Family?

A sleek black figure prowled through the undergrowth. Its amber-yellow eyes flashed with cruelty as it tracked a particular scent. Following behind it were two other figures of similar features.

The black figure stopped at a particular point to observe a trail of blood that led through the undergrowth. The blood was dried as if it had been left to dry for a hours or more.

"Boss, I think she's dead. Why are we still trying to track her?" One of the figures behind the leader asked in exhaustion. They had been travelling for hours and their lithe bodies were starting to get tired.

"Quiet imbecile," growled the leader. He turned his body and smacked his underling's head.

"Master Gokum wants her dead for sure. So unless and until we find a dead body, we will keep searching," the leader snapped.

The underling whimpered, crouching and clutching his head.

The other underling also cowered in fear. His boss has gotten very irritable lately. The underling slunk down as much as he could and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

'I am the air.....'

The boss whipped his head at his other underling. He glared at him.

'Pathetic,' he thought frustrated at the uselessness of his underlings. 'First thing I'll do when I get back is have them killed for being so annoying.'

He turned around and started to make his way through the forest once more. He was nearing the scent. He could feel it.

A few steps later he came into an opening and found a river. He paused and paled when he found the scent to vanish over the water.

"Any ideas on where she might be?" The leader asked out loud.

"Boss, maybe she died in the river?" Suggested Underling no 1.

"How about I dump you into the river and make you search for the dead body then?" The leader snapped angrily. Underling no 1 flinched backwards in fear.

"B-boss, m-may-be she s-swam a-across.." Underling no 2 said hesitantly.

The leader paused and turned to look at Underling no 2. His face twisted with a smile at that thought.

"Yes of course. Seril always was a freak with her strength," the leader murmured. Justifying his theory with some flimsy facts, the leader had nothing to lose by crossing the river. But on the other hand, if he went back empty-handed, he would die a very painful death at his master's hands.

'Maybe I won't kill Underling no 2...' the leader mused speaking out loud, "Both of you, we're going to cross the river and go hunt her down."

The leader then kicked Underling no 1 into the river and jumped in himself.

Underling 2 followed him out of fear because, in the end, he feared his boss more than drowning.

-----

Meanwhile, Seril and the twins plus Jade had been walking for an hour or so. It was mostly Emmia chatting along the way while Icarth rested on top of Seril with his cheek on her fur.

He was thinking about what had happened when some pollen entered his nose.

Achooo!

Icarth sneezed and then buried his head into Seril's fur trying to avoid those small things that made him sneeze.

Seril chuckled and continued walking. Suddenly she realised something, "Hey Icarth, how sensitive is your nose?"

"What do you mean?" A muffled voice rang out from her back.

"I mean how well can you smell?" Seril clarified.

"Oh, oh! Seril, Ica's nose is really good! He can smell things really well!" Emmia answered for Ica.

Icarth just murmured his agreement.

"Really? How far can you smell?" Seril asked a little dubiously. Icarth raised his head and took a deep breath through his nose.

"There are too many things around but there's something in front of us that smells nice," Icarth stated.

"Oh?" Seril raised an eyebrow and loped forward. There, she just found a small patch of dirt without anything in sight.

"Here?" Seril asked trying to sniff the air herself.

"It's down," Icarth stated before dropping his head back into her fur.

Lowering her head, Seril took a sniff. She was shocked to find that there was a wonderful scent emanating from the ground.

'Wow, he really does have a great nose,' Seril mused as she pondered on what to do.

Before she could act, Jade moved. After taking a whiff, Jade was enthralled. He dived forward and started digging head first through the loamy ground.

Seril moved back to avoid getting hit by dirt while Emmia went up to Jade and started helping.

Seril felt her eyes twitch. "Emmia, you're going to get dirty like that."

"But I want to know what's under," Emmia pouted and continued digging.

"No, let Jade dig," Seril scolded and dragged Emmia away by her collar. Seril truly hated being dirty and watching others dirty themselves was one of her peeves. She didn't mind Jade though, maybe because she still thought of him as reserve food.

"We need to give you a bath once we reach that lake," Seril mused after seeing Emmia's state. The group had been following the river in the direction which Emmia and Icarth drifted from, towards the lake.

"What's a bath?" Emmia asked curiously.

"It's washing yourself in the water," Seril answered a little amused.

Emmia flinched. "Does it have to be water?"

"Well, that's the only way to get clean. We'll only go into the shallow water ok?" Seril said gently, noticing Emmia's fear of water.

Emmia nodded and chose to make a decision once she got there.

Jade had finally finished digging. Shaking his furry bottom, Jade popped up with the ugliest-looking plant that Seril had seen. Seril cringed backwards in disgust while Emmia looked at it in wonder. Icarth was thankfully spared from the sight as he was still laying down.

"What is that thing?!" Seril growled while shutting her eyes.

Icarth, hearing Seril, raised his head and was treated to a truly disgusting sight.

Jade was eating something that looked like it was chewed up by a bird and spit out and then [REDACTED].

Shutting his eyes, Icarth promptly fainted for a small amount of time before coming back to his senses.

Jade had finally finished eating that abomination. Feeling satisfied, he laid down and started to sleep.

"I feel like I want to claw my eyes out," Seril shivered in disdain.

"Yea same," Icarth nodded.

"What was so bad about that?" Emmia asked curiously.

Before Seril could answer a low voice rang out, "It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen."

Seril whirled around to see three Dread Lions, still slightly wet, slowly prowl towards them.

"Eskat," Seril growled as her eyes dilated.

"Seril, you really are a monster. Healing from those types of wounds," Eskat spat. "No matter. I'm here to make sure to finish the job." Eskat grinned sinisterly while his underlings laughed creepily as if given a cue.

Seril silently slid Icarth off her back and pushed the twins behind her towards the sleeping Jade. Facing the Dread Lions a series of thoughts assaulted her mind.

'They followed me?'

'Why didn't I notice?'

'What do I do?'

Usually, Seril would have noticed someone sneaking on her. But due to Jade eating that unholy product, she was too distracted. The same went with Icarth who actually fainted at that horrendous sight.

"Who are these?" Eskat asked with a morbid curiosity, finally noticing Emmia and Icarth behind Seril.

"None of your business Eskat!" Seril snapped moving her body to block his view.

Eskat laughed, followed by his two underlings. "It's definitely my business. Once I kill you, I'll take back those two cubs which you've hidden from the rest of us."

"Hidden?" Seril asked confused.

"Don't play dumb. They are clearly your cubs. They match your disgusting smell perfectly," Eskat spat.