Avalon

Skyla traveled through the forest by Avalon collecting wood for her fire that night. She had run precariously low, and the nights were slowly, but steadily, getting colder. She knew that the east more than anything was much much safer, but she had to admit the west had much better fire wood, plus then she didn't have face angry fairies.

She was careful when putting the collected sticks in her sack, making sure that each one would stay, for if even one would fall, someone would know where to follow her. She covered any tracks that would be spotted. Once she had learned that a different kind of species had entered Gratidia, humans is what they were called, she suddenly felt a danger fall over the land as if a foreboding cloud had descended upon everyone's peaceful lives. After this she started taking back routes to where she needed to get to, leaving the main roads, and was more careful of her volume and if her tracks were seen. She didn't trust anyone, and didn't want anyone breaking her finally happy life.

As she continued, the sudden sound of quiet, little laughter filled the air. The nymphs were planning something, and something dangerous. Sklya stood up wiping her brow as she looked around in the sky above her. None of the nymphs were seen of course, but they were there. She quickly put her new handful of wood in her sack before starting off back to her cave which was placed close by the Trovedrain, closer to the Troves than Morghosia. The reason she had chose a home there instead of closer to where the elves normally inhabited was because after she left, she found anywhere that the elves went they would find her and disturb her silence, so she went in the opposite direction of her homeland. She then fell upon, not literally, the cave she was currently living in. She took refuge there for a couple nights and found that since it was so close to the Troves that no one would pass by. She fell in love with the silence and river going by, though it wasn't a river she could drink out of she still liked the noise.

She continued to think about how lucky she was to fall upon her cave, and didn't notice that she was on a main road, a road that so many humans who had disappeared in Avalon had taken before.

(please tell me if this is an acceptable spot for Skyla to live or if you really want her to be closer to Alerus, and I'll try to change it, but if not I'll figure some way around it. It's just this map thing is confusing me and rushing me more than normal, so let me know please =P)

Hanzel looked around the forest, with each passing minute on foot it got foggier and foggier, eventually it felt almost like shifting through a shallow river constantly. This is quite a peculiar place... but, like I thought, the trees don't look very healthy, how could they with so little sunlight? He sharply glances to the side, seeing something twitch in the bush and then disappear, and glances the other way seeing a twinkle of what looked like a pair of eyes... but then they disappeared.Well, how unsettling, looks like there might be a few predators out here.
"Hey Hanz, you're looking twitchy, somethin' wrong?" Says a man behind him in a heavily accented voice.
Hanzel smiles and turns turns his head behind him and saying in his soft boyish voice. "Oh? Nothing is wrong, Gilfried, I just am keeping my wits about me, we don't know what might be lurking out here."
"Like a predator?"
"Well, hopefully not, but even if they are I am not afraid, animals do not like going near things that are different."
"Heh, bet that's what the others said, too."
Hanzel thought about this, returning his gaze forward, then he chuckles, "You always make surprisingly good points, Gilfried", he says turning his head over his shoulder once more and shining Gilfried coy smile. Hanzel and the company continue to move forward as they talk.
Gilfried grins, he was a thin but very fit man of 24 who stood at about 5'9". In the dim light of the forest only the glow of his cigarette illuminated his hardened chiseled face. He had dark burgundy hair that lay across his forehead heavily layered with a razor, giving the bangs a sharp appearance. Indeed, almost every feature of Gilfried was sharp; he has a sharp jawline, a sharp grin (which he always had on) with sharp teeth that he used to hold his cigarette, and sharp eyes, which were the only thing that shone when his cigarette wasn't glowing; when you saw his grin, his eyes seemed manic and cheerful, when you couldn't see it, the eyes looked like they glared with an angry fire. Gilfried let out one of his sharp laughs that almost reached a cackle. "Well ya think mah good points would stop suprisin' people, then!" He chuckles again, clenching his teeth slightly while hardening his grin, which made his cigarette bend upward.
Gilfried himself was quite sharp, his eyes rarely missed any thing that might threaten the person he was assigned to protect. This person had always been Hanzel, and besides Horris no one had been Hanzel's guard longer than Gilfried. He wasn't as smart as Hanzel--as far as he knew, few people were--but he could easily hold his own when the two made quick-witted remarks. The main reason he didn't sound quick-witted at all was because of his heavy accent and carefree manner of speak. He had never referred to Hanzel in a professional manner, instead calling him Hanz or Itch, but he still had great respect for him.
"Yes, one would think." Hanzel says. "My assurance in our safety remains, however. We are more supplied and in a group. Plus, I have you to protect me if something goes wrong, dear friend." He says referring to Gilfried.
"Psh, Yah, but who gonna protect me?" Gilfried says, his eyes widening as he looks around in mock worry.
"Well, Horris can protect you!"
Horris was indeed someone who could protect; a 6'2 tall, strongly built man. He could carry a lot of weaponry and had thick armor that he had shown to deflect some bullets. It was too heavy for most men, which is why it wasn't standard issue.
"Pssh, RIGHT! Tiny over here?" Gilfried motions at Horris with his thumb. "And who will protect him if a prehistoric jungle cat crashes through here? I mean sure he'd probably still be bigger than it but those things have teeth!" He looks up at Horris and laughs.
"You when I use you as distraction bait." Horris replies sounding dead serious.
Hanzel turns around, starts to giggle, and then laughs out loud, followed by Gilfried and Horris, and then Hanzel eventually stops by a tree. "Alright, men. Lets set up camp and get a fire going. This fogs getting too thick for comfort."
The 4 men behind Hanzel and his guards get to work.

