[Deleted]

It was quiet around the jungle In LI, no activity of Starvia around while It was a nice and sunny day...Well, soon the jungle would get quite crowned by the arrival of a new army in LI...The new Pigmask army, slowly in two's each person in a pigmask outfit marched towards the jungle after getting sightings of a boy in green...And a monkey who is most likely Salsa, a pet that used to belong to one of the leading forces of the Pigmask army...Fassad.

Nearby a Toad Officer watched as the army just stood there...In front of the jungle, waiting for something to happen. "That's strange...Who are these ne peo---Before he could do anything he was quickly grabbed by someone behind him. "HEY MMMM!" He tried to get out of the person's grip...But the figure quickly ran towards the army below.




"This stupid...And quite a short officer from that Life Sphere was found spying on us." The figure spoke in front of the crowd, who was revealed to be the General, he held the Toad Officer high in the air for all to see. "LET ME GO!" He said as the general pulled him down in front of him and oinked. "Silly...Toad, you're not going anywhere...In fact, I think you may help us...Every time I look at one of you officers one of those Smash Brothers or Sisters would appear soon after to ruin everything...So it's highly likely that some of them will quickly appear...

So we must eliminate them..."

---

Meanwhile in the jungle, Tony and Salsa looked around their new environment and wondered where they are. "Gee...I never thought I would end up in a jungle like these, and the books that I read when I was three were strangely accurate when they described jungles like these." Tony said to Salsa as he clapped in response, Tony just smirked. "What a cute little monkey...Jeff would do those smiles...Jeff." Tony stopped to think of something, mainly if Jeff knew If he was In a place like this...Or if he even cared.

Suddenly music was heard nearby.



"Huh, what was that?" Tony said as he listened to the music more closely...Salsa, meanwhile notices what music It was and quickly panicked before running into the jungle, causing Tony to turn around. "Wait, where are you going? Come back little monkey, maybe that music will help us!" Tony said as she raced to where Salsa was going.

---

Meanwhile after his encounter with the New Pigmask army, The Toad Officer stood back at his original position...Looking quite scared, but soon began to wait for Jedah and Ammy to appear, beside him was a pile of leafs that were never there before, when Jedah and Ammy do get here they can either walk toward's the Toad Officer or investigate the pile of leafs.

"Oh...They really need to be here soon!" The Toad Officer said as he looked back at the jungle where the new pigmask army was standing In front of.

However...They were gone.

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"I think this might be the place; damn soul bees need to think with their brains instead of their gut. Oh well, simple creatures with simple minds." Jedah said as he made his way to the jungles of Li and the presence of souls therein. While not overly interested in the affairs of edgy loners and crazy demon children; the souls of victims to fuse in the Shintai was a good prospect and enough to at least be prepared for anything.

Jedah would stealthily follow the masked one as he kept his presence low, all the while sensing the presence of ammy due to his ability to sense beings on a cosmic scale, something no one else could do.

[Cielmira]

This was an unfortunately familiar place. It teemed with life, or at least should, with it's overbearing vines and mosses crawling up the trunks of trees scratching the sky. This was the place she had landed, she remembered it well. Remnants of the arc were lost in the growth of this tainted jungle, its infected roots wriggling around with the starvia creatures. If it wasn't for Shadow she never would have made it to the Life Sphere and now she was about to play a part in being that person for this boy and his monkey. She was ready for it. She would make sure they were safe.

As she padded through the uneven route that couldn't even be called a path the canine eventually spotted the familiar red and white mushroom top in the distance; a stark contrast to the earthy and tainted colors of the jungle. With a single happy wag of her tail she sped up her approach, entering the small clearing where the officer stood with a pleased bark; her tongue out in pant after she slowed to a stop in front of him. After a second she seemed to freeze, sniffing the air heavily. There was a strange smell in the area. Like sweaty ham and bacon. Curious, she immediately went to ignoring the officer in search for the source though it did take her to sniffing his boots rather intently. The scent seemed to be masked a little in the humid earth that was this jungle; almost made a putrid stench.

[Deleted]

The Toad officer turned to see Ammy, he wondered where Jedah was but happily waved at the wolf. "Oh hey Ama, come over there by those nice pile of leafs so I can give you a brief...I'm sure Jedah will be here soon, but I rather tell you myself." He said as he pointed to the pile of leafs, but Amaterasu ignored him and smelled his boots. "Uhh goddess...Can you go over to those leafs?" He said hastily pointing to the leafs, but Amaterasu soon left the officer alone to follow the source of the smell.

