A damp, sweltering forest.
Trees blotted out the sky, draped in vines, while the slick ground was rugged and difficult to traverse.
The monkey swatted dead the leeches clinging to his body. Those things were disgustingly revolting. Many leeches clung to the undersides of green leaves, waiting for animals to pass by, wriggling as they latched onto fur and sucked blood. They could do nothing to great demons, but they were disgusting nonetheless.
Splat~
The monkey crushed a palm-sized leech in his claw.
Ironball the pangolin looked back before continuing to scout ahead, checking the compass from time to time.
The two short figures moved through the deep-green forest, searching for something.
"Squeak~ Ironball, was that wanted poster in the black market for the two of us? I remember it showed a monkey and a boy, but you're clearly a pangolin."
"It should be us. The portrait was poorly drawn."
The monkey raised his head to look at the troop in the branches. After staring for a long while, he still could not tell what difference there was between the monkey in the portrait and them.
Ironball scratched his lower back and hitched up his underpants.
"Pour me a cup of ant wine."
A furry monkey claw pulled the Wine Worm from his fur. The plump Wine Worm spat liquor into a wooden cup. The delicious, highly nourishing ant wine splashed out with a gurgle. Then it spat out another cup of fruit wine for the monkey before burrowing back into his fur, poking out its head to look around.
"Tsk, that's the flavor. I'm liking our new companion more and more."
He shuddered as he drew a deep breath of the rich wine fragrance.
He tipped back his head.
And drained it in one gulp.
Ironball was intoxicated by