[Okay, let's get this RP goin', shall we?]

Morning stretched across Selvist, the sun peaking behind the veil of purple, pink and orange. Though early, Riley was already up, the warmth of her bed still lingering around her skin. She pulled her wavy, brown hair back, hoping it would stay there. Hair falling into her face was not something Riley enjoyed. The sun rose a little higher, and young rays of light trickled into her room.

Riley wanted to take advantage of the early hours to practice her magic. She'd been apprenticed to a mage and he'd shown her a few new spells. Quietly exiting her home, she walked down to the edge of her yard, a ways from her house. Just in case. And there she stayed for her morning, until she heard footsteps from behind. Turning around, she saw Winter; her best friend. "Hey, Wint!" Riley said, cheerfully. He hated it when she called him that.

Amongst the dust and rubble, there was a shadowed figure. It was hunched over, big and bulky - quite hard to tell what exactly it was from a distance. Winter slowly approached it, cautious footsteps bringing him closer to the figure. He paused as there was a deep rumble, and a loud stomp as the figure stepped forward. As the dust settled, the figure became clearer, and Winter found that he no longer wanted to approach. The bulky figure was infact the body of a black bear, stood on all four paws. It's growl rumbled again, the bear stepped forward again. The bear's midnight black fur was held in clumps stained with scarlet. Blood dripped from the bear's muzzle, stained it's fangs bared at the boy. Winter found himself frozen in the bear's presence, unable to move as the bear came closer, even as the bear rose itself to it's hind legs, raising it's paw to bring it down onto him.

Winter shot up from his bed, gasping for air as if he'd broken the surface of a lake. When he found that he was in his room, with no bear attacking him, he could calm down. He raised his hands to his face, pushing aside the auburn hair that was stuck to his forehead. He swallowed hard and released a deep sigh.
Three times this week... he thought, glancing at the clock on his bedside. 4:30am. Really? He didn't understand where this dream was coming from, but it sure as hell was scaring him. There was only one person that he could talk to about these dreams, as his family didn't seem to understand what he was talking about when he mentioned these dreams.

He slipped out of bed, creeping around the house as he moved from his room to the shower and back to his room again as he got ready to go out. The was only just about thinking of peeping over the horizon as Winter moved out of the house. He gently closed the door behind him, taking a moment to pull his coat tighter around him and lifting his collar around his face.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Winter made his way down the front path towards the street and began his trek to the one place he knew he could find someone he could talk about this issue with. It wouldn't take him too long to get there, even on foot. The streets were still very quiet, everybody was surely still asleep this early in the morning. It worried Winter, incase he disturbed the person he was searching for.

He crept up to the pathway of a small terrace house, taking a few moments to prepare himself from the possible killing he was about to receive. With that, he pressed the doorbell for a few moments, before stepping away from the front door, peering up at the windows with narrowed eyes, hoping that he'd be heard the first time. Winter didn't like to knock more than once.

It was early morning and Ricci was wide awake. She wasn't used to being up so early but the adrenaline that seemed to be a constant presence for her kept her alert. She wore very little besides her battered leather jacket a hoodie underneath, the hood pulled up to hide her face. Black hair poured from one side of the hood, perhaps the only noticeable sign of who she was. Her heavy boots stirred the dust as she walked down the main street of the small shifter village. Still in shifter territory she had taken to travelling when it was dark. She paused as she came to a poster on one of the lamp posts. A girls bright eyes stared back at her. She ripped the poster down and stuffed it into the pocket of her short shorts. Keeping her head down she kept walking. Ricci thought about finding somewhere to stay, but knew that the next village wasn't far off, and after that she'd be in human territory and so much safer. She knew she'd be too late to stop the kidnapping, but at least she'd be able to catch the boy before he did anything stupid. At least she hoped so.

---

Whit stirred his coffee, his hand straying thoughtfully over the cover of a new book. The inner theory of healing It was supposedly a more complex take on how healing spells worked. He was already pretty sure that he knew how but it was always helpful to see if he could confirm his theories. He took the book to his dining room table, already covered in books and stacks of paper, and shoved a pile of books aside. He sat down and opened the book before realising that he'd left his coffee on the side. He pulled off his glasses to rub his tired eyes and looked around for a plant to take energy from. As it was his were all dead. He sighed, replaced his glasses and turned in his chair. He waved his hand at the coffee and it floated over to him. Catching it by the handle he put it to his lips and took a long caffeinated sip. He flicked to the first page and was just about to start reading when his door bell rang. Sighing he closed the book and got to his feet. He was wearing a pair of tattered tracksuit bottoms and an oversized hoodie to hide his scrawny body. The bags under his eyes were especially bad due to the fact that he hadn't actually been to bed in the last 56 hours or so.

He walked to the door, skirting piles of old papers and books, he had already guessed who it would be by the time he opened it. He smiled down at Winter, the boy looked slightly nervous. "Don't worry, you didn't wake me." he reached out and pulled the boy into an awkward one armed hug as he suddenly remembered that he probably stunk. "Sorry, might not have showered." he couldn't remember. Which was probably pretty bad. "Come on, get in, I just made some coffee." he led the boy into his home and gestured to the living room, the only room in the house not smothered in paper it held just one book shelf crammed with books, he carried on into the kitchen and made a coffee for Winter then grabbed his own and padded back to the living room.

Whit sat down on the same sofa as his friend and, folding his legs beneath him, held the coffee out to Winter. "Come on, tell all."

