?" she hissed. "You were supposed to be defenseless and just receive what you deserve."

"You should already get the impression by now that I don't take orders from adversaries," Skye snapped back.

Milda chuckled under her breath before running up to where Skye stood with her fists still clenched. The first jab from the villainous vixen that was about to be delivered had been swiftly blocked. Another attempted strike of the fist was blocked not even a second afterward, and Skye, with quick reflexes, responded with a swift kick to the other vixen's chest.

Milda stumbled for a very brief moment before making a violent sweeping motion with her one paw, attempting to slash at who stood before her with her own claws.

Skye, however, quickly ducked before even the slightest scratch could be laid upon her. She then tried to deliver another uppercut to this adversary, but as soon as she rose from her crouched position, the foe suddenly disappeared.

Below where Milda once stood, a gelatinous-looking puddle, large enough for her to have fallen into, had formed. This left Skye confused for a quick moment. What is this? she thought to herself. Some form of portal she created and entered?

"Surprise!" an evil yet vivacious-sounding voice remarked from behind her.

Instinctively, Skye turned around to face the vixen that undoubtedly stood behind her. However, the very instant she proceeded to do so, she suddenly felt a powerful kick, harder than any of the ones she ever delivered before, that sent her to the ground.

"Damn," Skye muttered under her breath.

Again came the sound of annoying cackling, along with the sound of paws crunching against the terrain of the woodsy passage. As Skye slowly but steadily picked herself back up, she saw Milda approaching her, holding a paw over her mouth to cover the grin on her hideous muzzle.

"What's the matter?" the vixen in pink said out of mockery. "Take a bad fall?"

Letting out a loud grunt, Skye proceeded to attempt at throwing several jabs towards the adversary in front of her. She managed to land two, but was blocked at the third. With an almost feral-sounding snarl, Milda tried to sweep at her with her claws again.

Skye pulled herself out of the way towards the left. As she was defensively doing so, however, she felt a slight sensation of pain course against her arm. It felt like nothing more than a paper cut for the first second, but it quickly started to feel similar to what one would feel if they burnt themselves. For a brief moment, she looked down at it and saw that she now had a claw mark where the stinging sensation was coming from.

She held her other paw upon her a second. Lifting it from off of her her arm and saw the trickle of blood that had been drawn. But she wasn't going to let something such as a mark like this one prevent her from taking down this other vixen that sought to kill her. She quickly shrugged it off, though, and glared over at Milda. She wouldn't give up just now and let her get what Leodore desired. And it was quite evident that neither of the vixens were going to go down without a fight.

Ignoring the fact that she still felt the stinging, Skye darted forward to gain momentum before sending a jump kick towards who had made the mark on her arm. This caught Milda kind of unprepared, and sent her tumbling downward. But she did remain that way for too long, and immediately proceeded to respond to the kick with an attempted uppercut.

Skye blocked this, however, and responded with another forceful kick. Another puddle-looking circle formed underneath Milda's paws, and she was immediately sucked into it. She reappeared a second after she disappeared, this time from a good height above the ground.

Skye tried to quickly turned around and defend herself. However, she was a second too slow, and ended being kicked hard enough to send her flat on her back. Can't believe I was caught off guard by the same thing, she thought with a bit of frustration.

She got up on one knee. Starting to feel the stinging in her arm once again, she placed a paw against it and muttered under her breath. While she was hesitant, Milda started to run up to where she was, ready to swing her fist.

Before it could even come near her, Skye briskly held out a flat paw and blocked the fist from doing anything. Milda brought her other fist, but it ended up being blocked as well.

"Enough of this," Skye muttered before striking the adversary in front of her with her knee.

Upon receiving the powerful strike, Milda uttered a feeble whimper. She tried to strike back by swinging her arm forward, but was met with a paw to the face due to an unanticipated kick from Skye.

Milda was starting to stumble, and it was becoming evident that she was starting to not fight as well as she was in the beginning of their encounter. Before she could even react, she was delivered a flurry of jabs that were delivered with great force.

