Arin said He pulled himself away from the window and positioned himself squarely in front of the door. With his right hand he held the lantern up just below his neck, enough to illuminate both his face and whoever may come to the door. Arin made a fist with his left hand and took a deep breath before knocking. The thimble on his finger made contact with the door exactly three times.

Knock...knock...knock

"Hello?" His tone was gentle and soft. He waited briefly, then knocked three times once more.

Knock...knock...knock

"Is anyone here? Please come to the door. I've just been attacked by a beast and seek shelter.....Hello?"

In the blue light of the lantern, the array burned into the door sparkled dimly, deep inside the charred lines.

The thimble on Arin's finger, as well, began to glow ever so slightly in the same pale shade of that sparkle in the door -- but it could all just be a trick of the lantern light.

click-clack

A lock inside the door sounded. Old hinges groaned, and the door swung just a little bit open -- but inside the flickering darkness of the room, there was no one.

Well, almost no one. As the lantern light peeked inside, it caught the reflection of an alert, beady eye. A tawny stripe-tailed rodent sat within a cage at the far side of the room -- wedged between a skull with a rune carved in its forehead and a shelf full of oddly labeled jars full of odder liquids. The animal had one eye and one wing-sized ear; half of its face and one leg had been mauled away. It stared attentively at Arin, but shied away from the light of the lantern.

A few big, dried jellyfish hung morbidly from the ceiling along with tufts of sweet-smelling herbs. There was an old helmet, rusted and and corroded; a stuffed otter curled on the table, staring emptily out the window; bones of every shape and size; a vase of flowers made of stone; parchments and papers; ashes in the fireplace, and used dishes balanced precariously on a big jar with a spindly and unidentifiable animal floating in it. The candle in the window was burning low.

Anise said She was drinking from the water when she noticed a yellow light within the cavern.

The water was cool and sweet, with a wonderfully delicate taste. Immediately Anise would feel very much refreshed and clear-headed.

Anise said "Um... Hello? Can you help us?"

The boy swung the light in one hand slowly back and forth, casting the light to perceive who was speaking to him. The shadows of his white mask lengthened. He crouched a little but remained where he was, silent but keenly interested in the way Randold lifted Anise to her feet, while Randold himself could only stand on one leg.

Randold said After a minute of uncomfortable silence Randold decided to speak, "Do you have a name? We are not going to harm you, we only want to return home."

Hania said She settled for silence then and smiled warmly at him. She shifted her body to face him and pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

For a long while the boy stared at Randold, and then he turned his head a fraction to look at Hania. He took a few quiet steps closer, stretching the light forward, to see the smile on her face. But there was something else he noticed, glinting in the light. He stopped, and would not move farther. He lifted his other arm and pointed at Hania.

"You have an iron sigil," he told her calmly, though there was a hint of accusation in his young voice. He was pointing at Hania's rosary. "Throw it in the water, and I might consider your honesty."

The first thing Arin saw was the rodent.

Both he and the animal had locked eyes the moment he stepped inside. Cautiously he walked inside, each step taken carefully and with consideration all the while his eyes focused on the animal in the cage. The lantern practically lit up the entire house, outshining the candlelight. The rodent lying in the cage had distracted the boy who had forgotten why he initially entered the hut in the first place.

Within moments Arin was towering over the cage, staring deeply into the rodents eyes and taking note of it's mutilated and useless body. His face contorted in disgust at how pathetic the sight was. This animal had no purpose, no fate or destiny in this world and was merely one of an untold number souls that was born simply to die. He leaned forward, examining every inch of the creature before him. Truly it was a pitiful sight for the young sociopath.

His head shot up as the boy recalled his true goal; the scissors. He whizzed around, his eyes darting all over the room before falling on the table he had seen from the window. There before him lay an instrument of tailoring and murder. Arin's thumb rubbed against the thimble on his finger as he approached the table. He made sure to avoid the hanging jellyfish. Carefully he set the lantern on the table, taking care not to re-arrange or tamper with all of the trinkets and oddities. Gently his hand caressed the scissors handles before he gripped the tool tightly in his right hand with admiration. This item was probably the closest he'll ever be to Mayloom again.