The sun was rising, and the gentle rays caught Roshea's wings and turned them brighter scarlet. She reveled in the feeling, letting her 20 foot wingspan catch the drifts of the morning before spiraling into a sharp dive, freezing at the last second so as not to ram into the wall of treetops lain right below her. Due to the fact that hunters were few at this time of morning, she came every day around this hour to fly. She'd learned to love flying, and her sharp gold eyes scanned the forest floor for movement. Nothing.
Letting herself drift for a few more moments, she acted on a gut feeling and began to head back to Selvist, flapping her wings once or twice every second. She was sure she was reaching over fifty miles an hour, and for two minutes she simply soared, eyes watering with the whipping of the chilling wind. Reluctantly she spotted the city's tallest buildings and descended, nearly all human by the time her bare feet touched the floor.
Now where did I place those clothes...?
She knew she could shapeshift in and out with clothes if they were made from another 'shifter's fur, but where do you find something like that? Shaking her head, she spotted the backpack wedged between two branches of an oak tree and quickly garbed herself in the loose shirt, pants, and a small jacket-like cloak. She didn't bother covering her face. The guards would simply demand to see it anyway.
After entering the downtown area of the town, she turned quickly to the back edges, the outskirts, where the poorest rested. She spotted a few children from her neighborhood playing in their rocky yards. One of the small girls ran over and tugged on her leg.
"Roshie, you can come play?" asked the girl. Roshea shook her head. She took particular notice of the girl's blank expression, recognizable even with her heavy lids. Her near-sightedness had increased to near full blindness. Roshea patted down the girl's brown hair. "I can't, Tekka. Maybe tomorrow."
Running a hand through her wind-ruffled hair, she continued down the street to the stores, rustling the money in her pocket around, searching for some decent food.

Winter's attention snapped towards the door as it opened, finding a lanky figure standing in the doorway all covered up in oversizes sportswear. Winter couldn't help but frown slightly as he noticed the even more sickly appearance than usual.
"You should take care of yourself more," He mumbled in reply to Whit's comment about possibly not having a shower. He knew that Whit liked to concentrate on his studies more than sleeping or eating, or generally anything to do with a normal daily routine, but Winter knew it wasn't healthy and did tend to worry. He tried not to fuss too much though, knowing that it wouldn't make things any better or change Whit's habits.

He followed Whit inside, taking a moment to push the door closed behind him. As per usual Winter had to edge round the tables that were piled with lose pieces of paper in an attempt not to knock them all on the floor and get them muddled up. That would earn him a small lecture from Whit about being careful. Winter dived into the living room at the first opportunity, knowing that he didn't have to be so careful in this room as it was probably the only room in the house not covered in paper and books.
Without needing to ask permission, Winter took off his coat and slung it onto the arm of the chair in the corner of the room, his boots to follow and sit on the floor beside the chair. When he had made himself comfortable on the sofa, Whit returned with a coffee for him.

Winter had never been the biggest fan of coffee, but when it was this early in the morning and he hadn't slept very well, it was the perfect thing. He clutched at the mug between both hands, letting it warm them as it was still too hot to drink yet. Whit had always called him frail for not being able to down hot drinks when the water had not long been boiled.
"Tell all? It was exactly the same Whit." Winter said, looking to his friend with an air of concern. "The bear, it stomped its way through the dust cloud towards me, and once again I couldn't move. Even though I've seen it time and time again, I still couldn't even shift to try and stop it. Once again it went to kill me."

Winter frowned, noticing that the coffee was warm enough not to scold his throat he took a sip, grimacing a little at the taste. He still couldn't get used to the taste, even with half the sugar pot in the cup. He pondered for a moment, the cup still close to his lips as he paused between sips.
"Maybe it was slightly different..." He murmured, lowering his mug a little, looking away from Whit as he tried to remember it again. It wasn't hard. Being plagued by these dreams for months made them easy to remember. His brow furrowed, "The bear. It had a familiar smell to it." He glanced at Whit, slightly confused himself. It was odd to remember the smell of things in dreams, even for someone with acute senses like Winter. "What confuses me though, is there were two scents, and both were familiar. I don't remember where I've met them before though...?"

A cool breeze sidled through large granite rocks and the clumps of scraggly pine that clung to them, brushing up against Hunter's cheek and making the steam from his mug of tea swirl and dance. He smiled softly at the cool touch and brought the mug to his lips, taking a satisfying draft of black tea. Far below him the small human settlement of Selvist stretched out languidly in the valley, surrounded on one side by lush forest, and on the other a meandering river that ran alongside the fields and pastures. "There's nothing special there... What are you planning you blasted fiends...?"

Curious creature that he was, upon encountering a group of strange shifters he had decided to tail them, and that had led him here, a remote little town of no particular interest or even wealth. But for some reason the town had been attacked by this band. Even so, it seemed that no real damage had been done, and he saw no fresh graves, or funeral pyres for the dead.

"Strange." He sighed and stood up on the boulder, stretching his arms out to welcome the rising sun. A tendril of silver hair fell across his eyes and he swiped it away absentmindedly. Today he needed to make a decision, should he continue following the shifters? or backtrack and finish his wandering journey to no-where...

"Deoradhan." He muttered, Exile, Wanderer.... Sighing Hunter shook his head and turned back to his camp; a bed roll and a campfire, the pot of water still boiling over the embers. A piece of venison hung from a spit, and he grabbed it up, tearing a large chunk off with a snarl. This was too damn hard... He was still curious as to why the town had been attacked, but he shouldn't come into contact with them. He was an exile after all. Though he knew he couldn't stand by while his former brethren attacked what appeared to be innocent people... Still...

Whit adjusted his glasses and sipped at his coffee as he listened to Winter, he allowed the boy to finished then thought for a long moment. First he arranged what he knew in his head, what he had read about dreams, what Winter had told him about this dream and then what he knew about magic influencing dreams. The latter he discarded as irrelevant but the first he focused on, flicking through the pages in his mind. He nodded to himself, sipped at the coffee and pushed a hand through his greasy hair. He decided that he needed to shower as soon as Winter left, or before.

"Recurring dreams are the most important." he finally decided, some books said otherwise but from his own readings, well he was smarter than some books. "And the smell?" he wasn't so hot on that, however he had his suspicions on why the smell was so important to the boy. If he was right in a few other areas. In fact the smell proved rather than contradicted Whit's previous ideas. He'd always been sure of what Winter was, the question was should he be told? Whit had already decided against that. He'd examined the consequences. He realised then that he'd been silent for over two minutes and looked to Winter, he often fell into his own thoughts as he answered his own questions without saying the answers aloud. "I think, the scents, they mean that whatever this bear represents is close. Closer than we might like." he set his coffee down and stood, heading to the window he peered out. It was still quite dark.