"Looks like I win again, Itch." Hanzel hears Gilfried cheer as he lay down the cards in his hand on the stump the two sat at, holding the usual grin on his face.
"How do you win so much, Gilfried", says Hanzel in a frustrated tone, he didn't like being beaten, but he could handle it; besides, poker wasn't his best game, despite how much he liked to play.
"It's your face, Hanz, you can't expect to be good at poker with a face as revealin' as yours, you can't keep from bitin' that bottom lip whenever you get a bad hand. You gotta keep a poker face, like me; I always wear a grin when I play poker, no matter when I'm losin' or winnin'." Gilfried grins a bit wider.
Hanzel looks at him with dull disbelief, seeing his grin alter just slightly. "You always wear a poker face, then. Maybe you've been hiding more from me than just your cards..." Hanzel leans in looking closely at Gilfried, then leans back excited, "Another hand?"
"Well, Itch, we could pretend to."
"Pretend?", Hanzel asked, confused as to what he meant.
Gilfried passes out cards, "You hear anything, Itch?"
Hanzel listens, things were very silent in the forest. "No, I don't."
"Exactly." Gilfried mumbles, grinning through his cigarette, but you could tell he was tense or at least very focused on directing his attention to something else. "No owls hooting, no leaves rustling, no cheeky little laughs that freak me the fuck out", Gilfried takes out his cigarette and extinguishes it, looking at his cards as if nothing was happening, "and you know what that means."
Hanzel nodded, slowly turning his head to his cards, looking casual so as not to alert the predator of their awareness of it. "Something freaked the fuck out of the laughing things." He had no idea what they were, but there had been rustles of bushes and little laughs that sent chills up your spine all night.
"Yup, i got my gun at the ready." He snapped his fingers and motioned to one of the four men besides Horris, who was standing just a few feet off and never left Hanzel's side unless Hanzel told him to. He had heard the conversation but kept doing what he was doing for the past half hour--scanning the campsite calmly. Gilfried made a series of hand signs and the men started to fan out around the fog, looking over the ground with rifles at the ready.
Hanzel shifted his eyes around, Gilfried had returned to playing mock cards with Hanzel; both were laying down random cards at random intervals, and going on making idle chit-chat. Besides the orders to the men, no one looking from a distance would have noticed a thing different about what they were doing apart from what they had been doing for a good hour.

"I do not want this confrontation to be a violent one it will end badly for your side. now i give you this last chance again ask your questions leave now before we both start praying to our gods for battle. For if i was not curious of your being here humans you would be dead where you stand now make your decision!"

Horris jumped back at the sight of the behemoth, "Wh-what is that thing!" he thinks, shaking at the sight of the fish-like humanoid before him. He was brought out of his state of fear as the sound of lifting and cocking guns sounded while all the men aimed their guns at Avidin. Hanzel sees Horris and gilfried step a few inches in front of him, both of them had their weapons aimed at the thing. Gilfried glances at Horris, "I thought you said you were an only child, Horris!". Horris glares back at him for a split second but returns his gaze back at the creature. "Yah, yah, I guess this isn't the best time" Gilfried continues.

