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Snippet #2528378

located in The Retreat, a part of Sono Kanshi-Sha : Reboot, one of the many universes on RPG.

The Retreat

Tucked away in the mountain side, surrounded by lush forest and wildlife there is a beautiful house. This is the [i]Retreat[/i]

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"Tristan," Soran called softly. It was a bit dark in the room, they'd had dinner and most of the house was already in bed. However, Soran just couldn't get comfortable and sleep. Maybe it was too hot still... or maybe he was just thinking about too many things. Whatever it was, it kept him awake. So he wanted to do something to help sleep later. He poked the red head, "Tristan... Hey," he poked him again trying to restrain a slight giggle, "Tristan. I wanna go to that spot, the one with the waterfall..." he whispered. Boy did he sound like a kid just then.

A grumbling red-headed seer turned over slightly, "You want to go now...," he was slightly whining. He had just gotten comfortable again after coming back to bed from supper, not that he even wanted to get up for that. The aches were still present but had some what gone away. "So...what do you want to do at that spot," he was curious as to why Soran wanted to go there.

He refrained from giggling too much as Tristan rolled over and complained to him, "I can't sleep," he said with a pout, "I want to go see what it's like at night. I bet its really pretty," he reached out and grabbed Tristan's hand and pulled gently, shaking it up and down slightly, "Can we go? Please... please?!" he was probably being really difficult, but at the moment he didn't really mind,

"Besides, you'll like it," he said with a grin.

"But...but...," aww damn, Tristan sighed and got up slowly. "fineeee." Tristan yawned and stood, "do you mind if I get a shirt to wear though."

Soran gave a sigh as if he were slightly put out by the fact that his boyfriend wanted a shirt. Sitting down with his legs crossed on the floor, he looked up at the boy, "I suppose that's okay," he grinned then, "You won't be needing it later though," he teased.

"Well then," he said, "I suppose the same goes for you too." Tristan picked something from the closet, something he must have left in here, he didn't remember. "Okay I am ready," and offered his hand to the boy sitting on the floor.

Grateful for the darkness, Soran knew he'd gone from pale colored to bright red. He really had to learn how to throw Tristan off like he did to him. Taking the hand offered, he stood up and in a quick roll forward pecked a kiss on Tristan's lips, "Thank you!" he said. Turning, he went for the door and opened it quietly, his fingers still in Tristan's hand. He led the way to the backdoor, looking back to beam at the boy whose hair was a total mess. He laughed a bit as he slid open the door and stepped outside, his boots making a soft sound against the wood of the porch.

"Nice hair baby," he commented lightly, "Man... I don't know why I'm so wide awake..." he pondered, "Maybe I shouldn't have tea before bed," he mused softly and stepped off into the dirt path.

"Um...yours doesn't look any better, and aren't we forgetting something." The moon did a pretty good, but the woods were dark. He grabbed two flashlights from a bin on the porch. "I hope we don't get any creepy gods following," he didn't know why he said that.

A pair of solid blue eyes watched as the two lovers passed by without noticing him through the darkness of the room. "Where are they going?" Rethyn thought to himself as he arose from his chair to feel the familiar aches he'd been having since training. A part of him wanted to leave them be, but the protective Guardian shook his head as he slinked off into the shadows to follow. Wincing a little he didn't like the fact that he was only leaving Grayson and Sina to guard Kilia. He knew he was going to have the trust the two of them, but it was a growing fear.

Soran turned around and with his hands behind his back smiled at Tristan, "Ah...yeah, sort of forgot about those," he said as the other Seer grabbed the flashlights for them. Taking one in hand, he clicked it on of course doing the absolute dumb maneuver of pointing the damned thing up at his face, "Gah!!!" he quickly turned it away from his eyes as he stumbled a bit, "Damn... those... yup, they work, and they're bright..." he muttered. Pointing the light into the dark forest he laughed a bit.
"Creepy gods hu... yeah I guess they are kinda creepy if you think about it," he said as he started to the trail.

Tristan looked at him for a second trying not to chuckle at him, "Yeah...point down, work better that way." He took the other by the hand and said, "Don't worry though, I could probably get there without the flashlight." He led the other toward the woods again.

"S-shut up!" Soran said as he batted at Tristan's shoulder about the flashlight, "So mean to me," he said though he grinned. He followed after Tristan, taking the same way they went last time the red haired Seer took him there. It wasn't too long after that he could hear the crashing of water and then pushing through the branches they were met by the same open platform from before. Soran's eyes grew wide and he took in a deep breath of awe, "Wow..." he breathed.

Turning he looked up at the sky which was cloudless and offered a brilliant silver moon to paint the waterfall with as well as the grassy area from before. Almost dancing around Tristan, he beamed up at the boy, "Beautiful!" he tugged at Tristan's hands and guided the boy to the grassy patch where he sat down and patted the spot next to him on his left, "Thanks Tristan.. and sorry I woke you up... I just couldn't sleep. I promise not to drink tea next time," he said with a small grin.

Tristan grinned back as he sat down, "its fine." Tristan watched the waterfall. He really did like this place at night too, not that he was going to admit that, well not right now anyways.

From the shadows Rethyn leaned against a tree as he watched the two of them. With a small smile upon his face he was glad to see his Seer so happy with Soran. As no trouble seemed to come he begun to debate with himself if he should try to get some sleep as the nightmares had faded from him. However, he felt as if his feet were glued in place as he worried. A god could easily ambush them here, and Rethyn knew the best way to beat an ambush. Ambush the ambushers is what he had in mind as he looked like he had strange cat-like eyes within the shadows.

Ducked behind the tree he had become visible to save energy.

Soran shifted around. Lifting one hand he ran it up Tristan's stomach to his shoulder as he leaned on him a playful grin on his face, "Told you that shirt wasn't going to be needed, didn't I?" he teased softly then leaned in for a kiss.

Tristan chuckled slightly but didn't say anything and just accepted the kiss.

Soran shifted again so that he was sort of sitting over Tristan's lap, both arms wrapped around the boys neck as he kissed him. He was getting lost in kiss, the touch of his boyfriend underneath him. The little blonde Seer really did enjoy kissing the other boy. As his fingers tangled up in Tristan's hair and the shirt he wore, there was a slight shift of the wind. Something moved and in the next instant, golden twine wrapped around Tristan, dragging him up and away from Soran who startled.

Gasping, he eyed the golden strands that seemed to glow a bit in the darkness. Those dark, red eyes that peered over Tristan's shoulder sent a chill down Soran's spine. For a moment he couldn't breathe as he stared, petrified to the spot. The twine tightened down around Tristan's arm and upper body to confine him there, the God holding the other arm outstretched to prohibit too much movement and probably straining the shoulder.

"Found you," the God said softly. His gaze shifted over to the red haired Seer whom he was hiding behind.

"Tristan..." Soran breathed out, finally finding his voice. He stood up quickly and with a swipe opened his magic system. From it, he drew one of the higher calibrated handguns that he'd worked on. He held it down at the ground, but was tempted to lift it, his fingers curling and uncurling around the weapon as he tried to see if he could find a spot to fire off the weapon.

One second he was in a passionate kiss the next he was wrapped up in some sort of rope. "What the..." Tristan couldn't get a good look at the thing at the other end as his movement was restricted. "Soran," he could see the fear in the others eyes, even in the darkness. The voice from behind him sent chills down his spine and he strained for a look. "Who the fuck are you," Tristan voice sounded angry.