---

Ricci darted through a dark forest she'd reached the next village, a place she had never been. And she'd recognised the dark clothes of soldiers slipping in for a raid. They were looking for her. She'd decided against entering the place so had slipped into the forest to work her way around it. She could hear screams coming from the village far to the East and knew that if it were not for her those people would be safe. But as it was she could not help them. She knew what evil was and knew that for good to triumph sacrifices had to be made. Sometimes good people got hurt for something stories liked to call the 'greater good' the best heroes made sure that no one got hurt, but Ricci wasn't a hero. She was a girl who couldn't afford to get captured. In fact she liked to think she was Orion's last hope. Who else knew of the plot? Who else knew this world so well? She was so close to human territory, so close. She left the screams and crackle of fire far behind her, pushing what she had done to those people from her mind. This was for the greater good.

Winter couldn't help but stare at Whit as he thought, always interested in how he nodded a little to himself and went through everything in his mind. Winter would have to write down all the thoughts in his head before he could stand any chance of coming to a conclusion. He blinked a couple of times Whit's sudden talking stopped him staring, nodding a little. He'd heard that when dreams repeated themselves often, it usually was supposed to mean something. What worried him was that the dream was always having him killed. He swallowed hard as Whit mentioned that the smells might've meant that the bear was close. Winter was now more worried.

His gaze wandered to the window too as Whit peered outside, though the sudden sound of a crash nearby caught his attention more. Without a word, Winter jumped to his feet, setting his coffee onto the table before moving for the front door. He stepped outside cautiously, half expecting the bear to be out there, but instead the end house of the terrace Whit lived in was wrecked, the roof fallen in and the side of the wall collapsed. His eyes widened slightly as he stumbled down the stairs, immediately attracted to the commotion. Who was destroying houses at this time of the morning? Had the people inside got out safely before the attack?
Winter quickly moved closer, finding a lone figure standing atop the rubble all clad in black, a grin on his face. He was confused at first, unable to recognize the man, or the smell about him. What had the residents of this house done to have their house ruined?

"Oi!" The growl of another voice came from the other end of the road, three figures rushing towards the scene, lead by a tall male who seemed to have just gotten out of bed - lacking a shirt and shoes, left in just three quarter length black shorts, belted round the hips. His dark hair stuck out at all angles. There were two smaller girls either side of him, both of which didn't look much more awake than the male, both in their night clothes. The girl on the male's left had her bright blonde hair roughly brushed around her face, a blue set of vest and shorts being her nightwear. The girl on his right was dressed in an over sized t-shirt, having just pulled on a pair of leggings and tied her copper coloured hair in a ponytail.
The trio stood in a v-formation facing the attacker, a scowl set on the leader's face. "If you're gonna attack people, take on people who can at least fight back!"

With that the attacker grinned, welcoming the challenge. The leader of the group pulled his hands infront of him, fist atop an open palm, a cloud of cold air rising around him as he summoned his magic. He threw his hands towards the floor, covering the surface of the rubble in ice around where the attacker stood. The man reacted with a fire attack towards the male, though it was the blonde girl that responded to this, rushing in front of the leader of the group and raising her hands in front of them, a slight glow forming a shield around them to protect them from the fire. The blonde girl took some damage, being the spellcaster, but the others were fine. The dark haired girl then made her move, raising her index and middle finger to her temple as she muttered a stream of words, blue glow surrounding the rubble that the male had previously frozen. The bricks and mortar lifted from the pile around the attacker, all peices aimed to hit the attacker at high speed.

"Winter!" The male shouted towards him, having noticed the boy standing there dumbfounded. Winter knew this trio of mages, having met them at school before he was removed from the spells classes. They had become apprentices, like Whit, but specialized in different areas. The blonde girl, Kaia, had taken up white magic - healing, sheilds. The dark haired girl, Kianne, had taken on mind magics, telepathy and telekinesis. And the male, Gray, had taken on elemental magics. Together they formed a team, Winter couldn't remember the name of it. Together the team probably matched Whit's strength alone.
"Winter the whole towns under attack!" Gray growled at him, "Get home! Your family are going to need you! We've got this."

Is this what the bear was supposed to mean?

Winter was shaken out of his daze as Gray shouted at him, shocked with realisation. His family had no idea of how to protect themselves. Being Mayor, George Milston never thought of magic or fighting, and he wouldn't let his darling wife or daughter take any sort of self defense classes. They wouldn't need them, according to his father. Winter insisted on them though.
Winter nodded a little, turning on his heel to rush back home. As he ran he began taking on the form of an animal. His bones broke and realigned themselves, an extra joint forming in his lower legs as his feet became paws, having to pause for a moment to remove his shoes. His baggy trousers became tighter as his muscles grew. His arms also became more muscular, claws replacing his fingernails, and his canine teeth became dramatically longer. Atop his head round ears formed, covered in tan coloured fur that matched that of his newly acquired paws. A long winding tail trailed along behind him, tipped with auburn hair that matched that on top of his head. Winter's pupils became slitted like a cat's, finishing his transformation into that of a lion.

Being around humans for all his life had hindered his shifting powers, meaning that he could not yet take the full form of an animal. But this still had it's advantages. Winter's strides became longer and faster, he could clamber over other wrecked houses and dodge out of the way of other battles that were dotted about the town.
What the hell is going on?!
He didn't understand, which was what pushed him to get home even quicker.

"Dad!" Winter yelled as he got closer to home, unsure what he'd be doing at a time like this, "Mum?!" Where she'd be was a mystery as well, though whatever happened he could only help she was safe. "Fior?!" He called for his sister next as he slowed down near his house. This time he caught a reply, a distant scream of his name that he could recognise was from his sister.
"FIOR!" He yelled again, following after the screams. They lead him into the forests that surrounded Selvist. He followed the sounds of Fior intently, able to spot a group that were struggling to move forward. In the middle of them, he could see Fior struggling to get herself free from their hold, fear obvious in her emerald eyes. Her struggles became more violent as she spotted him, and her attackers were soon aware of his presence as well.

A loud growl echoed from Winter as he charged towards them, fangs bared at them. He pounced the nearest one, forcing him down to the ground with his sheer weight. Winter was only given a few moments chance to beat the man for touching his sister, before a sharp wave of air knocked him off. More mages?! Winter tumbled back, but another cry of distress had him stumbling back onto his paws again - only to catch the claws of beast against his face. He hadn't seen it coming, a burning filled the right side of his face as three gashes seeped with blood. It covered one of his eyes, making things even harder to see. He gritted his teeth, wiping his eye before trying again, though this time was met with what felt like a set of hooves, a hard kick to his ribs having sent him to his knees, the loud crack signifying a break in his ribcage.
Was this the real version of his dreams?

