Journey to the trinity tree - Prompt Seven

As the sun started setting it marked the time for the group to head back to the tree. Pecora was reluctant to leave but Tasso and Xia managed to drag her away. It was a peaceful trip back with no hassle however, when they entered the tree, they noticed the restless atmosphere. It was not like before; the group were immediately on edge as they walked past groups of cats giving them unimpressed and dirty looks. They were here to help, what went wrong?

While Pecora and Xia were discussing their next plans, Tasso noticed a strong smell of rotten wood. The putrid smell invaded his nose as he tried to find the source. Finding it coming from the centre of the tree he called Pecora and Xia over. The females were curious, they were never shown this place when first showed around the land. It was hard to see more than a few meters down due to the lack of natural light and dark wood. Xia looked around them before starting to adventure down, Tasso and Pecora naturally following her down. It was when they reached the bottom the smell became worse but there was nothing especially standing out, it was more like a dead end. “Strange.” Xia stated, uneasy.

Suddenly there is a crunch of rock and soil behind them. All three spun around to meet multiple sets of eyes staring at them. They couldn’t see what the felines looked like exactly but were able to tell they were soldiers. This was clearly an ambush. Xia and Tasso immediately stood in front of Pecora to protect her while they stood hackles up. “What do you want?” Xia asked as she bared her fangs, not messing around.