Milda deliver the best high kick she could in that moment. Skye, however, crouched down before fiercely uppercutting the adversary, who stumbled and fell clumsily against a large tree. She got onto her paws and knees and menacingly stared back at her, snarling at her with her wicked teeth.

"You remember this," Skye heard her say. "And remember that claw mark I left you with, too!"

And with that, a circle of flame encompassed Milda, encompassing where she was. Several seconds later, the blaze died off, and the flagitious vixen had disappeared along with it.

So, you flee from the fight you incited to avoid accepting defeat? Skye thought. Looks like she wasn't as strong of a fighter as she perceived herself to be.

For a brief moment, the arctic vulpine scanned her surroundings. She didn't need any other surprises like the one she had just faced popping up unexpectedly, so it was necessary to make sure nothing was there. It was just her and the trees that made up this area.

Skye then decided to start walking forward. The others were way ahead of her and she needed to catch up to wherever they had already gone to.

In the other section of the forest...

A bolt of electric shot from Lord Bogo's hooves, causing the skeletal figure approaching him to fall down before breaking apart. The buffalo heard the sound something coming from his side. Contracting a hoof into a fist, he swiftly turned around and jabbed at another of the figures. Just like the one beforehand, it had broken off into skeletal pieces.

They were managing to take down the small group of what had appeared before them, and it looked like no more were appearing in any way. When it came to the sudden peril, however, Clawhauser was hesitant yet on the defense as the others handled what sought to harm them. Even though he had a desire for adventure and the like, circumstances like these couldn't help but make him feel a bit fearful.

A small period of silence filled the air, and everyone looked to see if the coast was clear for certain.

"Anything else?" Nick said, inquiring what everyone else was most likely thinking.

An uncanny groaning noise came from the opposite side of the passageway, supplying him with the answer to his question. A single skeletal figure continued to grunt as it ran up to where Clawhauser stood.

"Benjamin!" Lord Bogo shouted alarmingly upon sighting the danger. "On your side!"

The large cheetah turned around just in time to see what was coming towards him, and he let out a small gasp. Instincts to kick in for him right then and there, and he swiped a spotted paw at the reanimated skeleton, following that up with a fierce kick that made the figure break apart. Not even two seconds after that occurrence, his ears registered a similar groaning noise come from behind him. He quickly spun himself and brought his leg out and delivered a similar kick to yet another figure.

"Gosh," Benjamin muttered to himself with a slight shiver.

Despite seeing all of this unfold for himself, he could not believe everything that just happened. Those things that had appeared before them in the path were like something out of mythology or a villager's tall tale, and it was right in front of him and the others.

"Okay," Lord Bogo said to everyone, looking both ways to confirm that nothing was around this time. "It seems there is no more of those things within the passage. We took all of them down."

Now that the fear started to die down for a moment, Benjamin started to put on a smile once again. "I can't believe we just did that!" he proclaimed with a bit of excitement. "Did you see that one on my side that tried to catch me off guard?" He pointed a paw back at Lord Bogo. "But it was a good thing you gave me that warning. Had you not, that thing probably would've got me by surprise. Thank you for that."

The cape buffalo bowed his head. "No need for gratitude," he replied. "Making sure we all remain safe and stop Leodore is my duty."

Clawhauser, from there, proceeded to ramble on about the adventurous moment that occurred not even a few minutes ago. "But did you see the way I fought off that thing?" he continued. "I studied those kinds of fighting techniques a long time ago, but I believe that's the first time I truly had to put all of that training to the test. I finished that thing off like Mrs. Otterton's cheesecake!" After he had made that last statement, he paused a moment and sagged his head slightly. "Speaking of which, I could truly go for a slice of that. She makes the best desserts in all of the village."

"I feel ya, mammal," Nick chimed in. "I don't know about the rest of you, but some confections from The Big Donut would be good right about now."

Upon hearing the red fox's mentioning of confections, the portly cheetah cocked his head out of curiosity. "What is this... Big Do-nut you speak of?" he asked, mispronouncing the name of the delicacy out of a lack of knowledge.