"Oh no...No!" He said frantically as Ammy kept on heading towards the source, meanwhile nearby two figures were standing nearby, unaware of the oncoming wolf. "Hey...Where did the wolf go?" He said to the other figure. "I'm not sure...Maybe she fell into the pit?" He said guessing which made the other figure smirk. "Excellent, let's get her while she's trapped, we can worry about the other one later." He said as the figure turned around.

And walked into Amaterasu herself.




Pigmask Soldiers +2
Damage: 0%
Status: None
Items: Pigmask Rayguns, Tranquilzers (Somewhere)



The two oinked in fright as the first Pigmask solider oinked at the other one. "Quick, shoot a tranquillizer at her...The general would love to have a goddess in this army!" He said as the other solider quickly stood behind the first one to try and find some tranquillizer, the one now infront of Ammy aimed his raygun at him.

"Say your prayers!"

And quickly fired at the wolf goddess.

0MZ8yNsqp_1d20+3(Pigmask A's raygun attack.)

---

Meanwhile in the jungle the General and his group kept on marching, unaware that Jedah was secretly following them. "Wait...Do you hear that?" He said as he tried to listen to see if Tony or Salsa was nearby, sure enough he soon heard Tony's voice. "Salsa? Where are you?" Tony said nearby as the General oinked in response. "Let's keep going boys! We almost found one of our targets." He said as he was about to marched forward...When suddenly.

"General Pigmask!"

The General sighed and looked over to the member who called on him. "Yes, what Is it?" He said as the member looked around before speaking. "I think were being watched." He said sounding scared which made the General curious. "Watched...What by those Starvia creatures?" He said as the member shook his head. "No...They would of tried to attack us by now...I'm not sure If It's my I---No...I think your right." The general interrupted the member as the member spoke sounding surprised.

"I am?" He said as the General looked at the other members. "Make sure nobody is following us...Probably one of those Smash Brothers or Sisters catching up to us, I thought our two backups and the Toad Officer were going to stop them...In fact they should of called back by now If they did get beaten to a pulp." The General said sounding confused as members of his group quickly headed into the forest, The General shrugged and kept on marching along with the remaining members of the group.



Meanwhile an oncoming grunt was walking towards where Jedah is. "I wonder If I find and capture whoever's watching us I'll be promoted to trooper?" He said imagining himself as a strong trooper as he kept on getting closer towards Jedah.

p_1d20+3(Grunt's search.)

(Roll a 6 to not be seen by the Grunt, you can attack him but It will bring unforeseen consequences.)1d20+3·1d20+3

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

jedah's ROLL: 14{Jedah hides very well despite being made of BLOOD!}

How naive could a pig masked jerk get, Jedah hid in the upper canopy of the trees as the pig masked moron searched for him. Even if the pigmask army did find him, they would have one he'll of a time against a being that was mightier than their own boss, and that was saying something as Jedah was an S-class darkstalker, and a high nobel to boot.

"to think that sending patrols out to hunt me down will do them any good in the long term, but at least I can be assured that I can find them before they could find me." Jedah said as he kept watch on the enemy before him, his eyes giving off a malevolent vibe as he kept watch, a smirk playing across his face.

[Cielmira]

The single minded sun goddess continued following the trail despite the voiced complaints and redirects of the toad officer, following her nose slowly and quietly into the brush. She would have to check out what was so interesting about that leaf pile he mentioned later, but for now she could hear voices; and not the kind that were just in your head. Her ears flicked forward as she raised her head in the direction the hushed tones originated. With furthured curiosity she padded toward the source, emerging from a bundle of bushes at the time they turned around making it look like she planned such a surprise. Her jaw dropped in unexpected shock, all parties involved jumping a little before resuming poise and getting on to business.

Dodge: EtcpkX5kp_1d20+2
Hearing their plan to tranquilize her and enlist her into some army, Ammy barked her disagreement and hunkered down into an offensive stance. The other turned his ray gun onto her and fired. In a whisp of flora the sun goddess danced out of the way, hopping to the side then dashing forward with a snarl. She ran up to the soldier that fired the gun and swung her divine mirror around her body to smack the pig in the head. She hoped to knock him down and then stand menacingly over him so that he could understand his mistake as her pearly whites glistened within inches of his snout.

