She'd discovered it be accident, to be honest. Sure, Sonnie Wu had been scouting the local Hedge for just such a location over the past several weeks, but those searches had been fruitless. Exploring the Hedge was risky, of course, but she was sneaky and agile enough to evade the various hazards and threats so far.

Still, for all her efforts, the Beast came across what she was looking for without trying.

That was either funny or frustrating. Sonnie wasn't certain which. Probably both.

This was why she gave a short laugh as she stood staring up at the old tree. It loomed not far off the trod, in an overgrown patch amongst the Thorns. How often had she passed this thing on her way to her hidden goblin fruit grove, and then back to the Tavern? Cold fog wafted about her legs and the wide base of the tree. Thick foliage camouflaged the upper reaches. It wasn't the only tree here, far from it, but it was one of the larger ones, and looked just about perfect.

The Steepscrambler picked her way through the briar, using her staff to whack protruding branches aside, and once close enough, leapt to the thick bark. Simian fingers and toes instantly found purchase, and she scampered up the trunk with no trouble and considerable speed.

In the heights of the tree, everything was secluded. The leaves shielded the interior from view, yet still allowed sunshine to reach in. The branches were thick and strong. The Thorns were up here, however, curling about the old tree and it's arms like an unwanted lover.

If this was to be the place, Sonnie had a lot of work to do.

Hack away the Thorns. Get wood and nails and paint. Build it. Buy furniture. But a TV... no wait, there's no electricity here...

Slow down! One thing at a time!

Right! Right!

She let out a breath. Best not to get ahead of herself. First things first. Beat back the Thorns.

Sonnie reached into her bag and, after digging about for ten seconds or so, pulled out a folded piece of paper. Opening the item, she smiled as she looked over the blueprints she had drawn up.

Sonnie Wu's Awesome Monkey Treehouse of Awesomeness! (tm)

The entire design showed no architectural skill, was drawn in multicolored magic markers, and displayed little touches such as a chocolate milk fountain, a go-cart track, an endless taco bar, a porn library and a kung fu dojo.

It... might need to be scaled down somewhat, but the Beast didn't care. Her future Hollow now had a build site!

With a nod, Sonnie hung her bag on a small branch, readied her staff, and moved to start prying the thorny vines away from her new den.