The fire crackled and spread from the dropped torch, glowing and growing and turning grasses to ash. The spirit weeds ignited and flashed golden for a moment -- wisps of bluish ether sighed into the sky -- before they too succumbed to the flames. The fire licked up the vines on the trees, and the leaves ignited. The darkness began to lighten as the red glow illuminated the forest.

She kept swinging until the old man no longer moved . . . She pushed the old man onto his back so she could get a good grip on the handle and remove it from his grasp. With it, she could save Randold.

The sword was heavy to her unaquainted hand, but a shiver of electric power trailed up her arms when she held it. Perhaps this tool would serve her better than it had served its previous owner.

The smashed corpse oozed with blood. It trickled along fissures in the ground and soaked the grass and weeds in bright red that reflected the light of the growing flames. The old soldier's eyes stared wide and vacant. The armor no longer sparked nor fizzled as it had before. It had failed in its purpose.

And then came the bloodrats.

It started with a shuffle in the weeds. Then the first rodent -- like the one that had taken a chunk out of Kituo's ear and had bitten a piece off of Hato's finger in front of Simon -- darted out into the clearing to nibble at the pool of blood around the old man's head.

Simon decided to walk over to where Anise was with the pirate and since Tyaelaem was still cowering Simon grabbed the hand of the rabbit and started dragging it along with him.

Tyaelaem was so distracted by terror that he barely noticed he was being manhandled until he was yanked to his feet. Only then did he realize the fire, and the corpse, and the blood, and he was certain that Simon was behind it all. The thing in the woods was all the proof he needed: Simon would be the end of all that the Kith held dear -- perhaps the end of Tyaelaem himself. He thought Simon must be a pirate, but if that were true he shouldn't be able to carry the wolf-mask. Tyaelaem whimpered and twisted his wrist, but the boy was so very weak.

"Tyaelaem." She wanted to get his attention. "What is it?"

Tyaelaem lifted his head with a spark of hope, and he opened his mouth -- but he was interrupted.

Simon let go of Tyaelaems hand and took two steps closes to Anise. . . "A-a-a-Anise ... I don't think that the pirate was ... l-l-lying about getting home ... ... that's w-w-w-with Tyaelaems help however"

As soon as his wrist was free, Tyaelaem bounded to Anise's side and crouched there, clutching at her skirt like a child to its mother -- but his shoulder brushed the sword at her hip, and he screeched in pain and leaped like a startled cat into the tree. The monkeybats that perched there whooped and shifted at the disturbance, and they glared at Tyaelaem with bright red eyes for his intrusion.

The runes on the scabbard glimmered, as if the sword were angered at having been touched by a Kith.

Kituo was just about to make it away free with his lantern when it pulled him back. Forcing his body to turn around, Kituo looked at the other three people and, overlooking the fact that the old man had been knocked down, ripped his lips apart to speak coldly.

"Look up."

"I can take you home!" Tyaelaem screeched hoarsely, clinging to the tree branch, perched like one of the monkeybats that shuffled around him. The little bell swung gently. "All pirates lie! The eye on his palm, look at it, if he were alive it could steal your soul if he touched you. No one with that power would tell the truth. He wanted the lantern." With that he turned the eyes of his mask on Kituo.

"The egg reacts to your heartbeat. It wants you to free it from the iron prison, pull it out, smash it out, the forest is powerless to help until it's free. That's why the Sparrow King made the monkeybats attack you, he -- we -- want to free it. The egg can bring sunlight. It means the sky turns bright. I've never seen sunlight but I heard it's good, and the Elders say it's good, and you have it, there. It knows you're scared." He crawled a bit closer along the branch, which dipped under his weight. "We should go, Your Highness, before the trees start falling." This he said to Anise, raising his voice over the roar of the flames, though he kept an eye on Kituo. It was clear the rabbit could always run faster, due to the power of his mask -- and he would keep Kituo in his sight.

The fire raged higher, brighter, hotter, closer.

He struggled hard to break free of the bindings but to no avail. Swiveling his head around he trulied to get a look at his surroundings and found a woman sitting near him, watching him. . . . He wiggled over to the girl and once he was close enough began headbutting her leg to signal her to remove his gag. He was acting on instinct now, his inability to get free made him desperate enough to plead with his captors. He hit his head against her over and over until he grew tired and ceased. . . . He tried as best he could to inconspicuously pick up the twig and while on his back began to whittle away at the rope.

The woman in the cloak stared curiously at Talan, her eyebrows raised while he struggled and slammed his head against her thigh, as if he were a strange animal worthy of her study. "I don't think he's a Kith," she mentioned to no one in particular. She leaned over and lifted Talan's eyelid with a finger to get a better look at the color of his eyes. "He hasn't used the mask very long, his eyes are pretty normal."

The man guarding Randold spoke up: "He has no Horus eye either. Maybe he's a madman, he's wearing monkeybats for Rular's sake."

"The Kith don't wear skins." The woman hummed, gave Talan a coy smile, and reached over to untie his gag. "Keep quiet," she warned him. "Tell us yourself: where are your allegiances, pretty boy? Why were you wearing a Kith mask?" She showed him a little silvery knife. "If I like your answer I'll cut you loose."

Meanwhile the fibers of the ropes holding his wrists broke under his efforts, one by one -- but it would be a long while before he could cut himself free.

Their leader motioned quickly from the edge of the hill for their attention. "The owl," she hissed. "The Sparrow King's messenger!" She scrambled to ready her bow and notch an arrow.

"What!" The man who guarded Randold had been peeling an apple with a knife when he looked up. He gave the prisoner a last look, but he got up and went to see, abandoning Randold -- and abandoning the knife and the apple on the ground a few feet away from him.

The woman next to Talan raised her head, distracted by this new development -- so she didn't see the bloodrat that scurried out from behind the rocks. The rodent climbed onto Talan's chest and began to nibble at the pieces of bloody monkeybat skin. Another bloodrat appeared . . . and another. They were attracted to the scent of blood, and some of them scurried over Randold in order to converge upon Talan with their sharp little teeth.


Robin, Eveline and MC might see a flash of orange light in the distance through the forest, visible now that they'd climbed high enough to see it. Somewhere the forest was on fire, and that fire was growing.

she briefly meet the state of two glowing eyes perched behind the source of the purple light. Eveline smiled brightly at it, before the jarring words of the foreigner reached hers, another brief look of annoyance crosses the girls face before turning to look below her seeing the strange woman wave . . .

The owl regarded Eveline with a bit less malice than it had the others -- in fact, it gave her an intelligent and curious stare. Perhaps this was because Eveline's skin was very slowly but very definitely still becoming less and less opaque, so much so that her bones and veins were visible beneath it -- but they, too, were fading slowly. But her clothes and the flowers in her translucent hair remained just as they had been.