Initially, Arin wanted to acquire the tailoring scissors on the table before waiting patiently for the home's owner to return in hopes of interrogating him or her. However, as the young man gripped the scissors tightly in his right hand, he turned to lay his malicious eyes on the rodent once more. It's condition a perfect example of his views on how worthless and pathetic life in this world truly was. Slowly he approached the rodents cage, crouching down so he could be at eye-level with the creature.

"You poor thing" He whispered, "You poor, poor thing. God has no interest in your existence, nor does the rest of the world,"

The young man pondered whether or not the length of the scissors was long enough to stab the rodent within the cage. He stood up, turning around before approaching the exit. With his free hand he gripped the doorknob and shut the front door, taking a brief moment to peer outside the window to make sure there was nothing approaching the little house. He could still feel the fireflies and owls presence, which brought forth an odd feeling of warmth and comfort.

The lantern really illuminated the entire room, which was a problem. Surely whoever lived here could see it from the outside. Arin took it upon himself to place the lantern underneath the table hoping to at least dim the blue light. After that was dealt with, he approached the rodents cage once more. Not wanting to waste time, he took one last look at the sorry creature before grabbing the cage with his left hand and shoving the scissors through it's bars with his right, hoping to impale the creature from the outside.

Mokley said "You have an iron sigil, throw it in the water, and I might consider your honesty."

Hania blinked and looked down at her chest, she opened her mouth but could find nothing to say. She stretched her legs out and pulled the rosary over her neck and looked down at it. It was just a thing, right? She looked up at the boy and over to the other members of her group. She looked down at the rosary again and sighed before launching the thing over her shoulder.

"Like that?" she looked back up to the boy and gulped, a wave of instant regret fell over her. She'd lost everything she'd come here with - her clothes, her stuffed bear, her rosary. She pulled her legs back up and wrapped her arms around them and set her forehead on her knees.

Anise frowned as Hania chose to throw the rosary into the water and then immediately curled up into a ball. She had recovered somewhat thanks to the water and the rest she had. Randold helped her up and she was happy about that. "Randold, thank you. If we get out of here alive, I'll have father commend your honor. You've shown the same chivalry that is to be expected of a Knight of Riverforde." Now that the desperation had gone for now and the clarity of mind the water gave her she could think clearly, and like a princess.

She hobbled over to Hania and took the girl's hand in hopes to comfort the girl. She smiled a brilliant and colorful smile. "Remember, you still have your faith. Remember how Cynefrith lost his way and came back to ascend the throne? Even when he lost everything, he still had his faith in justice. It was that faith that brought him to the high heavens. You are not alone like he was though, you have us. I am Princess Anise Sinclair, daughter to Roland Sinclair the Fourth, King of Riverforde, and I vow to you, we will get out of this place. We will survive. We will find our families. We will get home."

She pulled on the girl's hand trying to get her to stand up. "Now, up you get. We must move forward. We must have hope."

She then turned her gaze to the boy. "Have you a name, child?" She had to be strong. She had to hold onto hope. She knew that Father wouldn't be able to find her here, which meant she had to find him instead. She had to help all of these people home.

The rat was probably clung to Kituo no longer than five minutes. To him it felt like an eternity. He was frantic as the pain surged through him. It drove him insane and he couldn’t wait for it to be over. As the rat drove its claws deeper into his skin he released his agony and rebelled against the temptation to fall on his knees. The sound of the fiend’s raking squeak tortured his soul. It was then he truly lost all hope and realized there was nothing he could do. He was going to accept the attack like he accepted all of his other shortcomings. He stopped running and waited for the rat to finish him off. It wasn’t his ideal way to die but at least it would save him the trouble of living another day as a worthless shrimp.

He ceased his own yelling, closed his eyes, and allowed the rat to have a field day. He just didn’t want it to leave any scraps behind. The pain was excruciating and intolerable but still he persevered. He desired for his vision to go black and his ears to fall deaf - the latter of which would ironically become a possibility once the rat was done with its assault. In odds that Kituo thought were impossible, the rat took one last tug on his ear and released its hold on him. It took a moment to realize just how lucky he was. He felt around his body to check his condition but he was numb. The trauma had yet to waver. When it did he desperately wished for it back.

