Okay, so ignoring the advice given by the caravan that she had stolen a basket of apples from was apparently not a good thing. Lafami stared out into the depths of the murky, bog-like forest, knowing that she was truly lost. This in itself wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, for she technically considered herself lost ever since she left the desert, it was the fact that the soft, mushy, moss-laden ground had decided that it wanted to eat her. Lafami remembered that back in the desert, there were some places in the sand that were actually deep pits, and once you stepped in them, you’d sink and sink until you were buried, and then you’d suffocate to death. That was called quicksand. As Lafami searched through her pack for anything of use, she glanced at the muck that had now just swallowed her knees. Strange… dirt had been so much more solid than sand… to think it capable of eating her like quicksand was an entirely new experience.

Beside her, Reti meowed plaintively, concerned at her master’s peril. The cat, unlike Lafami, was too light to sink below the layer of moss, and so she paced anxiously on the wobbly mass, meowing whenever Lafami sank a bit lower.

Eventually though, Lafami found what she was searching for - a bit of rope and fishing twine, strong enough to catch even the largest hylian bass. As the sinkhole claimed her waist, now lapping at the ragged ends of her tunic, Lafami donned her pack and tossed one end of the line to Reti, holding on to the other end herself.

"Find someplace to tie this!" Lafami ordered with urgency. With the grace of her species, Reti pounced lightly on the twine, grabbing it in her mouth, then darting off to find something within reach to tie it to. Unfortunately for the ocicat, the trunks of the trees were too thick, and others too far, for the line to be adequately tied. Looking up at the tree, Reti noticed the limbs stretching out towards the clearing, just above the muck that Lafami had trapped herself in. Some seemed low enough for the rope to wrap around.

Tossing the line back to her master, Reti scampered up the trunk of the closest tree, claws scraping off moist, fungus-eaten bark as she went. She then made her way across a low, sturdy branch, until she was about fifteen to twenty feet away from Lafami, and meowed loudly. By then, Lafami had reeled in the twine, watching her feline companion at work. She grinned as she realized the cat’s plan, and began swinging the rope around like a lasso, faster and faster, until she lashed out her arm towards the branch Reti sat upon.

It came short, and Reti howled louder. The little gerudo girl frowned, and began to swing the rope around again, this time more vigorously. She had to work quick, for she could feel the mud begin to creep up near her arms, and once they got there, it would severely limit her movement. Once more she tossed the rope, grunting with the extra effort, and Reti reached out and snatched it with a paw.

"Yes!" Lafami crowed in triumph, watching her companion climb over and under the tree branch, twine in her mouth, wrapping the rope around it tighter and tighter. With her hands, Lafami could feel the rope suddenly stiffen, and knew that it was time to get out of that muck-hole. Flexing her arms, Lafami pulled against the tug of the gunk that had swallowed more than half of her body. The resistance was great, but the little girl’s will was stronger. Inch by inch she pulled herself from death, and inch by inch it became easier to climb. Soon enough, the muck was now down to her ankles, and she made one more mighty lurch. Almost reluctantly, the mud let go of her with a slurp, and slid back down into quiet, serene peace. Overjoyed, Lafami climbed the rest of the way, and sat on the branch to rest, petting Reti. Despite the hardship, the thief was grinning widely as she uncoiled the rope, and replaced it within her pack.

"Well that was cool, wasn’t it?" she asked rhetorically, not expecting for her only companion to answer. As she wiped her brow of sweat, Lafami glanced at something in the fog. Curious, she leaned forward, squinting. It almost… looked like a building of some sort. A building? Way out here? While it wasn’t impossible, Lafami had thought it improbable that any sort of structure could possibly survive in this humid, soupy place. Reti meowed questioningly, and Lafami’s grin reappeared on her face, bigger than ever.

"Well, it’s there," Lafami told the cat, "Why not check it out while we have the chance?" Reti, as if understanding what the green-clad girl had said, leaped from the tree branch, and landed as light as a feather on the ground below. She meowed at Lafami - all safe!

Grinning, thinking thoughts of exploration and treasures, Lafami jumped down, deftly landing on her feet, and entered the Dome, Reti by her heel.