The Vygorn which was in a headlock quickly formed, or more like unformed a VoidBlade and slashed with it backwards towards the woman's head and freed himself with a quick thug. The other two, seizing the chance, stood up, blades unforming in their hands and stood close to each other. One of them said with vicious smile:
"You think so kid? That was just warm up. You now gave us time to count all of you and figure what you can do. Nature powers, bah!" He spat in disgust and lounged at Aerylin, blade raised.

Phil watched as Beau and the air elemental, which he yet to meet, quickly retaliated to the Vygorns attack. Beau conjured a bladed weapon and the air elemental threw balls of forceful wind to dispatch them. After all but one of them fell, The air elemental grabbed the lone survivor and threatened him. After that, The man quickly summoned a sword and slashed up at the air elemental. Then, the rest of the Vygorns got up and one said menacingly "You think so kid? That was just warm up. You now gave us time to count all of you and figure what you can do. Nature powers, bah!" he said as he spat at the ground. Phil was slightly paralyzed by what just happened but shook out of it quickly enough. 'Why does it have to be night still?' he thought to himself as he struggled to conjure a dagger of moonlight and then lunged, through the group, at one of the Vygorns on the left. His blade was quickly deflected by the Vygorn's Blade, Phil then found himself deflecting attack after attack of merciless swings, each time the Vygorn's Blade felt like it was trying to adsorb Phil soul. After one opening, Phil twisted and slashed the Vygorn's blade from his hand which was quickly followed by a hilt smash to the Vygorns face. Phil exhaustedly sighed as he looked at the seemingly unconscious body of the Vygorn and then turned to see how the rest of the group was holding up, why did he have to fight at night?

Ghost glanced at each member when they came out of the cave, even glanced at the old man when the water dissapeared. Stars... Sky... All crap in my eyes... That's what Ghost thought... For he never knew what love was, he never knew what true friendship was and he wouldn't care less...
As Ghost noticed some strange figures in the distrance, he just glanced at them, observing them and keeping an close eye onto them, he knew these probably were the Vygorns that the old man was so afraid of, and yet he knew that if he showed his powers now, they would inform their higher ups and they would definetly be in a disadvantage, for aslong as they would survive, they would know about their powers and aslong as they would know this, they will always have a ace up their sleeves when it comes to attacks.
Ghost glanced towards the shadows, as he just nodded.
As he then glanced back at the group, they were fighting, and Ghost wouldn't care less if they would survive or die, for he just wanted to see what powers the Vygorns had.
Knowing your enemy is the best weapon, if one knew what they could do, one could always come up with a plan no mather what the situation was, but as Ghost glanced at them, he knew these were just scouts, for their powers didn't exceded the group.
If they were truelly being attacked by one of the higher ups, they would have quite a hard time dealing with them, if Ghost had to believe the old man.

Shida saw the shadows of men in the distance. After being soaked he regained his composure. "It must be them" he said with a quiet voice. "Ill flank around them and hit them from behind" . Without wait for reply he dashed off to the right behind a low hill,and circled around the incoming scouts, headed straight for the rest of the group. "these idiots have no idea what they're walking into." ducking under the shadow of night, Shida made his way around, flanking the Vygorn scouts. Tath,his spirit guardian whispered in his head use my eyes. he was suddenly flying, hundreds of feet above the ground, he saw the Vygorns fighting with Beau, and Aerilyn. The sensation of flying was amazing, the wind kissed his face, and fueled his body. He let go of the tension and slipped back into his own body, and found himself kneeling in the rough. "One left huh? They're not as hopeless as i thought. Aerilyn seems to be taking to this well enough." He hopped up sprinted to the top of a small hill, and knelt down, drawing his bow, the flame encased it and his hands as he summoned a massive fire arrow. He took aim at the Vygorn, he was locked in a dance of death with the new guy. He saw Phil dodge and go in for a strike, Shida released the fire arrow aiming directly at the last Vygorns chest. He watched it swirl through the air at burning speed, covering about two hundred meters in about a second and a half. He took a seat on the hill, and finally smoked a cigar in peace.

Vygorns. It had to be Vygorns. After discussing at length exactly how they were going to take them out, the aliens ended up knocking on their front door. Fate, it seemed, did not wish to be delayed. She knew it was her duty to step out and join the fight, but something kept her there, hunkered down behind rusted car parts. Something that scared her almost as much as the Vygorns. Something that intensified the chill in her heart.

Apathy. The apparent lack of caring that Vygorns were there, attacking her newly-made friends. She could easily see their panicked expressions as they fought. But inside herself she felt clinically detached. It only took some pondering to realize why she felt so empty. It boiled down to the simple question: why am I even here?

Her home was in Atlanta. That was her life, the streets and their apartment, her and Jesse. She could only see his face in her mind, the face that couldn't even look at her as he held the door open. Contorted with pain and confusion, his eyes cold and disappointed. She searched his gaze for any fleeting glimpse of their former love, but even in her mind she couldn't conjure respite. 