“My ear!”

The pain rushed back into his body like flooding water. He was bleeding profusely from a hole in his ear. He looked at his hand to see his fingertips stained red after feeling the gaping hole. The damned rat had not only attacked Kituo but it also robbed him of a piece of himself – at least that was how he looked at the whole ordeal. Not only was he physically injured but his confidence had dipped far below zero. It didn’t help him to see that the tall guy was indeed enduring his own crisis. Watching him suffer was like hope had jumped onto a ship set sail for the horizon. In Kituo’s mind, the tall guy was better equipped to deal with this predicament than he was. If he was having trouble then there was no way Kituo would last. He originally intended on using him as a crutch until he could find an escape route.

The will to survive was a drive with unimaginable strength. Once he understood that he wasn’t going to die at that moment, Kituo came to terms with the fact that he would have to at least make an attempt to persevere. He clenched his ear and let out an exasperated groan to express just how much agony he was in. The pain had died down a bit but allowing blood to continue flowing out of his wound would only be problematic. After managing to salvage as much of his composure as possible, he took his first steps and they were horrendous. He nearly toppled over but his will caught him. Kituo kept thinking that he had to retain his essence and get back home. His father’s voice rung through his head as he fought to keep his balance.

“I didn’t raise you to be so weak Kituo. Why is it that I must do everything for you?"

Kituo was becoming increasingly lightheaded from his leaking ear. He even started to hear his own responses to his father’s past criticisms.

“But father…nothing ever works out for me. There’s no point in me wasting time and resources when I’m going to fail anyway.”

“How can anything work out for you when you don’t even think about succeeding? That is not how a man should be. Get out of my sight until you grow a spine.”

Kituo huffed and puffed as he faded back into reality. His hearing within his good ear was beginning to adjust to his new handicap and his eyes were clearing up from all of his crying. He looked up at the green latern and watched as it swayed gently above him. His mind flashed back to the rat attack.

That…thing...it saved me.

It seemed as if the rat was fearful of the light that the latern gave off. Kituo conjured the conclusion that perhaps it was some sort of divine tool that could ward away evil spirits. The griot story tellers within the city had mentioned the existence of such objects before. Maybe the lantern could save him from further harm? Kituo wanted to smile at his first independently generated idea. Now he would have to figure out the right time and way to execute it. For now he had other matters to tend to. He was missing a piece of his ear and his only other hope was on the brink of destruction. Clenching his ear, he wobbled over to the tall guy as he reached for an object. Kituo’s eyes widened as the skeleton’s presence petrified him. There was no way he was tempting with that thing.

The waiting game starts now.

Kituo scanned the skeleton and noticed a sparkling ring on its finger. Other than the vial that the tall guy was reaching for it was the only thing he thought of as interesting. But there was no way he was going to risk his own life by reaching for anything the cocoon had to offer. In its life the skeleton had probably tried a similar maneuver only to end up where it was now. Kituo couldn’t stand and do nothing, however. While he was keen on awaiting the tall guy’s results he had to save his own skin. His head was
becoming light again which meant that it wouldn’t be much longer before he drifted out of consciousness again. And when he did there was no certainty that he would revive.

He turned and proceeded back to where he initially stood after the rat attack. Upon reaching his destination he noticed a tree that wasn’t ordinary. It was covered by strange markings which Kituo could not even begin to identify – runes.

Strange….

He was allured by the tree’s markings and walked closer to it in order to investigate. He didn’t consider any potential threat for his life did lose some self-value. Unfortunately, right when he got close enough to properly investigate the tree, his lightness of the head fully returned and he was overcome with weakness. Trying to support his own weight, Kituo’s shaking hand reached for the tree and latched onto its bark.

“I…I don’t think I’m…going to make it,” he gasped.

Thomas said Turning back towards the vial and reaching for it, he began to question whether drinking a strange liquid was a good idea or not. Whatever, he'd get it unstuck, inspect it closer, and decide then. After wrapping his fingers around it, he pulled.

It took a bit of wriggling and twisting, but eventually the little glass bottle popped out from between the roots and was secured in Thomas' hand.