Hanzel clears his throat, putting on a welcoming smile and looks up at the creature, slowly walking between his two best guards, and just a foot behind them. "Gilfried", Hanzel whispers without moving his lips too much, "keep a tranquilizer at the ready in one of your guns just in case, Horris you keep your gun filled with live rounds if this situation gets out of hand." Horris slowly raises his hand, standing at only 5' 5" himself, and looks at the creature in the eye as he waves. "There is no reason for deadly confrontation, but I assure you if you try to make it into one you will not survive, you brought a pitchfork to a gunfight." Hanzel looks over Avidin's armour. "Your armour... It is unique, no? Interesting, but I doubt it can stop bullets, especially the calliber round that my guard Horris uses. I will not back down and our weapons will reach you before you reach us; I have never seen another creature who could talk my language before and I don't want you to get the wrong impression of me if you have not seen my kind before; so yes, let us keep this peaceful." Hanzel smiles a bright smile, pushing his glasses up on his nose as his brown hair blows in the forest wind.

"First question; who and what are you?" Hanzel says cooly, and Gilfried, Horris, and the rest of the guards grip their guns ready for anything.

"In short land dweller a term you would be familiar with is 'Merman' and i am the protecter of this part of the forest... Don't you see that this glade has grown silent? it is because these creatures reckogize my power and have grown silent they are still here and are waiting to fest of whatever I leave behind...My armor is more then enough to deflect your progjectiles it is made of Rivions stone it is an unkown metal to your kind for if you had known about it then you would have come prepared. What provisions have you brought?".

Hanzel twitched a bit when he heard the word 'merman'. So they did exsist, of course he had heard of them but never had he imagined them being real. He ignored the merman's question, he knew better then to let another gain control of the situation, and said, "Well, I want to start this off civily, and because you introduced yourself as Avidin is it alright that I refer to you as such? Or would that be too informal? Can't be more informal than 'merman' now can it?". Hanzel sat back onto the stump and kicked his feet casually, alternating legs. "Now, Avidin, my name is Hanzel Icheru, leader of research and exploration efforts on part of my people. I have a few things to say about your speech before we continue;", Hanzel tilts his head to the other shoulder. "You said your armour is more than enough to deflect our weapondry? I simply meant to ask you not to underestimate us, I did not mean to insult you, yet you underestimate me. Why? Is it because of my size, or is it simply because you have not fought people like us before? Either way if we both underestimate each other a conflict will arise, and I would like to avoid that if possible."
Hanzel chuckles and brushes his hair out of his eyes, and was about to ask if he was there just to threaten them when he heard Gilfried speak; "Merman? Well aren't we lucky, if you were a mermaid we might have been in trouble there, I didn't bring earplugs." Gilfried glares menacingly at Avidin and crosses his arms, examining joints in the armour, then looking around the forest mockingly. "Well, merman, this doesn't look like a body of water to me, this here is Avalon, right? I always thought you merpeople were partial to Morghosia." He looked sideways at Avidin slyly. "What are you doing so far from home 'protector of this forest'?"
Hanzel looked at Gilfried with shock, he had no idea that Gilfried knew about these creatures, did he know about their existance as well? He would ask him that later, and looked back to Avidin with a smile that you wear when you catch someone bluffing, and he whispers to Gilfried; "You didn't tell me you knew these things existed."

Hanzel looked at the skulls with terror, and then disgust, was this all there was to the natives? Sheer brutality? What a... disappointment... it looks like force is all that will be able to solve things now... Poor merman, he doesn't know what he's dealing with. "You have faced nothing..." Hanzel reached into his pouch for another bomb but stopped when he saw a small creature jump out of the bush, it was yelling at the merman, and the merman seemed to talk civilly to it, not brutally. He was perplexed, and he looked over at Gilfried to ask what the little green girl was, but when he turned to him he got the real shock; Gilfried was gritting his teeth, looking at the human skulls, the grin finally vanishing from his face and he raised his gun, he popped in a shell that was clear with a green cloud of gas inside it. Hanzel's eyes widened in shock, [i]"Whats he doing? Is that a bio-round?! Gilfried what are you thinking!" Hanzel stepped back as he heard Gilfried laugh and yell at the merman; "You fucking lamprey! You bottom feeder! You have no right! I'll make sure those gills of yours rot while you still struggle to breath through them! Anyone of your precious mermaids that you touch will become infected and your young will become diseased! Your precious children will only be able scream and cry your fucking name while they struggle to move before they even learned to walk!" He cocked the gun and all of the men, including Hanzel and Horris, stepped away, putting on coverings over their noses and mouths. Horris put Hanzel behind him and raised his gun at the merman and said, "Gilfried don't be stupid!". Gilfried laughs manically; "Don't worry boys this is just for fish fry!" He pulls the trigger and the round fires with great speed at Avidin's plated chest.