She looked down at the stub of a cigar in her hands, eying it angrily. She had commissioned the thing to take away her heartbreak and icy feelings, and the frustration she felt when the cigar didn't work made her feel dangerous. Like, vehemently mad.

If only you were punch-able, cigar. She thought as she sucked back on the stub one last time before squishing it under her sneaker with a satisfied smothering sound. 

Cora had the fleeting thought to abandon the Elementals and just return to Atlanta to beg Jesse to take her back, but she knew such an act would haunt her for years to come. Her calling in life was clear, especially with her awakened gifts. She knew where she was suppose to be, but that didn't mean she had to like it. It also didn't mean she had to work with anyone she didn't want to, and she considered the fact that going to Riverdale alone would be more preferred; no one to get in her way then. 

She hovered on the balls of her feet, ready to spring from her hiding spot at any moment. Her eyes took in the scene, how the Vygorns behaved, how some Elementals reacted better than others. Seeing the evident fact that the battle here would soon be over, Cora held her breath, stole a couple steps back, and snuck off into the night. Her pace was almost at a full run by the time she reached the bottom of the mountain, and she made her way as quickly as she could through the wasteland to Riverdale. If she was going to do this by herself, she needed to be fast. 

I'll be home soon, I promise...

It seemed like the others were able to take care of the masked men. Gilfred, Will, and the others who chose to fight put up a strong fight. But just when everyone thought they were defeated, blades began to form from their palms. They eventually freed themselves from the elementals grasps, saying “That was just a warm up. You now gave us time to count all of you and figure what you can do. Nature powers, bah!" But not all of them had revealed their self yet. Not Thema.

“This better work…” she said under her breath as she twisted the cap off of a vial. Seeds sprawled everywhere as the tossed them towards the Vygorns. There was a bit of a delay, but soon after the seeds began to take root. The seeds detonated and small vines began to creep across the ground. Eventually the vines became heavier and thicker. Thema was ecstatic that her powers would become of use to the group.

Thema commanded the vines to attack and they eagerly followed her order. As they slithered across the wasteland, they eventually met their targets: the Vygorns. The ivy latched onto their ankles and began to constrict. Their movement was slow as they crawled up the mens bodies. It tethered them to the ground, putting their swift movements to a halt. All that’s left is to… kill them… The thought of murder frightened Thema even if she wasn’t sure whether or not the Vygorns were human. Luckily, she wouldn’t have to pull the trigger as a flaming arrow darted through the air and pierced the snared Vygorn. As the flame spread, Themas vines immediately released their grasp. They shied away from the fire, afraid of ending up charred or burned.

Glancing across the scape, Thema realized her and Aerilyn were the only girls that were partaking in the fight. Where are the others… Wheres Cora?

Phil saw that the others had taken care of the Vygorns surprisingly well. Phil was exhausted though, that blade felt as if it adsorbed half of his soul, and he quickly felt himself falling to the ground and breathing heavy. After a few seconds, Phil Managed to whisper "Fucking night..." as he dragged himself to his feet again letting go of his blade, that quickly dismantled its self back into moon light. He built up the energy to move towards the rest of the group and said in a tired tone "I know the one I fought is still alive", He looked at the lifeless one with scorched burns on his chest sprawled out across the floor, "What do we want to do with him... It?" He finished. He asked this because he was still unsure of what everyone wants out of this. Glory, Reward, Justice?, he thought, Or was it for revenge? Just like himself...

Time passed, and it was quiet throughout the night. Cora took small breaks of walking between her full-out sprint down the cracked pavement of an old highway. Broken cars with rusted parts and busted in doors lay abandoned, creating a sense of loneliness, a longing for the past. She was no GPS, but she walked this path enough to know how close Riverdale was. In the distance she could see it blending in with the other heaps of trash. The modest military camp that was a set-up for Vygorns to try and find the remnants of Kyra. 

Their rows of tents and trucks were ringed by a chain-link fence, but actual activity inside the camp seemed quiet, from her distant view. Cora snuck close enough that she was only a 50m sprint from the side gate, her hiding spot an assortment of ancient refrigerators and cables with the copper picked clean. Her legs begged for rest; it felt as though she ran for hours, and that was likely close to the truth. The gurgle in her tummy was all she needed to convince herself it was time for a break. Filled with hunger and fatigue, Cora rested herself against a rusted steel door. 

A moment's release won't kill me. She thought as her hands pulled out whatever food she thought to stash away in her pockets. It wasn't much, but it would satisfy her. The flavor of the cheese stung her tongue as she chewed; she wasn't used to food being so delicious. But just as much as she enjoyed her meal, heavy thoughts rose in her mind. Coming here was a stupid idea, she finally admitted. Did she really think she could take the Vygorns on by herself? Did she really have that much faith in her new, barely used ability? 

