"Yeah," Naomi agreed, getting up. She held out a hand to help Osanna up even as she glanced around the area. Nothing seemed familiar at all to her.

Osanna looked around, carefully testing the air and the plants. It didn't take long to figure out that they were in a park in a big city somewhere.

However, that did not prepare her for the growling she could hear from a little ways off.

Niko sighed as he glanced at Cal. "We are trying to get information," he said, his voice mild. "Not make you boglet food."

Naomi jumped a bit when she heard the growling, too. Whatever it was, it wasn't something she'd ever heard before. It sounded kind of... wet, almost, with almost a bit of rustling in there too. It was bizarre, and set Naomi a bit on edge.

Cal snorted a bit. Yeah, no, there was no real difference, from where he was standing.

Osanna grabbed Naomi and dragged her to the nearest tree, scaling the height easily herself before she reached down to help Naomi up. She would feel better if they were somewhere out of the immediate danger area.

Niko was about to get back his negotiations with mother Boggle when she growled, her eyes and her bogglets turning to another part of the wooded area. Apparently they had some unexpected company.

Naomi didn't ask Osanna what she sensed that Naomi herself couldn't; she trusted her friend. It didn't mean she was any good at climbing trees, but at least she didn't fall and break her neck or anything like that.

"See anything from up there?" she asked her friend.

That was interesting. Cal wasn't sure what could have distracted Mama Boggle, but he didn't drop his guard. Whatever it was could be just as bad as the boggle family.

Osanna nodded, reaching down to grab Naomi. It would be easier to avoid the slimy-looking big brown things heading their way if they were in a tree.

Niko didn't relax either, merely watching to see what would happen. He had to admit he was curious to see what had distracted the boggles.

Naomi accepted Osanna's hand up and scrambled up a bit higher in the tree. Whatever the slimy things were, she didn't want any part of it.

"They look like walking mudpies," she said as she went a few branches higher. You know, just to be on the safe side.

Cal was perfectly happy not getting involved with whatever had distracted the boggles. He almost sneezed when the slight breeze shifted, wafting the stench of boggle straight into his face, but then he picked up something else underneath the nearly-overpowering smell. He paused, trying to pick it out. It was kinda... musky and green, and then sharply clear and almost tangy, like mineral water, all mixed in with the normal human smell that he never paid much attention to anymore. That was a weird combination.

"I think Mama Boggle's found someone over there," he said to his brother.

Osanna nodded, watching as two or three of them approached the tree they were in. Uh oh. They did not look friendly.

Frowning deeply, she concentrated on a vine near one of the boggles. The vine wrapped around the bogglet's ankles, and it fell with a crash and a yelping sound.

Niko's eyebrows shot up at Cal's statement, and at the bogglet sound. Well. Whoever it was hadn't gotten killed yet.

"Anyone you recognize?" he asked quietly, knowing Cal's sense of smell was better than his own.

Naomi stayed as far out of reach of the mud-things as she could, and concentrated on one of them. Frost started to blossom over its skin-surface-whatever as Naomi's ice started to go deeper. Hey, mud could freeze. As long as it could do that, she could do something about it.

Cal shook his head a bit.

"No," he replied. "Not familiar at all."

Osanna managed to take down a second one with the same vines, and the two started calling for their mother.

Mama boggle rumbled and headed over towards them. Niko's eyebrows raised at that. Normally the bogglets were enough to take out whatever got close enough to them.

"Perhaps we should go take a look." He would hate to have something unknown sneak in on them.

Naomi yelped slightly when she saw a much larger mud-monster coming towards them, and she tapped Osanna's shin to get her attention.

"Osa!" She pointed to the boggle.

"Then let's go," Cal replied. He was following approximately the same line of thought: he didn't want anything strong enough to take out the bogglets coming up behind them one day.

Osanna paled slightly but managed to make the tree shift enough to hide them and protect them from the angry-looking thing.

Niko followed Mama boggle and paused when he saw a flash of skin in the trees. But the trees were moving. Literally rearranging themselves. He blinked. That was something new.

Naomi moved a bit closer to Osanna when the trees started to move around.

"I take it that's easier to do here," she said once they seemed to be sufficiently hidden. "Wherever 'here' is."

Now that they were closer, Cal could pick up the two new scents easily, and could pick them apart. He glanced around, trying to find the source as the trees kept moving. He had no idea how they were doing that, or even why, but he was going to find the two people somehow.

Osanna nodded, though she looked tired. Easier. But I'm getting tired.