Atk: p_1d20+1
Unfortunately that didn't happen, a root coming up out of nowhere and causing her to ungracefully stumble as one of her feet barely caught on it. The occurrence disturbed her attack chance, making it miss by a mile, but in an attempt to save face she decided to roll with it and head for the Pigmask Soldier preparing the tranquilizer dart. The white wolf barreled toward the oinker, looking like she was simply going to run right into him.

0%

1d20+2·1d20+1

[Deleted]

"Hello? Anyone around wanting to get blasted?" The Pigmask Grunt said as she looked around and soon squealed In sadness that he did not find anyone...To shoot. "Aww...This might look embarrassing for me, what If the General wanted to ask how I did?" The Grunt said as he quickly walked away to rejoin the Pigmask group on the hunt for the Boy and Monkey.

Shortly after the Grunt left, things quickly became quiet in the forest so It seems Jedah could easily climb down the tree and continue following the group...Or so he thought, footsteps were heard nearby as the sound of a young boy panting was heard, a bush nearby the tree Jedah was on started to rustle until a figure revealed himself.




It was Tony, one of the two targets Jedah and Ammy were supposed to find. "Salsa, Salsa?" Tony called out as he stood near the tree and looked around, unaware of Jedah's presence.

"Boy, I feel like I really took a wrong direction, now I cant even hear Salsa anymore...And I think I'm lost...I wonder what that music was that scared away Salsa?"

---

Meanwhile for the two grunts that were attacking Amaterasu, they were surprised when the wolf quickly attacked them after dodging the raygun attack, the Pigmask behind the first one quickly called out to him. "QUICK DO SOMETHING, SHE'S GOING TO KILL US IF WE JUST STAND HERE!" He said as he tried to find the tranquillizers.

And did.

However he quickly noticed Ammy coming towards him and tried to dodge the attack as he squealed in fright.

"OIIIIIINK, DONT HURT ME I'M JUST DOING WHAT GENERAL PIGMASK SAID!"


bDMNdEcYp_1d20+3(And him panicking caused him to dodge.)

After dodging the attack, The Pigmask threw tranquillizer darts at Ammy...But just the darts instead of shooting them with his raygun. "Take this and that!" he said as he started to throw them at the goddess.

p_1d20+3(Pigmask Grunt B's dart throw.)


Meanwhile the first grunt just stood there and looked around. "Boy sure Is a nice day ou---Huh?" He quickly noticed something at a nearby bush and looked at his partner one more time before heading to the bush to investigate It. "Come out here front and centre or I'll shoot!" He said as he pointed a raygun at the bush...And soon, he came out.




Wielding a banana, Salsa The Little Monkey which he quickly ate and threw at the grunt's legs.

"Hey your Sal---Hey what are you!?"

p_1d20+5(Salsa's Banana Throw!)

p_1d20+3(The grunt saw that one coming.)

"Nice try." The grunt said to Salsa as he narrowly avoided the banana peel and aimed his raygun at the Monkey, of course before the Grunt could say anything else, Salsa ran toward's his leg and tried to bite him.


p_1d20+5(Salsa Bites!)

p_1d20+3(And He's stuck on the grunts leg.)

p_1d20+3(How much damage The Grunt got from the bite.)


Pigmask Soldier A
Damage: 14%

Status: None

Items: Pigmask Raygun

The Grunt screamed in pain as Salsa managed to bite him on the leg and struggled to get the little monkey off of him. "GRAH, GET OFF OF ME, YOUR HURTING MY LEG!" He said as she started to hop towards the pile of leafs. "Get off!" He said as he continued hopping and his anger getting worse.


"GET

OFF!"

And Salsa did...When he made It to the edge of the pile of leafs. "Uh oh!" The grunt said as he struggled to hold his balance, but due to his now sore leg, he fell into the pile of leafs which turned out to be a tall pit, probably the Pigmask grunts were going to use to trap Jedah and Ammy.

