Terra

Arcius sat as quietly as he could in the bush he was in. The sound of the mob chasing him was gone, but he knew they were still looking for him. Pain shot through his shoulder as he waited, making it harder and harder to stay silent. He had to try to alleviate the pain, or at least stop the bleeding.

He reached and gripped the arrow and held his breath before giving it a slight tug. The pain intensified and he let out a small yelp. Looking around, the noise didn't seem to bring anything his way.

"Okay... one more try..."

He gripped the arrow once more, held his breath, and tugged harder.

Bad idea.

Not only did the arrow not come out, but the bleeding was only made a little worse. He managed to stifle the pained yell, but barely. He wouldn't be able to remove it properly without professional treatment.

The sound of a lion like roar echoed throughout the forest that startled him, followed by a large flock of birds that seemed to gather in the air before they all headed in one direction. Arcius then felt... different. The atmosphere changed completely, and chills went down his spine. He felt really nervous, and had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What...? What's going on here? Something's not right."

As much as he wanted to hide and wait for this to blow over, staying in this forest seemed like a bad idea. He needed medical help, and getting caught in whatever was going on wouldn't help him in the slightest.

"Today's gonna suck..." He grumbled.

With a pained grunt he lifted himself out of the bush, and slowly started limping down the path, with his blade clenched tightly in his hand. At this point he didn't care where he was going, as long as it wasn't here.

"Ahhh, Cheese... Thank you..." Anna said softly. She chewed on the cheese as they walked into the forest and passed shrubbery.

Upon hearing Mahli's response it intrigued Anna to know about the tribe. Anna thought the best part of her bounty hunting was meeting interesting folks and new people. The forest trees were not so dense but they were humungous like red oaks. The forest opened to the sky in shapes and sizes, Anna did not pay too much attention to the crow above them. But she thought it odd that it kept at their direction. Upon hearing Vera mumble that the crow could be mutated, Anna agreed.

"It could be... From my experience animals seem to be the most hard to figure if they are mutated or not. They hide from humans and keep to themselves ."

Anna Winterfrost looked around the forest. Apparently, something felt amiss. Something felt... odd. But she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The black wolf came shooting out from the trees, and Anna with sword ready in hand was going to kill the creature if it meant it's purpose was there to kill them.

"And I thought this place was suppose to have less monsters, even though it was a short cut. Sigh..."

Arcius continued to limp throughout the forest, keeping his machete shortsword ready for any trouble. His blue eyes scanned the trees and bushes for movement, trying to pick out anything dangerous. He felt a bit more tired then earlier, possibly due to blood loss. The young man wasn't worried though, he's been in more physically dire situations and walked out fine; wounds heal. He may have a small unpleasant memory from time to time, but it always passed.

He looked at the coin pouch filled with 30 gold still stuck to his palm; the only problem he still needed to get over. There was no doubt that the bounty hunter group from earlier was still looking for him, eager to take their earnings back without giving him a chance to explain himself. There were too many close calls earlier for the hunters to let him leave peacefully.

After a minute more of walking, he heard the sound of talking, and... some squeaking? Arcius quickly threw himself behind a tall tree and peeked around the corner. He saw a small blue bird-like creature heading down path with a woman calling out to it, and a man with red hair following her. Arcius watched them with caution.

"They weren't apart of the hunters earlier, were they?" He pondered, trying to remember. "Either way, as long as I stay quiet, they should move on and-"

The ice freezing the gold pouch to the palm of his left hand chose that moment to thaw, and the pouch plopped to the floor with a loud jingle.

Arcius' eyes grew wide in horror, hoping that they didn't hear that.

As soon as the noise reached her Vera spun, drawing her bow and an arrow faster than she could blink. She kept her eyes focused on the area where she'd heard the small jingling. The Hazzling stopped as well, looking toward the trees before bouncing off in the direction of the noise. It's chirping had stopped as he hopped up and down in front of a large oak. Vera moved toward it, keeping her weight off her heels for silence as she moved forward slowly. She kept her distance from the tree as she circled it, catching sight of a small brown pouch lying on the forest floor as she did so. She turned around the corner, finding a man standing against the tree and glaring at the pouch on the ground. The Hazzling had hopped to the pouch and was bouncing on it, clearly trying to get it open. Vera aimed her bow, taking focus on the man's temple and spoke with an eerie calm.