Gasping for breath now, Winter tried once more to get to his feet and attack. He couldn't let them take her. Why did they even want her?!
"Give it up, kid." He heard one of the group say before he was attacked again. Another mage hit him with a lightening attack, electricity burning through his body and making him quake with agony. Winter's cry was almost a roar as he crumpled into a heap on the forest floor, everything fading to darkness as his body could take no more abuse. The last thing he heard before completely losing consciousness was the screams of his sister as she was dragged further away, and that soon faded to silence.

They had come.
She'd not seen it from far away, but the soldiers had converged. They were fierce, unstoppable. Roshea was ignored for the most part, not posing much of a threat. She stood, shell-shocked, as mages errupted lightning around them, pulled trees from their stumps, and the men in armor trampled the children of the village whom were mute to fight back. That anger spurred Roshea to action. She began to run, beginning to take long, leaping strides, but refused to transform. Instead, she allowed her fingers to transform into full talons, silver and sharp under the bloodshed. She stabbed one of the soldiers, wincing at his gasp. He fell to the ground, and she continued to do this to the remaning three beside her. She then began to run and lept into the air but remained close to the ground, wary of archers. She simply knocked over some of the soldiers with blasts of wind from her ten-foot wings. The work of the mages were knocking others on their side out as well, but they didn't seem to care about that and Roshea was grateful. But she alone of course couldn't save the town. So she spun and fully transformed, rising into the air powerfully, and turned for one last look. That did it.
The town was recked. Lightning had burned people to a crisp, as well as great waves of water and air damaging the town, the houses, killing groups of three or four people at a time. She roared, a very monster-like roar, and burst into flames, swooping down into the town and spearing a mage who'd been distracted in frying a horse that'd been caught in the crossfire, shaking the already-dead mage off her talons only to ram into another and brought her beak down through his skull. Stupid mage, she snarled, too vain to wear a helmet. She then spiraled into the air, too fast for any arrow to track, and shot East, where another line of soldiers were advancing, and swept downwards, flames continuing to leap over her wings, adrenaline racing. Roshea let herself pause enough to set a great line of flame down stacks of wood from winter; they immediately burst and she pushed one log over into the path. That caused a mini-avalance that would hopefully marr the soldiers until she could return. She wouldn't let Selvist be destroyed.
She headed North, to her friends, to hope, to reinforcements. To the land of the Shifters.

Whit followed Winter out onto the street his bare feet padding lightly over the cold cobblestone. He frowned at the state of the house, mentally going through everything that he could do to fix it. Then he noticed the lone figure and the ominous feeling rolling from him. He reached for Winter as the boy stepped closer. Then turned swiftly as he recognised a voice. What was going on? The three he recognised, they were a sweet little team fresh out of school, their powers combined matched his and he had no doubt that they could handle themselves. All around he could hear shout and screams. What was attacking them? His thoughts went to the bear from Winter's dream, was it a coincidence that this happened the night Winter had smelt it? Again a flood of information clouded Whit's mind. The most prominent being Olwin's own words. 'There is no such thing as coincidence' As Winter turned and ran towards his family home Whit shouted after him, knowing that this was about the boy, nothing else fit.

"Winter! Dammit." he started after the boy, skirting the three mages, Winter was so much faster than he, which of course made sense to him, but that didn't mean he could keep up. It wasn't long before the boy was out of sight. It was kind of lucky that Whit knew where he was going. It was strange though how the attack was now calming down. So much so in fact that all that was left on the streets was rubble and glass. People he recognised were wandering about, clutching at their night clothes. Was it over so quickly? Did that mean they had what they came for? "Winter!" he shouted the boys name again as dread settled, and slid to a stop in front of the mayors home. "Winter!"

A man he recognised as the mayor appeared then, also running and out of breath. "Have you seen him? Whit?"

No. Whit shook his head, no he hadn't seen Winter, which could only mean... no. He looked around the street casting in his mind for a way to locate the boy. It was kind of his fault that he'd lost him, he should have cast a spell to be faster, but he'd thought that would require too much energy and, he shook his head again. No time for cursing himself. He darted into the mayors house through a destroyed front door. Then finding Winter's room easily he picked one of the boys books from the side. His energies reached out to take Winters essence from the book. He licked his chapped lips as he through the book back onto Winter's bed and pushed his hands through his hair then allowed some of that essence to flow out of himself as he darted back down the stairs and out onto the street. He turned until the essence caught on some sort of hook, showing him the direction Winter had taken.

Whit took off at a run, giving no explanation to the Mayor as was his usual custom. He had in fact forgotten completely about the man. When he reached the end of the street he repeated the process of turning and reaching for that hook, when he found it it directed him to the forest. He encountered no problems, the attackers had left. They had what they had come for He didnt have to go far into the forest before the hook caught again to turn him back. He span and moved a little slower this time, aware that he had gone passed his friend. Which was strange. He turned, caught the hook, advance a few feet then found him, laying curled beside a bush that cast him in shadow. Whit wasnt surprised that he had missed the boy before.

He stooped beside is friend, checking for a pulse he was relieved to find the boy alive. Yet if he was here what had the attackers taken that had left them so satisfied with the attack? He was bruised and bleeding in places, and his clothes looked burnt. Whit scooped the boy into his arms and stood, already going through what he could do to heal him. As he walked back towards the town he pushed some of his energy into the boy just to keep him alive, but he could not spare much, he was running mostly on caffeine as it was. When he reached Winters home the mayor and his wife were gone, as was Fior, Whit guessed they were out securing the town and helping those who needed it. Whit ignored all thoughts of going to help. He needed rest so that he could properly heal his friend. He headed up to Winters room, moved the book back to the side and laid the boy on the bed. Hunkering down on the floor beside the bed Whit tipped his head back to rest against the mattress.

He fell asleep as soon as his eyes closed.

---

Ricci was in the first human town by mid morning, and still found that she had to be cautious. There were still posters here due to its proximity to shifter lands. Keeping her hood pulled up she tucked her hair into it encase even that was recognised. She had decided to stay in the human town for the remainder of the day and settled down in a seedy inn where she acquired a room. She needed to sleep and didn't think she'd be able to make it to the next town in time. As soon as she'd eaten she headed up to her room and slept. Despite the hour. She had taken to being a nocturnal creature, it was easier to avoid curious gazes that way.