Mama bogglet gave up after a few minutes, since the vines had let go of her bogglets, and she went back to her mud puddle.

Niko watched the trees carefully, looking for whoever it was that was up there.

Naomi nodded and shifted slightly so she could keep an eye out, in case the monsters came back. She blinked when she saw two much more normal-looking guys moving through the trees.

"Look," she said softly to Osanna. "People."

Cal looked around at the trees. Now that they stopped moving, and Mama Boggle was gone, he was able to pinpoint where the two strangers were.

"That one," he said, pointing to one of the trees. "Up there."

Osanna looked down at them and managed to move the branches aside before she slumped against one, panting. Okay, now she was tired. Naomi might have to carry her back.

Niko looked up at the two, blinking. They looked human enough. He glanced at Cal, raising an eyebrow.

"What brings you here?" he asked, settling for polite for the moment. Until he could decide how much fo a threat they were.

Naomi glanced at Osanna before looking down at the two guys on the ground.

"Would you believe me if I said we aren't quite sure?" she called back. She didn't move to get out of the tree, yet. She wasn't sure if the two guys were a threat, and Osanna was too tired to get the trees to do anything again, which meant Naomi was on guard duty.

Cal raised an eyebrow. These two were definitely the two he smelled before, but how could anyone not know why they had ended up somewhere?

Niko raised an eyebrow as well. "How can you be unsure?" he asked, a little warily. He'd seen a lot of things in his time, but this was... unusual.

Osanna lifted her head just enough to look at Niko and Cal. She studied them for a few moments before she glanced at Naomi. One's human, the other's half, maybe? Probably not normal. She could smell that Cal was something else entirely but she wasn't sure what.

Niko didn't comment on that yet, although he did know exactly what she'd just said.

"Yes to the first," Naomi said quietly to Osanna. "I'm not entirely sure on the second. But you're right." She looked back down at the two. "It's kind of a long, still-ongoing story," she said. "But we're not actually sure where we are, or how we got here. The only thing I am sure about at this point is that as soon as I'm out of this tree, I'm leaving this park because it seems to be full of giant walking mudpies that wanted to eat us, and that's just not kosher."

Cal just watched them. He wasn't so hopeless that he didn't recognize sign language when he saw it, but he had no idea how to understand it, and he was fairly sure that if he asked his brother, Niko would insist on trying to drill it into his head before he would offer to translate. He couldn't help but snicker a bit at the description of the boggles, though.

Osanna snorted and put her head down again, yawning briefly and snuggling into the tree limb. Okay, naptime now.

Niko blinked, a little confused by Naomi's description of their situation. But he didn't show it.

"Well, the giant walking mudpies are boggles, and if you do not wish to be bothered by them, it is easiest to simply move away from their territory."

Naomi blinked.

"This is going to sound like a really stupid question," she said slowly, "but what's a boggle?" In all fairness, the word made her think of some sort of failed childrens' toy idea. She'd heard the word used as a verb, before, but never as a noun like that.

"Is she serious?" Cal murmured to his brother. Hell, if Niko was confused, then there was really something strange going on.

Niko frowned. "Perhaps this would be better explained if you were down here," he said carefully. "How much do you know?"

How much does 'nothing' cover? Osanna signed to Naomi tiredly, her eyes still closed.

"Pretty much," Naomi muttered to Osanna. She nudged her friend. "I don't see any more of those things, so let's get down and see what's going on." Once Osanna was out of the tree, Naomi could give her a piggy-back or something so that he could rest a while. She glanced down at the two guys still standing under the tree.

Cal watched the two girls carefully.

"There's something strange about them," he commented quietly to Niko. "I'm just not sure what it is. But I'm fairly sure neither of them are completely human."

Osanna nodded and forced herself up, sliding down the trunk to land on her feet, albeit a little wobbly. She blinked and moved out of the way so Naomi could get down too.

Niko hummed his agreement, watching the two with narrowed eyes. He wasn't quite sure what they'd do with the girls yet, but he was coming up with ideas. Fortunately. Since Cal would be useless in that department. Hiding bodies, yes. Figuring things out, not so much.

Naomi climbed down the tree, and landed next to her friend in time to wrap an arm around her shoulders to steady her.

"You're warm," she murmured to Osanna. "Or am I just still cold? It's hard to tell."

Cal didn't mind letting Niko come up with the ideas. Less work for him. Hey, he made no secret about being a lazy bum most of the time. Still, he kept an eye on the girls, as well, making sure they didn't try anything.