Suddenly a light whistle could be heard from behind the god as the musical Rethyn came from the shadows with his dirk knife pressed against the gods back. It was with enough force for the tip to break the skin, but nothing note worthy. With a smirk displayed upon his face Rethyn sent his retort quietly through the air. "Found you." Pressing the knife only slightly harder he lowered his voice as he then said. "Now let them go."

Soran took a gasp of air at the sound of Rethyn's voice. Since when...? He shook his head a bit, it didn't matter. Maybe it was a good thing anyway. He slowly lifted the weapon in his hands, watching carefully to see what the God would do.

Red eyes turned just enough to see the boy behind him, to which he returned his own wicked grin and said simply, "No," He moved right after, a blur of motion with Tristan in tow until he was standing on the edge of the little platform where they had been watching the waterfall. Soran stepped forward, his heart in his throat. He remembered quite clearly now that this God was... very fast. One moment being at a far distance and the next being right in your face. He shuddered violently from the memory. He almost couldn't breathe.

"I believe, you asked me who I am," the God whispered to Tristan, his voice soft but filled with a heavy layer of malice and cruel intent, "I think I'll...show you. I'm sure you couldn't possibly forget... something like this, now could you," he said as he reached up and tapped Tristan's forehead with a finger, "It's called a memory, enjoy it for a little while won't you?"

Soran's heart raced. He knew what was going to be shown and he yelled, "Tristan!" His gun raising up but he couldn't fire, there was no way he was going to shoot at Tristan, but the god was on the edge, and holding the red haired Seer. His finger squeezed the trigger, if the god moved but an inch, then he could lessen the damage on Tristan, he bit his lip, feeling tears edge into his eyes, "I-if... he moves... if Valyn moves... just a little bit... I... I could free him. That.. twine isn't going to let him go unless Valyn is distracted... I'll... please if you can move him just a bit, I won't have to hurt Tristan too much," he begged, hands shaking as he held his weapon up.

Tristan felt that cold finger touch his forehead, and even though his body was present on that platform his mind went back. He was in a warehouse, one from the inside he didn't recognize. Then he saw it, the blond seer chained against the wall, a god standing over him...with a knife. Screams echoed against the wall, and Tristan tried to move, but since this was a memory he was plastered there.

Tristan's body on the other hand, was slightly thrashing. His face had gone pale, and his eyes had gone wide.

Drawing his blade, Rethyn gritted his teeth at Soran at first as he said he was going to have to hurt Tristan. However, as he thought about it he knew the boy would never hurt Tristan unless he had to. Looking over to the god then darting back to Soran with his eyes he said. "You can't miss the shot."

Shaking his head he cursed at himself for not making the initial stab upon the god. He could of at least weakened the monster. Walking a little ways away from the boy, Rethyn suddenly faded away as his visibility decreased. After a few seconds a small hiss could be heard near a tree as Rethyn seemed to teleport.

"We weren't done." Rethyn hissed as he landed next to Valyn and came at him from the shadows. With the hope of surprise at his side he did not slash at the god as he preformed a jumping lung at the god. With his elbow firmly pressed to the side of his ribs, Rethyn tightened his shoulder as he put all his weight into a ram.

The God growled lightly as the pesky little Guardian returned. He turned his red gaze to the boy just briefly and then ignored him as he kept the other Seer tightly held to him, his hands starting to glow with a strange light. Then he felt the heavy weight of the boy against him, shoving him over a couple of steps along the precarious edge of the platform. He growled lightly at the boy.

Soran took a deep breath and the moment the God was moved, his finger pulled the trigger. The gun made a very loud high pitched sound as if it were powering up and then fired, releasing a brilliant blue light followed by the compacted bullet wrapped in energy. He ground his teeth knowing that Tristan was really going to hate him for this. However, the pain of that shot would hopefully pull him out of that awful memory that he was being shown and drag him back to the present.

The God turned at the sound, but was far too late as the projectile went through his prey's shoulder and hit him square in the chest. Valyn's grip on Tristan released and he fell backwards from the impact as he changed tactics. Dragging his energy to stop the bullet from going through him, the golden twine faded out and Valyn fell from the platform. Soran dropped his weapon and sprinted for Tristan.

Tristan was ripped from the memory and he felt the bullet pass through his shoulder. The momentum of the god carried him though and his fell from the platform as well, but he knew the water was deep enough, so he tried to turn his body in mid-air so he could hit with his feet. The splash could be heard as he entered, he resurfaced a second later coughing and trying to kick his feet.

Seeing an opportunity to strike and to get the god away from his Seer, Rethyn reached out an arm and grabbed at the God roughly as he closed his eyes. With much strain he begun to feel his body ache as he teleported the two of them two miles east of the waterfall. With a loud uncontrolled crack of a sound the two of them were off.

Releasing the god and stumbling back a few steps, Rethyn felt his left leg cramp up as he begun to pant from the excursion of energy. Raising his blade defensively he hoped the god would be confused before lashing out at him. Pushing air from his lungs he kept trying to catch his breath with little success.

Valyn felt the strange shift as the boy wrapped his arms around him. Moved from where he'd been he was suddenly put somewhere else. The loud sound marked their entrance to another part of the forest. Valyn moved slightly as the boy released him and stumbled away. A bit of a deep wound bled in his chest where he'd just barely managed to stop the bullet going all the way through him. The God turned slowly and glowered at the boy. His red eyes narrowed dangerously and he didn't move as he watched the Guardian carefully.

"You're weak, and yet... you've the nerve to challenge me, by yourself," Valyn said coldly, his face unchanging as he stood there. There was no emotion shown much like always, "You're going to die," he said, stating it as if it were a well known fact. His fingers snapped and the golden twine shot out at Rethyn, while in his other hand a bright golden blade appeared.

Slashing his blade at a downward angle, Rethyn managed to get the golden twine wrapped around his enchanted blade instead of being grasped by it. Stagging a little Rethyn felt the pain from his left leg die down a little as he moved into a half-cocked stance. Lifting his chin up in the air to the god he said with a taunting smirk. "I would say there's a first time for everything, but I'm an exception in this case."

Fixing his stance a little more, Rethyn winced a little as the muscle pain strained him. Pointing the tip of his blade in the direction of the god he finished with. "I thought you would need a handicap. I've been a part of fucking up your plans twice now. I was the one who pulled Soran out from under your noses."

Valyn withdrew the golden twine. For a moment, the god stood there silent. Slowly, he lifted an eyebrow as he regarded the Guardian in the cool night air, "So it was you... That faint trace... what you just did," his lips twitched and a smile grew, red eyes flashing as he turned and gave a soft laugh. The moonlight faded behind a thick set of clouds and the Gods frame seemed to disappear in the darkness, only his glowing red eyes visible in the pitch black.

In one moment, the Gods' eyes seemed to be far away and in the next he was right up next to Rethyn, the sing of a blade was heard but not seen. He slashed out at Rethyn, a soft chuckle on his lips.

The attack was too fast for Rethyn to register as the blade deeply cut from his lower ribs to just below his collar bone upon his right side. In pure panic after the blade passed, Rethyn flickered up into the air then flickered again as he vanished from obvious sight as he landed in a tree not too far off. As he held his hand over himself he was relieved that the blade even though deep wasn't deep enough to cut the muscle groups or get into his vitals.