All was quiet in the mayor's household as the two boys rested in Winter's room, until the Mayor and his wife eventually returned home. The footsteps of the pair echoed throughout the house, it was hard to keep quiet on solid wood floors.
"We'll find them, dear..." The gruff voice of George Milston had a shockingly soft tone to it for once as he comforted his darling wife, who had not stopped sobbing throughout the whole ordeal, her eyes red and puffy from the tears. She sniffled a little, only able to nod a little in agreement with her husband.
"I'll go get changed and then go looking for them again..." She said, not giving George a chance to protest before she scuttled up the stairs to her room to find more suitable attire for finding her children in this ruined town.

On the way to the master bedroom, she would have to pass her children's, and finding Winter's door open she was intrigued. She had told them a number of times to keep their bedroom doors closed. When she went to close the door, she gasped at the sight inside. Winter sprawled on his bed, his face bleeding and slightly swollen and his clothes burned and torn. Beside him on the floor, Whit slept sat against the chair. She knew for a fact that Whit was sleeping, while Winter was not - it was a mother's intuition.
"George!" She hissed over the hallway banister to her husband, an air of urgency about her that made the Mayor rush up the stairs as quickly as possible to see what the problem was. Together they looked into the room again, and while Mrs Milston could feel he eyes welling up with more tears, George could only feel relief that one of his children was found.

"So Whit did know what he was doing then..." George murmured. He had always taking a liking to the boy, he was smart, a good influence for Winter in that aspect. It would've been nice if Whit had told him where he was going though. George stepped out for a moment, opening up a cupboard in the hall and pulled out a fold away bed that the house kept for when they had visitors staying. He slipped it inside Winter's room, being careful not to hit Whit in the process.
"Go find a healer, dear. Quickly!" George told his wife as he looked back to her, watching for a moment as she wiped furiously at her eyes before rushing back down the stairs and out of the door.

While she was gone, George unfolded the spare bed, setting it on the wall on the other side of Winter's room, having to pause for a moment to make enough space for it. When it was all made up, George turned his attention back to Whit, he couldn't stay there. Crouching down beside the boy, he took Whit into his arms and using his brute strength to lift the boy up from the floor beside Winter's bed. George was getting on in his years though, and was not as strong as he used to be, rushing to the other side of the room to set Whit down before he dropped him. George breathed a sigh of relief as Whit was now not on the floor anymore, knowing that they'd need the room for when his wife returned with a healer for Winter.

Not long later, there was another chorus of footsteps echoing through the quiet house, many more footsteps than before.
"He's upstairs, I think Whit brought him home. He's in a real state, I hope you'll be able to help him..." Mrs Milston's voice rung through the house as she lead the group up the stairs. When she returned to the room, she was followed by the mage team that Winter and Whit had met before at the beginning of the attack. They didn't look like they were in great shape, all baring cuts, bruises and burns, but they were still walking and talking properly and so were content enough.
"I'll do my best, Mrs. Milton..." Kaia said as she entered the room, leaving Gray and Kianne peering into the room from the doorway. Gray glanced from Winter's roughed up form to Whit.
"Whit done well to get him home, I didn't think he'd have the strength in him to carry Winter in an animal form."
"Shh. Leave Whitford alone." Kaia replied, probably being the only ones to call Whit by his full name, her quiet voice having a snap to it - a slight red hint touching at her cheeks. Gray and Kianne would often tease Kaia that she had a crush on Whit, and Kaia never denied it but she didn't appreciate the others in her team broadcasting it to the rest of the town. She didn't want Whit acting all weird around her.

Kaia approached Winter first, kneeling at the head of his bed as she gently let her hands hover over him. Her eyes closed with concentration as she tried to focus on finding the damaged areas.
"Broken ribs, a big cut on his face and some swelling..." She concluded, as she opened her eyes again, looking to the Milstons with a small smile. "Shouldn't be too hard to fix." She knotted her fingers together, pushing her palms outwards so all of the joints cracked loudly, shaking her hands off for a moment before placing them above Winter's head again. Kaia murmured a chant over and over as she concentrated on Winter's wounds, a misty green glow falling from her risen hands to Winter's head. It took a few moments for the spell to take effect, but soon the cuts on Winter's face seemed to fade, new skin knitting itself between the gaps and reducing the swelling - though his skin was still bloodstained.
She winced with concentration as she snapped Winter's bones back into place within his ribcage, more mutterings having fused the bones back together again.

When she was done, she panted heavily. She had attended to alot of people after the attack, and hadn't even had enough time to try and heal the burns on her own arms and hands from defending the team from an onslaught of fire and lightning attacks.
"Whitford... next..." She said between breaths, using Winter's bed to help her back onto her feet again, turning to move towards Whit and kneel at the head of his bed next.
"Whit's not hurt," Mrs. Milston told them, "Just sleeping. No doubt he's been going for days without sleep again. He probably needs some energy built up again."

"As do you, Kaia." Kianne said, looking a little worried about the young white mage. She had spent so much effort on other people she hadn't looked after herself. Kaia looked back at the rest of her team, pleading them to help her wake them up. If they were just sleeping then a boost of energy would help them wake up faster - though Kaia had no energy to spare.
"I don't want to leave till I know they're fine." She said, glad that Gray agreed to stay a while longer.

Gray turned his attention to Mrs. Milston.
"Do you have any bandages spare? Kaia has burns she hasn't been able to heal yet." he asked, watching as Mrs. Milston moved downstairs again to investigate the cupboard that held the assortment of ailments the house kept.
While she was out of the room, both Gray and Kianne stepped into the room, making it feel alot more cramped in the room. While Gray moved to stand beside Whit, Kianne moved to stand beside Winter, both mages raising their hands over the still bodies of the boys, a white light passing between the forms of the mages to the bodies of Whit and Winter as they passed on their own energy to them. It would make them tired, but if it was going to help these two wake up faster, then it was helping.

When they had given all the energy they could spare, both stepped back, moving to lean against the set of draws by the doorway. It was just a waiting game now.

