Onwards to the forest!

After a long while of walking up and down the hills, you and Thompson arrive at the forest's edge.

"She's just beyond there?" You asked, wincing in the sunlight to try to make out that lied beyond the outer layer of leaves and branches you were about to penetrate.

"Give or take a few miles!"

You gave him a curious glance.

"I woulda had a map on me if I'd known we would be needing one, but I can't exactly tell the future!"

You weren't exactly sure you believed him.

Birds chirped everywhere, you heard toads and squirrels and made out some movement in the rays of the setting sun poking through the treetops every now and then, but nothing extraordinary for a long while. Your trek through the trees had left your belly rumbling and you hoped it wasn't a great deal farther.

Thompson sensed your worry, or perhaps heard your stomach groan. Either way he slowed down a bit to walk alongside you and gave you a reassuring nudge.

"Don't you worry! Plenty of food where we're going, we'll be seeing it any minute now..." He looked up at the sun for a moment and nodded to himself. You were pretty sure he was lost.

"I'm starting to regret wondering into this place when there's a perfectly reasonable village just the other direction." You complained.

"Well I wouldn't exactly say 'perfectly reasonable' but that's neither here nor there, you needn't worry! Trust your old lad, he'll find you a soft place to rest...somewhere..." He whispered the last part.

"Thompson..." a low croak sounded from the trees, you tried to look up and pinpoint it's source but you couldn't make out anything in the shadows above.

Thompson stopped and looked up, you couldn't make out his expression.

"Thompson!" The croak was closer this time.

Thompson jumped up on a rock and replied, "Y- yes?". He then knelt down to whisper to you, "Hide!"

You scrambled for cover amongst the brambles and for once you had to thank the forest for it's dense undergrowth, perfect for hiding.

You heard a branch snap and saw a large figure drop from the trees next to Thompson, you couldn't make out exactly what they were saying but you heard murmuring and more croaking.

Then, just as soon as it came, the creature scurried up one of the nearby trees. It's many limbs sending shivers down your spine and you hoped you didn't have to spend the night out there.

"Sorry about that, you can come out now!" Thompson said in a bit of a whisper.

You emerged from the bushes and brushed yourself off.

"What was that thing? What did it say?"

Thompson thought for a moment before answering. "Spider. Great big one, we wondered a little too far south for his liking."

"And? Do we need to go south?"

"The good news is, I can now confidently answer yes! The bad news, damned spiders have claimed the land between us and our destination. Always moving around and making new webs wherever they'll most get in the way..fortunately there's a witch not too far north from here according to 'mr. 8-limb' up there, and that means we don't have to pass through spider-ville, however..."

"Let me guess, witches aren't so friendly in this dimension?"

"Well it's not so much her lack of friendliness but more a..general distain for yours truly." He said that last part sheepishly.

You sighed, "Why does she dislike you?"

"I did something or another long ago, can't quite remember.." he brushed your question aside, "but the important thing is that she doesn't particularly like me, so...I'll leave the choice up to you."

He pointed his cane south before you could object, "Through a good bit of webbing to visit an old friend? Or," he swung his cane north, and you had to duck to avoid getting a concussion. "North, to a witch that could very well make the rest of our lives that of frogs rather than people?"

He smiled, "An adventurous lifestyle, eh?"

You facepalmed.