Cora was aware of her skills in martial arts, stealth and weapons, but these weren't the normal bandits. They were aliens. Really, she couldn't wrap her head around that fact. She envisioned extra-terrestrials with black eyes and green skin, not evil overlords that looked the same as she. That fact scared her more than anything else, fighting an unknown intelligence that could shape its very appearance and knew combat on an interstellar level. 

But she was here, and the game required her to play. Her pride wouldn't let her back out now. Cora stood, sucked in a shaky breath, and pulled her large hood down over her head. The mask scarf hanging around her neck felt much better when the fabric was up snug along the bridge of her nose, granting anonymity. 

"God help me." She whispered, raising a hand to the dark sky. The smoggy clouds above swirled and bloated, becoming blurred behind a curtain of falling snow. It fell in soft, fat flakes -- the ideal kind of snow. Under the new cover, Cora made a break for the fence, making the metal cold enough to simply shatter apart in her hands. She ducked behind one of the first tents, looked around, moved closer to the center of the base. She could see a few figures coming out of the woodwork, gazing up at the snowy night view. They were dressed in black, far finer than those of worker clothes, and similar to the ones back at Nature's Haven. Vygorns, it has to be. They're not even reacting to the fact that it's snowing in summer.

Cora tiptoed to closer cover, leaning to peek around a truck tire as a group of silhouettes only metres away split apart from the center of camp, each headed in a different direction. They were looking for the Elemental responsible for this, quietly and efficiently. She retreated slightly, catching one all by himself. From the shadows she affected the air around him, making it below freezing in seconds. Increasing the chill, an ice choker snaked its way around the Vygorn's neck, and all he managed was a muffled grunt before it choked the alien out. He fell, the snow quickly collecting on his frozen body. One down, how many more to go? 

Movement on her left. She dove under one of the trucks as footsteps too close for comfort stalked by on the other side of the vehicle, unaware of the dead Vygorn. With his back turned, Cora pulled herself halfway out from her hiding place, creating a thick nail of ice in her hand. Holding her breath, she held the nail by her ear, lining up her sights. The icy nail silently buried itself in the back of the unaware Vygorn's head, and he toppled over, still as his friend. 

She shoulder checked just in time; two more shady Vygorns at 3 o'clock. They ghosted across the thin layer of snow, small blades raised. Not a word fell from their lips, which was all the alarm she needed. Clambering out from under the truck, Cora closed the gap between them, flipping out her collapsible baton at the last instant. She swept the first Vygorn's feet out from underneath him, slashing him again in the gut as he fell. With a side step she aimed the baton for the second Vygorn's head, but he blocked it with a pale hand. It was more of a touch than a block, however, as in the moment he connected with the baton, the air around his hand distorted. Her baton snapped in two, though the correct term would be the middle was deleted. 

She barely absorbed that fact before a punch to the face sent her reeling back. Finding her sense of balance, Cora used her falling momentum to handspring back on her feet, feeling drops of blood fall from her nose. 

She'd never seen someone move so fast with so much force. It scared her almost as much as the challenge thrilled her. Close combat would quickly be lethal to her against these aliens. The only way to win against them would be to overpower them (beyond her, at the moment), or catch them off guard with long-range surprise attacks. She hadn't seen them use speed yet, but judging from how fast their limbs simply moved it was something to be wary of. The new blades pressed against her back begged to be used, but she wasn't comfortable with that fighting style yet. 

The one Vygorn she knocked down simply got back up, showing little if her attack did any real damage. Cursing under her breath, Cora leapt back, putting some distance between her and the aliens. The snow quaked as urchin-shaped ice spikes exploded from under the Vygorn's feet, building off each new sharp bulge of ice in a chain-reaction that left a small mountain of spikes amidst the rows of tents. The aliens navigated the ice smoothly, leaping onto each spike branch as it was made, dodging so fast they ended up being on top of the mountain instead of being shredded up inside. 

A third and fourth Vygorn joined the battle, standing by their brethren atop the ice mountain. Cora could feel their eyes coldly observe her, as a human would an ant, wondering if squishing her was worth it. And strangely, she felt just as small as they perceived her.  

Only one smiled, a Vygorn with a red streak in his short black hair -- the one who punched her in the face earlier. If a wolf could smile, the alien imitated it perfectly, baring his teeth more aggressively than friendly. His eyes were coals, black and jagged. The mix was something out of a nightmare, and Cora froze up. 

That was the slip-up they needed. Instantly, the Vygorns surrounded her, blades raised. Cora growled, refusing to go down so easily. Ice dragons burst from the snowy ground, snapping their huge jaws at her assailers. It was a vicious battle of teeth and metal, combat moving at a blur to the human eye. Cora managed to pin one Vygorn by his head, and a second ice dragon ripped its throat out. But just as she thought she might have a chance, a Vygorn picked her up by the shirt and sent her rocketing through the air. 

She had enough time sailing across the field to see where it was she had been flung. Her ice mountain was alarmingly close, it and a million needles of ice. Not that death had occurred to her as being created from her own powers, or that her own death would involve being impaled on ice spikes. But as her fate was unavoidable, Cora squeezed her eyes closed and waited. 