As blood however rained from him at a dribble, Rethyn knew it didn't matter. He would pass out before long and the God would see him fall from the tree. He had brought enough time and it was time to escape. But where and how? Placing his head against the bark he tried his best to hold in his panting as it caused him both pain and would cause his detection.

He was failing.

The clouds moved, allowing the silver light to paint the forest again. Valyn looked around as he'd lost sight of the boy with the glowing blue eyes. Turning just a bit he moved from his spot. The boy couldn't have gone far. He knew he was around there. His hand opened and the golden twine slowly revealed itself in the darkness. Moving through the trees, he reached out to try to sense the vanishing trick the boy had done before. As he stalked through the trees, something splattered next to him. Reaching out, he touched the dark liquid and then looked up.

He grinned again. Flicking his hand, he sent the golden twine upwards into the tree branches to snare around the boy.

Wap!

Just before the golden twine was about to make contact with Rethyn he vanished with a last ditch teleport. However, as he teleported off a small metallic object fell from the tree at the feet of Valyn. With a deafening flash and pop, Rethyn heard the bang from out to a mile away.

Seething in pain, Rethyn was startled by the shock of the cold water as he went under. The stream wasn't deep, but upon his back he could float. However, as blood quickly drained itself from his body he started to close his eyes. He fought his own body from rolling over in the water as he remained upon his back.

There they were again. The shadows took their hollowing property once again as Rethyn would occasionally see being staring at him from the trees. Their eyes were just pure white as many of them were missing limbs or had extra limbs attached onto usual places.

The urge to close his eyes had only become more powerful as he coughed out a horridly weak tune. "I may not say it much but I know I made you worry all the time, back then you could of always said the things I've done and you're the same today so I'll try not to burden you. But try to realize that I've closed my eyes just because the world it's.."

Closing his eyes Rethyn felt himself fade as he felt the water gently against the back of his head and neck.

Tristan and Soran

Soran's voice ripped from his throat as he pelted for the other boy who was falling he screamed out Tristan's name, fear rocking through him as he ran. He heard the splash soon after. Dropping to his knees, he searched the water below that wasn't but a few feet down and looked for the boy. He saw Tristan come up for air and he stretched out his hand, but he wasn't quite close enough. Slamming his hands against the dirt he shoved off the edge and took a couple of steps back and ran forward to jump off of the edge. It was almost like doing a cannon ball into a pool, except a slight bit higher.

He hit the water and then quickly came up top and swam for Tristan. Wrapping his arms around the boy, he pulled, trying to haul him over to the bank which was hard to see in the darkness without the flashlights. His heart hammered in his chest, "Tristan! Tristan, I'm sorry, are you alright?" he called out as he tried to compose himself and swim at the same time. He was thankful he was a fairly good swimmer right about then.

Tristan coughed again as he heard the water and looked toward the blonde coming toward him. He cringed as the other was holding on a little to tight. "Soran, I am fine, just loosen your grip, your choking me." Tristan was grinning...he could hear the panic in the others voice. He was trying to lighten up the situation, of course he really had no clue as to what hit him. When they finally made it to shore, he laid there for a minute. "Wait where's Rethyn...," his voice went slightly in a panic.

He looked around, what was the idiot thinking, they all needed to fight this god together. The god was going to be a tough one.

"S-sorry," Soran uttered as he lessened his grip a little bit, still frightened by what had just happened. Guilt grasped his chest in their cold claws. As they got up on the bank and Tristan lay there for a while, Soran hovered over him in fear, his fingers reaching out to just barely touch the injured shoulder. It wasn't until he saw the blood that he started to cry, keeping his voice to himself as best he could though but having no control over the tears as they mixed in with the water that rained from his hair.

"Tristan..." he whispered softly, then he heard mention of Rethyn and his heart lurched. He glanced around, chest heaving a bit, "No... he didn't... He can't be serious! Th-thats... that god is..." he couldn't even get the words from his mouth.

"Soran, calm down...he will be alright," Tristan had to have some faith in his guardian. He had to have faith above every emotion at the moment, he turned to the other. "What is wrong, stop crying please, there is no crying in baseball."

"Come on, if we can't find him, we need to go back to the house, get the others. And hope that he won't catch up before we get there."

He sucked in a sharp breath, his hand reached out and slapped against Tristan's chest as he cried harder, "This isn't baseball, idiot! I'm crying... because I'm afriad, and I'm... crying because I know what you saw! I'm crying because I don't know what to do!" he hiccuped a bit as he leaned forward onto Tristan and tried to calm himself down, "And I'm crying because you're hurt," he muttered the last part. He knew that Tristan was right, he had to pull it together. To lose it so easily in a fight... in the face of a God no less. He was weak... too weak.

Tristan sighed it was bad timing on making a joke he guessed. He put his hands on Soran's face, "Soran...focus please, I am afraid too, and while what I saw was the most heart-wrenching thing, I've imagined much worse, I love you, okay, I have you back and I won't let him take you away from me again. But we have to move, we can't sit here." He had to leave out the fact he was hurt, he knew if he focused on it...then the pain would come all to real.

He stared at Tristan for a long while before he finally nodded. He sniffed, took a shuddering breath and wiped at his eyes and face. His gaze flicked to Tristan's bleeding shoulder. The bullet, though it had been small had packed quite a punch and he worried about how damaged the wound really was. He didn't ask though, he didn't want it to be the center of both of their thoughts. He picked himself up off the ground, dirt that had turned to mud from his soggy clothes clung to him, "Alright... how far back from here?"

"If we move on the trail then not far," yet Tristan had another idea. Staying on a trail seemed like a bad idea, "I got another idea, but I don't think using the flashlight will be smart, you have to put your trust in me." Tristan though had to get off the ground first. "I need your help though first." Being in the mud also was simply fantastic, he could see himself slipping and falling several times. "Or find me a stick or something, thick branch..."

"Okay," Soran replied and went searching for he'd been asked for. Soran located a large enough broken branch for Tristan to use. He knew that if he tried to help they would both end up taking a mud bath to say the least. What he did do though was set himself on dry ground and reached down for Tristan's good arm to help him up with the added addition of the stick. Once Tristan was on his feet, he tangled his fingers in the boys hand, "I trust you," he said.

His gaze flicked around the darkness and he took a double take off to their right. A sharp gasp filled his throat, "Tristan... we have to go, now," he said, trying not to shout or give away their own position as he caught a flash of glowing red in the darkness not to far up the bank and the hill. His hand tightened in Tristan's as he briefly wondered what happened to Rethyn if the God was there already. Valyn's freakish speed was unnerving to say the least.

Tristan was up and ready to move when he heard Soran's voice, Fuck was his only thought, "Okay lets go," He held on to the others hand and took off, through the path back to the main trail. He offhandedly wondered if God's could smell blood, cause he knew he was going to be making a trail of it. Instead of turning to go back on the main path, he keep going straight. Really what he was doing was making a big circle, but it would have them end up in the front of the house. The others he could wake up, but at least if he got to the other gods first, maybe then they would have a chance to get things together. "Oh I got an idea, maybe we can distract him a little bit more, give us some more time." He stopped and realized that the arm that he usually used to pull spells off with was the one that got hurt. He moved the pad to his hand, and pulled something off it.