The bottle itself was slightly conical in shape, and it was stoppered with a wide cork that would come out with a bit of twisting and elbow grease. The bottle was small enough that Thomas' fingers could only just wrap around it.

The liquid had the consistency of honey, the color of grape juice, and it smelled like sugar and tarnished silver.

Should he choose to taste or drink it, he would find that it tasted like pickled peaches. Nothing immediate would come of the experience.

Kituo said Unfortunately, right when he got close enough to properly investigate the tree, his lightness of the head fully returned and he was overcome with weakness. Trying to support his own weight, Kituo’s shaking hand reached for the tree and latched onto its bark.

“I…I don’t think I’m…going to make it,” he gasped.

The tree under Kituo's hand hummed and ticked and whirred. Near his stomach, there was a hollow in the bark through which he might perceive a meticulous collection of brassy gears and springs all working together for some common, imperceptible goal. The entire interior of the tree was filled with gears. But that wasn't what was alarming.

The runes that had appeared in the twisting wood had begun to glow the moment Kituo touched them with a blood-streaked hand. They shimmered from deep within, and they pulsed together while the ticking inside turned to a constant whirring noise, as if a metal string were being wound up.

The lantern over his head began to rise into the treetop.

At the same time, a wolf in the forest howled long and low, as if it were in pain. The sound was close by -- and by the depth of that animal's voice, it was a huge beast.

A minute later, the lantern reached the end of its journey, and it stopped with a woody tap against the bough of the tree. It swung there for a few moments while the whirring in the tree began to strain, pulling on the line that was stuck.

RRRRRR-CLACK! WHIRRRRR-CLACK!

The line snapped. The lantern crashed to the metal platform below, barely missing Kituo's head, and the green light that had illuminated the clearing now only shone in a very small, limited space. Thomas' symptoms flared.

The metal platform was still vibrating and shifting only slightly. There was a tremendous crash and clamor inside the tree as all the gears and wires tumbled into one another, useless now without the lantern.

Something in the darkness was panting, like a dog. The distinct smell of rotting flesh, though, was probably the remains of the minstrel still being digested in the root coffin -- but the big yellow eyes that stared down at Kituo from a height of ten feet were not easily explained away.

The great, beastly black wolf stood just at the edge of the lantern's diminished light. It stared down at Kituo, and whined.

"If you don't want to be eaten," Yurei snapped from the darkness in front of him, "you had best hold onto my shawl. Keep a good grip. It'll only get darker and I won't carry you."

old and feeble old lady. The only positive thing that he enjoyed about her was that she seemed to know her way through this wooded area. Which really didn't help much because the more they moved throughout this part the less safe that he felt since he used to be able to see in front of him to not being able to see the back of his outstretched hand. Since he was overly fond of getting eaten he decided to grab onto her shawl. While going down this beaten path he could smell something that he had not been able to remove from his memory.

the rotten disease ridden arm. Unfortunately there was nothing that they could do since it was so beyond fixing. In the end he didn't make it but Simon never would forget that scent of his flesh. This was the exact smell that he could feel coming from behind him, the only difference was that it felt someone was breathing on him not just the scent. While still holding on to the old lady he turned his head but Simon couldn't see anything at all in the very small distance that he could see.

Arin said Surely whoever lived here could see it from the outside. Arin took it upon himself to place the lantern underneath the table hoping to at least dim the blue light. After that was dealt with, he approached the rodents cage once more. Not wanting to waste time, he took one last look at the sorry creature before grabbing the cage with his left hand and shoving the scissors through it's bars with his right, hoping to impale the creature from the outside.

The blue light pooled on the floor like luminous water. Whiskers twitched. Had the rodent possessed two eyes it might have seen the flash of sharp metal in time -- but instead it spasmed horrifically, lurched and twitched, and then was stiff. Blood soaked into the wood shavings. The candle in the window had gone out.

Just outside, a wolf's howl trembled in the trees.

"Scat! Shoo!" a gravelly voice echoed from the edge of the dark clearing, coming closer. A look out the window might confirm that there were no lights -- no candles and no lamps anywhere beyond the darkness -- and no clear way to tell what direction the voice was coming from. "If I find you here again you'll be owl soup. Git!"