"What is your name, and why were you spying on us"

She glanced over the man. He didn't seem to be dangerous, yet there was a hint of sparkle on the pouch near his feet. Ice? It was the spring season. There should have been nothing cold enough to freeze that pouch. She used a slight jerk of her head to signal Regal to come forward, not relaxing the grip on her bow. "You have five seconds to give me a reason not you shoot this arrow"

As soon as the noise reached her Vera spun, drawing her bow and an arrow faster than she could blink. She kept her eyes focused on the area where she'd heard the small jingling. The Hazzling stopped as well, looking toward the trees before bouncing off in the direction of the noise. It's chirping had stopped as he hopped up and down in front of a large oak. Vera moved toward it, keeping her weight off her heels for silence as she moved forward slowly. She kept her distance from the tree as she circled it, catching sight of a small brown pouch lying on the forest floor as she did so. She turned around the corner, finding a man standing against the tree and glaring at the pouch on the ground. The Hazzling had hopped to the pouch and was bouncing on it, clearly trying to get it open. Vera aimed her bow, taking focus on the man's temple and spoke with an eerie calm.

"What is your name, and why were you spying on us"

She glanced over the man. He didn't seem to be dangerous, yet there was a hint of sparkle on the pouch near his feet. Ice? It was the spring season. There should have been nothing cold enough to freeze that pouch. She used a slight jerk of her head to signal Regal to come forward, not relaxing the grip on her bow. "You have five seconds to give me a reason not to shoot this arrow"

Veon was sitting at the desk in his wide office. He'd been appointed the head of the Crosa bounty hunter station weeks before and still wasn't used to the change of scenery. When you were in the capital there were only buildings and dirt. Here in Crosa trees grew in the middle of streets because of some stupid tree god the people worshiped. Even the office he was given was covered in their religious artifacts. Three of the four walls were adorned with painted panels depicting the god, Verspa, saving a group of screaming saplings from a monster. The fourth was a huge window and balcony looking out over the main square of town. Idols of the prized god were place on shelves around the room along with feathery protection charms that were supposed to bring good fortune.

"Veon" Veon was snapped from his thoughts as Craine, the young bounty hunter he had working for him, motioned for him. She was a slight thing with big blue eyes and short blonde hair. If it weren't for her father and brother being part of the bounty hunter associations in Doral she wouldn't be in the trade. Veon had spared her a death from a monster by giving her a job registering and taking count of bounty requests. Standing with her was a young boy, obviously from the bird messenger post up the street. "This young man as a message for the commissioner. But since Mr. Calwren is sick I was instructed to give it to you. It's from Mayflower"

"Why would Mayflower being sending the commissioner a message" Veon wondered out loud as he crossed the office and took the message. It was written on crude paper, a sign of the small, poor village. It was indeed addressed to the commissioner. Veon glanced over the message; finding that it was a follow-up review for a bounty that had been filled there. The village elder had written the message and spoke of the bounty hunter sent for the request, a young woman whose name he didn't know, had left town with several strange people in the village at the same time.The elder was a well known artist, specializing in painting portraits, and he had sent along several drawings of the people she'd left with. The first was of a man with flaming red hair, looking war torn and dressed in the common garb of a guide. If the bounty hunter had been unfamiliar with the area his presence could be tallied up to being hired to provide a safe way back to her post. The second picture was revealed to be a young woman, taller than he would have expected and dressed in an almost primal way. He could see the marks of various colors across her face, whether they were paint or tattoos he didn't know. A name was scrolled across the bottom of the page. The elder explained in his message that the woman had called herself Mahli and seemed unafraid to reveal the name. She appeared to be human, and was possibly another guide hired by the bounty hunter in question, nothing to be too concerned about. He flipped to the last portrait. It portrayed a girl younger than the other two, the most astounding characteristic on her being the bright purple eyes. She was dressed strangely, in a dark blue tunic covered by a half cloak of black fabric. She looked familiar. He was sure he'd seen her before hand. This woman hadn't revealed her name, but the elder described how she had been seen buying a large amount of Hazzlings with strange currency, and coercing the people depicted in the first to portraits with her voice. It seemed as if she could be a leader, a human who commanded people just with her stature and independence. But Veon couldn't get past the eyes.

"Craine. Get me the file of the bounty hunter sent to Mayflower" He demanded. Something was wrong with a hunter and he had a feeling it was due to the three people shown before him.

Shit. Of all things that could of happened today, this had to be it; being held up by a woman with a bow, a rather intimidating one at that, aiming a bow right at his head. At least it wasn't one of the ones from the hunter group from before.

"Whoa, whoa, relax! I wasn't spying on you, and I mean you no harm." Arcius sheathed his blade and raised his hands in the air, but grunted in pain and grabbed his shoulder in doing so. Blood ran down from the wound and down the length of his arm, dripping onto the grass below.

"Look... I just need some medical help, and I want to get out of this forest. This place has a bad vibe to it..."

