Sure enough, the wild jungle begins to thin as Lychee continues to wade through the murky water of the overgrown bayou. Her nose fills with the stench of, well, none other than herbivore droppings, something that makes her muzzle crinkle up in disgust as she pulls herself out and onto the shore. She can barely see Parsnip, but the other Tark'ee's sullied white feet give her away from Lychee's low position. Odd though, she can't hear any lick of Stryx or see her massive black and white frame nearby.

Maybe she managed to get ahead of them anyways? It's not like she would just leave the two of them, right? …Right?

Parsnip's beak chitters, catching Lychee's attention as she resumes observing the gray one go prone as the leaf litter thins out into a small, muddy clearing. The sound she makes matches those of the birds above them who circle and dive, picking off insects that lazily float along the sticky, smelly breeze. The ground beneath her feet has turned somehow more mucky than the banks of the water, and her movements feel sluggish and off-kilter as her stomach lowers into the grime to keep in line with Parsnip's much more predatory stance. She sees something, but Lychee can't make it out from her position this far back, and there's so many roots and old, dead logs in her way that she would have to make a break for it if she were to clear them without taking an eon.

Where was Stryx when they needed her? Why wasn't she here?

Suddenly the quiet breaks, and Parsnip's bolted from her position in the undergrowth, cracking all manner of branches and ferns in her way as a shrill squeal rises up from the opposing treeline. Mud flies upwards, followed by dust and litter that makes it hard to see what's going on. But Lychee can't let her do this alone, now can she? She's not a liar. So her legs push out from the muck, and her slender frame barrels forward, up and over the logs as she tries desperately to pinpoint where Parsnip's figure went between the trees.

Another squeal, followed by a thud and a sharp crackle that makes Lychee feel a rush of adrenaline course through her veins.

As she rounds the trees and bounds over countless obstacles in her path, she can see the devastation of Parsnip's chase in the form of a stampede of footprints distorting the once calm grazing area of what Lychee can only assume belonged to the Nukap. Despite the signs they'd come through here, she can't see Parsnip anywhere in between the trees, or on the ground, or in the branches themselves.

It's eerily quiet, and only the distant squeals alert her that all is not as peaceful as it seems.

But where did Parsnip go? And where the hell did Stryx disappear to?

"Move!" The sound is so sharp and startling that Lychee swirls around to see Stryx carrying what looks like a massive makeshift spear. No longer is the Tsabhua hiding, or waiting idly, but she's running. "Up ahead, didn't you hear it?!" No, Lychee didn't hear anything over the squealing and the thu-- oh. Oh no.

"Parsnip!"

Concern tumbles out of her throat before she can even fully connect the dots, and moments later she's running ahead of Stryx, paving a path with her paws that pack down the mud and debris left in the small herd's wake.

Why wasn't she responding? Did she get hurt? What if it's all her fault?

Tears bubble at the corner of her eyes and the unusual feeling of fear takes hold of her, forcing her to move faster than she had any right to in a place as wild as this. She would be sore come next morning, but that pales in comparison to what might've happened to Parsnip on her own-- she can only cling to the idea that she's fine, but even Lychee can see the nerves lining every inch of Stryx as they race through the jungle after their friend.