Soon enough, footsteps shuffled up the path to the cottage, accompanied by a low irritable muttering.

Hania said She looked down at the rosary again and sighed before launching the thing over her shoulder.

"Like that?" she looked back up to the boy and gulped, a wave of instant regret fell over her. She'd lost everything she'd come here with - her clothes, her stuffed bear, her rosary. She pulled her legs back up and wrapped her arms around them and set her forehead on her knees.

Anise said "Remember, you still have your faith. Remember how Cynefrith lost his way and came back to ascend the throne? Even when he lost everything, he still had his faith in justice. It was that faith that brought him to the high heavens. You are not alone like he was though, you have us. I am Princess Anise Sinclair, daughter to Roland Sinclair the Fourth, King of Riverforde, and I vow to you, we will get out of this place. We will survive. We will find our families. We will get home."

She pulled on the girl's hand trying to get her to stand up. "Now, up you get. We must move forward. We must have hope."

She then turned her gaze to the boy. "Have you a name, child?"

The boy's bare feet made no sound on the stone while he took a few more cautious steps forward. When he stood before them, the source of the light in his palm could be discovered: it looked like a fruit or a berry, with thin yellow skin and dark winding lines like veins, that glowed brilliantly from within. He shone the light on Hania first, and he tipped his head curiously; he lifted it to Anise, and he lowered his head so the light glimmered in his eyes behind the mask; And finally he shone it on Randold's face. He took a quick step back, and shifted from foot to foot.

"You don't look like pirates," he addressed them all, looking at each of them again as if he might have missed something the first time. "But you're definitely not Kith. You're from a place called Riverforde, where there are still kings and princesses." He smiled suddenly, a flash of white teeth. "I thought princesses were just fairy tales." He spun on one foot, and he knelt by Hania and patted her head comfortingly.

Then, he walked past them. He knelt beside the water, took a wooden canteen from a strap over his shoulder, and filled it. He stood again immediately, grinning wider than ever, and he gave them all a deep bow, holding the light aloft and hanging the canteen on his shoulder again.

"My name is Tyaelaem. I can help you go home -- to Riverforde -- but you have to take me with you." He skittered backwards and gestured them forward. "Come, come on, let's go." He turned the light toward Randold. "Can you walk?" He turned the light toward Hania. "Can you stand?" He frowned with concern, but he did not offer to help them move. "Didn't you drink from the pool?" He pointed to the water behind them, where the fireflies twinkled over the glassy surface. Far below, a faint blue light glowed ever so gently: it was Hania's rosary, sparkling like a jewel, resting in the depths of the water.

In the faint light of the fireflies and the rosary, something was moving in the water. Anise might see the shadow a little clearer, but not by much: it was long like an eel, and it seemed to be circling the faint light at the bottom of the pool.

Hania got up with Anise's help. She stumbled a little out of dehydration and looked at the boy, rubbing her eyes softly and then wiping them on what was left of her outfit. She turned around to the water when the boy's speculation caught her off guard -

Mokley said "You don't look like pirates, but you're definitely not Kith. You're from a place called Riverforde, where there are still kings and princesses."

Pirates? There are pirates here? But- this was a forest. What kind of pirates lived in the woods? She opened her mouth to ask a question but his patting her head interrupted her. She clenched her eyes closed as he suddenly began to pat her on the head. She cocked her head to the side and opened her mouth again, out of astonishment rather than trying to say anything. What kind of person was this? Kith? Is that what he was?

Mokley said Didn't you drink from the pool?

She turned back around to the pool at his mention of water and hobbled towards it, when she reached it's edge she fell on her knees and dipped her hands into the pool, she brought the water up to her lips, it was incredibly refreshing and sweet. Hania could feel it giving an edge to her focus. It was then that she saw the black eel-like creature circling at the bottom of the pool, she pulled back from it's edge quickly, "Wh- what's that?!" she said, pointing down into the pool.

Anise glanced over towards the water's edge to see the eel-like critter's shadow. Although she couldn't be too certain about what it was. "I don't know. I can't see it too clearly." Though she imagined if it really wanted to hurt them, it might already have as they had been in the area for a while. Also they had been in the water before that. "It didn't hurt us when we were in the water."