He looked at the two standing in front of him. The man with the red hair looked... experienced in whatever he did. The woman however, she was quite a looker. If he wasn't bleeding and being held up and threatened, he would of loved to talk to her in a more casual situation. The shuffling of gold brought his eyes to the coin pouch he dropped, and saw the blue creature trying to open it.

"You see the gold on the ground? That's thirty of it. If you help get this arrow out of me and stop the bleeding, I'll give you some. I really need some help here. Would I really attack you guys in this condition?" Arcius wasn't one to beg, but only good words and no hostility could help him get out of this one.

Vera lowered the bow, returning it and the arrow to their places. This man hardly looked like he could kill a Hazzling let alone her or the others. He wasn't half bad looking, with hair as black as hers and entrancing eyes. In any other situation she'd find herself embarrassed to have threatened to shoot him. Vera ducked through part of the brush, glancing at the wound on his shoulder. The arrow had sunk it deep, probably to the bone of his shoulder. It was going to hurt like hell to pull out. She touched the wound, feeling the sunken shaft of the arrow. It was barbed, lined with tiny spikes meant to damage more coming out than it did going in. "

"You won't be able to travel by yourself, this arrow will rip open the wound even more. You'll need someone who can constantly keep an eye on it" Vera winced as she felt the heat of the skin around the arrow's shaft.

She reached into her bag, finding the small pot of salve and popping the top off of it. "This is going to feel cold for a moment...but then it's going to sting" She dipped two fingers into the salve before touching it gently to the wound. It was redder than she had first thought and would probably get infected if no one was watching. "Can you get your shirt off? Or at least get it up to the point where I can see the wound clearly?" She asked in a soft voice, pitying the man before her.

Arcius nodded his head in compliance. He'd do anything to get this arrow out of him; he didn't even feel like questioning if she knew what she was doing. The "You'll need someone to constantly keep an eye on it" line was a little worrisome, but he would deal with it after getting the wound treated.

The touch of the salve against the wound actually felt... refreshing. He mentally chuckled remembering how much he used to hate the cold, but his ice powers made it his best friend. The more he stood around this woman, the more interested he became in her. She looked like the type of person with many secrets, and those violet eyes were unnaturally appealing to him. Was she affected too, or was it her looks that drove him in?

The sting phase of the salve decided to divert his train of thought back to the situation at hand. When he heard her ask if removing his shirt was possible, he shrugged.

"I think the arrow's too high for me to lift it comfortably." He mentioned, looking over his shoulder at the arrow jutting out of him.

"I could get my jacket and shirt off, but i'll need help getting it around the arrow."

He then looked her in the eyes, his deep blue eyes making contact with her violet.

"Oh, and my name's Arcius Taiga. Sorry for not telling you that first, but not getting shot by you was a higher priority." He said with a chuckle.

Regal nodded drawing his sword, it was pitted, rusted and gleamed as if it were wet. It hissed at the air , the sound was like dipping something hot in water. Vera they spoke regal put the hissing sword away and huffed impatiently. "Let me see it, I've dealt with worse." He watched the man carefully as he drew his old knife, it had serrations on the back." You can't help him by letting that thing wobble around and get caught on everything that it passes." He looked at the wound over Vera. " You can see he's torn through the muscles and it looks like it hit bone and stopped for the most part. Could have been worse. " He caught the way this younger man looked at Vera , a confusing emotion washed through him for a split second , jealousy? Now where in Nie did that come from? He would figure that out later. " I'm going to snap the arrow off to make it easier on us all alright?" he more told than asked but he still waited for the nod. "If we don't the wound will only get worse." he lied, though you couldn't tell it in his voice. The shot was not clean , who ever the archer was needed to be shot.
Wait, why in the Makers name was Regal helping this guy? He frowned a moment. Had Regal been alone with him he would have left the dumbass on his own, more likely than not he was shot for a reason. " Why'd you get shot boy?" He said trying not to sound too condescending.He glanced at the bag of gold , frost...? He was starting to like this situation less and less.
He listened for anything that might be creeping around. " Blood and the forest don't get along well...We really need to move" He recalled how he had been chased for 3 days by a pack of blind dogs out in Forest Mysteria. He could still remember being dragged down a hole by one of those filthy vermin. The scars on his leg gave a twinge of ghost pain.