A golden ball fell from his hand and began to glow and then started changing, "Come on, we need to move again." He didn't want to be there when that thing popped open, or the surprise popped out.

Tristan's fingers tightened just a bit and then he took off into the trees, dragging Soran with him. His heart thrummed hard and fast in his chest as he tried to keep up with the taller Seer. Branches snapped past his face and he was just barely keeping them from smacking him in the head. He didn't even want to glance behind him, sure that the God had heard their run. When Tristan stopped, he nearly had a heart attack, but the boy didn't linger for long and dropped something where they'd just been a moment before. The ball had been glowing gold then started changing color.

"W-what did you drop?" he asked as he chased after his boyfriend. Swiping his hand on the pad, he drew his gun again and chanced a quick glance in the darkness behind him. For the moment he didn't see anything but the strange colors faintly flowing.
"Oh that was Fluffy," Tristan said, "Dragon with three heads, spits something different from each of his mouths.

"Wait... you named that thing Fluffy?"

"I...was young...and couldn't come up with a good name. Give me a break." Actually the dragon was quite fluffy...in its first concept. "Sorry trying to avoid the worst of the trees." He knew they were almost to the drive, that would led them to the house. Tristan though had to wonder...if that god found them, how far was Oni behind him. That thought scared him even more.

"Almost there," he told the other.

Soran nodded. He'd ended up with quite a few scratches but they didn't bother him as he could hardly care seeing as a lunatic god was chasing them. From behind them there was a loud growling sound, the sounds of explosions and a deep rumble. He glanced behind him in the darkness. The golden light grew extremely bright before it extinguished. Soran's heart seemed to skip a beat and time for him slowed just a bit. He could almost feel the god right behind him. His hand gripped Tristan's tighter as he stared behind them. Lifting his gun, he waited. His breath just shy of leaving his lips as a tremble spread through him.

Almost there... almost there... almost there... he told himself over and over and then his gaze grew wide as the flash of red filtered through the trees. He pulled the trigger and the weapon sang loudly. A brilliant bright blue light shimmered around the end of the barrel before it fired, cracking loudly. The red eyes disappeared as his bullet charged back at the God. "Did I..." he breathed.

As if to answer, a flash of gold lashed out and Soran ducked, the tree that was unfortunate enough to be right in the path took the hit instead and splintered apart as a good sized hole erupted into the trunk of it. Soran screamed at how close it was. He lifted the gun again and fired off another round, this one taking out a piece of tree instead of the God. Turning around he could see the lights of the house coming into view.

"Damn," he said, "he usually lasts longer," his eyes were always to the front, cause if he tripped that would really suck. He heard the other fire the first shot. That was loud enough and close enough someone had to hear it from the house. The second shot would defiantly be a warning. They were close to the barrier, he could almost feel it.

Deriea moved, the shot ringing out in the darkness. A second shot followed a scream and she was at the edge of the barrier looking around, trying to pinpoint it.

Bolting from the back door, Sina darted her head around as she too had heard the noise. Moving to stand next to Deriea she wore just a very long shirt. Upon her feet she had slipped into a pair of sandles as she had awoken. She had not had the time to throw on a set of cloths unlike someone who would of seen this coming.

To their right, Deriea caught sight of Tristan and right behind him Soran and right behind the little blonde a tendril of golden light. She shouted, but the string was just a bit faster. It caught hold of Soran, pulled him back and then hurled him through the trees to the darker side of the house. He let out a sharp cry as he went flying, another when he hit the house and went tumbling into the darkness.

Deriea reached out, snatched a hold of Tristan's arm and dragged him behind the barrier. With a flick of her hand a wall of vines erupted to fend of the golden twine that had been on its way to grab him next, "What the hell is chasing you...." she paused as she turned to look into the darkness. Her answer came in the form of her vines being obliterated and the barrier shimmering violently. Pushing the red haired Seer, she lifted both hands to try to protect herself but failed to do so as Valyn came charging through the barrier and his twine cracked right into her chest. The snap that followed sent the goddess flying.

Valyn stopped his advance and looked between Tristan, Cryio who was on his other side and then Deriea who was sprawled across the ground. His gaze settled on Tristan, the twine fading out and instead was replaced by a pulsing blue and white light, the golden knife still in his hand and still holding traces of blood, "Lets hope that tumble snapped his neck, your little Guardian certainly didn't stand a chance," he growled.

Tristan felt Soran being taken from his hand, "NO," his scream was loud and he watched the other fly. He was about to go after him when he was suddenly grabbed and dragged behind the barrier. He tried to answer Deriea, but the god made his appearance instead. His look of pure hatred was clouding his mind from everything else. "You little fucker," his spell pad erupted and off it came something that he really could have pulled from a video game. The long blade was connected to a chain, he started to swing it. This wasn't going to work as well as he wanted it to with just one arm, but he sure of heck didn't care at the moment. He could work the thing.

His voice was on edge when he glanced at the female guardian, "Go find Soran, make sure he is ok."

Throwing Tristan a little salute with her middle and index finger Sina spoke to her magic system. "MAXIMUM SPEED" Was roared from now Jayce as she zipped off at an insane speed through the darkness. She had not bothered to activate another system so she had put everything into speed.

Her eyes widened as she spotted Soran not too far off as she closed the gap to him. As she grew closer she raised her hand to cuff her mouth as she called out his name several times.

"Soran!"

Valyn turned, his gaze only going to the woman briefly as she came from the side and then was ordered to find the blonde Seer. He ignored her immediately as Tristan slashed at him with a wicked looking weapon. The golden knife came up and batted it upwards, the two weapons clanging sharply together briefly. Turning sideways he reached out and touched Tristan's side with the glowing hand, "You're all pent up on energy, allow me to relieve you of some of that," he said as the power around his hand pulsed.
From the house, Kilia gave a shout and as she was about to step down from the porch, Cryio stood before her, his hand flicked at Tristan. He put up a sort of barrier between the boy and the God. It wasn't going to do anything for the pain that might come, but it would stop the God from taking a good amount of energy.

Rushing to his side Sina flashed red as her magic system activated the strength ability. With a worried sigh she placed her hand to his cheek as he had been clearly knocked out. Sliding her hands behind his shoulders and knees, Soran felt light with her empowered strength.

Zipping back across the newly dubbed battlefield, Sina passed through the barrier as she made her way to the porch and to Kilia. Giving her a little motion of the head she tried to signal the girl to take him inside or try to make sure he was alright. For all she knew Soran could be bleeding internally or something.

Tristan bit his lip against the pain, he definitely drew blood. His energy was really his anger, he really didn't have any left as it was. He was fighting now on pure adrenaline. He jumped backwards to get away from the gods touch. lashing out again with his weapon as he did. He was aiming for the gods shoulder at the moment.

Kilia gasped as Sina came by with Soran in her grip. He was still, and his eyes closed. For the first few moments she thought the absolute worst had happened but then she calmed herself and reached out to touch his throat gently. His pulse was still there and it was strong. She breathed a sigh of relief. Now, to see if he was injured. She quickly set to work on her pad, with Cryio standing protectively over her. He wasn't going to let anything interrupt her, she knew that for sure.

Cryio glanced at Sina, "Help him, but be careful," the God warned.