"Only the best place where I come from to get some good-quality donuts," the vulpine responded. "For me, they're especially great after a long day on the set."

Clawhauser started to shake his head. "I've never heard of these confections you're talking about before. However, I am intrigued to eventually discover what they taste like."

"They come in all different kinds of flavors. If we're successful at stoppin' this crazy lion and Lord Bogo asks to grant you life in our world, perhaps you'll be able to try those out one day."

"That's enough discussing sweet foods," Jack interrupted. "That'll-"

The words of the striped buck were brought to a halt the moment he started to hear something running up to where all of them stood from behind. His ears suddenly perked up, and he turned around to see what it was. He half-expected it to be another danger, but he was relieved to quickly realize that it wasn't.

Running up to where he was standing was none other than Skye. The arctic vixen was panting in between breaths as she sprinted forward, gradually slowing down as she got closer to them.

In that very moment, Jack sighed with relief before faintly smiling. His internal prayers had been answered.

"Skye!" the buck exclaimed. Not even a few seconds later, however, he noticed that who had caught up with them had a paw against her arm, holding onto it like it hurt. "What's wrong?" he inquired upon noticing this, starting to become concerned.

"It is nothing," Skye responded. "Just a scratch."

The vixen lifted her paw off of where it had been resting upon in that moment, and Jack could see what she had been covering up. On that arm was a fairly-sized claw mark, a dark red line against her purely white coat of fur.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

The arctic vulpine replied, "That other vixen I was fighting clawed at me."

The striped lagomorph grunted under his breath upon hearing this. "Damn her for doing this to you," he muttered. "And there isn't anyone with an herb or tincture that could heal that in sight." He let out a somewhat-heavy sigh. "If only that tanuki that healed my leg was accompanying us right now. She would know just the thing to make that mark go away like it was never there."

"You don't have to be so worrisome about it," Skye responded. "I already told you, it is nothing more than a mark on my arm."

The jackrabbit replied, "You helped me and carried me when I was injured. It is only fair that I help you with this in return."

The vixen felt the stinging where she had been clawed at course through her arm once again, and she grunted and tugged at where she had felt it.

"What's wrong?" Jack inquired in a concerned tone of voice. "Is it burning?"

Skye nodded her head. "It's just a little bit of stinging. I'll manage." Changing the subject, she looked over at Jack and asked, "Now then, what was it again you said we needed to find."

The buck hesitated for a moment, but realized what she had asked him a few seconds afterwards. His growing concerns over the mark on the white-furred vulpine's arm were circling his mind, and her inquiry made him stop thinking of those things and come back to the present moment. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. What was that?" he replied.

"You said earlier you saw your brother again. What was it that you said he was telling you to find?"

"He said something to me about a squirrel," Jack answered. "But where are we supposed to find one, let alone the one he specifically mentioned? He didn't say what the name of this squirrel was, so how am I supposed to know?"

"Shall I give my input on the dilemma?" Clawhauser chimed in, raising his paw to get everybody's attention.

Jack looked back at the spotted feline and nodded his head. "Certainly," he replied. "You are an occupant of this realm, so any information is possibly useful. Do you happen to have acquaintance with any squirrels?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid I don't," the cheetah responded. "There used to be one that lived my village, but he died of old age awhile back. But if you're saying that you were told to find someone in this vision of yours, I don't believe that was who was mentioned. It's possible your vision's pertaining to a member of one of the other villages in the realm."

Jack nodded. "Perhaps we should all trek to one of them. Maybe we'll end up encountering who I'm supposed to. Although I'm not sure for what purpose were supposed to find this mammal just yet."

Benjamin became hesitant for a brief moment. "I don't believe the occupants of any of those villages are going to be as friendly as the mammals that live in mine, though. I heard that most mammals outside of this territory are warmongers, and would probably try to kill outsiders like us. That's what I heard about those areas, at least."

"I know that those are the most likely circumstances," the striped leporine replied. "But if that is the location of who we're supposed to meet, then that is where we must go. As long as we remain ready to fight off any denizens that come before us, we'll all be okay. As hard as it might seem sometimes, especially right now, we just need to keep a positive attitude."