She smiled as his dark blue eyes met hers for a moment, the feeling the swept over her was what she imagined people under her compulsion felt as she spoke to them. Looking away, she shook her head to clear the thoughts that had gathered, there was no time for this. She turned her eyes back toward Regal and nodded, letting him snap the arrow in two. "Careful, the barbs will hurt if you get caught by them" She frowned as she saw the half glare Regal was giving Arcius. She carefully peeled off his jacket and lifted the blood stained shirt until she could see the wound. She winced, the skin was swollen and dark red with both dried blood and possible infection. "We should work fast then shouldn't we" She said to Regal as she wrapped a piece of cloth from her bag around her fingers and griped the spiny surface of the arrow. "My name is Vera" She said softly as she braced herself and pulled. The arrow came out quickly, pulling at the torn flesh just as much as she thought it would. No sooner had she pulled it out, she pressed a clean cloth against it to staunch the bleeding. The salve she used should have been enough to prevent any major infections, but the redness of the wound still bothered her. The blood was dying her fingers through the cloth as she removed it and pressed a bit of bandage from her pack onto it. At this point it would weigh on her conscious too much if she let him die. "Whoever shot this was a good shot. Someone who knew what they were doing" She picked up the arrow from the ground and looked it over. The red feathers were a familiar touch, if only she remembered where it was from.

Lancet wakes to a new day and finds himself laying on a fuzzy and warm surface. He rubs his face on the surface for a moment then finally opens his eye to the creature he helped earlier peering down at him with a no sign of aggression in it's eyes. The stare at each other for a moment before Lancet leaps up, stretches and surveys the area. He began to realize that after he helped the little village burden with sickness he wondered back into the woods and fell asleep next to a fire. He looked around for a fire pit and found the ashes of it. Lancet looked toward the now stand and walking cat like creature with a grin on his face.

"Good morning,when did you get here last night or have you followed me this whole time?"

The animal gave a quick glance before laying back down and closing it's eyes. Lancet nods then walks over to examine the bandages from the recent wound it suffered. There was no blood on the bandage so he took it off to find the wound closed but a scar remaining where once the wound was. He looks at the scar astonished and quite confused and slightly get the urges to touch the scar. He looks towards the sky to figure how far in the day they were, nearly noon and also almost lunch time. Lancet's stomach growls and the Creature peers over to him.

"Yeah sorry, I'm kinda hungry...Uh hey do you know any place I could get some food, I kinda he to get something in there before the growling get annoying"

The cat turns it's head and looks towards a close by stream, not to wide but deep enough to be home to various fish and other water morsels then gets up. Lancet walks toward the stream and the Feline follows him, he looks to the cat confused but shrugs and pets it's and continues moving. They reach the stream and soon as they reach the edge of the forest he notices fish jumping out into the air and then back into the water below them.Lancet grins as he takes out a small net and his dagger,When he does the feline leaps across the stream and catches a fish in midair in it's teeth.

"Show off!"

The creature looks toward him with a grin and proceeds to eat the fish how it is as Lancet places his net into the stream and waits for a fish to get caught.

"Let me out...FEED ME!"

The falcon high in the sky started to waver, teetering from side to side as it seemed to be fighting something on the inside. It suddenly dropped a long way, plummeting toward the ground at an alarming rate.

"You cannot hold me in here forever! Let me out!"

The bird steadied itself, but continued to lose altitude. It veered toward the east, away from the group, if it was going to land, the last thing it wanted was to take an arrow to the chest.

"I said...LET! ME! OUT!"

Screeching loudly, the falcon crashed into the trees, landing high up in a branch. Moments later, the falcon was gone. D'Varius grasped the tree limb, gasping for air as he fought what was on the inside. Just when he thought things could get no worse, he heard voices approaching. "Come on! He went this way! I'm sure of it!"

It was the hunting group that had been tracking the man who fell down the hill. There were six of them in all, two of them wielding bows and the others drawn to the teeth with various melee weapons.

"Look what we have here...delicious..."

D'Varius couldn't fight the power any longer, with a whimper of sorts, he blacked out...



Kaine started to chuckle to himself as he gained control of his body, the small laugh dripping with venom. He sat himself upright on the tree branch, gazing down at the group of hunters not 20 feet away. "Let the games begin!" He slid from the branch, falling to the ground, landing in front of the group with a soft 'thump' The group stopped, eyeing him curiously, then one of them spoke up, knocking an arrow and pulling the string back. "Who are you?! Are you with that no good thief who stoles our money!? Answer me!" Kaine inhaled deeply, pulling back the hood of his cloak and touching the sides of his face. Strewn with scars that covered both cheeks, he ran his fingers up to his temples, and dragged his tongue across his upper lip. When he opened his eyes, it revealed one to be completely whited out, assuredly blind, and the other was a crimson red, overflowing with a deep insanity that traced across his whole face. "There sure are a lot of you. It's a shame you wandered off the path like that. I'm afraid from here there is no going back." He held out his palms, gesturing for them to come forth.