From inside the house as well, River came bursting out the door. The first thing she saw was Soran on the porch and she yelled out his name, dropping down next to him.

"He's alright," Kilia said, calming the woman's immediate fears. With that, River looked out to the yard where the fight between Tristan and a God had erupted. Moving, she opened her pad and started to work on something from the patio.

Valyn shifted the blade again, slamming it down and off to the side. His free hand stretched and touched the boy again, but the same thing happened, the thin barrier between them went up to keep the energy he was taking to an absolute minimum and to keep the normal pain from being inflicted. The God narrowed his red eyes. Switching tactics, he changed hands, the golden knife was now pulsing in the pale blue light and he slashed out at Tristan, a slight, sadistic grin on his lips, "You better start fighting better, or you're going to end up like that blonde Seer. Did you enjoy watching that? I could always do it again. This time, with you in a front row seat and... live not just a memory, little Seer," he growled out and sent out another set of slashes.

Tristan yanked his blade back, cringing against the pain in his shoulder. He used the blade to block the knife, knowing if he let it touch him, that was going to be something of the end. He needed a distraction, so he could pull something else from his spell pad. Suddenly a thought ran into his head, he whistled. This time he didn't have to tell the snake where to go as it went towards the gods feet. In the darkness it would be harder to spot too, he held off the slashes as they continued.

As Valyn tried to take a step forward, he found that he couldn't. Glancing down he glowered at the dark mass that had wrapped itself around his feet. Turning back up to Tristan, he flicked his hand out at him, the golden twine lashing out to wrap around the boy's wounded shoulder, to squeeze down tightly and add more discomfort to the bullet wound.

"Nice little trick, but I can always bring you towards me," he said, his hand lifting up, the one that was controlling the golden twine.

In a sudden burst of speed, Sina sprinted up to Valyn as she tried to land a hook on the side of the face where Valyn's hand was already in use of the golden twine. As her fist came in closer she yelled the words. "Surprise motherfucker"

Tristan was pretty close to losing to the pain. As the god started pulling he was trying with all his might to resist. It didn't help the fact that the wound was now being squeezed and he was losing more blood.

He was grateful for the slight interruption by Sina, or at least he hoped it was, he just hope the god was distracted. He moved his pad in a quick motion. Yet he really couldn't see what he was going to pull, he had to trust his memory. His fingers worked fast, and while he had a good idea where he was, he wasn't going to be able to make it any stronger.

Valyn looked over to the sound briefly and the solid connection of a fist to his face knocked his head to the side. Dropping the arm that was working the twine around the Seer's arm and to inflict more damage to the bullet wound, he reached over at her with his dagger. The golden knife slashed at her, going straight for her shoulder to plunge through it. Meanwhile his fingers holding the golden twine tightened, closing slowly to force the twine to curl tighter, cutting into the skin.

Cryio's eyes narrowed as he lifted both hands now. One to try to stop the blade as best he could, and the other to try to protect Tristan against the golden twine digging into his arm and bullet wound. Kilia sat next to him, her heart pounding hard as she watched him with a bit of fear. Cryio was struggling.

"Cryio..." she whispered softly.

He glanced at her, "Heal the boy. I'm alright... he is just... stronger than me," Cryio ground out.

Twisting her body to avoid the stab of Valyn, she felt the back of his arm extended across her chest as she backpedaled to avoid a chance of retaliation to her dodge. Grinning cockily at the God she made a small motion with her hand as she prepared to dip back into the brawl.

The spell that came from the pad was...purple at first. Tristan would have cocked an eyebrow if he didn't fall to his knees with the pain now running down his whole arm. What the heck did he do, the purple (it looked like a hazy blob) started toward the god and sort of stopped above him. Tristan who was grimacing watched, hoping that it was at least something useful. Suddenly the thing popped open and a gooey substance began pouring from it. What the fuck was Tristan's only thought. Well that was typical, can't concentrate and can't see his pad, lets just pull something stupid from it.

He caught the scent of raspberries...oh that was making it equally dumb, lets just pour jelly all over the god.

Valyn watched the bubble come free from the pad and then as it moved over to him, it gave a slight pop and opened up, pouring out a sticky solution that covered his legs. With a slight growl, he slammed his arm wielding the weapon into the little girl to toss her, and then yanked the golden twine to pull the boy forward. He still couldn't move with the black mass holding him in place. However, he was starting to lose his patience with the situation. He bent down to Tristan's frame, his hand that worked the golden twine reaching out to grip the boys face as he waved the knife in front of his face.

Sina flew through air as she narrowly missed slamming into a tree. As she struck and slide along the ground she felt a spike of pain, but besides that wasn't too scared as she had only gained a gash upon her elbow. Catching her breath for a moment she flash both red and blue for a moment.

Shooting back into striking range, Sina through a kick of which would land just below the ribs and with it had two punches planned if it were to fail. The rhythm had begun to start in her head as she felt like she was getting into her "zone". Still across her face remained a cocky grin as she attacked.

However, the "zone" was ended quickly as she was launched back yet again where this time she clipped the tree. Slamming into the ground by her previous spot she tried to hobble back as she had gashed her leg this time.

"You little friend God there may be helping you, but you're still going to be screaming by the time I'm done with you," he growled, his red eyes glowing brightly with his rage.

"I will never scream for you, bastard...," Tristan said through gritted teeth. He eyed the knife though, he saw what that did to Soran. He wasn't going to let this god get the better of him. He looked into the gods eyes, maybe that was the one thing he could fight this god with.

He closed his eyes, and concentrated, he focused on his own energy, he focused on the people in the house. All of a sudden he could feel their energy as well, he wondered and well he knew this was shooting for the moon in a way. He started to pull, it wasn't like the god pulling energy, even though he realized they might still be able to feel it. He was trying to use the magic system to feed himself more energy. He opened his eyes, he did feel a little better. Yet he didn't really know what else that did, he almost felt like he could stand again. So he pulled against the twine, pulled with a strength he didn't know he had.

Valyn's eyes grew wide as the twine jerked in his fingers. The boy was pulling against him, drawing himself back away from the God, "What... did you just do..." he glowered. He pulled back roughly against the twine and slashed the golden blade at Tristan.

Cryio winced as he felt the power behind that strike. He wasn't sure he could protect Tristan from it fully.

Tristan blade went up to block the slash from the knife, and he pulled again. "I am not going to be your energy source...I am not going to let you win." Tristan looked wasn't just filled with hatred but with something else. He closed his eyes again, his focus returned to the others. He was searching, and he caught something.

He opened his eyes and had a sly grin on his face as he looked at the god.

"Is that so," Valyn muttered back, watching the boy closely as he pushed his weight into the blade, trying to overpower the young Seer. The boy's eyes closed and his energy seemed to be pulling back again, something that Valyn was trying to figure out. What the hell was this boy doing? He ground his teeth and shoved harder, working the golden twine to slide through the bullet wound and squeeze.

"What are you grinning about, idiot boy," Valyn hissed as he leaned closer, power pulsing through his frame at his request as well as with his rising anger. This red haired Seer was strong, and it seemed that nothing was going to break him. Valyn was starting to think he should start changing tactics and attack the blonde again, that had made the other Seer scream earlier.

