Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Trick or Sweet

Kipo took one final sniff and nodded to herself. Yep, this was the place for sure. She turned triumphantly to her two companions, pointing down to a large bush below the. Like a huge bush. Like... the size of a small mall. But Kipo didn't have time to unpack that right now, her stomach was growling.

"It's down there," she told Wirt and Adam. "I can smell it. Food."

Well, technically that wasn't the only thing that Kipo was smelling down there. She could smell a lot of smells coming from the bush, some good, some bad, some downright horrible, but also, the heavenly scent of sweet fruit. Kipo was licking her lips just thinking about it.

But Wirt and Adam didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. To Kipo's surprise, they both stared at her, their eyes wide and their mouths agape in shock.

"Uh... is something wrong?" Kipo asked, a little self consciously. What had gotten into them?

"Um..." Adam's hand jerked up, as if he both wanted to and didn't want to move at the same time. He tapped his nose. "Er.. something happened to... your nose..."

Kipo blinked, raising her fingers to where Adam was motioning to, and then both her hands flew to her face. Instead of the smooth, pointy nose Kipo usually had, the texture was velvety and flat.

"Oh!" Kipo gasped. She'd turned her human nose into a jaguar nose without realizing it. "Oops. Herbs in!"

Kipo lowered her hands. Her nose was back to normal. Adam and Wirt stared.

"O-Oh," Wirt said, sounding startled. "You really can turn into a jaguar... I guess."

Kipo shrugged. "I mean, usually, though I've been a bit nervous to try it recently, because what if I change and then can't change back?"

"That can happen?" Adam asked, squinting at her. "You can change into a jaguar and not be able to change back, ever?"

Kipo nodded. "And I'll lose my identity, who I am. But hey! Now that I'm not so lonely anymore, maybe it'll work better!"

Wirt blinked at her. He didn't really seem eager for her to turn into a mega jaguar. "So you're going to do it? Right now?"

Kipo opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, her stomach rumbled painfully. Kipo patted her belly, wincing. The hunger pains were starting to get painful now. "Well, no. Maybe after I eat."

Wirt gulped.

The three of them turned around, once again staring down at the gigantic bush. Kipo wondered what kind of fruit it had. Now that she'd changed her nose, she couldn't quite differentiate between every single smell, but the fruit still smelled enticing.

From where the three of them were, they were overlooking the bush, but not by much. A couple feet, at most. If the leaves had been made out of slightly sturdier material, Kipo was sure they could just hope down onto it with no problem. But Kipo was sure if they did that, all they accomplice is falling off the bush and falling down to the ground, which they'd probably not survive.

So Kipo was surprised when Adam immediately jumped down.

"Adam!" Kipo gasped, but instead of falling through the leaves like she expected, he landed lightly on the leaf. Adam stood up quickly, staring expectantly at Wirt and Kipo.

Wirt and Kipo exchanged a looked, and Kipo shrugged. She hopped down to a leaf beside Adam. It wobbled a little bit, but it held firmly under Kipo's weight. After a second, Wirt hopped down as well. He teetered, but Kipo quickly grabbed his arm before he could lose his balance.

"Are you okay?" Kipo asked, concerned. Wirt frowned, looking nervous.

"Um... how long has it been since we last eaten?" Wirt asked. Kipo blinked, thinking back.