The flowers that she had with her were unique to the forest; there was nothing else like them anywhere. But a mass of small blue flowers grew and glowed ever so slightly at the base of the tree. A creeping vine that spiraled around the tree bloomed high above their heads with bright yellow, red-streaked flowers that almost looked poisonous. And far near the end of one long, dead branch was a single, soft white blossom that reflected a swift glimmer of colors in the light of the lantern.

Robin scuttled away from the two and headed towards the lantern. She approached it slowly, not yet climbing the branch, and noticed that it’s light seemed to be constantly changing in intensity. But it was not the flickering of a flame, but the pulsating of an…orb?

The lantern itself -- the casing, at least -- was made of iron and etched all over with careful runes. Although it was very old, it was not rusted in the slightest, and the iron was as strong as it had been upon its creation. Inside the glass of the lantern was indeed a purple orb, like an egg. It had another rune carved into it, which glowed a slightly deeper shade of purple. The longer Robin stared at it, the calmer the light seemed to be; it no longer pulsed or seemed agitated, but rather took comfort in her presence -- if such a thing as a lantern had feelings, that is.

Charms, beads and baubles in her long braids clicked and clacked together. Bracelets, dangling chains and more beads and baubles tinkled and trickled from her arms as she firmly grabbed the fungi's edge. . . . “Hola, Senior Buho... Encantado de conocerte...”she said softly and politely, “I am called: Mia-Canta Suzanne Risalinda Lasperritas. Pero, you maybe call me MC, por favor...?”

The owl creaked and snapped, puffed again at the offensive clink and clack of MC's jewelry, its eyes flashing -- but the hopeful calm in her voice seemed to placate it somewhat. It shifted and huffed and glared at her like a grumpy old man. MC would get the feeling that it understood her, but also that it was thinking that her bracelets and baubles could attract dangerous forest spirits or animals. The owl considered the ways in which it might convince her to hide them or keep them quiet -- and MC could understand those thoughts in a vague and foggy way, simply by listening.

And then, faintly and far away, she might discern that there was a very deadly sort of danger pointed in their direction. An intention to kill.

Meanwhile, below them, Elijah was being rained upon by the spores and dark powder that the others jostled loose by their ascent. He was breathing in the spores and scuffling on the metal platform that was humming and vibrating under him.

Elijah might begin to feel jabs of hot needle-pain in his veins and a roiling in his stomach not unlike that which had preceded his earlier mishap. The pain dulled to a hot tingle throughout his body, and heat filled his lungs. His breath was much hotter than it should be, and he was suddenly very thirsty. There was a faint sound of trickling water coming from the darkness beyond the reach of the lantern's light.

Robin would see it coming long before anyone knew what had happened.

To Robin, the arrow moved in slow motion. To her, the arrow took a full four seconds to fly through the air. She would see the owl spin its head around slowly, raise its wing, and lift a claw from the bark in equally slow motion, just as the arrow grazed through its wing and buried itself in the tree branch. At that moment time was at full-pace again.

To everyone else, an arrow suddenly thunked quivering into the wood at the owl's feet, while the owl flapped and fumbled in shock, one wing bloody.

Up on the hill, the pirates' leader hissed her frustration while she notched another arrow.

Anise payed no heed to the bloodrats that were now swarming over the old man's body. Her attention was on the naysayer before her.

Simon let go of Tyaelaems hand and took two steps closes to Anise. . . "A-a-a-Anise ... I don't think that the pirate was ... l-l-lying about getting home ... ... that's w-w-w-with Tyaelaems help however"

She glared at Simon. "How dare you!" Her voice was like venom. "Tyaelaem has helped me ever since we've met. He has only been doing his best." She was tempted to attack him too. Her only hope to get out of here was Tyaelaem's help. Anyone trying to separate the two of them was the enemy.

Tyaelaem hurried next to Anise and grabbed onto her skirt. When he brushed up against the sword the reaction was instantaneous. She reacted as quickly as possible by putting the sword into its sheath which was now affixed quite nicely to her waist. After she did, she knelt next to the Kith and with a worried expression said. "I'm sorry Tyaelaem I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I can take you home!" Tyaelaem screeched hoarsely, clinging to the tree branch, perched like one of the monkeybats that shuffled around him. The little bell swung gently. "All pirates lie! The eye on his palm, look at it, if he were alive it could steal your soul if he touched you. No one with that power would tell the truth. He wanted the lantern." With that he turned the eyes of his mask on Kituo.

"The egg reacts to your heartbeat. It wants you to free it from the iron prison, pull it out, smash it out, the forest is powerless to help until it's free. That's why the Sparrow King made the monkeybats attack you, he -- we -- want to free it. The egg can bring sunlight. It means the sky turns bright. I've never seen sunlight but I heard it's good, and the Elders say it's good, and you have it, there. It knows you're scared." He crawled a bit closer along the branch, which dipped under his weight. "We should go, Your Highness, before the trees start falling." This he said to Anise, raising his voice over the roar of the flames, though he kept an eye on Kituo. It was clear the rabbit could always run faster, due to the power of his mask -- and he would keep Kituo in his sight.

Anise's heart soared when she heard that the lantern would help and she turned to face Kituo who was holding the lantern and some distance away. She started following Tyaelaem, but hesitated as she looked towards the purple light far off into the distance. The fire was a scary thing, but she was more scared of what might happen to Randold. "Tyaelaem! Randold is over that way! I saw him being carried by a group of pirates. I want to save him." Her voice was clearly uncertain and she wanted to hear his advice. "I want to help him get out of here too."

<Snipped quote by Talan>
The woman in the cloak stared curiously at Talan, her eyebrows raised while he struggled and slammed his head against her thigh, as if he were a strange animal worthy of her study. "I don't think he's a Kith," she mentioned to no one in particular. She leaned over and lifted Talan's eyelid with a finger to get a better look at the color of his eyes. "He hasn't used the mask very long, his eyes are pretty normal."

The man guarding Randold spoke up: "He has no Horus eye either. Maybe he's a madman, he's wearing monkeybats for Rular's sake."

"The Kith don't wear skins." The woman hummed, gave Talan a coy smile, and reached over to untie his gag. "Keep quiet," she warned him. "Tell us yourself: where are your allegiances, pretty boy? Why were you wearing a Kith mask?" She showed him a little silvery knife. "If I like your answer I'll cut you loose."