"I am not going to be your toy anymore..." he gritted as he got his balance and planted his feet. And this time instead of pulling he pushed, he hoped the change in direction would throw the other off and get some of the pressure off his shoulder. He tried to turn his blade and catch the twine to cut it. Yet he would be losing a little of his advantage if he did, he needed to be free of the god once and for all.

Valryn was certainly surprised by the sudden act of coming at him rather then trying to pull away. The twine loosened, and Valryn seemed to have had enough of playing around. He turned his blade and attacked the boy, swiping outwards towards his chest much the same as he had done to the guardian a little while ago, but this was more to distract the boy.

With his other hand, he flicked it in the direction of Kilia and Soran. Cryio cursed softly to himself, putting up as much of a barrier as he could between himself and the two Seers behind him. The air shimmered around them briefly and the golden twine began to glow very brightly until it broke through. The first scream came from Kilia who doubled over Soran with the thin twine penetrating her side. The second came from the smaller Seer underneath her. The twine glowed brightly.

"And what about now, little Seer?" Valyn asked with a sneer on his face, "How serious are you now? And if I just... started to kill them both, what would you do?" he asked cruelly as he curled his fingers and both Seer's voices filled the yard.

Tristan cursed as he heard the screams and something snapped inside him. He leaned back out of the blade reach and cut into the twine connecting to his shoulder. He felt it snap and he got to his feet finally. He swiped his blade again, this time he aimed for the gods other hand connected to the other seers. Yet he didn't stop at that point, as he spun in a quick motion aiming for the hand with the blade.

He felt the twine release the boy and with that instead of trying to tie him again, put more power into the one that was drawing from the other two. A sharp sting passed through his wrist. The painful screams slowly stopped and he wondered why, until he looked down and was horrified to see that the Seer's blade had severed his hand from the arm. The blade came back, going for his other hand. Twisting his golden knife around, he just barely caught the weapon in time.

Curling his arm up against his chest as he cursed softly at the pain in his arm, he expanded the pulsing power across his blade to trail down Tristan's weapon, reaching for his hand in an attempt to at least get him to back off. A loud sound filled the yard then and Valyn's gaze grew wide. The high pitched sound was familiar and the bright blue glow that passed through his shoulder, chest and exited the other shoulder should have been an indicator. He turned slightly to see the blonde, now fully awake, with his gun aimed at him and panting as he held an unconscious Kilia.

"Tristan! Fucking kill him!" Soran screamed.

Tristan didn't look anywhere else as much as he wanted to, and pushed the god away from him and watching him fall. He stepped on the hand with the blade, pushing down as hard as he could. He really wanted to hear the crunching of bones just to give him some satisfaction. "Oh, don't worry I don't intend to kill you, I am going to leave just enough of you alive so the goddess can end your existence. You won't ever come back to fuck with people." He took the edge of his blade and crossed the gods chest in a deep penetrating slash. He did it again but in the opposite direction. He kept going, all over the gods body, but nothing that would be life ending. He was breathing hard as he looked down at the bloody mess he made of the god. He understood that this wasn't what Soran wanted, but this was a good as he was going to get it. Finally he didn't even have the energy to stand anymore and he fell to his knees again.

Soran's gaze grew wide as he watched, staring at his boyfriend decimate the god in such a way. He shook slightly, eyes unable to move from the sight, "T-Tristan... Tristan, it's okay... don't," he was whispering those words because he couldn't find a voice to yell out loud enough for the boy to hear him. When the red head dropped, he sucked in a sharp breath. Warm hands reached and took Kilia from him and he looked into the green eyes of his mother who nodded her head towards the other Seer. He got up slowly, feeling the sharp pulse of pain from where the twine had stabbed him.

Once he was standing he sprinted across the yard. Deriea, whose frame was glowing lightly, had finally gotten up and was slowly working her way to them. Cryio's hands were lifted at her, possibly giving her the strength to do what she needed to next. Valyn shuddered on the ground, coughed and eyed Deriea as she hovered over him.

"Little more than you deserve, bastard," she hissed. With a flick of her hands, vines wrapped around him and they began to pull. Valyn screamed now and as his body began to crack, his gaze settled on Tristan before he flaked away.

"Oni's going to have your head, boy!" he yelled and then became nothing but black dust that faded out.

Soran dropped down next to Tristan, shaking as he reached out slowly to touch his face and then wrapped his arms around his neck, holding him close while uttering his name a thousand times as well as apologizing. What he apologized for he wasn't sure yet, but he couldn't help it.

Tristan watched the god disappear before he actually turned and looked at Soran, "Silly...don't..." Tristan gasped and reached toward the woods, "Rethyn." He couldn't get anymore out as he finally lost conciseness and leaned against the other.

As Sina emerged from the forest she held her arm and had a limp. Her magic system was going insane as Jayce kept saying over and over again. "Miss Sina, miss Sina?" Ignoring it she stumbled past the others as she sat down near her Seer and Tristan.

Raising a bloody hand to the air she panted out. "Yay, go team bamf!"

In response Jayce said to her. "That's a horrid name and you should feel bad." Coughing a little Sina then giggled lightly as she said. "Very much resetting you."

"Sina," Soran breathed as he held Tristan's still form, "Sina... we lost Rethyn," he said softly, voice trembling slightly as he shook his head, "He... took Valyn and tried to fight him by himself, but he didn't come back. We have to find him," he clung to Tristan tightly as he tried hard not to freak out. He looked around the yard, seeing River making her way to them, "Momma! Take him, please, take him to Alauric and Uncle Vic. I... I have to go."

"Go where? You're hurt too!"

Soran shook his head, "I have to find Rethyn. How's Kilia?"

"Awake now, but she's hurt as well. Wait for us, alright? For me and Alauric and Grayson. Victor can take care of Tristan, I promise," she said as she helped her son pull Tristan up and take him to the house. Kilia sat on the porch, panting a bit as she held her hand over her wound, a brilliant green glow enveloping her small frame.

River helped Soran put Tristan on the couch and Soran bit his lip as she went to get Victor.

The three adults were coming from the kitchen, apparently they had been away from house doing an errand down the mountain. Alauric gasped as he saw his son, "What happened," but the small healer did ask he only went to work. A gold spell from his pad and washed over Tristan, yet Vic pulled the spell. "I am going to need more time with him, who else is hurt"

"Sina is," Soran managed, though his throat was tight as he heard Victor say that he needed a bit more time with Tristan. His heart wrenched as he knew part of that was his fault. His fingers pulled into a tight fist, nails biting into his skin, threatening to break into the palms of his hands and draw blood. He grit his teeth, eyes closing tightly as he turned his head away.

"Soran," River's voice was soft and he only seemed to grow even more distressed.

"I... am sorry, Alauric. It was my fault. I... did that to him," he stepped backwards, shook his head and then turned on his heel to rush for the front door.

"Soran!" River shouted.

"I have to find Rethyn!" he yelled back. He jumped off the steps and took off. Kilia, who had heard him as he ran past her got to her feet in shock. She turned back to the house, leaning against the door.

"What... what happened? Where is he going?" her heart was racing. Had she heard correctly? Did he say he was going to find Rethyn? But why? Couldn't Rethyn just teleport back to the house. Unless he was too weak to do so, she gasped then. Kilia whirled around and went after him, a bit more clumsy than he was and definitely not as fast. She sighed heavily as she tried to get some strength into her limbs.

"Soran!" she yelled into the darkness, jogging lightly as well as giving a bit of a groan. "Aww damn it..." she cursed softly.

