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A sound carried in the wind suddenly caught Jerrett's attention and made his whole body tense in attention.

The bark-furred two-tailed fox had been sitting on a stump for the past few minutes, trying to make sure whatever it was that he thought he'd heard was just that - a thought. He hadn't expected to actually feel more worried after analyzing the situation at length. Now, as the last orange rays of a setting sun seeped in through the rustling leaves, he was beginning to think his fears might be not simply caused by anxiety.

All the plants were acting weird. Jerrett wasn't the most capable druid there was, but even someone like him could tell that they were... hesitating. That usually wasn't a good thing, especially not since he'd walked into that forest and claimed their obedience for himself. The fact that they were doubting their allegiance could only mean two things: either Jerrett's control over them was slowly starting to wear off or someone else who was capable of exerting a much stronger power had walked into the woods.

As someone who definitely didn't want anyone looking for him, Jerrett would rather face the first outcome.

Checking it couldn't hurt, though. That was why he'd decided to sit on the stump and send several pulses of energy through the roots and vines, trying to understand what was going on. From what he could tell, there was some sort of barrier - something preventing his energy to flow freely through the vegetal net that covered the forest.

Jerrett shook his head. He didn't like it a single bit.

Maybe the answer lay near the core of the forest. He'd noticed that there was a particularly big white oak a few miles east and he had a feeling those big roots might extend further than he could imagine. Maybe if he got closer to that position...

He stood up and put his green cape over his shoulders. There was no way of telling if that was the right line of action, but he had to try.

The fox was getting ready to walk towards the white oak when suddenly he heard a noise piercing through the air. He barely had time to turn around before a long vine wrapped around his ankle and pulled unexpectedly hard towards the thicket. Caught off guard, Jerrett found himself unable to keep his balance and fell badly on the stump, hitting his elbow. Pain and surprise forced a scream out his throat, which echoed deeply in the large, silent forest.

It was like he'd awaken an entire city.

Roots began to crawl out of the ground as more vines climbed down and dangled from the trees like hungry snakes, mossy tips pointing in his direction and getting slowly but surely closer. Jerrett didn't know whether they were rebelling against him or actually follow commands, but he could tell that he wasn't welcome there anymore.

He made an extraordinary effort to make them stop. They were plants, after all. It wasn't as if he was trying to control animals or people - that was, actual sentient beings. However, his attempts to overrule their independence from his command were met with the same barrier as before. Damn, he thought. I've been hiding here for months now. Since when did these guys get so tough?

The vine around his ankle tightened its grip and pulled harder towards the bushes and the other vines, which waved and swirled in the air expectantly. Jerrett clenched his teeth and made an effort to cling onto the slump, but the vine was too thick and its pull too strong. Eventually, his tired paws slipped and he found himself being catapulted towards the menacing thicket. His body was dragged through the fallen leaves until the vine decided it'd had enough and came to a stop.

For a second, Jerrett thought that the worst was over, but then more roots and vines came to greet him. Two solid roots wrapped around his ankles keeping him firmly secured to the ground, while several vines dropped from the treetops and grabbed him by his arms. They coiled around them like boas and then forced him to stand up. The sudden movement made Jerrett slightly dizzy, but he highly doubted the forest cared about that. He struggled to break free, but then another vine dropped around his neck. The fox immediately understood what would happen in case he decided to keep trying to break away.

He gave in. Whatever was happening, Jerrett decided he'd go along with it, mostly because there was no other thing he could do in that situation.

He didn't have to wait for long, though. After a few minutes, someone came walking through the trees and stood before him, giving him a questioning look. Her appearance was similar to Jerrett's to the point that anyone might have argued they were brother and sister, but he had that air of self-confidence that the male fox was lacking in all respects.

"Did you really think," she began, raising an eyebrow, "even for a second, that we wouldn't find you?"

Jerret gulped.

"Well, I hoped," he managed to answer. The vine around his neck threatened to close around it a bit more firmly.

"I'll admit I'm impressed," the female fox said, walking around her prisoner. "When you left the Garden, I thought they'd catch you in a matter of days. You've been long for... how long now? Weeks?"

"Months," Jerrett growled. "Come on, Jasmine, I know you can count..."

"I could if I cared," the female fox noted, grinning.

Jerrett suddenly found himself gasping for air as the vine closed firmly around his neck. Apparently, Jasmine had decided it was time to punish him for his behavior.

"It didn't matter anyway. You were never going to really run away from us," she observed, turning her back at him. "There's no forest big enough for you to hide."

Jerrett tried to answer, but there was not enough air in his lungs for that.

"And of course, I found you because you were so irresponsibly clumsy yet again." One of her ears twitched. She seemed annoyed. "Sending pulses all over the forest... Do you realize how easy you made it for me to find you? It wasn't even a challenge."

Under other circumstances, Jerrett would have felt insulted by that. However, his vision was beginning to grow dark. As his legs and arms got number and number, his body began to convulse. The fox desperately tried to breathe again, but the vines wouldn't let him.

"Oh, well. We'll see what the Guardians say when we get there." Jasmine's voice was just a whisper in the distance now as the forest blurred in Jerrett's vision. "Honestly, I wouldn't want to be you."

That was the last thing Jerret heard before his head plunged into unconsciousness.