Up in the tree he sees a female Neko with dark blue fur crouching in the tree, staring where the rope trap is, as if waiting for it to work.
(A Neko is Seiken's cat people. The have various shades of fur, and are usually travelers or fighters of some kind. They rarely use magic, even though they have vast respect for it. Most Neko are female, with males being rare. Most children the female Nekos have are also Nekos regardless of the race of the father.)
Bastian climbs down the tree. He gestures to his companions, pointing out the Neko, and putting a finger to his lips for silence. He stalks his way over to the tree where the cat-woman sits.
<Move silently natural 20+11>
He readies his weapon and gestures his companions to follow him to the base of the tree.
The others follow, but unfortunately Aria is slightly... lacking... in stealth, and steps on sticks, cracking them loudly. The Neko turns, and stares at the group for a moment. "My hunting! Back off!" She hisses at them.
The Neko shrugs. "Whatever falls into the trap. Deer, wolf, horse, people... I'm an equal opportunity hunter. Now move along. You're noisy, and you'll scare game away." She replies. (The Neko is wearing form-fitting leather armor.)
"Very well! We shall leave you be - we thought you might be a danger to us!" Bastian says in a shouted whisper.
The group starts to walk back towards the road when Bastian stops and turns to the Neko. "Have you noticed anything strange in the forest lately, hunter? We're hunting something ourselves."
The Neko shakes her head. "No, nothing strange. But then, you have a woman who smells of lots of metals with you. So it might be you!" The Neko says, grinning a cheshire's grin.
"Haha! We certainly are strange - good nose!" Bastian says, and the group begins making its way along the road again.
"Watch your backs," he murmurs under his breath.
The first two hours Bastion doesn't see anything. But then he starts catching glimpses of something moving in the third hour, followed by flashes of leather armor, and then blue fur. He doesn't catch sight of anything the next two, but in the last hour they come back.
During the seventh hour, he hears small noises, the sound of cracking branches, light thumps like someone landing from a jump, and something rustling bushes.
As they travel, Bastian points out the noises and sights. Come the seventh hour, in informs the party that something is definitely following them. During the eighth hours, as the sun starts to set and the party begins contemplating camp, he questions them what their take is on their follower - blue fur and a stealthy nature. The party continues walking as they discuss this.
"It's a people thing, really. Animals don't wear other animals' skin." Tsuki says. Irvine just grunts, uncaring unless it starts a fight. "Logically, it would most likely be the creature-person we met earlier today. She is following us for some reason, at least in my calculations." Aria says. Blackfang just keeps walking. He doesn't care as long as it's not an enemy of Tsuki or food, at the moment.
As the party makes camp, Bastian cups his hands around his mouth and calls out, "Good hunter? You are welcome to join us and enjoy our fire. You must be tired after staying so quiet for so long."
"Well, you noticed the tripwire, that woman smells like metal, despite not carrying any, she has a wolf following her, along with green hair and those eyes that aren't normal, and that man has a crystal sword." The Neko said, counting off of her paws.
"We are a bit of a strange group," Bastian agrees. "But strange enough to call off your hunt?" He turns to Tsuki, "Speaking of which, Tsuki, what's for dinner? Do we have anything?"
He looks back at the Neko. "DID you call off your hunt? I'm Bastian, by the way. The woman who smells like metal is Arianwen. Green hair is Tsuki, her wolf is Blackfang, and the swordsman we call Irvine. And you?"
The Neko shrugs. "The hunt can always be postponed, and frankly, you are interesting. My name's Selma." She is wearing black leather armor that fits her form, a shortsword on a hip, a shortbow on her back. Several bags are at her hip, and she wears a strange bracelet on her right hand and a strange glove on her left.
"Selma, we will gladly indulge your curiosity." Bastian offers a hand.
"We are band of travelers on the road to Pandora. We've evidence of a lich about, and we're trying to track and stop it. That's why I asked you if you'd seen anything odd in the forests. Something as powerful as a lich is likely to make much noise about, I'm sure you understand."
"A lich? That's one of those dead things that don't stay dead, right?" Selma shakes her head. "Sorry, stranger. Haven't heard of one recently. I've heard old kitten tales about them though."
"You seem especially interested in Arianwen here, and her metal-smell. That's the other reason we're about. There may be other beings like her, metal beings, although not with her fine demeanor."
Bastian stands from the fire. "Selma, I'm tired, and I need to rest up for the road tomorrow. We're on the way to Pandora, so we've a long way ahead of us. You are free to enjoy our camp tonight." He bids his companions goodnight.