A little confusion hit the others inside the house, Alauric looked at Grayson, "Go help them, you will be able to find the guardian faster, get a flashlight first. Victor see to the girl first, I will take Tristan to his room." He looked at River, "do what you will, I am leaving that up to you." If she wanted to go after her son then she could go, if she wanted to do something else.

Victor went outside and found the girl guardian, her healing was done in a matter of about 10 minutes.

Giving Victor a small bow she quickly said "Thank you Victor-sempi!" as she darted for the door.

River took a breath and nodded slightly to Alauric, "I'll be right back. We'll find out what happened... if I can get him to talk," she muttered the last part and went out the backdoor. Finding a flashlight of her own, she started through the trees, hoping to find Grayson and make this search a lot faster.

~

Soran ran headlong into the trees, without a light, without a direction and only fueled by his guilt and anger at his own stupidity. The branches cut at his face, a particularly deep one just under his eye. He was lucky the branch hadn't hit higher. He was panting, crying, and struggling to get a lid on his raging thoughts. He was sure Alauric was angry with him for Tristan's condition, his mother looked shocked as well and he just didn't want to think at all.

To add to it, he wasn't even sure which way he was supposed to be going. His idiot move of leaving the house without Grayson was sure to bite him in the ass. As he ran, he was starting to grow tired, his breathing burned in his chest. He slowed, only to trip on some roots and went sprawling forward into the dirt. Groaning slightly, he pushed himself up, "Ow... ow..." he winced.

Taking a look around he seemed to finally realize that he was in the middle of the woods, no light, and alone.

"Damn it... such an idiot..." he growled to himself and pushed himself up to his feet again. Wincing he was reminded of the wound where the twine had gone through him and Kilia. It wasn't large, but it was deep. Rolling his eyes, he started walking, "Going straight... I'm sure to find something... right?"

~

"Soran! Soran!" KIlia's voice shouted as she worked her way through the trees.
"Kilia!?" A flash of light in the distance caught her attention and she recognized the voice to be Rivers.
"Yeah... is Soran with you?"
"No, come here. We'll find him, and we'll find Rethyn."

Kilia nodded, then realized that the woman couldn't see her yet and worked her way towards the ex-Seer's light, "Alright," she said and in a matter of seconds she was with River and together they worked their way through the trees again.

Grayson was trying to track Soran, the boy was really just running in the dark without direction. He finally caught up with the boy, "Soran," his voice was calm as he appeared in front of him.

Back at the house Victor got to Tristan finally, "he has lost quite a bit of blood, but I didn't want to really say that in front of everyone. I can heal this...but it might be rather painful."

Alauric nodded and looked at wound in Tristan's shoulder, now he realized why Soran said what he did. He recognized a bullet wound, yet Alauric wasn't angry, he knew better then to judge a book by its cover.

Soran gasped at the sudden voice and Grayson coming out of the darkness right in front of him. He stumbled backwards, the back of his foot catching a root and he tumbled onto the ground. Wincing yet again, he groaned as he sat up, "G-Grayson...T-that was...um.. fast," he uttered as he glanced up at him and then looked away.

Grayson looked at him, "Why are you traveling around in the dark." He walked to him slowly and handed him a flashlight, "I think I can read the other, in the water nearby. I will go as slowly as I can." Grayson wanted to find Rethyn, his aura was weakening, He took off toward where he thought the other was, hoping he wasn't as hurt as he thought.

A large round of ‘what if’s’ went through his head, ”What if I hadn’t left the house?”, “What if I had thought of something better to save him?”, “What if I had been stronger?” the list went on and he always came back around to his stupid decision of leaving the house in the first place. He grit his teeth as he followed after Grayson.

The sound of water flowing filled the air and he soon stumbled upon the bank with the older Guardian. Lying in the mud was a dark form and as his light landed on Rethyn, Soran gasped. The light shook in his hand until it fell from his fingers and he stumbled backwards into the branches and bushes, falling again only to be cushioned by the bush behind him.

He cried, hard as his eyes stared at the bloody mess that was Rethyn lying on the bank. His light that he’d dropped clearing showing the pool of red all along Rethyn’s clothes and in the dirt. Doubling over, he gripped his hair tightly in his hands and shook violently as he cried. All the while, blaming himself for what had happened.

Grayson looked at the boy, but turned toward the guardian, he knelt down next to the other. "Rethyn," he knew the other wouldn't respond. but still. He did check for a pulse, "he is still alive." Grayson closed his eyes and ran a path, he wouldn't be able to do much for the wounds, but he can start the internal healing. He opened his pad and something green came off his pad, "there that should make him a little more comfortable until we can get him back."

Without her pad, Sina finally caught up to the others by the muddy bank of the water. She had gone at a full sprint and now held her hands on her knees as she looked to Soran then to Rethyn as she lowered her head in defeat. She had not been fortunate to hear the words of Grayson and like Soran she begun to cry as small sniffles could be heard from her. Glancing over to her Seer she wanted to hug him or something as his pain was making the situation even worse as she begun to feel a sickness from her stomach. It was like Japan all over again, but this time she had more people to lose she actually cared for.

Lifting his head, Soran looked to Grayson. His breathing was shaking as he took in deep breaths past the sobs, "He's... alive..." Soran repeated, having actually heard Grayson's voice. He couldn't believe it. The boy was covered in blood and that wound... it seemed so... terrible. He grit his teeth. Pushing himself out of the bushes, he crawled over to the two of them. Reaching out, he just barely touched the boy's head, brushing back his dark hair.

"Sorry... I'm sorry," he moaned as his fingers curled in the mud and let his head fall down onto his arm as he knelt there, "...Can take him back... you can, right? I... will come later..." he said shaking his head slightly.

Grayson looked at him, and for the first time in his life he was going to say totally out of character and perhaps a little bit selfish, "Soran, you can't blame yourself for this, and Tristan needs you," he stopped and sighed. He wasn't going to convince the other if he was determined to be so stubborn about it. He turned to the girl, "Stay with him, the other two are nearby, if you should hear them. Tell them I am taking Rethyn back to the house."

Grayson picked up the boy in his arms and turned to take the shortest and clearest route back. He looked at the blonde seer one last time and left.

"Soran.." Sina said as she wiped at her own tears. After realizing Rethyn had life within him she became relived as she believed the several healers they had could do the job just fine. She had a feeling some of those experienced healers dealt with much worse. It was still a worry, but the girl knew where her responsibilities now laid. Looking to Soran with vein eyes, Sina walked over to the boy as she tried to comfort him with a light hug. "It's alright Soran, he's right, it's really not your fault. I believe Blue-eyes there knew what he was getting into when he separated himself from you."

Sina then took a sigh as she then asked. "What were the three of you doing out here anyway?"

Grayson changed him mind in a few feet as he went toward Kilia and River, and after he found them he said, "I found the boy, Soran is by the water with Sina. We need to get Rethyn back to the house." Grayson was covering the worst of the wound on Rethyn's chest so they couldn't see it. Yet he knew that Kilia was going to have to help with the healing.