(always dodge glass bullets ;) don't worry its not incurable but if it isn't cured the fungal spores are deadly)
Hanzel winced as he saw Avidin just stand their and the clear glass tip of the bullet impact his armored chest. Hanzel knew what was going to happen, but to anyone else this outcome might have been surprising for the bullet did something not standard of normal bullets; it shattered, sending the green spores inside it across much of Avidins chest and neck, and creating a small cloud of green around him. Hanzel looked solemnly at Gilfried as he stomped the ground manically as he howled in triumph and then glared at the merman before him, and his grin spread back on his face. "Hah! Fungal spores you fool! That wasn't any normal bullet i had! Those are a special glass tipped bullet that I filled with the parasitic fungi, did you really think a solid metal slug would be clear?! Now that fungi is a special one; it attacks your gills first, making them thick and gummy, rotting them while your body still lives! But soon after they attack the gills, they will spread over your skin, causing it to burn and fall away as it eats at it. Eventually the spores with latch to your brain stem, paralyzing and then killing you! It also is highly contagious! YOUR A LEPER NOW!" He laughs and turns to Icheru. "Thank you for the fungi, Hanz, they really came in handy!"
Hanzel looked at the merman, at the skulls, and back at Gilfried with a shocked and sad look on his face. "T-those were my samples weren't they... how did you get them."
Horris then stepped in front of Hanz and the merman, looking at the nymph. "Gilfried you fool! You were supposed to wait for orders!"
"Orders?! That thing killed and devoured our men! He deserves what he gets! I'm glad I prepared those shells, I did it in case we ran into mermaids, but this behemoth was worth it too!"
"You two knew about these creatures..." Hanzel peers around, his eyes suddenly locking on the nymph, who sent a chill down his spine more than anything.

This is unbelievable... this is irrational...
Hanzel was stricken as he saw the events unfold.

The merman go down, disappearing into the thick fog; it seemed that Gilfried's round had done the trick. Hanzel quivered slightly, his hand shaking until he grabbed it with his other hand. Quiet, nerves... be still, he thought to himself. Hanzel took a deep breath and stood up straight, pushing his glasses up on his nose. The men had started advancing on the place wear the body fell, pointing their rifles in the general direction, and Hanzel let out the breath he was holding. Why did it have to be this way... if only the thing wouldn't of taunted Gilfried... but goddamnit he didn't follow orders! And why did he not tell me about this! It doesn't make any sense... He runs his fingers through his sleek light-brown hair and groans, the groan eventually turning into a growl. "Gilfried!" Hanzel shouts, tilting his head to the side, shooting a sideways glare at his guard, "I didn't tell you to do that!", he turns fully to Gilfried, motioning with an arm toward the downed merman. "Why did you kill it!". Horris remains silently watchful over Hanzel and the situation.

Gilfried turns to him, still glancing over at the place where the merman fell, "Hanz my job is t' protect you! An' the merman posed a serious threat! Now, he had a bundl'a skulls that I use as evidence that he was up t' no good. Now that nymph over there is a threat too, once we deal wit' all this I can explain things to you, but I can't expect ya t' understand right now. Let us be thankful there wasn't a mermaid or else we might have been killed."

Hanzel replies forcefully, "You don't expect me to understand? I am in command because of my ability to understand, now do you have any idea what damage may you have just now done to our ability at negotiations with these creatures! And most of all, why did you not tell me these things existed!" He was about to walk toward him when he sees Gilfried look to his left, back toward the fog concealing the merman's body, as a beautiful voice sounds; "Put those things down or I will sing and eat every single one of you!" Hanzel turned quickly, his eyes catch the sight of a beautiful woman, her long red hair lustrous in the light. It was wonderful.