Pigmask Soldier A
Damage: 999%
Status: KO
Items: Pigmask Raygun

"OINKO!" He said as he fell into the pit, defeated, Salsa mooned him before noticing Ammy and the Grunt fighting, realising the wolf was in trouble, the little monkey raced towards the wolf in need, and after he helps her, maybe she will know where his new friend Tony is.

He hopes.

Meanwhile the Toad Officer from earlier Is now revealed to be hiding behind a rock, and saw what Salsa did. "Wow...What a brave little monkey...I think the two will be fine...Hopefully they'll find Jedah." The Officer said as he quickly ran off from the battle since he was also starting to get scared for his safety.

"But Now I gotta care for my own safety...Mainly getting little me back to the Life Sphere!"

1d20+3·1d20+3·1d20+5·1d20+3·1d20+5·1d20+3·1d20+3

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Jedah simply thought it would be safe to climb down the tree until he noticed one of his rescue targets.

"if you are curious to know where your monkey friend is, I believe he might be helping a celestial lupine in subduing some porks that were aiming to capture me and said canine." jedah's voice called out calmly from the shade of the tree he was in before climbing down cautiously to ensure that the coast was clear so he could talk without interuption from pigs in masks.

"I think that the path you are on will unfortunately lead you to the enemy base, the place I am intended to bring you is due SSE of this messed up jungle of death, which is known as the Life Sphere." Jedah continued staying a few meters away from the boy so as to earn his trust and get the kid to come to him without trouble.
CHA ROLL: 17-2=15{Jedah convincing tony not to head towards the enemy}

Luckily jedah's poor charisma helped him without a problem as it was mostly due to him trying to convince the rescue target from heading in the direction of people who would try to turn him into a brainwashed and crazy minion. He then perked his ears up in case his enemy to slaughter target was still in the area.
WIS ROLL: 17-2=15{commencing enemy scan via sonar}

"I hope you are capable of defending yourself if the enemy is still in the area." Jedah said calmly as he began flexing his fingersfingers, the knuckles cracking to maintain their flexibility for any perceived attack from a gun wielding pork chop.

{MEAT REFERENCES AHOY!}

[Cielmira]

As she somewhat stumbled along heading in an adjusted path toward the pig preparing darts the wolf inspired some mild panic; after he hopped up and away. At first she was pleased, catching her footing and resuming a less staggered approach, but hadn't expected her target would be so desperate as to toss the tranquilizers willy nilly. Ammy easily dipped to the side to avoid the first dart, a second bouncing harmlessly across her fur before settling nicely in the ground, a third and fourth carelessly thrown as she began stepping forward again to get close to the pig soldier.

She felt a prick in her foot. She yelped, lifting her paw immediately from the sticker that had pricked her paw. It was the dart that had brambled across her fur moments ago. Ammy could feel the drug rushing through her body making her drowsy and sluggish, shaking her head as if that would help her stay awake. The constitution granted to her by her godhood was likely all that was staving off slumber. A little bit worried she focused on the ethereal beads circulating around her head and shoulders, firing a set of five in a horizontal stretch at the two Pigmask soldiers in an effort to keep them at bay while she tried to work through the tranquilizer. Lucky for her she'd soon have help with the two outfitted pigs, otherwise Jedah would have another being to rescue in these woods.

Groggy Atk: gJQyCc1Q1d201d20

[Deleted]

The grunt kept throwing his tranquillizers at Ammy, getting increasingly agitated each time the wolf goddess missed. "Come on, why do you keep missing, I'm throwing them close to you!" He said as he threw the last of the tranquillizers, and squealed when the wolf was still standing, realising his partner has not returned yet, the Pigmask begged Amaterasu not to hurt him. "PLEASE DONT HURT ME I'LL DO ANYTHING...LIKE BE YOUR PET! WOULD THAT MAKE YOU MORE NOTIACBLE?" He said as she lied on and tried to act like a pig, but stopped after noticing Amaterasu acting strangely.


The Grunt soon noticed that she stepped on one of the tranquillizers and oinked in happiness. "Oh boy...I can't believe It, she got hit by one of the tranquillizers!" The Grunt said as he jumped in the air before looking at the wolf as he started to do a very long and menacing laugh.


i4AwcaTjp_1d20+3(And barely dodged getting hit by beads due to his laughing.)

"Pitful wolf...Now that your are bout to be knocked out you will serve us, The New Pigmask Army, you'll be the first out of many new members and with your powers we will be able to take over all of the Life Sphere and make It more our way...Like what he wanted to do...