Talan was still frantically trying to get free of his binding. At this point he began to speak in his clans tongue. "Nilto! Tul Chanak desto em? Em nar'herit Na'Ceal-"(Idiot, you dare insult me? I am the son of Na'Ceal-), his words were hateful and angry but he was quickly silenced when the woman brandished a knife. Talan calmed himself upon realizing he was not in a position to throw insults at these people. "...My name is Talan. I do not know anything about these "Kith", I did not even know that was one of their masks! As for allegiances I ally myself with no one"

Meanwhile the fibers of the ropes holding his wrists broke under his efforts, one by one -- but it would be a long while before he could cut himself free.

Their leader motioned quickly from the edge of the hill for their attention. "The owl," she hissed. "The Sparrow King's messenger!" She scrambled to ready her bow and notch an arrow.

"What!" The man who guarded Randold had been peeling an apple with a knife when he looked up. He gave the prisoner a last look, but he got up and went to see, abandoning Randold -- and abandoning the knife and the apple on the ground a few feet away from him.

The woman next to Talan raised her head, distracted by this new development -- so she didn't see the bloodrat that scurried out from behind the rocks. The rodent climbed onto Talan's chest and began to nibble at the pieces of bloody monkeybat skin. Another bloodrat appeared . . . and another. They were attracted to the scent of blood, and some of them scurried over Randold in order to converge upon Talan with their sharp little teeth.

Talan could feel the rope loosening slightly but he still had some way to go before he was free. He struggled once more to cut away at the rope but his efforts were halted by the appearance of a rat upon his chest. It nibbled at the bloody monkeybat skins he was wearing and at some points it'd miss and but his flesh. The sheer pain caused Talan to grunt while holding back a scream. This thing had to go but before he could try to deal with it more and more swarmed him and the collective bits of the rats caused his torso to feel like it was on fire. He squirmed and wiggled trying desperately to get these things off of him but they were latched onto him like fish hooks. He rolled on his side and ignored the pain for a second in order to build enough strength and with one hard push he flipped himself over onto his chest. The impact of his chest should have been enough to crush or scare off the rats but incase they were not affected Talan did this repeatedly, pounding his chest into the ground he could feel the bit marks from the rats as the impact irritated them. This place was a living hell.

The heat of the flames blistered Kituo's skin, causing him to cringe. His gut churned as his apprehension soared to higher elevations. It was happening again. A fire engulfed their surroundings, devouring all that dared to stand in its path. Kituo figured that the lantern would not be able to help him out of this predicament. Where was another stream of healing water when he needed it? At the rate which the flames spread, they'd need gallons to save themselves from being cooked alive. Well, on the literally bright side, at least the fire granted them a broader view of the forest. Unfortunately, how far they could see wouldn't matter when they were reduced to ash.

While he wasn't exactly the biggest fan of the old man, Kituo didn't think to kill him. He winced as the girl confiscated his sword and took a step back. Besides the intense heat, there was a different feeling looming in the air - the feeling of tension. He looked at the girl and felt a fear greater than what he felt of the old man, the monkey-bats, and the darned rat that chewed off his ear. He looked to Simon, hoping that his familiar face would soothe his nerves. It didn't. To Kituo something seemed off about Simon as well. Distrust swelled within the boy forcing him to hug the lantern. As the girl and Simon squabbled about the rabbit guy, Kituo analyzed them both and came to the conclusion that they were only going to get him killed. With the forest blazing around him, Kituo knew that it was either now or never if he was going to make his escape.

He wouldn't get the chance for he waited too late. He cursed his concious. If it weren't for it convincing him to stop earlier, he wouldn't be stuck with these lunatics or the pests that swarmed over the old man's carcass. The forest was taunting him once more as the rats - the brethern of the vermin that bit his ear - lasped up the blood of the dead old man. Although they were mostly ignoring him, Kituo imagined that it was his blood being licked up by the rats. Unable to further torture himself with their presence, he turned his back on the old man's carcass and groaned. The forest loved throwing bundles onto his plate at once and it would continue to pile on without consideration for Kituo's capacity to digest its horrors. He wished it were possible for him to regurgitate the barbaric memories that had been etched into his mind by the forest. It was official, he despised the place.

When the rabbit boy aimed his words to Kiuto, he didn't even bother to glance back. They all bothered him. As far as he was concerned, he was the last sane person remaining. That was certainly problematic as he was prone to snapping at any moment. Kituo sawed his teeth together upon hearing the rabbit boy's proposition about freeing the egg from the lantern. While Kituo believed that the lantern's contents both had special properties, he was reluctant to release it without knowing its capabilities for sure. If the rabbit boy was right about the motives for the Sparrow King's attack, then Kituo would vehemently deny freeing the egg to satisfy them. There was no excuse to resort to such an extreme just to see the sunlight. Growing up in the desert, Kituo didn't think the sunlight to be special anyway. Having been acquainted with it for the entirety of his life, he was liable to tell the rabbit boy that he wasn't missing out on a lot.

"Let's just getting going before those things attack again," Kituo grumbled, his back still facing the group.

The rabbit boy's stare singed Kituo worse than the fire. He didn't trust him a smidgen and from what he noticed neither did Simon. That made him feel slightly at ease. Of course he would never find solace as long as he was trapped in the dungeon that was the forest. For now he intended on tagging alone with the group. Escaping was still his preferred plan but it had lost its value. With the rabbit boy's focus locked on him, Kituo was stranded. Thankfully he still held onto his biggest asset and was perfectly fine with using it to bargain if needed.

The orb inside a lantern glowed a soft purple, as if inviting Robin to approach it. She stared at the mark etched into its surface, transfixed by its calming and curious nature—she had never seen anything like it. Robin drifted closer to the lantern and reached out, fingers tracing the grooves of the iron and reveling in the warmth of the orb behind the glass. She turned it carefully and searched for some sort of latch, completely forgetting about the owl above of her.

She felt it before she saw it.

The skin on her back bristled and she broke into a cold sweat. Orange and purple reflected off metal, and she leaped back, rapidly scanning the skies above her. She watched the arrow rotate as it soared through the air, before it nicked the owl and lodging itself in a branch with a hearty thump. She searched for the source, trying to pinpoint the source of the palpable malicious intent, but it was too dark to see. Orange tendrils of light stretched out into the night sky, the sound of water trickling emerged from the darkness further ahead, and the ticking deep within the dead tree continued unforgivingly—something was very, very wrong.

She turned to the two other girls on the surface of the mushroom and considered leaving them; her urgency to flee had increased, but she still had no idea about where she was or how she got there—they were the only ones in the forest that didn’t seem to convey feelings of malice. They mirrored back her ignorance.

If they were to leave the ominous white tree, that meant they were to be leaving their only source of light. Robin returned to the lantern and pulled at it insistently, trying to separate the shimmering thread from the iron frame. She took a hold of the string and snapped it in half, severing the lantern from it’s hold.