"Shit", Gilfried exclaims and points a regular round in the girls direction, "Sorry Hanz I'm gonna have to disobey orders again!". Hanzel was about to protest when a roar echoed through the forest; "Gilfried!" the voice says and the air shakes as Gilfried turns toward the rushing merman. Hanzel sees Gilfried aim his pistol at Avidin, but is horrified as he sees a trident pierce Gilfried's shoulder and cause him to fall, the shot going off into the sky. "Gilfried!" He cries out, his voice echoing with disparity as Horris pushes him into the brush of the clearing and rushes to Gilfried's aid, grabbing the large trident mid-swing with his powerful grip and locking arms with Avidin, trying to hold him off. "Hold it! Avidin stop this! We can cure you and make peace between us!" Horris exclaims as he realizes the raging merman cannot be consoled. "Shit, Mr. Icheru run!".
Hanzel just watches as Horris continues to wrestle Avidin, trying to keep the arm with the trident locked in his own arm. Hanzel hears shots go off as the four men are killed one by one, only a few shots connecting with the armor of the huge merman who appeared. Suddenly his eyes looked again at the nymph, and then to the mermaid, and Hanzel plugged his ears with cotton wads and clenched his fist as he watched from the bush on the edge of the clearing, grabbing another orb from his bag, and a few tears go down his cheeks.
No...No...This is not just irrational... this is insanity...

Hanzel gripped the gun by his side, he saw Horris fighting off the merman and was happy, he saw Horris trying to calm the merman down. Maybe there will be peace! Then he started to quiver when seeing Horris, who had started to reply to something Avidin said, slowly getting pulled away by the song Hanzel couldn't hear, the girl with red hair was the cause; she said she was singing and going to eat them? Well he would make her sing bloody murder, and make her eat lead! Horris run! he wanted to scream, but he was frozen by fear. Soon this fear built to rage, and what he was starting to muster the courage to do, what he wanted to do, was to shoot the girl right there, go up to her with his ears plugged and blow her brains out. But no, no he couldn't he wouldn't make it there. Could he? He pulled the pistol and aimed it from the bush straight for the mermaid, but then he started to get tugged by the young nymph.

"Come with me, hurry, hurry, before you get killed yourself."

He looked at the nymph, despite her being green she was quite cute, and she sounded l over and pulling on his sleeve, he looked at her with the face not of a professor, but of a young teenage boy, who just lost good friends. He gritted his teeth, whispering to her with the raspy voice of a scream, "Let me kill them! I'll make them pay! Why did they have to tempt Gilfried! You saw it! He threw skulls to the ground! What did he expect! We wanted peace!" Tears trickle down his face as he tries to steady his revolver again, aiming it at the mermaid even as he is being pulled by the nymph. "Let me kill her at least! She can't eat Horris!"

He looks at the nymph again, her eyes looked like they hid something but he didn't care. She seemed to be the only creature here that was trying to help him, and her voice soothed him beyond compare; yet rage still built inside.

'Thank you..."
Horris nearly dropped his gun right there because the words reached so deeply into him and he says, "Don't mention it". He actually almost does lower his gun but quickly raises it again because he still fears for his own safety; he didn't want to take chances because if he made the slightest slip up he worried he might still become food for this young girl. He remembered about the fungus and looked quickly at Avidin's father. "Sir I need you to set the mermaid down, the fungus that is affecting your son is highly contagious among your kind especially, and has most definitely passed to you already, sir, but the girl still may not have been. Set her down now if you wish her to stay that way." He then added, "I hope you realize my good intentions, but I want you to separate them for right now until the fungus is controlled, and I still don't want you looking at me or I will shoot the girl."

He turns to April, sorrow glowing in his eyes, "I'm sorry, miss, but I cannot afford any chances; I want to help but I don't want to become fish-food."

Horris sees the merman turn to him and he steps a few feet back. "Hold it!", he says, pointing his gun up at the large creature's face until he notices the merman extending his hand. "Yes i am warlord Carmoic clan leader of the nori'kor you seem willing to help us young one what is your name?" Horris lowers his gun just slightly but refrains from shaking hands with him, "Carmoic? Well my name is Horris. Forgive me for not shaking your hand, I do not wish to offend you but I am still kind of angry about this; Now, I want to patch things up and my anger isn't stopping me, but I am a bit wary of you not seeming angry as well."