When Mrs. Milston returned with the bandages, Kaia was found to also be asleep, curled up against the low makeshift bed Whit was on, her arms folded on the corner of the thin mattress and her head rested on top of her burns, eyes gently closed as she attempted to recover some of the energy she had lost from healing people.
"Looks like sorting her injuries will have to wait..." Gray murmured, having taken the bandages from Mrs. Milston in preparation to tend to his friend's wounds.

(Erk, just ignore that first post by me.)

The sweet scent of burning wood drifted along the breeze, finally coming to the sensitive nose of a tall young man. Hunter inhaled deeply and frowned, he knew the town was close, but the smell was so strong... He narrowed his eyes and continued on his way, long legs carrying him along the forest at a fast loping gait. Ten minutes later and the edge of the forest was in view, his mood dower even as warm sunlight broke through the trees and shed it's light and good will upon him. The scent was much stronger now, to strong for just a small town.

And suddenly the trees were behind him and he was standing on a field that overlooked a sad, desecrated little town. "So this is what they were up to eh...." A small fire bloomed deep in his stomach, and he could feel his rage building. Knowing the men whom he had been trailing he quite seriously doubted that these people had done anything wrong, no, the men were just looking for something... or someone.

Hunter growled and began to run, his shaggy silver hair whipping back and forth as he literally flew down the small hillside, only touching his feet to the ground a few times. At the bottom he skidded to a halt and looked around wearily, one hand on the hilt of his sword, the other already holding the naked blade of a small dagger, it's point sharp and gleaming. With silent steps he drifted into the small town, all his senses searching for any signs of danger.

Whit stirred as he was moved but didn't have the energy to protest, he kept his eyes closed and hardly had control of his head as it lolled. He felt himself being put down on something a little more comfy than the floor. Then he completely passed out.

When he woke his covers snagged slightly, easing himself onto his elbows he looked to find the small form of Kaia curled against the end of his bed. Dark circles still ringed his eyes and his vision blurred ever so slightly when he tried to focus on Winter. He reached for his glasses, they had fallen off at some point he supposed, he slipped them on and blinked the sleep away. His hair, greasy and standing on end, needed tending to as did the rest of his filthy self. He wondered if there would be time to shower, he could move some clothes from his house to the mayors in a second. He sat up fully and noticed Winters mother sitting by his bed. He smiled to her and she thanked him for bringing Winter home. He nodded. Then being careful not to disturb Kaia he eased off of the camp bed. He realised that he was actually feeling pretty good, even though the position of the sun out of the window said that it had been mere hours since he'd fallen asleep. He supposed Gray and Kianne to thank for that, possibly even Kaia.

He sighed, explained quietly that he was going for a shower then slipped out of the room, already forming a picture in his mind of the clothes he wanted. He found the first bathroom and turned the shower on, slipping into it he closed his eyes. He didn't ache, thanks to his friends, but he looked like he should ache. All skin and bones there was hardly a shred of muscle on him, his skin unblemished save for the patches under his eyes and the hollows of his cheeks. Once he'd cleaned himself up he got out of the shower and pulled on a fresh pair of loose jeans and a tight black t-shirt. He came out of the shower drying his hair and headed back to Winter's room to see if anything had changed there. He stood in the doorway and leant up against the doorframe, rubbing his hair with the towel.

Mrs. Milston was glad to see that someone was stirring as she watched Whit awkwardly get out of bed without disturbing the young girl that slept against his makeshift bed. She wasn't surprised as he only nodded in reply to her thanks, like it was nothing out of the ordinary. While he was out in the shower, she busied herself by shifting the sleeping mage into Whit's bed - the light frame of the girl meaning she could be lifted with ease. Once set on the bed, she took the bandages she brought earlier for the girl, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. One at a time, she took Kaia's arms and gently tended to the burns that the girl hadn't yet had a chance to heal. She wanted to attend to them before Whit returned, not wanting him to spend his newly replenished energy on healing her.

When finished, she left Kaia to rest, gently tucking the blankets around the girl. When she turned to sit by Winter's bed again, she found Whit in the doorway, looking much more refreshed now that he had been in the shower.
"I guess you didn't see Fior while you were out, Whit?" She asked quietly as she took her seat, reaching for Winter's hand and holding it gingerly between her own palms. Her voice was full of worry, a slight quiver to it as she was still desperately trying to stop herself from crying again. "She still hasn't come home yet..." She said, looking at Whit with dread filled eyes. She didn't want to imagine the worst for her little girl, but a mother couldn't help it. She sucked in a deep breath, glad to suddenly be distracted as she felt Winter's hand tighten in her own.

She leant in close as Winter grumbled a little under his breath, raising his free hand to rub at his eyes with his fingertips. It all seemed like a bad dream. In that thought, everything flooded back at an instant. The real bad dream: the bear. Going to see Whit, seeing that mage attacking those from school. Rushing home, rushing into the forest...

"FIOR!"

Winter shot up as fast as he did after his nightmare about the bear, only to meet his mother's hands on his shoulders, staring into his stone grey eyes.
"You saw her?!" She asked, desperation and some hope in her voice. Winter was confused for a moment, unable to put together how he was back in his home when he remembered being in the forest. Seeing Whit in the doorway, things seemed to make sense. He took a moment to think,
"She was... taken." He said, sighing heavily, his head in his hands. "I tried to stop them, Mum." He tried to assure her as she fell back into her seat, shocked by what she heard.

Between his hands, Winter sucked in a breath before hastily clambering out of bed. Still in half animal form, his oversized paws thudded on the wooden floor boards.
"Taken?! Who would take her?!" His mother gasped, still fighting off the tears though it was ten times harder now.

"I don't know..." Winter murmered, head bowed a little as he was angry at himself. He had let them take her. Despite his efforts, she was still gone. His hands balled into fists. "I'm going to find her though..." He added, "I promise."

Hunter crept down the street wearily, continually taking deep breaths to catch the scent of any enemies. But their was no one about, the humans were all in the houses and buildings. He sighed and slipped the sword and dagger back into their respective sheaths, there was no need, he seriously doubted he was in any danger if the shifters had all left, but he did need to know anything he could.

Looking around Hunter spotted a house larger than many of the others, The head of the village? I wonder... Shrugging to himself he stepped up and rapped his knuckles against the door, once, twice.

