Cela pets the wolf's head and tells her "Don't worry, I know how to land properly."

They move forward a little and Cela goes silent as she hears the voices.

When I leveled up I got 'slow fall' - use your reaction to reduce your falling damage by 20.  Seems fitting for a Tabaxi even if I got it from my class.  With this, Cela might be jumping off even more things.

Skye looked at Cela and nodded as she turned to walk on when she heard the voices. She had a perplexed look, but looked at the tabaxi.

"Tell me you hear that as well?" She muttere

Cela nods.

Skye sighed. “I was afraid of that. I was hoping I was hearing things.” She took an arrow out and knocked it,“Hellooooo…..weird creepy voices? Want to come out and talk?”

Marigold growled, a low rumbling in her throat. She started barking, with Thistle joining her canine protest. The shifted Druid stalked forward, her teeth bared as she growled.

Skye stops when the druids start snarling, trusting their animal instincts far more than her own eyes and ears. Her time as a huntress hat taught her that animals had instincts far better than humanoids, and she listened. The halfling stopped, drawing her bow ready. “You may as well come out….we know your there. Easy way is you speak and we talk. Hard way we come in and I put an arrow through your eye.”

They heard the rustle of leaves and a familiar giggle…

OOC:

Ladies, make an Intelligence save, DC 20.

15:30, Today: Cela rolled 2 using 1d20+1.  int save.

Skye Keenshadow rolled 7 using 1d20.  intelligence check.

“Hey! Hey, Hey, HEY!” Skye & Cela saw Pockets step out from behind an oak tree. “What took ya so long, ladies?” He giggled again and merrily skipped down the swamp trail. He wasn’t skipping at top speed, but he would soon be out of sight among the thick trees and bushes.

"Pockets!  Is Phoebe here?  Is she safe?"

Pockets stopped skipping and faced the travelers. “I’ll nevuh tell! Hee-hee!” Then, he formed around and skipped toward the darker part of the swamp.

“Such worry in you, Little Tigress! Perhaps you worry for these strangers because you failed your own people?”

Skye watched in shock as pockets came out, casually speaking as if nothing happened. The halfling had a strange feeling....it may be her natural paranoia, but something was off. "POCKETS...STOP AND FACE US!" the woman, her bow at her side stepped up. "Your gonna play games now and i swear to the gods you'll never get another kiss from me!"

She placed a hand on Cela's arm....she wanted to test him

Cela turns around and starts talking in a language that Skye can't understand.

Again, Pockets stopped and turned around. He faced Skye, but Cela was talking to someone else. The shadows thickened over their portion of the swamp. The air felt heavy, and smelled surprisingly sweet.

The halfling squinted, her instincts screaming that something was wrong. The halfling comment all but confirmed it. “Ok….time to come clean. I NEVER kissed pockets, so either your something controlling him, or something that looks like him.” She felt the heaviness of the air, smelt the sweetness, and fought to overcome it. She grasped Cela’s arm and shook her. “You with me claws? Somethings amiss here and I don’t know what”

Although Skye knew it couldn’t have been Pockets, shouldn’t have been him, she still believed it was the Halfling Trickster who’d vexed her so at the Inn.



]

Cela remembers her companion is there when her arm is grabbed.  "Traill, Don't you see her?  Master Rygef?"

She starts talking in the gutteral language again.     Something indecipherable.  And then "Who are you?"

Master Rygef replied with an answer for Cela’s ears alone, while Skye dealt with a Pockets that Cela likewise could no longer see or hear…

Cela responds again incomprehensibly.

Skye knew something was wrong here…,,Cela saw something she didn’t, and likewise she did not see pockets, or this perversion before her. She knew it was not him, could not be, but some part in her mind believed it was. She held little love for the halfling, that was true - she was usually alone so no one would hurt her. But this group had changed that, shown her a possibility of not being so alone. In that time she met pockets, the infuriating halfling fixated on his opinion of hers.

He was a rogue, with some skill, and smooth talker - something Skye usually didn’t like, but something deep in her gave her some envy, him being so likeable and friendly - something she never was. She was a fighter and survivor, and her instincts kept her alive.

But now, her instincts were conflicted - why?


Guilt

Then the firm changed, more grizzly and he spoke and sang. The words stung her like a slap in the face, snapping her from her hesitation, a look of anger, focus and stubbornness on her face as she drew an arrow and took aim.

The halfling’s hand trembled as she held the bow, but she brought the bow up, arrow in hand. “Ye stupid bastard - never threaten me!”

She let the arrow fly. The shaking of her arm caused the arrow to miss.

She then done something she hadn’t done ina long time, send her words into the mind of cela. What you see is a lie - fight it!

The arrow flew wide of Pockets, who stared forlornly at Skye. Cela heard Skye’s mental projection as the Ranger attempted to reach the first (and perhaps, truest) friend she’d made in the party. The Monk heard the psychic voice, but remained fixated on her former Master.

Cela starts talking in common now to her invisible friend.  "The children are the only innocent ones in Deadwater.  But I jumped in to save the rest anyway.  You're not her, and your words are lies."

She turns to Skye and says.  "Can still see and hear her.  I can touch you.  Is that how to prove you're real?  Need to find Marigold and Thistle."

Thistle yelped, ran in circles, then dashed off into the swamp. Marigold followed her canine companion toward an enormous tree with sprawling limbs. The dogs leaned on the trunk, pawing the tree with noses pointed up.

Cela approaches the tree and pets Marigold's back - not trusting her eyes but if she can touch the Druids they're more likely to be real.  Then she looks up in the tree.

OOC:  This is probably my last post until Monday - if you want to move things forward without me that's ok