"I do not eat your kind. April does, but I will not let her hurt you. Please help them. If you do I can promise you your safety." Horris looked at the mermaid in confusion. He didn't know her name but he knew that she had been looking to have them as lunch. "What are you talking about? Your that merman's 'mate' right? Avidin's his name, right?", he said motioning toward Avidin with the barrel of his gun, glancing at both Avidin and Carmoic before looking back at May, "Well if you are Avidin's mate l distinctly remember him saying that you were the girl who at 'my kind'. If you aren't his mate, then who are you? And who is this 'April' that you say will eat us?" He takes a moment to pause and looks up and down Carmoic's figure, "By the way, no matter who this girl is or isn't, both of you should refrain from touching her or she will get the fungus too. I apologize for the problem, but that's all I know to do in order to keep it from spreading".

He looks back at May, waiting for an answer to his questions, still keeping his gun at the ready.

Horris was still slightly confused as to how two mermaids could inhabit one body, or was it just two personalities? Either way, he decided to go along with it because apparently the dangerous one wasn't 'out' right now. He kept his gun raised and listened to her speak, waiting for her to finish all she had to say, and forming his reply in his mind. His facial expression usually blank with attention, but at certain parts in her speech, he would furrow his eyebrows or frown a bit, widen his eyes or glance off to the side, just flashes of the emotions that entered him alongside the words of the mermaid. When she did finish, he paused for a second, then gave her his reaction.

"Ah, it makes me feel so much better that we are a delicacy and not a normal main course, I wouldn't want the blood and flesh of the men who gave their lives for a purpose bestowed upon them to taste bad to you." Horris had felt a little sick when he heard this, but by the time the mermaid had finished he knew she was just trying to justify. "I know you didn't mean it that way, you didn't mean to offend, few would try to offend with a gun to their head." He tapped the barrel of his gun. "But please... I would rather not discuss my kind being eaten."

He let out a breath and calmed himself. "As for April, if she could switch out and eat me, I think I will keep my gun near me now.", he gripped it at his side, "Precautions. Assure her that I am here to help, though." This brought him to his final point, and he sighed deeply, lowering his gun and looking at all of them; "And yes...yes I do have a family, I have not seen them recently but make no mistake I intend to see them again. Unfortunately..." He looks down at Avidin and then looks up at Carmoic, then back down at May with dull eyes, "Unfortunately that does not change the fact that I do not know how to help those two, I do not have the supplies needed, I don't think we expected to be curing this kind of thing." He then quickly continued with, "I do know, however, that the fungus is curable. I will try to remember what I know and give you if you like.

"Pickerella will be much happy," the little green girl grinned, her English broken and sharp little teeth shining in the slowly dissipating sun. She began weaving her way through the trees, dragging him behind her in the misty forests of Avalon.

Horris looked down at May and smiled for the first time, but it was only a flash of a smile and quickly faded away. He grasped the gun in only his left hand and looked over at Avidin, then the father, then the mermaid. He rubbed his neck and said, "I think I will stick to berries around you." He grinned again slightly and then it hit him; he looked at the girl on the ground, and then at Avidin on the ground, and at the father. He slowly turned his gaze once more to May and groaned, "I have to carry you, don't I?", He backed away from the two mermen who he expected to growl at him, "Because your infected! Because your infected! I'll leave it up to her though." He looks down at May again, waiting for an answer.

-----------------------------------

Hanzel followed her, having to dodge a few trees as the nymph pulled him along. "W-who is Pickerella?" Hanzel looks up when he hears the nymph mention a name, and nearly stumbles over a root when not watching his feet. "Gah! The woods are getting very thick, are you sure you are taking me the right way?", he asks nervously, brushing his smooth and thick golden-brown hair from one green eye. "Where are you taking me by the way?". Hanzel tried to be wary for there was something unnatural about this creature, but she was helping him it seemed and he couldn't help but feel more secure around her for some reason. She was too small to hurt him, right? Hanzel shook his head and knew this wasn't logical, but right now he was finding it hard to think after the latest traumatic experience; everything was so disorderly.