She glanced around clearly displaying some impatience. She wanted out. She wanted to leave. She looked at Tyaelaem and nodded once. "I would be grateful if you helped us get home. You are certainly welcome to Riverforde if you help us." She waited impatiently for the others to get ready to leave, because as peaceful as this cavern had been, she felt like they were wasting time by sitting around.

A drop of sweat trickled down the side of Arin's forehead as his eyes remained frozen on the bloodied, dead rodent, his gaze both psychotic and satisfied. Both his grip on the scissors and the cage were extremely tight. Had there been enough light in the room you could see the veins in his forearms popping out. Everything in the room was completely still except for the pool of blood underneath the rodent. It was almost impossible for him to move, to look away from the poor creature whose life was taken by him.

For some reason, taking life in an abandoned shack in the middle of a mysterious forest was much more pleasurable than killing cattle.

He let out a heavy sigh and eased his tight grip on the cage and scissors. His mind was so hypnotized by the carcass that he had forgotten to breath. It was difficult for him to recall the last time he had the urge to kill something. The craving had been satisfied, for now, which was kind of a bad thing. His malicious mindset of murder usually blinded his guilt and hatred for himself, but that had evaporated for the time being. Arin was back to his normal self, if you could even call it that.

The boy suddenly flinched and backed away from the dead rodent before him, suddenly disgusted. More so of himself than the carcass. He bumped into a shelf, knocking down one of the jars that contained who knows what. His breathing was heavy and his anxiety was returning. The candlelight had gone out as well. The darkness that he embraced earlier now frightened him. His back was against the wall, or maybe a shelf. Even though there was no candle light, the pool of blue that the lantern created was enough for him to see the dead rodent inside of the cage, staring back at him with lifeless eyes. Or, eye.

Arin began to slide down the wall (or shelf) of the room, his heavy breathing was shaky and his eyes grew watery.

"I'm sorry," He whispered. He really was, at least at the moment. "Why, WHY AM I LIKE THIS" He was shouting.

A wolf howled, causing the boy to jump, his head shot towards the window. "Oh no, oh no" What a mess. He no longer seek'd answers as to who brought him here, instead he only wished for shelter, safety and forgiveness. He could hear a faint voice but not what it was saying. The sound of the owl's fluttering slightly comforted him, as well as the thought of those fireflies. He wished to see them, to be in their presence once more.

Shuffling. Footsteps. Arin's head shot towards the front and only door. His face contorted in fear. He was still sitting, leaning against the wall avoiding the rodent's perished gaze. Without hesitation the boy crawled underneath the table, grabbing the lantern, hugging it as if it could somehow keep him safe. At some point tears had slid down his cheeks. His eyes remained fixed on the door as he remained underneath the table.

Arin awaited his punishment.

Hania said She turned back around to the pool at his mention of water and hobbled towards it, when she reached it's edge she fell on her knees and dipped her hands into the pool, she brought the water up to her lips, it was incredibly refreshing and sweet. Hania could feel it giving an edge to her focus. It was then that she saw the black eel-like creature circling at the bottom of the pool, she pulled back from it's edge quickly, "Wh- what's that?!" she said, pointing down into the pool.

The water indeed gave Hania a sort of energy and clarity akin to a good night's sleep; over time, it settled her stomach and strengthened her limbs. The fireflies flashed all around, and the eel far below circled and shadowed the light of the rosary.

Tyaelaem crouched beside Hania and craned his neck to see. "I dunno if there's a name for it. I call it a healyfish, because it's the only one I've ever seen and it's here, in the healing water." The healyfish swung around again, and in the faint light from below there were shadows of thin crablike legs.

Anise said She glanced around clearly displaying some impatience. She wanted out. She wanted to leave. She looked at Tyaelaem and nodded once. "I would be grateful if you helped us get home. You are certainly welcome to Riverforde if you help us."

The boy looked quickly up at the princess, positively radiating joy at her words. He hopped to his feet and skittered to the mouth of the long shimmering hallway, the glowing berry clutched in his fingers. He bowed low before the princess, and the long ears of his mask nearly grazed the floor. "Yes, Your Highness. Right away, Your Highness. I am grateful, Your Highness. I would be honored, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness." He got a thrill out of Your Highness every time he said it -- it made him feel as if he were already a resident of Riverforde, the magical place with castles and kings -- and he grinned wider.