One man drew his sword and dashed toward him, swinging at his head with a clean sweep. Kaine ducked low, drawing his power to reveal large claws on his right hand, which he shoved deep into the man's gut. Blood spat out of his mouth and speckled Kaine's forehead before the man collapsed to the ground in a heap. The man wielding the bow shrieked and loosed the arrow. Kaine rolled into the bushes to his right, narrowly escaping the arrow as he readied himself to pounce. Both hands now shown large claws, and his mouth filled with snake's venom that oozed from the corner of his lips.

He lunged from where he was hiding with blinding speed, catching the archer in the chest with both hands, before looking to the right, spitting the mouthful of venom into the eyes of the man to his left. He cringed, howling in pain as he fell to his knees, covering his eyes. Kaine faced the man he had pounced on once more, smiling before his large canine's tore into his neck, loosing more blood onto his face.

The other three men turn to ran, all screaming about the devil and witchcraft. One of them tripped, turning around and facing Kaine on his back, tears streaming down his face. "NO! NO PLEASE!" Kaine smiled, approaching the man slowly as the others fled through the thick forest. "You needn't worry, I'll make this quick" Kaine straddled the man, leaning over his face as more snake's venom dripped from his lips, spotting the man's cheeks and chin. He slid his hands upon the man's face, tracing a small line with his claws down to his throat, and, with a flick of his wrist, cutting it wide open. As the man choked and gurgled in agony, Kaine set his gaze upon the man who had venom in his eyes, still howling desperately for his comrades.

He tore the man's sword from it's sheath, driving it through his back so it came out of his chest. "Shut up." He sighed, kicking over so he lay facedown in the dirt. Kaine took a deep breath, looking around at the corpses with a sick sense of satisfaction as his animalistic features faded. Licking his lips once more, he pulled his hood tightly over his face once more, and trudging into the woods further east.

Arcius held still and braced for whatever discomfort he would feel. The red haired man snapped the arrow in two and then removed it, and the woman who said her name was Vera started to stop his bleeding. Every moment of it stung, but he tried not to let it show.

"Why'd you get shot boy? He heard the man ask him. Arcius bit on his lip slightly. Could he really tell them the truth? What if they saw him as too dangerous to be around and abandoned him, or worse, put him down for their benefit? He wrestled with the answer until he heard the man say that they needed to move.

"Okay, but it's a bit of a long story. I helped a group of bounty hunters fight off some monsters threatening a small village a small way from here. The place was small enough that the monsters thought they could easily overthrow it. After fighting them off, the village compensated us with 30 gold to divide between ourselves. After leaving, I wanted to hand them their share, but..."

Arcius inhaled sharply, wincing from the pain in his shoulder. "Hey, easy..." he said softly to Vera who was taking care of the bleeding.

He thought about the best way to tell them about his ability. Lying about it wasn't going to work if they already noticed the frost covered coin pouch, which he was surprised that the Hazzling still couldn't get into due to the thin sheet of ice on it.

"I have ice related abilities, but I haven't learned to control it that well yet. I accidentally froze it to my hand, and they thought I was trying to steal it, and tried to take it back. I froze their leader's arm by mistake too when he grabbed the pouch... next thing I know i'm running for my life through the forest. They shot me and I fell down a hill; I haven't seen them since."

He looked the man in the eyes, deciding not to lie about the next part. Hopefully they wouldn't leave him like this; they already might consider him dangerous to be around, and this might be the icing on the cake.

"...They might still be looking for me." The young man added hesitantly.

Vera carefully secured the bandage over the wound and stepped back, she was smiling as the man told his story. "You seem to have a bit of bad luck. But bounty hunters don't bother me any. The men are usually useless oafs that only want money and woman" She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "So ice huh? I thought there was something strange about you" She flashed her compulsion through her eyes, long enough for him to get a glimpse of her compulsion. "Gifts aren't anything new to us...well Mahli and I anyway. I don't know if Anna has fully processed it yet. She gave him a sideways smile. "Anyway, you could head to Mayflower,but I doubt they have much of a healer there. You'd be better off traveling to the river and then finding one of the bigger cities from there. If you don't want it to scar you'd have to go to Crosa or Hemingway."

She thought back to his comment on the bounty hunters. If they ran into them she probably would be able to at least trick them into believing his story, or cast enough compulsion around him to distort his image. Maybe Anna would convince them he had been her bounty charge. Typically bounty hunters left well enough alone as long as someone was getting justice. "I'm sure we'd suffice against a group of bounty hunters who shouldn't have needed your help to begin with, wouldn't you say Regal?" She was semi-positive that Regal knew what her gift was by now. And having him know it wouldn't affect her anyway. "I could probably....convince them"

Arcius listened to all the information that Vera told him. If Mayflower wasn't a good idea, where should he go?