Horris listened to both of the options given to him, but he still decided that his decision was the best one, "Well, usually that would work, but speed is another factor in this", he said looking over at Cramoic's gills; they were definitely infected. "If only I knew more about this fungus I'm sure I could find herbs around here... but I don't. Mr. Icheru was always-", Horris stopped and looked over at where he had pushed Hanzel, remembering again that he had disappeared; he had never truly forgotten, but the situation had been stressful enough to pull his attention away from it. "Mr. Icheru..." he whispered to himself before beginning again in his regular tone, "yes time is a factor." He turns and strapped his gun across his chest; they needed him for now so he could relax a bit, "I would agree with your making of hammocks but the fungus could transfer to that; and we would need two of them to keep May separate", he looked at May directly, "and if you have things at the pond to eat then depending on the distance it would probably be a waste to look here", he looks around slightly completely ignoring the human bodies as a food source, "The faster we get you fed and them cured, the faster I can get information from you on the location of Mr. Icheru." he kneels down next to May and, after carefully putting her on her back, slips his bulky and somewhat calloused hands under the mermaid's back and knees. "I am going to pick you up on three, I will do it slowly and tell me if anything hurts; ready? One. Two. Three." He slowly, but very easily and securely, uses his forearms to lift her up, holding her across his chest. After he stands up fully he looks down at her, "Everything alright?".

"It will take more then this to knock me down I've had much worse than this."

Horris watched the merman jog away and then murmured to April without looking at her, "I appreciate his energy, but it will get worse." He lifted his head and turned around to look at the burnt wreckage behind him. "And in answer to your question, no this is not my home, this was a temporary campsite for us." He looked around as a few remaining flames licked at patches of the tents, and glowing embers seemed embedded in the ground. "You know, I had somewhat forgotten about the food here, but it seems Hanzel accomplished what he aimed to do, he burned everything so that you guys couldn't loot it... he only missed two bodies." He looked at the men who lay untouched on the ground, "Bodies... no, men... good men...", he took a moment of silence, closing his eyes and bowing his head. When he at last looked up and opened his eyes he sighed and turned back around and started to walk to the pond, careful to not jostle May. For a while he carried her without speaking, his face and eyes showing many different emotions as the shock of the situation melted off of him; mostly it was sadness that made itself present, sometimes anger, and at times a bit of rage. During the flashes of intense anger his eyebrows clenched together and May felt a bit more pressure on her body, like his arms could crush her if he wanted to; and maybe he did, but he didn't, he very quickly loosened up and glanced down at her as if to see if he had hurt her. He finally spoke to her after a while, keeping his eyes forward so as not to lose the path, and said, "If he threw that bomb it most likely means he was still alive... hopefully still is now." He looked down at her then, and took a slightly accusing tone, "You know I am not exactly trying to persuade you to let me carry you, believe me I wish I didn't, but it seems we're stuck like this. And I have no grudges against you personally, but losing your troops isn't something taken lightly. They weren't just food, they had names--Charlie, Greg, Jacob, Lewie, Gilfried--and each one of them had families, so did the men who's skulls were on those strings, I'm sure." Horris fumed slightly but didn't squeeze May anymore, he just continued to get things off his chest, "And now, they weren't really my men, but they were close enough, but it is unacceptable for me to now have lost contact with my one responsibility, and have to help the enemy in order to have any chance of getting him back!" He calms down now... then looks at May, and goes to a lower voice, almost a murmur, "I'm sorry, you were not responsible, I came back for your sake as well, it's my choice to do this, my mistake to lose him, I'm sorry. This is not your burden and you don't care, don't need to care." He finishes and looks forward, starting to see a clearing.