While his head was below his knees, he noticed the walking stick that Anise was carrying. "Oh, Your Highness, you have a pirate's nightstick! I don't like pirates, but sometimes their things are useful. I bet you ordered the pirates to give it to you, Your Highness, and they had no choice but to hand it over."

Tyaelaem straightened, bowed again to Anise for good measure, and then he knelt beside Randold, who very obviously could not walk with them now. He smiled while he took Randold's hand and placed the glowing berry in it. The bright fruit was slightly warm in Randold's hand, and it was squishy and soft like an overripe tomato. "You shouldn't walk yet, but you stay here and drink lots of healing water and you'll be just fine in a bit. Come find us then. Be careful with this thingy, if it breaks it oozes everywhere." He patted Randold's arm and hopped away, leaving the older man holding the glowing fruit.

The boy spun around and bowed deeply to Anise again. "We don't need the glowy thing now, since Your Highness has a piratey nightstick and can lead us through the darkness. If you would lead the way, Your Highness, and allow me the extreme joy and honor of holding your hand, Your Highness," he stretched his thin hand toward Anise, "I will give my hand to the littler one," he offered his other hand to Hania, "and we will follow Your Highness through the dark."

Simon said While still holding on to the old lady he turned his head but Simon couldn't see anything at all in the very small distance that he could see.

The beast in the dark smacked its mouth, and it snuffled at Simon's hair with great huffs.

"Don't mind Reus," the old lady assured Simon. "He's just a big puppy. Reus, cut it out, leave the boy alone."

The big dark wolf huffed again but backed away from Simon obediently. But then, suddenly, the wolf began to howl.

AAAAAAWWWWOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!

The sound was low and deafening at such close proximity. Yurei put her hands over her ears. The wolf whined pathetically, then ran off into the forest, bushes rustling behind him. "Who knows what that's about," the old woman muttered, and she shuffled onward through the forest, leading Simon even deeper through the woods.

Soon there were fireflies all around -- but the fireflies parted to allow the old woman to pass, and moved far away from her to avoid touching her. In the light of the fireflies, an old owl's eyes glimmered above. The owl sat on a tree branch, staring down at them haughtily. Yurei waved her hands at it. "Scat! Shoo!" she shouted angrily. "If I find you here again you'll be owl soup. Git!" The owl appeared to glare at her condescendingly before it spread its wings and flapped away through the forest.

"Damnnaggin kith," Yurei muttered, and she moved forward into a grassy clearing, where there was water trickling somewhere in the darkness. "They think they own the place. Boy! Simon, was your name? Boy, don't ever trust a kith, no matter what they tell you. You see an owl, or those damned fireflies, or anybody with a mask on, you put your hands over your ears and you keep on walking, you hear? Ah, here we are."

They had come to a small cottage -- which, in the darkness, was only visible because there was a very dim blue glow shining from inside the window. Yurei stopped at the door to the cottage, and she paused.

"Boy, something isn't right," she murmured. After a moment, she stepped aside and smacked Simon on the back. "Here, why don't you go in first? You can see, can't you? Make sure there's nothing amiss." She pushed him toward the door of the cottage -- where, inside, Arin was hiding underneath the table, and blood dripped from the counter.

amiss. Oh this is great, absolutely great, Simon never noticed up until this very point in time but Yurei is blind! How could she possibly gotten them through this crazy mazed forest while not being able to see. Was this even possible. No it couldn't. Could she be the woman from the tales that his father told him about when he was a few years younger.

making some stronger, some more intelligent, some able to speak to humans. Her "greatest" creation to date was a rodent that if a piece of the rodent was consumed would have a different effect for both creatures and humans. For a creature was easier, the mouse would communicate with the creature to take a small sliver of its skin and it would gain a random effect (stronger, wiser, larger) but if it ate to much it would eradicate every other animal in its species so no creature ever consumed to much. However if a human consumed piece of the rodent it would show the human the ability to see their future and their future alone, good or bad and if they did anything to intentionally sabotage their future it would scramble their brain turning them into a lifeless body.