"The egg reacts to your heartbeat. It wants you to free it from the iron prison, pull it out, smash it out, the forest is powerless to help until it's free. That's why the Sparrow King made the monkeybats attack you, he -- we -- want to free it. The egg can bring sunlight. It means the sky turns bright.

He wishes that this would be true, he would like to feel safe for a little bit. Not to have to worry about getting attack by pirates, monkeybats, princesses or the forest itself. However he still doesn't believe that this Kith is going to be the answer to their problems. One thing that he didn't like hearing was "Smash it out" while talking about the lantern. If he remembered correctly that was the only thing that had saved them from the flying monkeys of doom.

Simon heared the noise of scuttling and slurping when he noticed that there were little rats attacking the body of the poor pirate. One thing that he could do was to let the body be at peace, as much as he didn't want to and it would probably be consumed by fire he thought that he would give his spirit peace. He took the torch and let is rest against the pirates clothes until they caught fire. May your spirit rest in peace

Simon debated if he was going to do that or not but when he realized that it served two purposes, the first was to let his spirit rest but also he felt a small relief knowing that he really wanted to do that to Tyaelaem but that would suffice for now. He wandered what kinds of lies that he told the little princess to get her so hooked on his beliefs. If he was telling the truth he would be okay with it but he could feel in his bones that deep down he was not to be trusted. That was also when he remembered the voice that he heard right before Tyaelaem pulled out the spirit weed out of his torch. "Cook that damn bunny rabbit cook him until there is nothing left to his pathetic body." He knew that something would need to be done about that stupid rabbit eventually.

I agree with Kituo that we should go, i don't really want to get engulfed in flames.

"Tyaelaem! Randold is over that way! I saw him being carried by a group of pirates. I want to save him." Her voice was clearly uncertain and she wanted to hear his advice. "I want to help him get out of here too."

"Let's just getting going before those things attack again," Kituo grumbled, his back still facing the group.

I agree with Kituo that we should go, i don't really want to get engulfed in flames.

Tyaelaem perched on the bowed mossy branch, his head down and chest quivering like a cornered rabbit. It was unclear whether he was frightened or simply thinking -- or whether he was listening to something no one else could hear.

The fire crackled. A burning tree branch snapped and fell with a roar and a crash just behind Simon, and the flames flared hotly. The monkeybats screeched and scattered in a whirlwind of dark wings. The air thickened with ash and smoke. The roots of the trees began to writhe and turn the soil like snakes beneath the weeds; they pushed dirt onto the flames, but the fire was too big and too reckless. Their branches creaked and groaned while they stretched to avoid the fire.

Tyaelaem looked up at something invisible in the trees just beyond the fire. His mouth thinned to a grim line; he didn't like this one bit. And then without a word he dropped from the branch and scurried into the woods, toward the purple light.

The Kith was fast. He darted through the brush in the dark, and even Anise would only see the ears of his mask as he flitted between the shadows of rocks and bushes and trees. No amount of calling would make him slow down or look back; it was unclear whether he was leading them or running away.

All around them, the forest was moving. The fire had disturbed the wildlife that hid within the darkness, and everywhere there were fluttering wings, tiny enraged screeches, cackles, warbles, hisses, snarls, howls. Everywhere, leaves shook and trembled, and shadows fled the fire. Anise would see a menagerie of strange small animals running and leaping and flying away from the flames.

Tyaelaem took a sudden turn, skidding in dead leaves before he darted off again in another direction.

There was no shadow and no sign of a presence, and Anise would not see it. But as the green lantern light passed by an empty space in the woods, it revealed the silhouette of a dark figure. It appeared to be a man wearing black, with a black hood and a black mask.

It only existed in the light. As soon as the lantern light was drawn away from it, even to Anise it was gone, like the shade of a ghost. It was watching them still. Tyaelaem was running as far and as fast away from it as possible.

Along their path was a shallow gully that glowed pale blue and white, a soft and tranquil place filled deeply with moonlike flowers. They glowed and rippled with a faint sheen of every color. Upon passing them, Simon would hear a faint voice calling to him from within the flowers: "I'm alone . . . can you see me? . . . Do they see you? . . . Lonely, lonely boy . . ."

On the opposite side of the bed of glowing flowers were more wide white trees with masks staring out from their trunks: the fox, the deer, the snake.

As Kituo drew closer to the glimmer of purple light in the darkness -- as the thing in the dark fixed its eyes on him -- the lantern glowed brighter and warmer, eager and more alive than it had been before. Kituo would feel it urging him forward.

Suddenly -- like the snap of a wire -- the purple light ahead flashed brighter, and the green lantern flashed brilliantly in response. Kituo was filled with a memory of flying over a sea of treetops with sunlight warm on his back, spring fragrant wind in his face. For a moment he was there, rushing beneath the clouds. The lantern knew its own power, and it strained against the bindings of iron. It was not, and would never be afraid -- even as the dark thing in the woods appeared in the light and then was gone. First ahead -- then to the right -- then slightly behind -- never moving but always in a different place, watching them at the edge of the green light.

Behind them, the fire was growing higher, faster, stronger, hotter. Fire roared high in the trees, and no matter how fast they ran the stifling heat caught up to them, warmed their backs, sent the beasts of the forest scattering.

Tyaelaem disappeared into the brush.

Ahead and up a hill there were voices: the pirates, and Talan.

The trees up on the hill were writhing. The ground trembled.

"Nilto! Tul Chanak desto em? Em nar'herit Na'Ceal-"(Idiot, you dare insult me? I am the son of Na'Ceal-), his words were hateful and angry but he was quickly silenced when the woman brandished a knife. Talan calmed himself upon realizing he was not in a position to throw insults at these people. "...My name is Talan. I do not know anything about these "Kith", I did not even know that was one of their masks! As for allegiances I ally myself with no one" . . . He rolled on his side and ignored the pain for a second in order to build enough strength and with one hard push he flipped himself over onto his chest. The impact of his chest should have been enough to crush or scare off the rats but incase they were not affected Talan did this repeatedly, pounding his chest into the ground he could feel the bit marks from the rats as the impact irritated them.

The bloodrats screeched and skittered away to avoid being crushed by Talan's efforts; they scattered, and a few of them returned for a few more nibbles before they darted away again. He caught one under him, and it hissed and bit him deeply in the arm before it darted away with a crippled tail.

The woman watched this mildly. She didn't answer nor move until she was sure Talan had exhausted his efforts. "You're making them mad," she pointed out. But any Kith would know better: she had no choice but to believe him.