Horris sighed, regretting taking out his frustration on this poor creature who probably wasn't even present in some way at the conflict. He stopped, looking at the poor girl and leaning against a tree, wondering what to say. "I apologize... I did not mean to put this all on you... you seem like a nice one, those things were not right of me to say." He wanted to know of some way to help the girl stop crying, "We were the ones to first fire, and you did not kill one of us. Each of those men, however hard the loss was to take, all of them knew what they were getting..." He stopped and had to set her down for a bit but he was careful to put her down lightly, and he said, "Shit, Mr. Icheru... You never did know what you were getting into..." he doubled over, hitting the tree with his fist and then slowly standing up. "Fuck... Most of us came here prepared and knowledgeable to what we were getting into... most of us meaning those with moderate military training and ranking. Mr. Icheru was not part of the military, and so he had no idea that you existed or that there was even any threat to his well being; we sent him in there fucking blind". Horris turned to her and looked at her straight in the eyes, "None of this mess is your fault... it may be ours, it may be the theirs", he says pointing to the distant pond where the mermen were starting to look to see why he was taking so long, "it may even be that 'April' character's fault, but none of it is yours." He slowly reaches down and lifts her up again, continuing to look into her eyes as he walks on. "That is why I am doing this, because you and your children don't deserve to be part of this conflict. I will be requesting help from you to locate Mr. Icheru, but you don't need to feel an obligation to do so even if those two should", he says, nudging towards the mermen again. Then his expression turned grave, and he said, "I see you also noticed the missing nymph... I had when I first was able to escape, and it worries me. I told you before that we had been trained to know of the dangers this place holds right? Well these 'nymph' characters... I think if we are right, you and I both know Mr. Icheru would probably be better off dead." He then looks forward toward the pool again, giving May a chance to reply even if he isn't waiting for one.

Hanzel looked toward Lilliana, who did not reply to him; It was unnerving to not receive and answer to his question, and he almost shuddered when hearing the young girl laugh. He then noticed that he was almost losing her appearance in the mist, even though she was just three feet away from him at most. What is this?, Hanzel wondered, looking around at the hazy darkness that flew past him while Lilianna dragged him through the forest, I can barely see anything... I don't like this. He nearly stumbled over a few roots and the nymph was the only thing keeping him from falling and becoming hopelessly lost on the ground. He opened his mouth to ask the nymph who exactly she was, but suddenly light burst through the mist and Hanzel noticed they were in a clearing, and the mist now only concealed the top of the water.

A sweet tune flowed from the lips of the nymph, and Hanzel's attention was then drawn to an emerging figure in the center of the pond. The light caught magnificent red hair and the smooth, fair complexion of a young woman; Hanzel was stunned and looked in awe--his eyes traveling over her elegant shoulders, chest, waist, and legs as the rest of the beautiful girl rose from the water until it was level with her knees. W-who is this... Hanzel asked himself as he gazed at the woman, She's beautiful. She was indeed beautiful, and Hanzel was even more enchanted when her voice passed around him to the nymph beside him.

'Lilianna, you seem to have brought me a gift.'

Hanzel then flashed at the green nymph beside him, his mind freed for a second as he accessed this new information. So her names Lilianna... But as soon as he finished his thought the soft voice rang in his ears again. 'Come here, human.' As Hanzel heard this his cheeks turned red and he shyly brushed his golden-brown hair behind one ear and pushed his glasses up on his nose, looking at her with deep green eyes and slowly walking out from the bank into the pond toward her.

Wait. Hanzel stopped halfway to her, and breathed slowly, closing his eyes and calming himself. You are being rash, Hanzel. He looked again at the girl and nearly lost his courage again, but finally spoke, although his voice was soft and a bit shaky, "How do I know I can trust you... I don't even know your name... my friends have just been killed by other inhabiters of this forest... I... I don't even know your name." His voice was that of a boy his age; nervous, not collected as it usually was.

(I'll start making posts shorter if it is desired.)

"Pickerella...", Hanzel muttered to himself, watching as the green child was shooed away from his side, he looked at her start up a tree when a breathy and soothingly assuring voice brushed over his ear like a wind. He shuddered at this, it had a profound affect on him, suddenly his mind was fuzzy again, and he let out a small gasp as he regained composure. He slowly turned his head back to Pickerella just in time to catch her add the next words to her calming voice and bat her captivating eyes. When she asked him to walk toward her, he let out a breath and tilted his head down bashfully, his cheeks turning slightly red, "O-okay." His mind went blank, he was about to ask her something first but couldn't remember, so he decided just to walk foreward toward her; 'She said I could trust her, and she just wants me to walk closer... so I can trust her, right? Yah... yah that seems reasonable...', he thought to himself all the way toward her, eventually stepping only a few feet away, within arms reach. Suddenly he noticed the water was pretty deep, and with her going to her knees in it, she was only a few inches shorter then him. "H-hello... my name is Hanzel Icheru", Hanzel states a bit nervously.