Nick added, "My mother always used to tell me that if we keep believing in the back of our heads that something bad is approaching, that is exactly what will happen." He turned his head away from Jack and out towards the rest of the path that was stretched out before them. "Besides, we just fought off a small army of skeleton things or whatever the hell those just were."

"That is true," Clawhauser remarked, nodding his head in agreement with vulpine's words.

"Let us all travel onward then," Lord Bogo said to everyone.

And with that, the group of mammals all proceeded to walk further down the path.

Some Time Later…

"I think I'm starting to see some sandstone buildings up ahead," Judy addressed to the others.

They had trekked their way out of the woodsier territory some time ago, and were currently navigating a forlorn-looking area of the realm. For a good distance, not much could be spotted.

With no unusual or notable landmarks within sight, the others had expressed concerns over getting lost and not being able to retrace their steps. But thanks to the gray doe's great sense of cardinal direction, that never happened.

Judy lead them the direction she believed would point to some other point of civilization, and it turned out that it was the correct direction.

They were slowly approaching to what she had just informed the others about: A series of sandstone buildings. The way they were outlined against the land was reminiscent of the way things were constructed in Clawhauser's village. As the group started to get closer to them, they noticed that they looked a lot more bland than where they had started from. In addition to that factor, they didn't see anyone walking around.

It was just like Clawhauser had told them earlier; this territory didn't have the friendly and welcoming atmosphere that the village he lived in did. In a dark realm like Outworld, a place that possessed those qualities was an absolute rarity.

They slowly approached the sandstone construction that was closest to them, coming to a stop as they started to get closer to it. Judging from its overall appearance, it looked like it was actually of the home of someone that lived on this part of the land. A wall, short enough for them to see passed, had been constructed nearby. To the left of the dwelling, within the corner of their vision, was a cracked ceramic pot, with a single, droopy pink flower resting against the soil inside of it. To the far left of the constructed dwelling was another one of similar appearance, with a row of other places of habitation stretching onward in that direction.

The soft humming of someone could be heard, coming from inside of the house that they were standing near. Upon hearing this sound, Judy and the others knew that they needed to hide. It was very possible that whoever was emerging from the home would spot them and possibly try to harm them.

Judy turned her head to the left, suddenly spotting another sandstone wall on the opposite side that was much larger. Large enough for them to hide behind.

Gesturing for the others to follow her movements, she ran over to where it stood. The others followed soon enough, crouching down with their back against the wall, trying their best to remain out of sight.

After several seconds of stillness had passed, the doe peaked her head up over the wall and saw in her vision who had presumably occupied the house on the other side. Who she saw was a she-wolf with long and curly fur, wearing a white dress. In her paws was a pitcher containing water, which she poured on the potted flower that looked like it wasn't going to remain alive for much longer.

The canid she was looking went to turn around after watering the flower, and happened to catch a glimpse of her looking in that direction from where she stood by the tree. Dropping the pitcher out of her paw, she pointed over towards Judy.

"Outsiders!" came the cry of the she-wolf, loud enough to get the attention of anyone else that could hear her from their dwellings. "Outsiders!"

The gray lagomorph got stiff; she had just been spotted. Judy ducked her head back down and turned around to the others, who were all still stealthily crouched down.

"We've been spotted," she told them in a not-so-hushed whisper.

The gray bunny gestured for the others to follow her lead, and that was exactly what they proceeded to do. They followed her as she darted off, but it wasn't long before someone else emerged from their dwelling after hearing the proclamation that outsiders were present.

Before any of them could run away from the area any further, a white tiger leaped into their field of vision. The striped feline wielded a bow and arrow, and was pointing it towards all of them, ready to strike whichever one he chose to.

The tiger looked back at the canid who had exclaimed the previous warning. "Thanks for informing us, Juno," he told the she-wolf. "It's been quite some time since any mammal had enough guts to step paw here." He turned his attention back to the group of outsiders. "State your reasons for approaching this part of the province!" he bellowed to them. "And don't try to be witty with me, or else you're going to get an arrow through the chest! You understand?"