"Calm down and stay still," she sighed, grabbing his wrist -- and she carefully undid the knot that bound his hands. "You're stupid if you think you can get by on your own, especially wearing the skulls of vanquished primates. They're not even runed. It's miraculous you're alive." Once his hands were free, she turned his palms upward, in the process revealing a black tattoo of an eye on her right palm. "We've just lost a few of our own. Who were your friends?"

At the edge of the hill, the archer hissed in frustration and the man behind her growled. "You missed! It's looking this way!"

The purple light below the hill suddenly flashed bright, illuminating them all for a moment.

Behind them, a green light flashed among the dark trees.

For a flicker of a moment, a man all in black, with a black mask, appeared in the lantern light and then was gone.

"Move!" someone screamed.

The trees began to shudder and twist; their roots rumbled and cracked and thundered angrily in the ground beneath them, and the hill shook and swayed like an earthquake.

The woman took an iron pendant from around her neck and slipped it over Talan's head, with only a glance that warned him to trust her.

If they were to leave the ominous white tree, that meant they were to be leaving their only source of light. Robin returned to the lantern and pulled at it insistently, trying to separate the shimmering thread from the iron frame. She took a hold of the string and snapped it in half, severing the lantern from it’s hold.

The purple light flashed brilliantly, blinding for a moment.

The ticking stopped.

The owl was puffed to twice its size, wings wide, its eyes glaring murderously up at the spot on the hill where the arrow had come from. The arrow that still quivered at its feet, tipped with trembling yellow feathers.

The trees on the hill were writhing and twisting; from their perch on the mushrooms, Robin and Eveline and MC would hear the ground and the trees cracking and thundering on the hill. Someone was screaming.

A green flash of light sparked from within the darkness of the forest.

Below, they would hear the groan and crack of metal. The runes on the metal platform under Elijah's feet had stopped glowing the moment the lantern had been snapped from its thread. The platform now trembled and tilted and groaned and creaked -- and then it suddenly fell out from under Elijah's feet.

He fell into darkness.

The owl leaped up with a flap of great wings and perched on Robin's shoulder, still glaring at the crumbling hill where the trees still caused earthquakes and the screaming hadn't ceased.

The green light was coming closer.

The Owl's steady and piercing gaze drove into MC's hazel eyed gaze and suddenly the tension running through her tensed muscles began to slip away. The more the tension slid away, the wider her eyes became. Because she was right all along. They had all laughed at her except Abuelita. Only Grandma shared the truth MC knew all along...

'...Miss Mia-Canta of the Lasperritas can speak to animals!! Oh! Special me!!'

The very thought of such a thing sent tears welling up at the brims of her lower lids and only long lashes kept them from falling.

'...well maybe not speak to them like talking to them, but umm... communicate with them? On a... deeper level than most..? Si, that is me...! Special, no?' That very thinking was the only reason MC could ever explain how she was able to calm and train the dogs at the farm! But whatever the case, right now, she understood upon such a rudimentary--

--through the fog of her mind, demons and assailants assaulted her mind's eye... and it was all Mia-Canta's fault! For immediately thereafter, an image of her braids, baubles and big mouth flashed the message loud and clear-- she could get them all killed!

A single deliberate nod she gave and quickly twisted her braids up into swirly knot and tied them off. Now for the lovely bracelets along her long, strong, arms--

She jumped and gasped at the same time when the arrow stuck fast in the tree. And in the shocked silence, it's shaft vibrated its message by shaking yellow feathers, re-iterating what Mister Owl, Senior Buho, just emoted to her: You are going to get everyone killed!

Blood splashed and several drops sprayed across her black-smeared, light brown face. And as she reached out to try to grasp Senior Buho, just then she noted the swirling, spiralling vine with the lovely and tempting, oh sooooooo tempting flowers calling to her... telling her to come forward... grasp... caress... be a bad girl for once, come now and reach out and smell the smell of the loveliest flowers that any would ever--

-SNAP!- the string broke and the lantern was free!

And so was the hypnotic sway that held over Mia-Canta. She shook her head several times then smacked her cheeks a couple times... and of course, only now she noted the two frightening glowing hues breaking the darkness in the distance. And of course, on cue the tree's sound increased in volume and the metal, the frying pan beneath them groaned with a devil's delight.

One light was the eerie, and foreboding green light in the distance. The hills. One side of danger. One inexplicable, yet still one that shot electric jolts down her spine as she shuddered. Grandma told her about phantom lights calling little girls and boys into the brush and bringing them to very bad places. But that was all folk tales, right?

But the other light, the orange light of the other side of danger, she knew all too well. Well, MC knew about the deadly brushfires; they were wild and unpredictable as the wind that drove them onward. Only now did she pick up on the scent... Wind... if it blows in their direction-- a shrill scream in the distance broke her momentary pause. And of course, she came to to witness a terrible, oh so terrible thing to witness.

Suddenly the shaking and groaning came to a crescendo and, below them the Devil's frying pan broke away and swallowed the boy all up and into oblivion. MC was to scream in horror to his demise but no sound came from her tightened throat because of what she saw just now.

The other, the one other than the flower girl, this.. this sexless yet somehow exceptionally uniquely beautiful and olive skinned other... this one that had snubbed MC earlier, was holding the lantern that emitted the violent violet light and MC was left breathless.

And as the owl perched upon this unique snubbing other's shoulder, MC finally saw that the source of the light was like no other light source like she had known. No, it was more like an eye? No, a gem? No... for it seemed like it was more alive and shivering like a new... a new what? A new egg ready to be born?!

Again the Latina shook her head, and now she acted. She interposed her muscular frame between the two female strangers and the deadly encroaching pair of lights. It was her fault that the boy was lost. There was no way that she would allow any other to be killed or brought deeper into this Hell, or wherever they were, by her foolishness.

<<I am a hard-working girl...>> she said to herself in her native tongue, softly and gently neath her breath <<...a hard-working girl and a special good one too...>>

A solid nod she gave before reaching to press the small of the backs of the other girls. “¡Vaminos! We will dead!” she called to them in a harsh whisper, her mind still fresh with Mister Owl's warning, “¡Deprisa, deprisa! Go down!”

MC took two long strides and stongs legs and she leapt from the mushroom top, her poncho chasing behind her. She landed with just enough space to not fear being swallowed up by the gaping hole in the ground. She did not need to do a shoulder roll but better safe than sorry faceplanting into the shaking earth. The Latina followed through with her roll and stood up, then swiftly turned around and held up her arms to the other girls and motioned them towards her.

“¡Ven aca! You come! Mia-Canta catch! ¡Ven aca ahora, por favor! Please!”

MC braced herself just in case one of them did jump down and into her waiting arms.