He scanned the two and decided that they knew how to take care of themselves pretty well. Not to mention the fact that there was probably more of them somewhere due to the mention of someone named Mahli and Anna.

"Well... I don't have anywhere in particular to go; maybe I can just stick with you guys for a while. You look like you can handle yourselves, plus i'm not in the best shape to take on a group of bounty hunters in my condition if they were to find me. I'm feeling a bit weak from the blood loss, and my ankle still hurts from the fall. I don't want to be dead weight though, so I'll properly compensate you all."

Arcius started to collect his shirt and jacket, and slipped them on carefully, so he didn't agitate the wound anymore.

"If you want to treat this as an escort, I'll give you 20 gold out of the pouch I have." He offered, picking up the pouch with the Hazzling on it, then shook the thin sheet of ice off of the bag. The ice gleamed and shone as it fell towards the grass. "10 for fixing me up, which I appreciate, and 10 for getting me out of this place and protection against the hunters if we come across them."

He felt and took a mental note of Vera's compulsion. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what it did, but she definitely had an ability. He still wasn't too sure about the man with the red hair.

"So... what do you say?" Arcius asked, rolling his patched shoulder a bit, regaining feeling in his muscles once more.

Our minds are everywhere.

It sits there on the asteroid plate like it is its throne. Since the lives of these organisms are so short and so... untamed, it feels like its merely playing with toys. Like a game of chess. Its playing the game, Aceteria won't lose nothing however.
Aceteria does not know where it is from, all it knows is that for most of its long lived life, it's been living alone. It did not realize landing on this planet would have this kind of reaction to the organisms, and mutate them.

"They're all mine." It smiles. "They will be mine."

It's plan was to take the Supers and monsters back with it so that she won't be lonely or be in pain again.
Aceteria would, like a show for entertainment, put on a fight between the super humans and the monsters. Maybe even more.

Aceteria flexed it's long blue-violet fingers and closed its eyes. Whispers of the planet entered into its mind, she could hear and sense everything that was going on in the planet. From the ant carrying leaves to whales in the ocean, to plants bursting with energy... and even the ones who have become monster. Oh... and the super organisms that were humanoid. They seemed the most advanced in this planet. Aceteria gave a wide grin, she would play the game and see who would fight and finish to the end.

The end was almost nearing. Monsters and super organisms were popping up like daisies, and Aceteria could not help but feel pleasure. It felt supremacy amongst Terra and was very possessive.

"Terra.... belongs to me." The alien lets out. " No one... but me."

"...You're wrong."

Aceteria does not say anything back to this lone voice that speaks out to it.

"...The Spirit of Terra can no longer tolerate your insolence. It has gone too long. Terra will be rid of you and your poisonous toxins that have terrified this planet."

Aceteria glares and smiles. "Why isn't it the Spirit of Terra itself. Poisonous toxin? Have I not furthered the evolution of these species? Have I not given them power? The ones who fail and become monsters, they are failures. Are they not a species as well? Only the strong win, the weak die. This world will come crashing down, and I'm taking the supers with me so we can all become conquerers of the universe together."

"...Your greed is atrocious. The spirit of Terra lives humbly and will only ask you one more time to please leave this planet."

This voice of light annoyed Aceteria. "You know my answer. Why now? Why does the planet stop me now??!"

"The Spirit of Terra can no longer bear the unbalance of death and power in this planet. For balance and for duty, the Spirit of Terra will bring things back to how they were before you came. It will set things straight again."

"... Let's see if your 'friends' agree to losing their super human abilities, or the fact that there are no monsters. Are they not your 'friends'? "

The Spirit of Terra does not answer.

Aceteria laughs. "What a fool. What a naive, stupid fool."

