Mrs. Mouse almost clapped her paws in happiness but thought better of it when she remembered where she was. "Wonderful! We're at the base of the tree!" It seemed that looking for a room had found her a friend instead. She scurried down the tree so she could tell Gray the good news, hoping nothing had happened to the wolf in the meantime.

~~~

Jay looked ahead with a mix of sheepishness and anxiety. "Me too. At least the storm has gone away. It's strange though because I don't think we passed anything but plains and rocks. Maybe there's something hidden in the dirt or there really is a secret cave?" They couldn't find a cave to shelter in during the storm but it might be easier now with the warm sunlight overhead.

As if on cue Scarlet starts digging in the dirt, "On it. So what all are we looking for while I'm digging aside from a tunnel?"

August circled once above the tree before swooping doen, alighting on a low branch before fluttering the rest of the way to the ground. "Oh, it's good to see you again." He greeted Mrs. Mouse. Even with a set bone bill, his smile was genuine and evident in his tone and eyes.

Jay wasn't sure he could answer the question. "Um, maybe something that the witch dropped or bones or...I don't know really." One of those options would be pretty grim but at least it would be a clue. If they could find some dropped amulet or personal affect though, maybe they could understand who the witch was and use it against her.

~~~

Mrs. Mouse flung herself around the parrot in a quick hug as soon as he lighted on the ground. "It is indeed great to see you again! I was so worried when we split ways. The others though? Did you find them?" she fretted, almost immediately beginning to pace in the small space between her two friends. She worked so hard to get them all together again but it seemed that no efforts could end in any way besides them being separated. Was this perhaps destiny?

August glanced around briefly, then lowered his voice.

"Well, yes, I did technically find them. I have good news and bad news. You see, as I was searching for the other three, I stumbled across a ferret by the name of Genesis. He seemed nice enough, helped me track them down. But when I found them, there was a bit of... conflict, between Genesis and Scarlet. Genesis appearently wasn't very keen on escaping, and he didn't want us to leave, either.

"The arguement ended with Scarlet leaving in a huff, and the others with her. I tried to go after them, but was a bit occupied with Genesis. By the time I was able to relocate them again... there was a storm."

The parrot looked at the ground guiltily before continuing.

"I couldn't fly in it, and I can only move so quickly on foot. I know which way they went, but I couldn't get to them. But then... something strange happened. Right about then, a woman found me. She called herself Meloriea, looked human. I didn't tell her anything about you, but I think she may be as suspicious of me as I was of her. She offered to take me to her place. I declined, so she escorted me to the far edge of the woods instead.

"I didn't want to spend too much time with her, so I hid for a while to make sure she was gone before I came back to find you."

Scarlet keeps digging as Jay answers, "So basically this is a total waste of time if we don't find anything. I hope we find something soon otherwise I'm afraid we'll be just tunneling into the witch's hand."

"Erg, you're right about that," Jay admitted. He had ideas a lot of the time but he'd hardly consider himself to be the brains of the operation. He liked to be clever but would it be worth it in the end? Jumping down, he started to scratch around with his beak and claws as well. The sandy earth was easy to get through but he didn't even see birdseed worth eating. He jumped closer to a rock outcropping a bit like the one they'd been hiding in. "Do you think if there was a tunnel, we'd be able to find it from the surface like this? I'm getting worried."

~~~

Mrs. Mouse listened to August's tale with sombre eyes. It seemed that much had happened to the others and yet no more answers revealed themselves. "That is very troubling to hear, indeed. That woman, do you think she is the witch? Or perhaps another illusion created by her?" Mrs. Mouse began to pace again, pausing every now and then to worry a finger between her teeth. "And this Genesis. Whether or not she's in league with the witch, she is someone we will have to watch out for. Do you think you can lead us back to the others though?"

She finally stopped to look at August. "We managed to find the exit...at least, I believe so. But there was some kind of field around it and when we passed through it, we were transported somewhere utterly different! I think if we come at the problem from another angle, the results might be different. We will need all the brainpower we can get!"

August tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "I suspect that woman was the witch, or at the very least in league with her. As for Genesis... well, I'm not sure. On one hand, I feel a bit sorry for her, but on the other..."

He shook his head in a dismissive gesture. "Well, we'll jump that hurdle when we get to it. Until then, I should be able to lead you to the others, but I think it'd be best to go a from a different direction."

He perked up a bit when Mrs. Mouse mentioned a possible exit, but frowned as well as he could when a thought hit him. "Didn't you say the exit moved, though? If that's the case, whatever we decide to do, we'd have to do it quickly."

"Most likely the tunnel would be where we can't dig to it. This sand is too easy to dig into and would most likely collapse if the tunnel was below it. Maybe if we found something more solid?"

Mrs. Mouse pondered that with a slight twitch of her tail. "You are right about the exit moving. What I remember seeing is a door. No fancy lights or tricks. The barrier of light we saw just now has to be important though. If not an exit, then an answer to the puzzle that is this place? Could it be the center of the magic? Or would it make the maze cease to be a maze if we went that way?" She tilted her head but shook it a second later. "Either way, we should find the others and take them back there. It has to be the answers so lead the way!"

~~~

As Jay scratched around in the dirt, he jumped suddenly, a strange sound filling the air. "Huh? Was there something there?" He fluttered back, giving the ground a suspicious look. He saw what looked like ordinary dirt but it made a sound unlike dirt or rock. Like, metal...maybe? "We should dig here. The witch might be using glamour magic here."