The rabbit that had been looking over the group as they started to depart from the flames had come crashing to the ground with such force that it could be heard over the raging inferno that Simon had accidentally caused. Simon was going to grab him and demand to get some straight answers out of him when he absolutely bolted without saying a word to anyone, not even Anise. Which made Simon extremely curious since he was attached to her side grovelling like a child moments earlier until now but when he looked in the direction that the rabbit had been looking he didn't see anything but flames. They had been there the whole time so it wouldn't make sense as to why it spooked Tyaelaem. To be honest nothing that he said made sense to Simon anyway. He also wanted to laugh at Anise because the rabbit was ohhh so faithful to her and getting her home but since she was still the possessor of a large sword he thought it would be against his best interests.

Simon had been following the group on the way up the hill and away from the flames when he could hear a voice that sounded familiar to Simon. He hasn't heard that in years since her accident but there no mistake that it was his sister, he knew this for two reasons; the first was because of her soft still youthful voice but the most obvious was the phrase "lonely boy". His sister would frequently call him that because no matter how many people were occupying the same space as her brother he would often look alone. Simon couldn't pinpoint the location of the voice at first over the flames around him but he noticed a spot that looked different from what he expected to see at the moment. There was a small gully that had a very tranquil feeling even though the current situation that they were in and it really wasn't something that he could ignore either.

Simon made an executive decision to himself that he was going into the gully without notifying since he was behind everyone else and it was his own personal matter. He couldn't rest knowing that he hear his sister in this bleak place. When Simon entered the gully he couldn't see any human life forms or anything that would emulate his sisters voice but it was a very relaxing place to be. It took his mind away from that hated rabbit, stubborn princess or coward lantern wielder. At the moment he didn't even care that the forest was burning down. That was when something popped into Simons head thinking about what the rabbit said about soothsayer summoning spirits. What if this was something of the case and the only way to see or communicate with his dearly departed sister. Simon looked down at the flower and picked up a whole one while thinking of something in his head. The previous experience he had was only one leaf what happened if he used a whole flower instead.

This was right when something else caught Simons eye, he had noticed that there was some more trees like they had seen back at the healing spring, similar to one that Simon had picked up that was Talans. Instead of using one that had already been claimed by someone else Simon would figure that he would just take one for himself and return the wolf to Talan. Simon walked over to the tree with the fox attached to it, in the back of his mind it had been picked because he figured if the fact that if he needed to pick an animal spirit or something to defeat a Kith he figured that a fox would be the best option out of the three to beat a rabbit.

Simon had a bad gut feeling about carrying two of these masks at one time but he knew that it would only be temporarily until he seen Talan again then it would only be one mask. That put his mind at ease again when he went back over to the flower, now the he had paid attention to the mask he could focus on the task that was at hand. Simon placed the torch in his right hand and picked up a flower with his left hand. He gripped the handle of the torch firmly not wanting to drop any aspect in case something messed up since he didn't want to ruin the tranquility of this beautiful gully. Simon took the whole flower and placed it directly into the base of the torches flame.

"Hello, can you hear me! I can't see you yet but I can hear you. I don't want to be alone anymore!" Simon whispered quietly in the gully.

Anise couldn't believe it, no one wanted to help her. She saw Tyaelaem running away from something out of pure fear. Whatever it was she didn't understand what it was, even when she saw the silhouette of the figure in the lantern light. She noticed the light of the lantern glowing brighter and even flashing along with the purple light. They were getting closer to Randold at least and away from the fire. Yet still she didn't know where he was, since she lost sight of him when dealing with the old man.

She realized she had a choice: go with Tyaelaem or stay with these strangers. Before she could even decide the rabbit boy had already vanished into whatever hiding spot he was in. She frowned and looked towards the purple light remembering what Tyaelaem had said about the lanterns and how they were connected to the sunlight. She realized that they were reacting to each other and brightened up slightly.

She rushed forward and grabbed at Kituo's arm intent to pull him towards the purple light. "Come on," she eagerly urged. "We can get out of here if we gather all the lanterns together! Come on! We'll be free of this hell." She didn't care about the dark figure that was watching them. She only wanted to be free and go home to Father and Mother.

A soft giggle echoed once more from the flower child, as she clapped brightly at the sight of the single white flower, forgetting briefly about her companions or the fact that she was turning invisible.

Eveline set off towards the edge of the mushroom teetering dangerously close to the edge as she reached out straining to at least grab hold of the branch, solely focused on that flowers she continued to ignore the rising heat and smell of fire in the air. At most it stirred a memory of home, of her mother drying herbs over the fire, a pleasant smile making its way across her lips.

Being that far out on the edge, she caught sight of the small glimmering blue flowers, wanting to collect those too, before returning to the task at hand, not being able to see her hand was rather strange but she could feel it there as it if were normal, the fire roared and the others had seemed to be fussing over the sharp twang of an arrow hitting the dead tree.

But all that was miles away from the small girl, all she saw was the flower and the desire to have it, it seemed wrong, the thought of leaving it felt wrong to her, so there she was once more balanced between the mushroom and the branch, before jumping slightly, and as her hand curled around the stem of the flower the world went dark for a brief second.

The sharp snap of the string as the lantern broke loose was echoed by the soft thud of the girl hitting the mushroom below, a lot seemed to happen at once.

Staring at the flower she grinned at it still retained its shine from the now blocked light source, the grinding of the metal hit her ears harshly as color started to slowly return to her hands. Fascinated by the change the flower child quickly scrambled to her feet once more wasting an effort to wipe the black powder off her still visible dress. Now that was interesting that she herself had become extremely see through but her articles of clothing even the flowers in her hair still retained their bright brilliance.

At the sound of a scream, Eveline tilted her head looking down over the edge watching impassively as the platform below opened and swallowed the strange man, it was the rule of the forest after all. It will always take what it sees as its own. Humming softly she jumped back up onto her earlier platform noticing the strange boy was holding the lantern and had the owl perched on his shoulder, waving slightly she tilted her head in a slight bow towards the creature before skipping forward leaning down to examine the lantern, tapping the glass like a curious child before stepping back a few feet, her natural dislike of metal work and modern technology making itself prevalent again.

A circuitous glance towards the other woman came with the pleasant surprise that she had gotten rid of most of the noise makers she had been wearing and that she had pulled her hair up, walking over to here the girl circled her curiously inspecting her clothing, she hadn't see anything like it before. It was really pretty. Deciding to give the strange woman a flower after all, she reached up to untangle another red one from her crown while seamlessly slipping the bright white flower into the mix.