Regal nodded to Vera. "We can't leave him to die, That would be dishonorable all things considered. That and the fact he needs stitches, I've got better medical supplies at the crossing I spoke of. "He said working everything out in his head." We best be moving soon if we are to get there by dark with a wounded fellow." He offered him a hand up. "And ,I agree with you on that vera, you do have a way with words." He smiled a bit, At least she trust me with that knowledge, though it seems a small thing how freely she seemed to give it out. He banished that thought like so many other's he had had today. Regal really didn't like having this new guy tag along , yet alone using up the medical supplies he had, but he did offer a fair payment so at least he was not an ass. "and if not words we have other ways of dealing with ....Irritations" He said ,only partly aiming it at the new guy as a reminded that he was at their Vera's kindness and his mercy.
" You should thank her, If it was I who came across you so badly wounded----" He cut off and turned. It was like he heard a wire snap off in the distance: each snap was like a twig breaking in the dead of night to him. Somewhere close someone died.... this didn't alarm him, it was the others that follows that made the hair's on the back of his neck stand up. He turned to the lad. " How many were chasing you?" he asked in a hush panic. " How many?! " Regals eyes were wide with fear. What ever had killed the men did so while making them piss them selves with fear. This was seldom an emotion on regals face or even less so in his heart even, not this close to a town, no this close to civilization. "Vera we have no time whatsoever anymore. We need to move quickly as possible to the river and cross it before night fall, his stiches be damned it can wait another night. Can you move quickly or will I have to carry you?" He asked the lad not being mean but fearful. any other time that would have been a stab at his manhood: but not now. Not when Regal could smell the copper in the air as a stag fled in panic not 500 yards from where they stood, and ran towards the humans.Something worse than a group of humans. Animal logic seldom did something like that. The hazzling caught the scent as well and ran up to Vera and hid. Death.Hide! was the only thing Regal could make out from the hazzlings mind.

Spirit of Terra did hear what Aceteria's words, but Spirit of Terra believed they would fight for their planet.

Spirit of Terra summoned a spirit helper and it was see through but glowed. It could not destroy Aceteria itself. SoT needed the help of the living beings of the planet to do what it could not.

SoT held in its whisper like hands a stone. If you peered into it, it looks like it's moving inside as if water is trapped in the clear stone. It also glows at night.

"This will do... Please dear one... bring those who you trust enough to hold this within their palm or paw, or whatever it is they use to grasp. This stone... is purifying. It will destroy Aceteria's throne, and will vanquish the rock asteroid. That is her weakness. If Aceteria the land falls, then she falls as well. This will crumble her throne if placed in the right spot. It will be like poison to her like how she has poisoned me. Straight to her heart."

Arcius stood up slowly with surprise shaping his features. He saw the men running away, the same men who were chasing him earlier. Regal's question made him panic slightly. "T-there were six of them! What scared them off so badly?!"

He felt his body tremble slightly at the sound of the men screaming for their lives. They fought off maybe 4 or 5 monsters together. What could they have seen that struck them with so much fear?

"It's fine, I can walk." He quickly said in response to Regal's other question. His ankle still hurt a bit, but it shouldn't slow him down.

"I knew this forest was bad news..." He mumbled, reaching for the sheath attached to his back hip, and drew his machete shortsword.

Arcius had no plans on being killed in whatever was going on. He surveyed the area and felt that whatever was scaring these men, might be headed this way. He clenched his blade tighter, and faced the two who treated him.

"I'll stay close to you guys. What are we doing? Running, hiding, or dealing with this?"

"There's no scaring them, Arcius. Those men are dead, and I have a feeling it was that monster we've talked about." Vera scooped the Hazzling up and placed him neatly in the pocket of her jacket. She wasn't prone to violence, but if it was a threat to her life she would jump at the chance to protect herself. "We must move quickly to Mahli and Anna" Vera grabbed Arcius by his jacket sleeve and shoved him in front of her. "Walk quickly in that direction" She nodded to Regal and walked forward, keeping her eyes flitting through the trees for signs of the culprit. To kill six men this monster would have to be huge, twice the size of the one they'd killed in Mayflower. Running into it would be no good thing. It was possible they had been killed by the wolf earlier, but Vera doubted it.

She stumbled slightly, her foot catching in the root of a small tree. "Damn" She jerked her foot free and continued on.

"agreed, go Ill watch your back" He said quietly as they started to move Regal kept to the rear of the trio and kept his hand on his sword's hilt should anything happen , he might have a chance against what ever it was. See this is why we stay on the path, we don't find injured fools and beast that wasn't to kill us as often.He suddenly longed to be in his bed back in Doral. Its been weeks, I really should head home after this whole blunder of a trip. He thought about the real reason he was there, but he hadn't found what he was looking for.
Regals eyes scanned the woods for anything that might want to kill them that was following them. He heard Vera stumble and turned " Are you alright?" she just kept at it. He nodded at kept going making sure to keep an eye at their backs. They are leaving tracks...this is bad, really bad. He hopped what ever it was didn't want to kill them as well,fat chance but still.

The current events in the forest near Mayfiled Village were causing stirring of restless wildlife, all chirping, and barking, and snarling in nervousness and fear, though a oddly shaped figure that was calmly and disinterestedly passing them was oblivious to their reactions. Mostly due to thinking she herself was the cause.
A peculiar mutated being was trudging along in dull, repetitive march along the forest floor, giving a vaguely eerie drumming sound with each step, as her four legs had not feet at their ends, put more hands, as if to match her four arms. Although many would call her a monster, pointing at her canary yellow, pimpled skin and her extra limbs, her name was Rebecca. As she believed was fully obvious from the sack of postage she carried upon her back with the aid of two insectoid appendages, the post box she held in one large hand that was resting against her shoulder, and the ratty, old, filthy postal worker uniform she wore, she was a Delivery-lady, though some had rudely suggested otherwise in the gender department.