another sensory overload! There was tons of jars of weird liquids and other substances. Oh god were those jellyfish hanging there, a youngster hiding under a table with a bloody sharp object, and quite a bit of blood dripping off of the table. Simon immediately closed the door back up again. Ohhh maybe not a great idea, now Yurei would know something is definitely wrong, Simon looked right at Yurei ... not that it mattered since she couldn't see him. Simon took a deep breathe and said the following "Yurei I'm not going to lie to you even a little bit, there is a boy sitting underneath of a table with a bloody object, with blood dripping off the table, also i seen a glimpse of blue light." He figured he wouldn't ask if she was the woman from the tale that his father had told him about just yet, especially with what he had just seen in this house.

Oh that darn double postings

Randold shook his head, the boy was an odd one for sure, and while he couldn't quite figure it out he found the boy to be unsettling. Its nothing to do with his demeanor in fact Tyaelaem so far has been quite friendly after initial contact, still Randold couldn't bring himself to trust him fully. Could a simple case of paranoia, maybe after some down time the effects of being lost were starting to kick in. Randold shifted as he sat grimacing at the pain that pain shot up from his leg, it was distracting while he was obviously hearing the conversation between the others none of the words registered.

Tyaelaem said
"You shouldn't walk yet, but you stay here and drink lots of healing water and you'll be just fine in a bit. Come find us then. Be careful with this thingy, if it breaks it oozes everywhere."

Randold snapped back to attention when Tyaelaem knelt beside him, he vaguely listened to the boy's words only then to feel the light berry pressed into his hand. When the boy bounded away Randold turned to the water, magic or not a drink sounded good then. Randold took a sip of the water, instantly feeling re-energized the pain in his leg still remained but not nearly bad as before, Randold took another dip into the water this time a long deep drink. After a few moments he felt clear headed again able to focus on the situation. Seemed the group was in agreement to move on, although without him coming along only to catch up later as Randold recalled Tyaelaem's words. This just seemed to be a bad idea to separate for any reason, Randold stoop up leaving the others alone with the boy wasn't an option. He was able to walk well enough admittedly a limp was present, in the back of his mind a voice told him it was too early to move, injuring his leg anymore could cause permanent damage, but Randold discarded the thought.

Randold spoke up, "I think it is a bad idea for me stay behind, its best to stay together. The water has helped I believe I can manage just fine, besides it would be better to use the light source so that everyone can see." Randold held the light berry high in the air.

Anise hesitated. There were so many "Your Highness"es in what the boy said she had a hard time understanding what he said. She even winced slightly, which was a bit unintentional. The boy seemed so eager to please that it was hard to believe. She glanced at the others. "Um... Whenever you're ready." She felt quite a bit dazed from Tyaelaem, somehow speaking with the boy was quite exhausting.

She looked at the "nightstick". On it were runes she didn't understand, which she found disappointing as learning to read was something she had been taught at an early age. She ended up taking the boy's hand. She felt odd leading the way in a place that she was completely unfamiliar with. What happened if she got them lost? That was a silly thought considering she expected to be getting guidance from Tyaelaem. She waited for everyone to take a hand before she started walking down the only path she was aware of.

Simon said Simon took a deep breathe and said the following "Yurei I'm not going to lie to you even a little bit, there is a boy sitting underneath of a table with a bloody object, with blood dripping off the table, also i seen a glimpse of blue light."

Yurei was quiet for a moment while she processed this information.

"WHAT?!" she screeched. "And what did you do about it? Simon was your name? Simon?!" She pointed at the door that Simon had just closed. "How can you stand there and tell me as calmly as could be that there's a murderer in my house? What do you suppose I'm going to do about it? I'm blind, you little sociopath! What am I supposed to do? This has never happened before! He's in my HOUSE." She raved and swung her arms in the air and if there had been any other light to see by, it would be evident that she was getting blue in the face. Her screeching echoed in the forest.

"You get back in there and you don't come out until my house is safe! I don't care what you do! But DO SOMETHING." She flung open the door with a BANG and pointed inside with a rigid arm and a furious expression.