Master Pokey

Now sleep Goddess as your about to be captured!

As Soon as I find my partner!" He said cheerfully as he walked past Ammy and looked around for his partner. "Sam...Oh right, we don't say our names, Piggy Piggy, the wolfs about to be knocked out...Where are you?" He said as he walked over to the pit after noticing the leafs were gone.


"That's strange where are the leafs?" He said as he looked at the pit and started to get scared...Meanwhile, nearby Salsa was watching before turning his attention towards Ammy, he was going to push the Grunt into the Pit...But he won't move...Right? Besides that poor dog Is In trouble Salsa was probably thinking as he jumped out of the bush he was hiding in...Yes, the same one the Toad Officer was hiding In as he ran passed the Grunt who was focused on the hole before making It to the dazed wolf.

And offered her a banana.

"Ohh, I'm not sure If I should look down, maybe I should just take the wolf and head into the jungle." He said to himself as he was about to turn towards Amaterasu and Salsa, but soon heard a groaning oink coming from the hole and turned back after noticing It. "That groan...I heard It before!" He said as he looked into the hole and saw his injured partner waking up. "SAM, SAM, OH MY GOD SAM, WHO COULD HAVE DONE THIS TO YOU, POOR SAM, YOU WERE TOO GREAT FOR THIS CRUEL WORLD, SAM, NOO! SAM!? SAM!! Sam...Come on Sam don't do this...SAM NO DONT YOU HAVE A FAM---


"What are you doing?"


"SAM YOUR AWAKE!"


"I was but you kept on panicking and sounding like I was in another situation other than an injury...And we call ourselves piggy If General Pigmask heard that you used real names he'll give you what's coming for you!"

---

Tony soon turned and heard the voice of Jedah. "Huh?" He said sounding surprised as Jedah soon appeared. "Okay...Taking a step back." He said as he did so, before doing so again after he spoke in a calm voice and told Tony what's going on. "Lupine? That's some kind of plant, are you talking about a dog? Why did you bring one, a stranger in weird clothing and talk's in a calm voice...Who I will now take a step back again since you mentioned a dog." Tony said looking like he's not convinced that Jedah was good and was helping him.


"Life Sphere huh? I'll go find It by myself when I'm back with Salsa, there's no way I'm not coming with you unless you have proof that your good and that all that you said was true...Or else I'm going to find a clear path and take It, since It will most likely get me out of this jungle and hopefully lead me right into Salsa, and not that suspicious group that's probably the only thing you said that was true."1d20+3

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"all you need to do at the moment is have faith, I'm already picking up your simmian friend through my ability to sense beings on the cosmic level, I believe he is close by, due SW from our position. For now however, can you tell me what your name is and how you came to be here?" Jedah said on a calm tone, Patiently waiting for a reply while he was keeping his ears open and eyes peeled for pigmask troops.

During the time he was talking to the boy, he briefly glimpsed a powerful soul belonging to a particular portly boy named pokey, pity the brat was far from him, otherwise he'd be poisoned outright by jedah's poisonous blood the moment he got within 15 meters of the area, which was saying something as he was charging up some blood balls in his hands while they were behind him, that way he could poison and harm any enemy that was coming his way.

[Cielmira]

Ah hah! No wait she missed. Her mind was moving slowly, burdened with thoughts of sleep. Mmm, it'd be just like when she was hibernating as a statue. That was rather pleasant and certainly restful. Amaterasu shook her head as she suddenly realized the little pig was gone. Confused she turned her head side to side finding only bushes around her. The wolf groaned, slumping to the ground. Perhaps now that she was alone she could just wait here for Jedah to arrive, a little nap wouldn't hurt... She snorted. What was she thinking? Of course it would matter. There were two people lost in this place like she once was upon arriving on Li.

The bushes rustled and parted nearby revealing the small form of a chimpanzee. That wasn't odd at all, this was a jungle. She was going to proceed to ignoring him in favor of her conflicting thoughts but the monkey waddled up and pushed a banana in her face. Her slow reflexes due to the drug made her recoil in a delayed comical fashion, head bobbing up well afterward before she leaned in to sniff the yellow fruit. Yup. A banana. Ammy grumbled, looking like she was about to lay down when suddenly she perked. Ears flicked forward in time with the pig soldier shouting frantically nearby, but that wasn't the cause of her burst of energy. It occurred to her that one of the beings they were looking for was a monkey! Ammy panted excitedly, though somewhat lazily, righting herself and crawling a little forward giving a light nudge in Salsa's direction. She blearily made out the blue collar around his neck, that being enough of a confirmation for her.