The impact drove the air from her lungs and cracked her skull, knocking her half- unconscious. But in the agonizing moments after, she noticed her body fall and roll away from the mountain as opposed to sticking there, impaled. She couldn't feel any ice piercing her body, just overwhelming pain where the impact was. Strange, the mountain should be just riddled with spikes. And I with holes.

Cora remembered where her eyes were, peeling them open to a clear night sky; the snow stopped falling. She was lying on her back, aware of the low voices around her. Within arm's reach was the small ice mountain she was suppose to be impaled on, but on closer observation she could see the section she impacted was a concave wall of ice, no spikes whatsoever. Almost like someone deleted a chunk outta it.

A head stooped down into her weak vision, the red-streaked Vygorn with the evil smile. His finger pulled down the mask around Cora's face, exposing her skin to the stinging cold. Using the exact same wolfish face on her, he stared her down, flooding her veins with terror. His eyes gleamed malevolently, seeing the reaction he wanted.

"Take her to one of the cells. She'll bring us company soon enough, might know where our scouts are too..." He said, stepping back. There was more, but Cora found it increasingly hard to focus.

Hands with iron grip pulled her wrists together, snapping metal cuffs way too tightly on them. She vaguely felt herself being pulled up just above the elbows, her feet dragging helplessly behind her. Blood dripped from her injuries, colouring the snow as she was effortlessly dragged away. Cora struggled to see where exactly they were taking her, but her best attempt to stay conscious failed, and her vision faded to black. 

Will watched the fight further unfold. As a support, he sent waterballs in every direction. Either to stop a charging vygorn or hydrate and strengthen Thema's vines at an increased rate. He looked around, counting the number of Elementals before him. Oh shit... Where's ice? Where's Cora? He darted his head around like a meerkat. Where the hell did she go? He formed a ball of water on the ground and formed Tsunami. Tsunami, search for Cora. he thought and the water wolf immediately followed a scent. He darted along a path and Will followed, leaving puddles for the others to follow as a trail. Minutes of running and sniffing and stopping, until he reached snow. "Yep, Cora." he said to himself. It layered over a military base and men in black, like the
vygorn scouts from earlier patrolled the perimeter. Tsunami splashed into a puddle as Will stealthily crept to a metal fence. He secured his Fedora, straightened it and formed water around his fists. No violence till necessary. He made his way behind a truck then looked down. Blood... It trailed of into a large tent Will was about to make a break for the tent but all of a sudden his face was in the snow. He pushed himself up but immediately fell down again, knocked out cold. When Will finally opened his eyes. He was handcuffed and in cell in the tent. He was about to ask if they found him to himself when a pain throbbed in the back of his head. He grunted, then looked to his right. "Cora?!" he yelled to her.

Aerilyn growled as the man retaliated against her, but the force of the impact against her jaw was enough to send her reeling back. She landed on her back, out of air, and in pain. She panted, her lungs desperate for the element that had claimed her as its own. She gradually was back on her feet, and by then, the battle was over. The Vygorns were dead. She wiped the blood away from her lips where she had bit her lip, which was swollen twice its size, and spat out the rest from her lips. Looking at the fire arrow, she looked up the hill and gave Shida the middle finger, "Thanks for your help, asshole." She stated in as kind of a joking way as she could possibly manage. Upon walking over to the flames, she noted that there were vines that must have belonged to Thelma. She looked over to the girl and gave her a nod of appreciation. then she made sure to do the same. If they were going to protect each other, they had to thank each other as well. We are a team now... and in order to prevent the world from devastation, we've gotta stop acting like bitchy little teenagers on their periods. We're adults now, whether we like it or not.

Just then, she did a head-count in her mind and noticed that there was one missing. Cora. Panic and a slight pang of anger welled in her breast. She had believed the girl to be a bit smarter than to run off on her own, especially when they were so new to this concept. We don't know what the Vygorns are truly capable of... except world domination. They may even have powers that are stronger than those Void Blade things that the one guy whooped against my jaw... She brushed herself off and pulled her cloak's hood over her head. She glanced over and saw that Will and Tsunami were already going to the girl's rescue. Now he's acting like an idiot.

"Alright, screw the plan, we need to go rescue Cora as a team." She stated as loudly as she could, mustering as much willpower and self-confidence as she could manage. "Phil, Shida, and Thelma... would you please..." She had to swallow her enormous pride. "please... help me find Cora and Phil."

Gilfred grinned as he sheathed Clarent, it all had gone well after all. Thema and her plants were very effective, as well were the others. All in all it was a lesion to the Metal elemental that speed was sometimes more important, and that he couldn't take all the traits of his element. Laughing at the thought his hand fell to scratch the head of Gawain, which had never left his side but was now in a more relaxed state. "One hell of a fight eh Will?" He called over to where he had last seen his brother, a slight laugh in his voice. As the seconds ticked by Gilfred turned, half expecting to see him talking to Shida or one of the others, so when he saw that their was nobody there he wrote it off as that, shrugged it off, and began looking over the desiccated remains of one of the scouts, which were still smoldering.