While everyone else remained frozen where they stood, Jack was the first to step forward not even a second afterwards. "We mean no harm to you and anyone within this territory," he said to the arrow-wielding feline.

"Then why have you and these other mammals entered this part of the land?" the tiger snarled back.

Jack went to respond to the question he had been asked, but he saw something in the corner of his eye that made him pause momentarily. To his side, he saw the apparition of his brother coalescing before him.

"This is where the squirrel you must meet is," the apparition told him. "Ask to see Donovan."

As the ghost of his brother vanished from where it had appeared, the buck turned back to the white tiger and said, "We are searching for someone. A squirrel who goes by the name of Donovan. Do you know where we may find him?"

The expression on the muzzle of the tiger completely changed upon hearing this name being mentioned. Nonetheless, he still kept the arrow pointed towards him. "And what business do you have coming here and wishing to see a mammal such as him?"

Unsure of how to respond without explaining the entire scenario leading up to this moment, Jack said, "We must speak to him about something."

The feline scoffed at his answer to the inquiry. "I have no understanding why Donovan would have any desire to discuss something with outsiders like you. The scars that have been left on his mind made him cast everyone out." A moment of silence filled the air. "But... you seem to know of him somehow. I know not how that is possible, considering that he has very few acquaintances. What are you all? Mammals sent to spy on us?"

"I can assure that we are not-"

"Then what are you all if you're not?" the tiger interrupted. "If the gods were to strike you dead right now if you lying, would you maybe rethink your answer?"

Lord Bogo huffed and crossed his arms. "This buck just so happens to be standing in the presence of a god," he said as he pointed a hoof to himself. "And so do you and everyone else that is standing here."

The mammal still threatening them with his bow and arrow shook his head, unwilling to believe what was actually the truth. He then pointed the bow towards the cheetah of the group and snarled under his breath.

Clawhauser put his paws up like he was under arrest. "P-Please," he blubbered under in that moment. "I'm not asking for any trouble. I am just traveling alongside these mammals."

"I must admit," the striped feline croaked, "I've never in my days seen an oddity like you before. Never seen a cheetah that was as... rotund as you are."

Benjamin let out a scoff upon hearing that remark. Although he was never the kind of mammal that let the words of others sink in and get to his head, being referred to in that matter was not the best feeling. "I can't help I've always been on the larger side since I was a cub," he replied.

"Quiet!" the tiger snapped. He looked over at the others and casted all of them an evil glare. "I think the mammal in charge of our village would be interested to hear your stories."

The white-furred feline raised his head and let out a loud roar. A few seconds afterwards, two aardwolves emerged from the distance and came running to where he was standing. Both of them were dressed in sackcloth and were flashing the others a menacing grin.

"Yes?" one of the aardwolves inquired.

"Lead these intruding mammals up to our supervisor," the tiger commanded. "Let us see what he wishes to do with them all for coming onto our land."

"Definitely not as friendly as the occupants of my village," Clawhauser muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile...

The period of silence that had formed between Leodore and Dolion had come to an end. The sounds of a bristling fire reverberated around them, coming from where Milda had suddenly appeared. The vixen in pink grunted under her breath as sheroot closer towards them.

"Milda," Dolion greeted.

"What about the vixen I wanted you to track down?" Leodore asked without hesitation. "Did you finally take care of her?"

"You could say that," Milda responded.

The lion who was talking her suddenly boomed, "What is that supposed to mean? Is she dead or is she still alive? My patience is starting to wear thin when it comes to this mammal!"

"Now, now," the vixen answered. "She is still alive, but I don't believe she will be for much longer."

"What are you talking about?"

Milda looked down at her claws. "You see, I left a claw mark upon her arm that I believe will be successful at delivering her eventual demise. And it's all thanks to the abilities granted to me by my creator, Dolion."

As the vixen started to delicately giggle, Leodore started to widely grin at what he had heard.