However, in her bliss, a sound from outside the tent woke her up from her distraction. A strange almost bestial growling could be heard. This, caused the young Princess to become a bit worried, so taking her hand off of Caelyn's hair, she slowly moved to leave the tent, adjusting her clothes a bit as she did so, as they had become ruffled in her sleep.

Outside, she was greeted with a strange scene. The fire was only smoldering now, a sign it must have gone out recently. But, that wasn't the strangest part, as that would be the sight of A'ari. The beast woman was staring out into the forest, the visible spots of her fur and her hair as well had grown into a more feral look, as she growled rather loudly, out into the forest. As well, her normally Auburn hair had changed hues into a more blueish silver shade, likely closer to White Gold than Silver.

Something must have startled the woman, for her to take such an aggressive stance as Amalia stood there behind her, by the tent. "M-miss A'ari?" The young princess said, finally speaking up after a couple of awkward moments of just the beast woman growling. "Is... everything alright?"

Her concerned tone was what finally snapped A'ari out of her strange trance, causing her to shuffle a bit, her hair slowly changing back to its normal Auburn color. "Ah... don't startle me like that," A'ari said, a smirk on her face a bit, though this one was more awkward than anything. "You... You saw, didn't you?" she then said, softly shuffling a bit nervously as she stared at Amalia, her eyes almost unblinking.

"Ah... I... Saw w-what?" Amalia said in response, a confused look on her face as she looked at the beast-woman before her, a slight blush on her face as she did so. She wasn't exactly sure of what she saw at the time, but even then understood that it likely wasn't something she should speak out about.

At her response, A'ari only nodded in approval at first, letting out an exasperated sigh as she did. "Right, right... Scarlet said you were like that... No idea why though..." She then said softly, under her breath as she slowly moved, sitting before the mostly dead campfire, using a couple of sticks to get it going once more. "For now, just be glad we're in a Crimson Forest, and not Azure... okay?"

"O-okay?" Amalia stated in response, a confused, but worried look on her face as she slowly moved to sit beside A'ari, before slowly moving to pat her on the shoulder, a soft smile on her face. "Just, I'm sure when the time comes and you want to talk to me about whatever happened, I'll be there for you, okay?"

Giving a soft chuckle, and lightly nuzzling against Amalia's hand was all the response she got at first, before A'ari gave a soft nod at her, before glancing over at the small fire they had going once again, leaving the awkward pair in silence as the two awaited for Caelyn to awake. Luckily, they did not have to wait long, as soon enough the elf too was awake, and the group packed the camp up just as quickly as they had set it up.

Soon enough, the group was back trekking through the Crimson Forest, Amalia occasionally glancing over at A'ari, her actions earlier worrying the young princess. While the beast-woman seemed to have returned to normal, it was still a strange sight for Amalia. While she did in fact know very little about Beastmen, A'ari's looks at the time felt odd or unnatural. As if something was off about her.

Despite feeling that at the time, nothing felt strange about her traveling companion now, the three of them held a tight grouping as they traversed the Forest, still on the lookout for any signs of the cave they were looking for. As well, for the past what felt like an hour, as they re-entered the forest from the clearing, Amalia could not shake the feeling that they were being watched. By someone, or something.

This, of course, was also worrying the young princess, but at least Caelyn also seemed to be affected by this feeling, as the dark elf showed signs of being agitated by something. Though, what it was was not exactly clear to the others.

The three of them continued their trek, before soon enough, Caelyn held out her hand, stopping the other two. Soon after, she pointed out something new. Something different.

Finally, they had found the cave.

The area around the cave entrance seemed the most warped, as the trees all had become even more twisted and black. The texture of them felt almost metallic, instead of the natural bark texture. As well, the grass in the area was now a deep blood red crimson. The cave entrance as well had been warped by the Void Crystal. the stones now were a deep purple in colour, a clear sign that the corruption of the Abyssal magic used to make the Void Crystal had begun warping even the land itself in the area, and not just organic matter.

The three of them stood there, near the entrance. The strange almost zombie-like hobgoblins no longer guarding the entrance, almost as if something else was guarding the area. This, of course, was likely the hound-like creatures that Amalia had run into earlier. She knew they were called seekers, but at the time as she glanced around the area of the cave entrance, her thoughts were on other things.

Finally, after determining that it was safe, the group slowly started approaching the Cave entrance.