"I know the one I fought is still alive", he heard Phil tell the others "What do we want to do with him... It?"

Breaking his gaze from the scorched body Gilfred walked over to the Light elemental and his unconscious prisoner. He had all intention of letting the others what to do with this one, but there was something that needed doing. Reaching out into nearest garbage pile with his powers Gilfred located a small amount of small metal appliances and parts, as wall as a couple of shopping carts and a bunch of cans. Holding out his left hand, palm up, he crouched in front of the Vygorn. He began pulling the metal towards him, flattening it into wires, or breaking it into wires with Shatter, as the case may be. But all of the various wires began to run across, his left palm, and Unity began to heat up as it cold forged them into two large wires that wove their way around the Vygorn's hands and feet securing them tightly. As each finished tieing the hands and feet, Gilfred reached over and finished the job by fusing the ends of the wires.

Satisfied he stood and gave the light elemental a polite nod, turning once more to look at the others. They all looked alright, no worse for ware, all save for the Ice elemental and his brother who he noticed were not there. A confused look flashing across his face Gilfred began to make his way over to the others, when he heard a small splash emanate from one of his foot falls. Looking down his look of confusion deepened and the leaned down to dip one of his hands in the puddle, it had not rained recently, and even if it had it would have been acid rain, undrinkable. Yet, here on the ground was an expensive commodity out here, pure water, it's sheen catching the dim predawn light. Looking around he noticed another puddle on the road, and then another one, each one adding to his confusion. That's when he heard it

"Alright, screw the plan, we need to go rescue Cora as a team."

And at that point the reason behind the disappearance of his brother and the Ice elemental, as well as the puddles all clicked in his head. If the the Ice elemental had run off, or was captured, then Will... Gilfred clenched his fist at his side, what water that remained on the gauntlet ran through his fingers and dripped on the ground, "The idiot ran after her alone, didn't he?" He questioned himself. Unclenching his fist, Gilfred calmed himself down and spoke out in an even tone, his eyes darting from puddle to puddle, "I'm coming as well, and I can tell you exactly where they went."

Shida looked up at the sky, the world was very dim for this early, grey and black, with purple and green strokes of air damage caused by pollution. He knew that much about the world. The o-zone layer looked like it was being ripped apart slowly. The colors seemed to fall together traveling through the stars. A long time a go, he remembered reading a very old record on his friends information machine, and I.M he called it. A twenty year old valuable record of a lost debate about science. People in the past believed that eventually that the world would begin to spin faster. For some unknown reason. Just as well Shida remembered hearing that from Dimitriex Transylvania. A city dweller, and a collector of information on occasion and its own kind of trade, a complete delinquent just like Shida; but none the less very interesting. They used him often to find the best places to stick up around towns back in Atlanta. Apparently, there used to be a lot that went on there back then also, as it is today. He explained to him and one of his hired guns that the earth, could potentially in a time frame of fifty years, due to many different man made causes altogether, life as we know it would end. The one thing he said that was most likely, is that one day the earth would befall a great doom, the air would explode around the entire planet. Burning everything, and all life would cease to exist, because the earth would slightly move too close to the sun due to the slow decay of it's volatile outer layers. Dimitriex handed him a small black and silver that was square, that he grabbed off of a huge mess of a shelf in his apartment. It was flat, slightly bendy and light. "This is what was going on in the year 1992. A group of politicians and activists back were working together towards solving a huge planetary debate. Called "Global warming." It's said to be related to what happened in 1998, with the riots, and protests."

"The only protests you see now a'days don't last very long, and the people involed are often executed." Shida responded.

"It was much more common and less dangerous for some reason back then. And there was a lot less pissed off poor people. Today, there's just a lot less people.." his friend said to him.

This was the first time he'd really considered someone worthy of becoming his friend. It felt like he was around a person who didn't really find anything that was wrong or bad, they weren't mind numbingly boring, or extremely impatient either. In fact he was much more focused and articulate than most people he'd ever met. They put the small device into a very old looking machine, he had very rarely seen something with a mirror type screen with a bunch of long cords attached to a box, or smaller versions of this type of plastic and metal box rich peoples houses. However he never saw any real use for it. His friend called it a computer. He tried to mess with one once, but it was a mystery to him, and he figured it was junk. The record showed a debate in ledger form as he read. Explaining this theory, and showing the reaction of some kind of powerful council at the time, much like our international council, that never seemed to do anything good or help anybody. It was clear that they did not want to hear it at all. Shida wondered if there were a lot of people who were tired of never being heard today also..