Kilia gave a gasp as she heard Grayson's voice and then she gasped a second time as her gaze settled upon Rethyn in his arms, "What happened!?" her voice was high pitched as she rushed over to them. She wanted to see, but Grayson was holding the boy just right for her to only get a glimpse at the blood on his shirt, "Rethyn..." she shook slightly and bit her lip, "Hurry, I can heal this," she said and turned to help lead the way back to the house with her light. River nodded at Grayson, her hand gripping his arm tightly before she slipped past him and went further down through the trees.

Soran shook his head as he knelt there, trembling and not wanting to move at all, "He.. shouldn't have had... to do that!" he said between gasps of air, "I thought... we would be safe..." he slammed his fist into the mud, spraying it as he gave a sharp shout.
When she asked what they had been doing, he coughed hard and shook his head, "Stupid... it was my stupid idea!" he muttered, not wanting to say anymore than that. It didn't matter anymore anyway, what he'd wanted to do when he'd asked Tristan to go see the waterfall with him.

"Soran," River's voice came through the trees, her light landing on them, "Hey," she said, coming and kneeling down next to them. She put her hand on Sina's shoulder, "Come on, you're hurt too, lets get back."

"This is... nothing compared to them," he said coldly.

River's lips pulled into a frown. Gently removing Sina, she pulled Soran up by his shoulders, "You are coming back, I'm not letting you stay out here like this. You're bleeding, you're tired and you probably smacked your head earlier," her voice was stern, but not without a mothers worry.

He stared at her in shock, then fell forward on her shoulder, "Momma... I hurt him..." he cried.

"Come on," she said softer, patting his head a bit and standing up with him clinging to her. She started back to the house with him against her side then, her other hand reaching for Sina's shoulder too, to help her back as well.

Taking the support of River, Sina limped along as she tried to hold her own weight as well. Her injuries had been half healed and were now aching. She would every so often glance over at Soran as she looked worried about her Seer, but since he with his mother she knew that River could do a better job at her in the comforting of Soran. Looking around the woods they passed through she felt a sadness go through her as the night was beautiful. It hurt to know one god ruined this night for her and all of friends when all they wanted to do was enjoy the stars and the area.

Sina sighed lightly as just ahead of her she could see the house. "Thank you." She said gently to River.

River only nodded a bit to Sina as they walked.

Grayson followed Kilia back to the house, they arrived a few minutes before the others would return. Alauric was standing on the back porch and frowned as they approached, "Victor is still with Tristan, yeah and before you ask," he comment was more toward Grayson then the other, "he kicked me out of the room." Grayson stopped on the porch, "Kilia...can your friend help any." He was asking about Cryio, just wondering, because he didn't want to say to Kilia she couldn't do it on her own. It looked like she was already tired from earlier.

Kilia nodded her head, "Yes, he can help... he'll have to prepare him first though," she said and with that went to the front of the house to get Cryio's attention. Coming back, she nodded eagerly to Grayson, "He said to bring him, quickly," she reached out for him as her gaze fell on Rethyn. She bit her lip, seeing him like that... she was going to find out how he ended up like that. Reaching up, she rubbed at her eyes, keeping herself together as best she could.

From the treeline, River stepped into the golden light of the house that was now fully lit in the dead of the night. In tow was both Sina and Soran. She heaved a sigh as she approached and looked up to Alauric, shaking her head slightly. Patting both of them on their back she ordered, "Go inside," and waited until they'd done so before she turned to Alauric, "How is he?" she kept her voice low.

Alauric looked at her, "he is going to be fine, he just lost quite a bit of blood. I have no idea why...or how he fought as long as he did." Alauric was silent for a minute after that, "how is Soran." He wanted River to know he wasn't angry at her son. He wasn't blaming him for this, if anything the stupidity of being outside this late at night was both of their faults.

"Upset," she answered as she crossed her arms and leaned against the railing, "blaming himself heavily. I can't say it's not entirely his fault, at least for a god attacking them, but for leaving the house..." she shook her head, "Mind if I leave that one to you? If I yell at them, they'll think I hate them. I'm so irritated with him, and worried. That boy... scared the hell out of me tonight," she gave a frustrated sound as she bent backwards a bit, tilting her head back as she did so, "They really have so much to learn..."

Alauric chuckled, "don't worry I will say something to them both. Yet I remember that age well...I wasn't as well behaved either." He sighed, now he felt really old for some odd reason. "I say lets...um venture inside for something to drink. I know I could use it."

River let out a small laugh, "Yeah, I suppose that's true. All of us were a little... crazy weren't we," River grinned at him, "I would love that drink. Besides, I've yet to ask you about how you and Grayson are," she said with a little laugh as she shoved at his shoulder, "Are you still getting into trouble with him? You never could stand up to his 'awful gaze' as I remember you once calling it," she teased as she moved into the house silently, her voice still low.

Alauric couldn't help it, he slightly blushed, "We are better now," he said but he didn't elaborate what that meant.

River lifted an eyebrow, "Better hu?" she grinned at him, "No details hu... damn, you're no fun," she said with a wave of her hand as she reached for a couple of glasses. She tilted one glass at him, "I bet you'd talk if you had a little something to help you along the way hu?"

Alauric cleared his throat, "Now that would get me in loads of trouble," he smiled at her. He slightly looked away, "but there is something I have been meaning to tell you." He sat down because he was tired in the first place and he needed to think about what he was going to say to her in the second. He looked at her, "It happened back on the day Tristan became a seer, with his mom." River had no idea, well at least he thought she didn't on how bad things had gotten between Tristan and Mom. "She had an episode...and well tried to kill herself." He stopped for a second to gather his thoughts, "I had to put her somewhere to protect her, protect the children, I am sorry for hiding it from you. She isn't the same person like she use to be, maybe that is why I am acting like she never existed. I am sorry that sounded horrible."

When he said that he'd getting into trouble, she grinned at him, her mischievous look returning. She really wanted to ask more about that, but then Alauric turned the conversation and she lifted an eyebrow. Sipping her drink, she listened to him. She frowned at him from across the table, then shook her head, "There's no need to apologize, Alauric," she looked down at the table, "There are certainly worse things you could have done, but you did the right thing. I think. Protecting the children... I... unfortunately... wasn't able to protect Soran as I should have," she muttered softly. Setting the glass down, she leaned on the table, lacing her fingers, "There are plenty of things that we try to do for both ourselves and our kids. I think that... even after twenty years with them, we're still learning," she was referring to both their sons, Tristan and Soran and in how they were raised. She smiled at him after a moment, "But I think they both came out just fine, don't you? No need to blame yourself for anything."

Alauric smiled in return maybe he just needed to hear those words, maybe that is why he told her, some sort of justification for his actions. "Thanks, ok...so maybe you could help me with suitable way to punish those two, talking to them seems a little to easy-going."

River nodded in agreement, "Oh yes. But I could be very mean. Put them in separate rooms, make them pull all the tiny little weeds from the entire front yard, make them clean the bathrooms with a toothbrush," her eyes grew with a mischievous light again, "Oh, you could make them redo your front yard, young labor always works for great punishment. As does taking away games, and other things that they find fun... which in this case is each other. I'm still sticking with separate rooms for a few nights."

He nodded, "that might be a good idea, but I will wait on that, just because well I don't want to make anyone more upset at the moment." He really meant that he knew he didn't want to hurt Soran more. If the boy was really blaming himself well, he was going to have to face Tristan first.

River nodded, "Fair enough, then I'll leave it all to you," she said with a smile and tipped her glass at him before taking another drink.