Half a bark escaped her maw. One small triumph. Now they just needed to find the boy... and Jedah. Oh boy, she was effectively at square one with 2 of the 4 parts of this team being found. Ammy ran her tongue along her lips, shaking her head once again and then making to stand. The white wolf stumbled a bit but managed to stay on all fours, though her stance was rather wide and obviously overcompensating for balance. She kept her head lowered, staring at Salsa, giving a small nod in his direction. As the cries from the two pigs continued shrieking into the jungle she attempted to focus on that to keep her mind from wandering into a silent embrace. The pair just needed to get moving. The other two had to be around here somewhere...

Ammy began making half-hearted attempts at tracking any unusual scents that weren't swine, more than happy to stumble along behind Salsa if the chimp started dancing off anywhere.

[Deleted]

Salsa looked as It took Ammy a long time to be focused again, the monkey looked like he was about to scream in frustration...But he just remembered that his screams will just be "EEK" or "OOK" So he face palmed at only screaming the monkey way, fortunately Amaterasu just got up and started doing work on finding his friend Tony, who was still in the jungle somewhere, he hoped he was ok. Salsa wanted to help Ammy by pointing to the forest where he last saw Tony, hoping he was still there...And not in the clutches of the Pig Mask army...He's worried about what would happen If the army found his friend.

Since Ammy was most likely going into the forest to find Tony, Salsa followed her, but soon realised...His legs were tired for what he just done to the pig mask and son quickly walked towards Ammy and jumped on her back to rest...If she allowed It.

Meanwhile the two Pigmask's oinked in fright as they tried to call for help...Mostly from other members, to get them the heck out of the hole they made, yet fell into.

---

Meanwhile Tony still has doubts with trusting Mr Gentleman demon Jedah, especially the part where he said's he know's where Salsa is...Because he "Senses" Him and asked the boy his named and how he got here. "Depends...What's your name and how did you get here and maybe I'll ask back." Tony said now standing a distance away from Jedah, he'll only come close when Jedah starts acting less suspicious, especially getting rid of those blood balls he's making.

"And get rid of those balls...For now since there's nothing serious happening, It's weird." He said as Jedah said that Tony needed some faith.

Faith? Yeah right...

"Faith? That's just a word to make people feel better by believing In something that Is most likely not going to happen, I had faith before...But lost It because I believed too much...

So I guess your faith Is not broken yet?"

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"since you asked, I shall of course oblige, I am known as Jedah dohma, and I am not your enemy as I came to get you out of this disease ridden jungle and into civilisation. As for my partner, she is in fact quite friendly and is a sun goddess to boot, you can at least trust her if not me." Jedah explained as he let his crimson spheres dissipate back into his body, though he did this out of respect despite the fact that he could be seen doing nothing but standing and keeping his eyes and ears open to he can ensure no enemies were capable of ambushing the two while they were conversing.
wis ROLL: 18-2=16{feel free to have that porker attempt an ambush any time, starri.}

[Cielmira]

Her reaction was rather slow, not quite realizing the added weight as the little ape hopped onto her back. It was also what made her realize she was letting her fiery mirror slip around to her side instead of hover neatly where Salsa now comfortably sat. The wolf stopped sniffing around to raise her head and twist it around to spy the intelligent beast. Her tongue slipped out to wipe across her lips and nose, tail raising to wag a couple lazy times, before she dropped her attention back down. Her mind really only able to focus on one thing at a time at the current moment though, she took some time to slip her divine instrument behind Salsa. Tilting it vertically so the flicker of flames spinning along its edges swept across her own fur making for nothing more than a pleasant seat warmer for the monkey.

Ammy released half a bark, soft and tired, and made obvious motions to look at their path options. She figured if he was up there he could easily give indication of what way to go, if he knew at all, as if she was a standard mount. Her head dipped back down to the overgrown jungle floor, sniffing heavily, and began trotting down a somewhat open path weaving in a general northward direction.