Traveling across the wastes, never staying in one place for too long; could get hard, and lonely. Shida knew that he was no savory kind of individual, but he did know how to break into a house, or hijack and collect money from a party of fifty people with two good men that could follow orders. He never looked at those kind of people, as really people, the ones getting robbed, or doing the robbing. However, they knew they were risking their lives, so Shida never had anything to worry about. However, with this bunch, they'll likely all get killed before we even get to our first destination. He thought to himself looking back up at the sky and shaking his head as if asking "God, why?" He put out his cigar on his boot and stood up to head over back to the others, when he noticed a blur shooting off into the horizon of the sunset in the distance as he looked back. "Who could that have been?"

"What the hell is going on over there? They're all standing around talking?... Oh well. That cigar was the most peaceful meal of my day. Ain't no body gonna ruin this vibe for me. Especially not that whimsically destructive girl, AERILYN." He spouted her name in a childish kind of disgust. After this, I am certainty going to woo her into my arms, and cuddle with her all night." Ahhuhhhh?! What am I saying all of the sudden? She's not even my type, and I doubt she'll ever like a guy like me anyways.. Shida grew extremely pale, and looked around at the ground to the side of his head to see if the words fell out of his ear from his brain. Because that's what it felt like in a moments notice. He glanced over to Aerilyn and the others for a moment. He saw Aerilyn and them talking. She then turned to say something in his general direction, as she lifted up her arm and gave him the middle finger. He figured she wasn't saying anything good about him. Although he truly did harbor contempt for the girl already, and he hated almost everything about her. It sure made him feel better than when people said nice things to each other, that is, he enjoyed it more when people were trying to offend one another, he found it much more lively. He stood up, intending to say something back at her, but then he looked around him and noticed Cora and Will her completely gone. He heard Aerilyn gasp for a moment, and when he saw her composure shift strongly, freezing still; he went over to her. "They're probably off messing around in the bushes already, I'd sure find it interesting if we wen off to go do the same. Right Aerilyin?" He looked at her, grinning and making eyebrows at her. Trying very hard not to laugh, he winked at her and perked his lips together and began making horrifying kissy faces, while hugging himself. He turned around squirming his body. "Oh yeah Will, spray me all over, if you melt a girls ice so quickly there won't be anything left for Shida. Aerilyn will be so jealous too."

She felt the pain long before she had the strength to sit up. They tossed her like a rag doll into a small metal cage, one she could barely stand up in. After they slid the bars closed, they locked it with an inevitable click that twisted her stomach. Cora heard her captors leave, and she passed out again shortly after. And here she was, some time later, aching all over and feeling a bit nauseous. No one had bothered to remove her handcuffs, which made movement awkward. Dried blood was spattered along the metal floor of her holdings, and she could feel more crusty yuckiness at the back of her head and under her nose. 

Someone had left a small bowl of murky water and an old rag in the right corner of her cell. The sudden thirst in her mouth wanted a drink. Thinking better of it, she soaked the rag and started wiping off all the dirt and blood from her body. It was almost healing, just being able to clean up. Cora wrung out the rag and set it by the bowl, freezing the nasty looking water it contained so it couldn't accidentally spill.

The crunch of dirt outside the tent brought Cora's attention to the entrance as its flaps were pulled aside. Vygorns she recognized from earlier walked in, one carrying a collapsed man on his shoulder. They placed him in the cell adjacent from hers, and she finally got a good look at his hat. She could recognize that fedora anywhere. Her first feelings were frustration, it was stupid for them both to come alone. But after realizing the only reason Will was at camp was because he followed her without waiting for the others, Cora felt a kindling of gratitude. Amidst the shame of failing her mission, and of putting someone else in danger, she felt grateful.

A human who looked like a caretaker reached through the bars of her cell, taking the cloth and bloody frozen bowl, refusing to meet her gaze. He left as quickly as he could, eyes down to the ground the entire time.

After they threw Will and locked his unconscious self in the cell, the Vygorns left. No one paid any attention to her. They simply stalked by her cell, left through the entrance, and it was dead quiet again. Of course, she never gave them the satisfaction that she recognized their second prisoner.

Placing an ice chip in her mouth, Cora sucked on it absentmindedly, looking around her new home. The military tent was a dirty beige, cloth roof about ten feet high. It was more of a long tent as it had two rows of cells lined against the walls, maybe ten in total. The cells had metal bottoms since the tent's floor was desert earth. Fluorescent tubes were wired in along the ceiling, flickering occasionally as they gave off light. 

"Cora?!"

She scooched closer in his direction, holding onto the vertical steel bars in her cuffed hands. "You're an idiot to follow me, you know." Cora scoffed, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking down at the metal in her hands. Her brows furrowed as she tried holding back the sudden emotion that tore at her chest. 

"I've fucked up, Will. There's not gonna be a parade home for me." Her voice cracked, and she pressed a hand to her eyes. "If they don't kill us after torturing every single bit of information we have, we sure as hell won't be seeing the light of day any time soon."

Hastily rubbing her eyes, Cora took a few breaths. She could feel the panic welling up inside her, the uncertainty and weakness that she always bottled away. But already she knew tears weren't an option, just a frustration she didn't have time to wallow in. Plus, the stress headache her emotions inflicted was enough to distract her in calming down. 