It didn't matter to her much. Not a lot things tended to be. It didn't matter she was tired from walking all day. It didn't matter that some large beast with spiked horns adorning it's face crossed paths, which it and Rebecca exchanges snarls and flashes of teeth, her large molars gnashing as they both side-step around each-other. It didn't matter that she noticed a human treating a wild felines wound, peering at them with grand suspicion with her snake-like, bloodshot eyes, as she quickly scuttled away to continue her trek. It didn't matter she suddenly found a cluster of corpses, their faces filled with evidence of previous agony, one with their throat cut open, another with what seemed his own sword through his chest, which she simply strolled past cautiously. All that mattered was the post, and it's destinations. What did matter to Rebecca however were those wishing to 'obstruct the process of delivery', and therefore unwanted trouble. She was assuming this was near when she heard hushed voices nearby, too quite for her to make out, but seemed obviously shaken. She quickly sped up her pace, trying to stifle a grunt of effort as she began hastily heading past of what sounded like three young adult humans, one woman, two men, and by the frightened squeaks, a Hazzling, not bothering to look in their direction.

Arcius led Vera and Regal forward to hopeful safety, their footsteps almost rhythmic together.

"Oh yeah, let the injured guy go first with no idea what the other two look like." He mentally fussed. His blade was at the ready, and his eyes darted in all directions, hoping that nothing tried to come out and ambush them. It was times like this that he really wished he was back home in Hemingway. He held up his left hand and froze his palm. The ice glistened and shone to the point he can see his reflection. As pretty as it was, he knew this ice was nothing but a curse; he wouldn't even be out here if it wasn't for it.

He managed to do somewhat small feats with his powers, but had no control over the rest. The young man wanted to use his power to his benefit, but it usually backfired. He took a mental note to try and practice more. After thawing the ice off his palm, he turned looked over his gaze over shoulder to face the other two behind him.

"See anything? By the way, what does... umm..." His question trailed off.

What were their names? Oh yeah! Mahli and Anna.

"What do Mahli and Anna look like? Where are they?"

Right after the last word left his lips, he saw a faint glimpse of something big and yellow past several trees and bushes. It was going the opposite direction of them so he saw it for three quarters of a second.

He pointed towards it, his voice hushed and urgent. "I just saw something big past those trees! I think it was some kind of monster. I really hope you're group is nearby, because this forest is getting more dangerous every minute."

As everyone talked in the group, Anna fell silent. There were new people who joined the party, such as ARCIUS and as he was introduced Anna quietly watched while swallowed in her own thoughts. When the party started rushing towards the river and taking safety, Anna looked what could have been the monster that was in the forest.

Whatever it was... it looked like every other monster: insane, no mind, mad, gone crazy.

"I pity those creatures... whatever they are." Anna muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, Anna felt a jolt shock through her body. It pained her.

Oh great, what's going on now? The situation cannot get any worse.

Sweatdrops accumulated on Anna's forehead. She felt like she was on fire.

"You guys... something is wrong with me.... I don't... I don't feel so well." Anna said as she strayed away from the group
.
She felt like she going to spit something out, she felt like she was becoming a monster. Her head felt woozy and she would fight the monster if she wasn't feeling so sick.

Purple veins were jutting out of her hands. Her hands were starting to glow and feel hot.

Her eyes widened in horror. Only this happens to monsters... right? What's.... What's going on with me????!

She darts the opposite direction of the group with a grimace on her face , in fear she might do something horrible.

---

The spirit helper of Terra knew where it would go. With it's see through, glowing body, it floated through the trees as the monster was going crazy. It was probably because of the helper spirit of Terra that the monster was going even more chaotic. It couldn't stand the Spirit of Terra or its helpers for that matter. But that's all they were, were just spirits. They had no physical form and therefore, could not do anything really but spook and relay information to those who could see it.
The helper sifted through the forest of Mayflower, and it knew exactly where it was going. She hoped it wouldn't take convincing, but she would do it if it meant she had to.

I have to do it before Aceteria comes to them first. The spirit helper felt determined and rushed through to meet the party members.

Alas, she found them. They could not see however, but they could probably feel her presense just as the monster did. Especially if they were super human, they could feel like something was there, something inhuman.


"...Boo." The helper pops up to the group and chuckles. Her glowing body is that of a child's.

"...I found you."