Whit raised his brows as the boy woke, sitting up so fast he looked like he was about to pounce out of the bed. He wasn't expecting the explanation for his actions though. Not in a million years. It felt a bit like a punch to his gut. His eyes wide he stared at Winter. His hands also balled, his nails biting into his palm as his mind streaked through all the types of tracking spells he knew. He thought perhaps the one he'd used with Winter would be best, but he'd need something of hers. He left the room, saying nothing as was his way, and headed for Fior's. He knew where it was, was quite familiar with it actually although he'd never tell Winter. His mind still reeling he went into the room. Why would they want her? She wasn't different like Winter, had they thought that being his sister she was somehow different? Or were they trying to weaken Winter, were they trying to get the boy to chase after her as he was so willing to do? Perhaps, Whit thought as he went to her dresser, they thought Winter would be stronger than he was, that they'd need a bribe to get to him. And they had hadn't they? He picked up Fior's hair brush and pulled a few strands of hair from it. This would track her more accurately, he doubted the kidnappers would have wards up, they wanted to be found didn't they? He pushed the hairs into his jean pocket, thinking he'd use them in a bit, once he'd spoken to Winter.

Whit returned to Winter's room, to find the boy still ever so determined to find his sister. "It wont be safe." Whit said, "Personally I don't think you should go, you're too young." he adjusted his glasses, "I'll go," he looked pointedly at Winters mother, "Your mum can't lose more than one child today." he stopped there, having said all he needed to say. Someone knocked on the door then, Whit fixed Winter with a hard look as he left the room, knowing the boy would follow, knowing him well enough to know that he wouldn't listen to reason. He thought about binding the boy to the house, he knew a spell that could do that, but every time the boy fought the spell it would drain his energy and he doubted that would help anything. He'd said his piece, shown that he didn't want Winter to go but he knew that was all he could do.

He reached the front door and pulled it open, frowning down at the guy standing there. He didn't recognise him an was immediately defensive. He ajusted his glasses as his eyes gave a slight flash of power. A warning really. "Yes?"

Hunter raised an eyebrow, black eyes flashing, "Ah... Yes, I was wondering if I could have a word?" He ran a hand through his shaggy silver hair and smiled softly, "If thats ok I mean... It's about the attack. Are you, uh, the head here?" The man he looked at didn't look much like one, and he smelt of books, and magic, but who knew right?

Winter was going to move out the room, begin preparing to on the search for Fior, but his hand was taken before he could take a step anywhere. He looked over his shoulder to find his mother staring up at him with wide eyes filled with worry.
"You can't go after them... Look what happened when you went to help her before." She shook her head furiously, gripping his hand tighter as if he couldn't break the hold. Winter's expression softened a little as he saw the grief his mother was already stricken by. "I can't have both my children disappear into the unknown in one day..." She said, her voice trembling once again. This day had been hard on her, she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

Winter turned to his mother, allowing his animal features to return back to their normal human state, leaving him only a few inches taller than the older woman now. He let her continue holding his hand and wrist as he brought his free hand around her to hold her as close as he could. He heard a small muffled whimper from her as he held her, a small frown appearing on his face as he felt bad for wanting to leave her - but he felt it his duty to chase down whoever had taken Fior and bring her home.
He peered over his mother's shoulder as Whit appeared in the doorway again, telling him that he was too young to handle such a dangerous task. His eyes narrowed towards Whit as he said this, though still stuck with his mother in hold he couldn't retaliate with much more than a scowl. Too young? Winter was only a couple of years younger than Whit, and just because Whit was a skilled mage didn't mean he could handle every situation that he came across on the way to finding Fior. What was worse was that he tried to guilt trip him further using his mother's concern. He had to admit it was working a little, as Winter did feel guilty for wanting to go, but he was still sticking to his true feelings.

When Whit had left to attend to whoever was at the door, Winter awkwardly let go of his mother, an apologetic frown on his face.
"Mum..." He spoke as softly as he could, still quite aware that Kaia was asleep on the other side of the room. "I know you probably couldn't handle it if I left as well, but Whit can't go on his own..." He tried to explain himself. "I can't expect my best friend to go alone to find my sister, and if he gets into trouble, he'll need help too." He gently placed his free hand on her shoulder, "You'll have plenty of others to help here while the town needs fixing up, alot of people need you now. And by the time Selvist is back to normal, I'll be back... with Fior and Whit and everything'll be like normal." He spoke, trying to assure her that letting him go was not as bad an idea as she thought.

Reluctantly, she let go of her grip on his hand: her way of saying that he could go. The corner of Winter's mouth curled into a tiny smile, taking a moment to kiss her forehead.
"Why don't you go see who's knocking at the door? Maybe it's someone looking for Dad?" He suggested, glad to see her nod a little before disappearing downstairs.

When she got to the bottom step, she heard the man at the door asking Whit whether he was the head of this town. Tucking a curl of mousey brown hair behind her ear and taking a deep breath, she approached Whit, placing a delicate hand on his shoulder and guiding him out of her way so that she could take her place as the Mayor's wife. She shook her head a little to the stranger at her door, giving the boy the best smile she could muster at this point - which was not her best.
"The Mayor's attending to issues within the town at the moment. I don't know how long he'll be, but as his wife I can talk with you instead." With that, she opened the door a little wider, stepping aside to let the boy inside. "Come in, and we can talk."

When the boy entered, she guided him to the lounge - which was already occupied with the two mages from Kaia's team. Gray sat on one side of a two seated sofa, with a slight scowl as he was bored of waiting, while Kianne sat on the other side, idly playing with the two rings she usually wore, using her magic to allow them to float in the air and dance about in random formations.
Mrs. Milston addressed the empty seats,
"Please, do sit." She told him, more than asking. She turned back to Whit for a moment, "Could you make a round of tea, dear?" She asked him, hoping he wouldn't deny her request - she could do with some things going the way she liked them today. Whit had been here so often he was bound to know where everything was.

With that, she took a seat on one of the empty chairs, perched on the edge with her hands in her lap, looking to the silver haired boy expectantly.
"You mentioned you wanted to talk about the attack...?" She said, noticing that Gray and Kianne were making themselves part of the conversation also as they looked to the strange boy.