Cora stared dully at the ground, aware of the aching emptiness weighing on her chest. "Will... Why did you follow me alone?"

Cora scooched closer in his direction, holding onto the vertical steel bars in her cuffed hands. "You're an idiot to follow me, you know." Cora scoffed, meeting his eyes for a moment before looking down at the metal in her hands. Her brows furrowed.

Will looked down at the dirt. Cora spoke up again "I've fucked up Will. There's not gonna be a parade home for me." Her voice cracked, and she pressed a hand to her eyes. "If they don't kill us after torturing every single bit of information we have, we sure as hell won't be seeing the light of day any time soon."

Will carried on looking at the ground. "You didn't fuck up, anger, confusion. All natural." he said. "Hell, I fucked up too didn't I?" Then Cora asked perhaps the most unexpected question to him.

"Will... Why did you follow me alone?" she asked, also staring at the ground. Will had one answer. He looked up to her and smiled. "No one should be alone..." he stated.

Aerilyn looked over to Gilfred and nodded. "The more the merrier." Then she looked at their small group and sighed silently. It wasn't a sigh of despair, but rather of disappointment. They had only an inkling as to where their friends were. Of course, they had plenty of their own little pets, whatever they had been called, to help search for them. Just as she thought about them, Skyff perched upon her shoulder. From his mind, she could see exactly the spot where they may be kept, but that was from the skies, where there were fewer obstacles. She didn't know if there were any Vygorns that may have decided to go out in search of their comrades. We're going to be treading terrible water... She thought this with a small frown.

Just as she was about to say that since they were all there and should get moving before thy ran out of time, she glanced over at Shida and her eyes seemed to burn with a fire. Suddenly, she was doing her best to get her face in his, but due to the height difference it wouldn't happen, and she growled audibly. "we don't have time to play games here, you dishonorable twat!" Just then, it felt like there was a blade bein pressed against every inch of his exposed neck, but there were no blades to be seen. She was inadvertently using the air around her to become blades. She even had the tip of her dagger dangerously close to the soft spot between his legs. Her face was stoic as usual, but her eyes and the air about her said that she was otherwise.

Then she withdrew back as swiftly as she had moved forward and the air about them became calm and composed. "We should get moving before something happens to those two."

Shida felt a sudden pinch around his neck, Aerilyn was looking at him furiously. She was right in front of him, and got there much quicker than he thought she could. "Damn, I underestimated her." he thought, when her face was in front of his suddenly, she was extremely fast, and in a blur, she moved to him, and grabbed at him. But it didn't feel like a hand on his throat. It was more like someone was revving a saw blade in complete silence, right up to his neck. His face right in front of hers she either looked like she might either cry, or rip his head off, literally.. he honestly didn't want to think about what she could do right now. But her eyes were burning a bright green, that told him, she could either kill him, or kiss him. He wouldn't entirely have minded either outcome, but he didn't want to die by her hands. Soft as they might have been if she didn't posses a wind blade grip of death around his neck. Normally, women were really good at choking him, but that was an entirely different thought. She completely ripped him out of every nice thing he was imagining when she grabbed his throat and threatened him, brandishing a dagger right to his manhood.

"We don't have time to play games here, you dishonorable twat!" The words she said pissed him off, but he knew he could have had way better timing for a joke like that, he wished that instead of pissing people off, he knew how to sooth them for a moment. But he was honestly trying to cheer her up, although, he didn't exactly get the result he expected. He did let his emotions get the better of him. Now wasn't the time for anything like that, there's more at stake where than these petty games he resolved. She was right about that, he wasn't used to taking anything seriously, to be honest with himself. He had the standards of a common pirate, his first instinct would have normally been to kill anyone, for addressing him with such words. But as he looked at her, he realized she wasn't really angry, maybe annoyed. She just wanted to get things over with. He understood her as he looked back at her.

Shida put his hand on her hand gently as her looked at her. "You really know how to put a guy in a tough spot, so ill allow you continue to fall in love with me more and more every day. So maybe I'll try and stop being such an asshole, if you can get a grip on your powers, and your emotions." Shida was testing her. Earlier, and now, without even thinking about it. Any normal person might have laughed, or just said something lude or rude back however, he overlooked something important when he made his joke, she was already really upset. These weren't normal circumstances, everybody was about to crack under the pressure. He was truly jealous of her for a moment, she really cared about the future, had hope already. What he had, was nothing. Just being good at staying alive. Until he met her, he hadn't truly a considered at all about life, or death, for a long time.. he always just trusted himself.

She let go of him, he could tell she was almost ashamed of the way she acted, like he might have been a long time ago. "You all care about each other so much, go and save them. I suppose ill tag a long for the ride. That is, this is the only place around with endless amounts of food. We need to find Will before we all get too thirsty." He looked at Aerilyn, and felt sorry for her, and himself. Hoping that with some slight humor he could help get her and his own head on straight for this. No more distractions. "We can't be messing around anymore, I agree. But this changes the plan, we can talk on the way there.