But before she would get the chance the woman urged them to run, she assumed it was from the fire, curious as to why others would fear it. After all it was only natural, whether it was man made or not was another thing all together, the forest would grow from it, shrugging she giggled clapping once more as the bizarre woman jumped out of the tree, perhaps she wasn't that strange and could last in the forest after all. Tilting her head she smiled at the boy and the owl next to her before she herself jumped down to another mushroom, not bothering to slow down she used her momentum to gleefully hop from one to the other laughing as she bounced down lightly on the ground next to the blue flowers instantly reaching out to pick a few of them braiding them into her crown.

Looking up at the strange woman she offered out on of her own flowers with a bright smile, unsure if she had become visible again or was still an illusion of a ghost.

As the sudden light from the lantern subdued, and darkness fell again on the forest, Robin felt every part of her body go cold. The orange light was getting closer, accompanied by the scent of smoke and ashes, and the forest was suddenly filled with the distant sounds of fleeing wildlife and terror. The metal platform below her shifted and groaned, and the hills ahead, highlighted by the flamed, seemed to tremble in warning.

Lantern in hand, she ran to MC and the flower girl and was about to beckon them to follow her in the opposite direction of whatever forces were encroaching on them, when she noticed something odd; the foreigner seemed to be looking down at the platform in shock, and Robin peered down, seeing only a large emptiness where the metal platform once rested. The man was nowhere to be found, but she did not dwell on his fate—there were more important things to focus on.

Talons dug snugly into her shoulder, and she stilled, knowing that if she were to force sudden movement, the owl could easily tear some of her skin off. It was a small animal that seemed to harbor no ill intent; it’s presence was strangely comfortable and she tilted her head slightly to brush her cheeks against it smooth feathers.

Lifting the lantern, her eyes widened when she saw the flower girl becoming increasingly translucent. The purple light seemed to shine right through her, and Robin stared unabashedly for a moment before MC put a hand on her back and urged them to move.

She jerked away from the touch and briefly gave MC her an awkward, apologetic look. There was too much going on—the sounds were approaching at an increasingly fast pace, and the forest itself seemed to be screaming at them to leave.

There were more mushrooms surrounding the area above the gaping hole in the ground, creating a way for them to circumvent the hole and move forward into the forest. The pathway showed itself naturally in her minds eye and she knew it would not be a problem to get across.

Robin nudged at the owl, letting it know that it would have to fly off for her to jump. She leaped to where MC was, avoiding her outstretched arms and continued moving forwards. The flower child was already moving ahead, and Robin followed, beckoning MC to follow. She covered her mouth and nose with her shirt to avoid breathing in the black dust, and began running across the mushroom tops. She kept from mushroom to mushroom, careful to avoid damaging the lantern, and reveled in the breeze that rushed by her with every leap. She became much calmer and aware of her surroundings, fear no longer fogging her thoughts.

She reached the opposite side of the the gap and lifted the lantern to illuminate further ahead. Trees aggregated in tight clumps, fading into darkness the further they were. They three girls would have to be careful moving ahead. Robin put the lantern under her shirt, dimming it’s light to avoid attracting any unwanted attention, and pressed forwards, mapping out a path for the others to follow.

The bloodrats screeched and skittered away to avoid being crushed by Talan's efforts; they scattered, and a few of them returned for a few more nibbles before they darted away again. He caught one under him, and it hissed and bit him deeply in the arm before it darted away with a crippled tail.

The woman watched this mildly. She didn't answer nor move until she was sure Talan had exhausted his efforts. "You're making them mad," she pointed out. But any Kith would know better: she had no choice but to believe him.

"Calm down and stay still," she sighed, grabbing his wrist -- and she carefully undid the knot that bound his hands. "You're stupid if you think you can get by on your own, especially wearing the skulls of vanquished primates. They're not even runed. It's miraculous you're alive." Once his hands were free, she turned his palms upward, in the process revealing a black tattoo of an eye on her right palm. "We've just lost a few of our own. Who were your friends?"

The bloodrats' bites left bruises and small punctures all about his arms and torso with some trickling blood down his body. Instead of lowering his morale as would be expected, this only fueled a greater anger within him. This forest was evil, everything within wanted him dead and he felt the same way towards its denizens. As the woman released him from his bindings Tala suddenly felt empowered, his life was in his hands once more and he was going to make this forest, and any who opposed him, feel his wrath.

At the edge of the hill, the archer hissed in frustration and the man behind her growled. "You missed! It's looking this way!"

The purple light below the hill suddenly flashed bright, illuminating them all for a moment.

Behind them, a green light flashed among the dark trees.

For a flicker of a moment, a man all in black, with a black mask, appeared in the lantern light and then was gone.

"Move!" someone screamed.

The trees began to shudder and twist; their roots rumbled and cracked and thundered angrily in the ground beneath them, and the hill shook and swayed like an earthquake.

The woman took an iron pendant from around her neck and slipped it over Talan's head, with only a glance that warned him to trust her.

Upon showing her hands Talan pulled his back from the woman,"I have no friends" he said coldly. Before he could say more however, another voice broke the momentary silence. What came after was chaos, a flash of purple light illuminated the group before fading out, not long after a green light began to flash behind them with a black silhouette of a man nearby. The ground began to shake violently as the tree roots began to writhe about in the underground. With all this going on Talan didn't notice the woman put around his neck until it was resting around his neck. He jumped slightly in surprise but quickly understood the look she gave him. He'd play along for now, at least until the current crises is ended.

As she took the flower from the fading girl, MC intentionally grasped at the small hand holding the blood red flower. Was she fading only from sight, or from existence...? The Latina was uncertain and grasping the flower girl's hand did not solidify any thoughts one way or the other on the matter to MC. So instead of dwelling upon it, she took a moment and nodded graciously in acceptance of the gift.

Simply in her elegance, strangeness in her graceful movements and yet with enough of a nose upturned with that just right angle to make any queen jealous... she carries herself like... like my sister Maria-Dulce...

MC reached neath her poncho and pulled out a dark feather that still held its rainbow sheen, holding it between her index finger and thumb, twisting it slightly. She flashed the big eyed girl a shy smile but still managed a playful wink as she held the gift out to the fading flower girl.

“For you... oh! I do not know? What are you called...?” she asked politely yet still shyly.

But then suddenly they were off chasing after the quick pace set by the other, the olive-skinned girl who seemingly befriended the owl. A quick glance behind, MC afforded herself as she ran along, if only to see just how far away they were now from the green and orange lights. She then shook her head at the thought of actually getting shot at! But then she remembered that this was not her home.

It was wise to flee. For if someone had taken a shot with a bow and arrow at them during a forest fire, she did not want to find out who took that shot. But... exactly what was the shooter aiming for... Senior Buho...? Mister Owl or... maybe the Lantern with the glowing egg inside it?