Hunter nodded and followed the Head's wife to the couch, sniffing the air and letting his eyes roam around the room as he did. Strange, I smell shifter... and it's not in the least bit old, could one of them still be here? The thought was unpleasent and a low growl escaped his lips, at his side his hand gripped the hilt of his dagger. Should I warn them? They have the right to know... No, I'll wait and see how this plays out. Quelling his rising anxiety, Hunter sat down on a chair and smiled wanly at the woman and the two mages, "Ah, yes. To be quite honest I dont know much about this myself, I would just like any information that you might have about this attack... I have... something of a vested interest in it." And I got here to late to take part myself. he thought to himself, slighly peeved.

Whit rolled his eyes as he went off to make the tea. So they just let any random into the house these days did they? Once in the kitchen he flicked the kettle on, his mind going involuntarily to Fior. He'd seen her around for a long time before he'd actually met her, a few weeks after meeting Winter, and it had taken him years to work out that he liked her as more than a friend. He always put the amount he saw her down to Winter, but realised now that he often placed himself where he knew she would be, often made excuses to seek her out. It was hidden to everyone but himself, no one else knew him as well as he did, he'd spent so long in his own head that only he noticed the slight change. His fist balled he set it on the counter, trying hard to push aside his urge to hit something. He hadn't realised that his feelings for her were this strong.

He poured out the tea, his hand shaking ever so slightly.

When he carried it back into the living room his eyes immediately went to the newcomer, he didn't trust people straight off. He set the tea down, picked up his own cup and settled onto the arm of the chair beside Gray. His eyes alight he directed his gaze at the newcomer. Wanting to ask him a hundred questions. But of course it was not his place.

Mrs. Milston was rather surprised as the boy enquired any knowledge they had on the attack. She glanced towards Whit another the other two mages, gauging their reaction before returning the to the boy with a slightly puzzled gaze.
"I don't quite understand," she said, "we knew nothing about an attack coming our way. As you can see by the damage we were totally unprepared."

"We tried to get there as fast as we could..." Gray mumbled, glancing at Whit with a slight scowl about his expression. He couldn't help but be annoyed with himself for allowing the attack to go this far, even though he knew for a fact that he and his team had done all they could to protect the people of Selvist. But judging by the damage and injuries to the people, that had not been good enough. Gray was often hard on himself when it came to times like these, though Kianne made no effort to comfort him. She knew there was no point, he would not listen. She had a half mind to go upstairs and sit with Winter and Kaia, make sure they were well.

That was until she heard the thud of footsteps from the hall. She glanced to the doorway, finding Winter approaching. He'd changed into undamaged clothes, a tight long sleeved black shirt and dark jeans that were tucked into his scuffed up military boots. Around his neck was the pendant with the emblem he had no recollection of - the royal seal. He peered into the room, brow raising slightly at the silver haired boy that sat opposite his mother. There was a strange air about the boy, something he could not quite figure out yet. He was suspicious though, glancing to the other side of the room, glad to see Whit and the others hadn't left his mother on her own with a stranger after the whole town had been attacked.

"You want to know what happened?" Winter asked, "Well so do we. A bunch of mages attacked our town, there were others as well... they were humans with the scents of combinations of animals." He paused, his eyes narrowing a little towards the boy, "Just like your own, but tainted with something else."

He took a seat on the arm of the sofa that his mother sat on, gently wrapping an arm around her. She was putting on a brave face, but she was breaking down on the inside.
"Nobody has been killed," His mother stated, glancing towards the others to check that she was right in saying that, Kianne and Gray nodding a little in reply, "But they didn't leave empty handed..." She paused for a moment, sucking in a deep breath as she brought herself to terms with what she was about to say. "They took our daughter."

Hunter nodded, "But did they ta-" He cut off as someone came down the stairs, and subsequently, the scent of a shifter became stronger. With a snarl he lept up, knife in hand, but quickly he had become stock still, That pendant... I see now. With stiff movements he sheathed his knife and gave a small half-bow, eyes narrowed. "My apoligies, I was startled... Ah..." He blinked and his mannerisms went back to the light-hearted young visitor he had been before. "Yes, I understand now... Ah..." His mind was racing, how much could he tell these people? how much did they deserve to know? How much did they Need to know... "Yes, I am like those whom attacked your village... So on the behalf of my people, I apologize. Those were... Insurgents if you will..." Though they are insurgents no longer, but the complete rulers of the kingdom, or so I thought, until now... Even an outcast like him knew of the coup, and of Kane Lock's brutality. But, this was not any of his business, so why was he standing up for the shifters? Why was he forming plans to stage a rebellion and re-instate this member of the royal family? He didn't know, but it did it really matter? No, he would be swept along by the tide and the only thing he could do is swim in the right direction.

Suddenly Hunter was grinning, sharp white teeth flashing in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. "I believe that our goals coincide... In fact, I believe that I can help you... More than you think!" He chuckled suddenly, maybe they thought he was mad, a lunatic, maybe... But there was little he could do, In fact, it may have been better if they thought he was... "Oh don't any of you worry, things are looking far more brighter, for you And" He guffawed, "your sister, never you fear... She is in no danger, they need her you see...."

So the man was officially crazy. Whit thought about asking if he could run some tests, find out how he ticked but he doubted it would be appreciated. He knew something important, that much was pretty obvious to Whit at least. It annoyed him slightly when the man stopped talking, cutting off on the fact that they needed Fior and not explaining why. Even though Whit thought he had already worked it out. He liked people to confirm that he was right.

"Well that's just great." his tone a little sour he set his tea down. "If you are as knowledgeable as you are trying to make out then perhaps you could tell us the rest on the way." he adjusted his glasses as he slit his eyes to Winter, "Do you have your things together? I can get mine here in a flash so we can be off when you are ready." He didn't trust the newcomer, didn't like that he thought they were working to the same 'goal', and that Fior had been caught up in it. His stomach twisted and he got to his feet, trying to push that feeling aside. There was also the fact of course that the man might know more than he did. That wasn't pleasant but Whit was confident that he'd be able to get it from him. He had a few tricks up his sleeves for liars.

"I apologise for leaving you to this mess so soon Mrs. Milston but you see there is no other way." He still hated that Winter insisted on coming, and now he has this guy wanting to tag along. Although admittedly having real contact fighters would be helpful, Whit had never been goo in fist fights, he'd always had to win through trickery. It was coming close to late afternoon. "I want to be gone by dark." his tone are the others to challenge him.