After all the Vygorns had been brought down, the others also seemed to be at a loss for Coras whereabouts. Will was also missing, but he was less of a concern for our plant mage. When her vines began retracting from the scorching body, Aerilyn decided to speak up on behalf of the team.

"Alright, screw the plan, we need to go rescue Cora as a team." She pointed towards a couple of the cast members, including Thema. "Phil, Shida, and Thema... would you please… please... help me find Cora and Will."

A familiar voice beamed behind Aerilyn. It was Gilfred and he was offering his assistance in sleuthing out Cora and Will.

Aerilyn accepted his aid. Their little group was turning into a freak show. A hotheaded pyromaniac and his love interest, the new guy, the victim’s brother, and a witch all banding together to save their friends. It sounded like something straight out of a post-apocalyptic teen novel. Sighing, Thema accepted Aerilyns offer. “Cora was the first person to talk to me back at the Haven. I’m not sure why she would run off, but we need to find her!” Shifting her eyes between the group members, she realized her hands were balled into fists. Releasing her tight grasp, she continued on, saying “and Will too… I guess.”

Aerilyn was doing everything in her power to bring herself back to her calm and emotionless state, but it was easier said than done. Her mind was reeling and her heart rate had increased considerably. Conceal your emotions behind an iron mask... she thought this in her father's voice, knowing that it would work better if she did. When she felt like she would be able to speak without snapping or revealing the stress that was pulsating through her veins, she looked to Thelma and gave her an appreciative nod. Then she turned and started in the direction that they all believed was the way that Cora and Will had gone. With Skyff flying above them, she was inwardly praying that the Vygorns hadn't done anything to either of them, but knowing their luck, something was going down already. What possessed either of them to run off on their own? She tried to wrap her brain around the concept, but no answers came to her just yet.

Soon, they would be overlooking the iron fortress where their friends were being held captive.

"No one should be alone..."

"Hm. You truly live up to your title as a Water Hygron. I oughta be more like you." Cora said halfheartedly, leaning back from the bars.

She tilted her head to the side, thinking. Holding up her cuffed hands, she created a hovering sphere of crystalline ice. Tendrils and mist swirled off the slowly rotating ball. It was almost transparent, glinting in the light. With a finger she poked it, and it rippled on the spot, fluid waves reaching all the way around the sphere. Stretching and pulling at the ball, Cora continually tested it to behave like water rather than ice. 

"I can manipulate ice like this, takes a bit of concentration. It looks fluid like your element, but as soon as I stop..." The ball stretched and swirled out of her cage, swimming through the air as it made for Will's hands. She dropped it in his lap, and the ball of ice was merely a ball of ice. Solid, cold, and unforgiving. 

"I am destined to be forever cold without feeling it. It's fun to play pretend, though." Cora said, the slightest smile on her face. "Our situation is fucked, Will. But... I do appreciate you following me. Did you tell the group at all where you were headed?"

Vygorn
A dark shadow was sitting in one of the military tents. None of his features could be seen, only the general shape of his standing body.
"We have captured two of them, but we don't know how many more there are. ... They came one by one. ... Understood, we will act immediately. Out."
The uncomprehensible static noise from within the tent ceased and the figure stepped out onto the dimly lit roads of the scout camp.
He walked over to the cell tent where the two intruders were held. He didn't actually think the cell tent would be useful in any ways. They haven't had any resistance around this area for over a decade now. The continent was totally secure. As was the whole world. Of course there still were some rebel and terrorist groups, mainly in Eastern Europe, but they either had no idea about what was really happening.
Vrail has the planet under his little finger, and the solar system with it. Soon, it will just be lifeless, unprotected matter, which is then ready to be complitely... deleted!

He walked into the tent and saw the two captives close to the divider bars, probably talking to each other.

"So you know each other. All the better."
The Vygorn turned and ordered calmly "Take them to the truck."

Two Vygorns entered into each cell and grabbed the prisoners, with two more Vygorns behind each one of them. Soon they arrived to a truck, which had hard, smooth and strong walls and doors as well as dark colored windows. Without saying a word, the Vygorns threw in the man and the girl, literally, into the back of the truck. Two Vygorn climbed in, sitting down on little benches on the sides, to keep watch on the prisoners in case they tried to escape. The doors shut and in the next five seconds, the truck was already on the way.
The Vygorn sitting in the passenger seat took out his radio phone again.
"We are on our way. There seem to be more of them, we will try to draw them out."

The doors opened almoat immediately after the truck came to a halt. It was a short trip, but they needed to be fast. They were out into the open, close to Riverdale.The Vygorns pulled the prisoners out of the truck, and tied their mouth so they wouldn't be able to speak or make long noises in general. Then they made them kneel on the ground, next to each other, amids all the junk and trash.

An offroad military vehicle stopped near the truck, and a Vygorn quicly jumped down.
"Everyone's in position. We are waiting for the signal"
"Good. Now, we wait."