Why Am I In the Beast World?!

Chapter 14- Quest Complete!

      Audre once again found herself glaring at the ground, desperately trying to think of a way to fix her situation. She hadn't even been in the beast world a full 24 hours, and she's already been tossed from situation to situation. She's not been able to do anything for herself since she's gotten there and has only been pulled along by the people around her.

      'I'm helpless in this world. If it wasn't for the Jaguar, I'd be dead right now.'

     "I'm finished with your clothes Audre." the Jaguar held up the articles of clothing for Audre to see.

     Audre had to admit that the Jaguar was skilled. Not only had he sewn the clothes rather quickly but had also done an amazing job despite it being his first time making such clothing. He had also cut out a long strip of deerskin and created a belt.

     When Audre took the clothing, she suddenly found herself standing in the grasslands once again. The Jaguar was nowhere to be seen and the animal skins were no longer in her hands. Rather she was holding the little brown quest book.

     Flipping through the book, Audre could see the pictures of her adventures along with a few new ones. None of them, however, showed the quest book nor did it show her in the grassland.

     Once again, the giant scroll had appeared in a flash of light and unraveled itself. Celebratory fireworks went off behind it.

     Quest Complete!

     Hold out your Hand to Claim the Reward!

     Following the instruction from the scroll, Audre held out her hand. Another book materialized in her hand. This new book was green and a bit larger than the small quest book. The book was simply titled Plants. She stuffed the quest book under her arm and began to flip through the plant book. In it were many types of plants and their uses. Some she recognized and others were very strange and probably only existed in the beast world.

     Without waiting on Audre to finish her browsing, the scroll closed and unraveled itself to reveal a new message.

     New Quest!

     You have now acquired animal skin clothing, but much more is needed to survive in the beast world! Luckily the rainforest is rich in materials if you know what you are looking for! Find useful plants in the rainforest!

     Quest: Acquire Blue Bulb Root, Zingiber Zerumbet, Ginger, Black Pepper, and Heart flower seeds.

     Audre read over the quest, and although she recognized some of the plants, others were completely foreign to her. She did however find a little hope that she would be able to accomplish this quest alone.

     When Audre blinked, she was back in the tree hole holding the clothes. Audre looked around, shocked by her sudden change of surroundings.

     "What's wrong?" the Jaguar sounded concerned by Audre's sudden confusion.

     It was as if time hadn't moved at all while she was gone and that she had been in the tree hole the entire time.

     "It's nothing," Audre said. "My mind just went elsewhere for a moment."

      'It doesn't seem that the Jaguar has noticed anything.'

     The Jaguar didn't look convinced, but to Audre's relief, he didn't pry.

     "Do you like the clothes?" the Jaguar asked.

     "Yes, there really nice." Audre held up the clothes and smiled. "They're well made. Who taught you to sew?"

     "My mother did." the Jaguar shyly looked down and scratched his head. "She wanted all her cubs to learn before leaving the den."

     "She sounds like an amazing mother," Audre said.

     "Yes, she is. She was always thinking about our future back then. She wanted us to be prepared for everything before leaving the den." the Jaguar's eyes were lost in the fond memories as he spoke.

     Audre couldn't help but smile softly as the Jaguar spoke about his mother. It was rather nice to hear the Jaguar talk about someone he cared about when it wasn't her.

      The Jaguar laughed nervously as if he wasn't used to speaking on the topic of his family. "I'm going to get some water so you can clean yourself before putting on the new clothes."

      He hopped up and took the water basin before making his way out of the tree hole and covering the entrance with leaves.

     "I won't be gone for long!" he said the left to retrieve some water.

     Once again, Audre was left alone with her thoughts. When the Jaguar spoke about his mother, Audre couldn't help but think about her family back home. She knew that she had to find a way back.

     She couldn't afford to be pushed around by the beast world any longer. She had to do things differently if she wanted to get home. She also didn't want the Jaguar to continue to pursue her with false hope but simply telling the Jaguar that she didn't want to be his mate would surely not end well.

     Audre clenched her fist and stared determinedly out the tree hole. When the Jaguar came back, she was going to tell him the truth. The whole truth.