As Kat gazed out into the distance, at first it wasn't so bad, trees as far as the eye could see, which for a flying demon like Kat was actually quite far. So nothing to be concerned about right? Just a normal jungle? Well, applying a little demonic energy quickly dismissed that notion. As Kat added the energy to her eyes she started to see the tips of the trees turning white, until further in the could see frozen trees and hail buffeting the forest the deeper Kat looked.
*Right, just a bit of light hail* Thought Kat as she applied more energy to her eyes. Except instead of the weather calming down it swung in the complete opposite direction. Just past the frozen trees was a massive desert that even when Kat pushed more energy into her eyes couldn't see the end.
*How large is the island?* Thought Kat. Turning around to take in the view behind her Kat hoped to find the edge of the arena and was pleasantly surprised to find the water not so far away… at least until she realised, she still had her eyes fully charged.
*Damn it. Why the hell is the place so large? It could take me days to reach the desert… Well, actually I guess if I can fly maybe it won't take me that long… Even still this is not what I expected.*
Kat reverted her eyes back to their base state and tried to take a more general look around. *Yup, just trees as far as I can see.* The nearby forest was filled with densely packed foliage, that seemed to stretch unbroken into the distance if you ignored the large hole Kat had opened up below her feet, there were kilometres of trees in every direction.
*What's the bet to find whatever the heck is at the centre I have to go through the frozen wasteland and the desert… And how does that make any sense anyway? Why are they next to each other.*
Kat decided to lower herself a little bit to pick up Timmy. As she floated down, she found the small figure hiding under a leaf, to protect it from the debris. Once Timmy noticed Kat they waved back, and Kat scooped them up returning them to her head.
Once her passenger was safely secured Kat flew back up the canopy to try and find a tree slightly higher than normal to rest on and figure out what her plan would be going forward. That's when Kat noticed something strange.
It was so obvious above trees she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before. *Everything is the same height. The trees aren't even off by an inch.* Kat pushed herself to go even higher and started examining the treetops from a different angle.
*What the hell is this?* Now that Kat had a bird's eye view of the trees she could see that it wasn't just that they were the same height, they were the exactly the same tree. It was like Thyme had taken one as a base and just copy and pasted it until it covered the whole island.
*What does this mean? Does it even matter that the trees all look the same? I mean, even if they didn't one area of the forest is much like another… Oh. I bet this would be hell for the scouts. If they don't go above the canopy, they won't be able to tell what direction they are heading. Man is it cheating that I can fly.*
*Welp might as well get on with it.* Kat started to fly in the direction of the icy trees under the assumption that would lead her to the centre eventually and hoping the ocean she saw wasn't just a lake or something.
As Kat travelled it got harder and harder to keep her bearings. Even being able to see everything from above Kat noticed herself drifted off course. The only way she could tell, was by checking the distance with her eyes and noticing she'd stopped flying towards the ice.
*Ok there is something going on here.* Kat stretched out a hand and tried to feel for the wind and found it extremely lacking. Despite being so high above the trees, it was such a light breeze she had trouble believing that it was responsible for her changing course.
*Dammit, there's probably an enchantment making me more confused. Is it because I'm flying? Or is it just over the whole forest even the ground.*
Kat decided to use her powers to blast through the canopy and drift to the ground. One graceful landing later and Kat was still surrounded by endless identical trees. "Well little Timmy, looks like we're going to be lost one way or another"
Deciding to head forward Kat would place a hand on the trunks of the trees she passed. Pushing her flame into them and scorching a frozen mark on them as she passed. Kat tried using only the lightest amount necessary to leave an obvious mark, but the affected area was always rather large. *Maybe I need to get better at controlling that.*
As Kat continued, she looked back occasionally at her marks, but she didn't seem to be drifting off course. *But I feel like I am anyway.* Stopping in place Kat decided to trust her instinct. Crouching down next to the most recently frozen tree Kat lined her eye up with the edge and looked back with her eyes at full power.
Shit. As soon as Kat took the time to look like this it was more than obvious, she was curving away from her destination again. Just a few tens of trees back and already she could see her marks curing behind her eyeline.
"Well, back to the sky for us Timmy" said Kat. Placing her companion on the ground next to a the roots she blasted her way through the tops before coming to get her little friend again.
*So, I need some way to stop drifting of course. I can probably just brute force it by keeping my eyes enhanced and watching the horizon, but then I can't really focus on what's going on next to me.*
*The other option is to… what is that?* As Kat had let her gaze wonder for any sort of landmark her eyes had locked onto one tree. To others it might not have looked strange, just one tree amongst the forest… but in a forest of identical trees that once noticed, made it impossible to miss even the slightest deviation.
Well, I know where I'm going. Kat checked the ice layer and the tree, and saw it was actually fairly out of her way. She'd have to take a pretty major detour all for a tree that just barely didn't fit the pattern.
*To go or not to go that is the question.* Pulling Timmy down from Kat's head she decided to ask for advice "So you think we should continue towards the ice or head for the funny looking tree"
Timmy gave a shrugging gesture. "What? You think both options are boring? Well I guess you could be right but look at all these trees. Isn't finding a unique one a big discovery?" asked Kat
Timmy just shrugged again "Can you even do anything other then shrug?" asked Kat
Timmy nodded incredulously at Kat "Wait, is it that you can't give me hints?" asked Kat
Timmy gestured with both hands looking at one then the other before shrugging "You can give me some hints but not really?" asked Kat
Timmy nodded energetically at this. "Right, well off to the funny looking tree it is then"
Kat picked up speed and shot towards the tree. Now that she had an obvious landmark in sight and didn't need to keep refreshing her eyes for it, keeping a straight line was rather easy. She still drifted occasionally to the left or right if she lost focus for a moment, but the tree made it much easier to correct this then before.
Progress however was slow. Even though Kat could tell she was moving with a fairly high speed on account of the rushing wind, the tree barely looked any closer. Kat tried to step up the pace but felt a resistance to it, less in the wind, but in her wings. *Damn, I guess this is my speed limit huh*
And so Kat flew along, making great time, but feeling the drag. It took her over thirty minutes until she could actually say the tree was fast approaching. Stopping just shy of the strange tree Kat blasted her way through the canopy once more and found herself on the ground.
Kat closed her wings and carefully inched towards the tree, unsure of what she would find. As she walked past the last few trunks a clearing came into view, with a much larger tree then the others surrounding it.
Of course, that wasn't what really caught her attention.. That honour went to the bright red door.