But whatever the case, they had little to no light to go on since the sinewy girl had tucked away the lantern and Mia-Canta swore she would not lose these two. So she did what she did with like when she and her siblings when they travelled through unknown terrain in the dark back home.

Maybe it was more to comfort herself more so than the others, but still, MC reached out in front of her to grasp the hand of one girl with her left hand and the other with her right hand. A small comfort but a comfort nonetheless. For they had just met and the links between them were as strong as the ones holding a string of paperdolls together. A pang struck at her heart. Oh, how she wished she had siblings and their dogs with her just now!

But at least we are not alone against the dark...! a hopeful thought and a warm squeeze from her hands should she be holding hands with the other two fleeing girls.

The girl stared at the strange woman wide eyed as she offered her the feather entranced by the shimmering colors of the thing. Giggling she quickly exchanged it for her flower wondering if she could entwine it with the rest of her flowers. A quick shake of the head dispelled such a thought, just as quickly did the feather dissappear into the pocket of the girl's dress, did she welcome the warm hand of this strange woman.

'Such strange companions, but they are much more fun then the ones at home. No one ever wants to play with me this much.'

Blinking slightly at the dimming light Eveline turned to look at the other figure next to her, the strange boy-girl, he had placed the lantern under his shirt to dim the light earning an approving glance from the girl as she entertained a brief though on just how warm the lantern must feel against his bare skin. Shrugging she hummed softly, finding herself linked to the the woman who smelt of spices keeping quiet, giving no sign that she would give her name, let alone speech at all. It had been many years since she had heard her own voice, wondering just how hoarse it would sound if she used it.

Pulling on the girl's girl's hand, the flower child set off into the woods. Slightly annoyed that she couldn't see very well but she trusted her instincts and the feel of dirt and leaves beneath her feet. After all if you couldn't trust what you felt then perhaps you were meant to be dead in the water. Unaware that the pretty blue flowers she had picked where still glowing and had attracted fireflies that started to circle around her, she giggled at the sight of them. Offering them a slight bow, she grinned further as they started to light up the area around them even more beckoning them forward.

'Like fairy lights leading the children away from home, farther and farther they roam.'

The lines of a nursery song whispered through her mind. It was a well known tale in her village, the fairy lights would tease and call for children to follow to the hills and clearings where they would stumble upon the feast of fairies welcomed willingly to eat and join in the dance.

'But don't you dare eat the food, child, or taste their wine. For if you do, then they have you.'

They would keep the children there forever, often switching them for their own.

Changling.

She wondered how many times she had heard that word, all because she had preferred the forest too their school house and ball grounds. What was so wrong with wanting to play where the wild things live? To climb trees and see new heights? Too know where the berries grow and the flowers blossom? But here was different, here it was wild, there was no one to call her names or try to keep her from the trees. She could be free and live like the wild things.

Even if there were hunters, and there always were. The arrow from earlier proved it, it wasn't meant for them but for the owl that seemed to be interested in her small group or perhaps it guarded the lantern and would follow as long as they had it. The flower child almost felt sorry for the small egg trapped in the iron casing knowing too well what it was like to be placed in a box away from the joys of the forest.

Giggling softly she slipped her hand from the strange woman before spinning lightly in circles admit the fireflies. Their soft light glimmering off her flowers and dress. Beneath her feet were piles of leaves that stirred at her movements, catching the wind and rising higher and higher around her.

A soft glow of blue and purple light blanketed them, providing enough light to provide visibility up to 7 feet away. If they needed more, Robin could easily take the lantern out, and if they needed less, she could use her hat to dim the light.

They pressed onwards, the leaves of billowy trees hovering over them as if providing protection. The panicked sounds and light were still behind them, but farther now, as they picked up pace. Robin continued her swift progress forward, with no idea where she was heading. They just needed to get away from whatever was after them. The farther away they got, the louder the dead leaves sounded under their feet, the louder their heavy breaths—

”Robin..I’m Robin.” she said. The last word got caught dryly in her throat, and she broke into a coughing fit; speaking wasn’t her strong point, and she was reminded how much every time she opened her mouth. It was better to get names out of the way if they were going to stick together.

A hand slipped into her own. They didn’t break their speed and kept moving swiftly, avoiding the thick roots of the trees and the occasional debris that scattered the floor. It was almost calming, this feeling. Nostalgia hit her like a brick, and she silently longed for her home, where she was free to roam the alleys and rooftops with her motley crew of runners, and where her family was, working and toiling at the inn like they always did.

But there was a lightness in her; there was adventure and new terrain to explore—if there was one thing she got from her father, it was her wily nose for adventure.

Her senses still screamed danger, but there was an undercurrent of excitement. Looking into the darkness of the forest, she wondered if she was foolish to feel that way.

The blue light from behind her dimmed and she looked back, to see the translucent girl stop and spin in circles. They had made considerable ground, and the lights that followed behind them were much smaller than before.

Fireflies fluttered around the mysterious girl as she spun, gently light reflecting off her dress and flowers; Robin stood silently, transfixed by the radiance of the girl compared to the eeriness of the forest. She could almost understand how someone could feel so at home in such a strange environment, but the absolute carefreeness of the girl eluded her.

Robin looked back at the lights in the distance and let go of MC’s hand, rushing towards the nameless girl. She grabbed the girl’s wrist and gently tugged her forwards. Robin looked at her with steady eyes and urged her to continue with them.

Smiling slightly at the boy's harsh whisper and cough of a name, Eveline committed the word to memory as she had down with the strange woman.

'Robin, like the little bird.'

The thought was brief and soon forgotten as the purple light shimmered off the feathers of the owl as he rejoined the strange troupe of travelers, perching a few branches about the flower child watching her with the same curiosity she had grown used to over the years. Everything had seemed to dull and quiet, even the roar and the crackling of the raging fire behind them. No screams, no birds, just silence. If anything that is what the girl found strange, very rarely had she ever heard a forest quieten before, a small tremor of trepidation and warning trickling through her as she continued to twirl in awe of the small fire flies.

The soft tug on her wrist snapped her out of the trance she had slipped into staring back at the boy with vivid and curious eyes, a slight tilt in her head mimicked the growing smile playing on her lips as she nodded once pulling her hand back slightly to slide it to rest against the others palm holding his hand like a child would their mothers, loose but not enough to be lost. Skipping slightly she twirled in a half moon around the messenger; this time pulling him with her as she rejoined MC grasping her hand as well, like one would a friend loose yet with a sense that the other would not let it fall.

Completely at ease with her new companions Eveline continued down the path, humming softly to break the growing silence, it had become almost palpable and hung heavy in the air setting the girls nerves on end as the Owl launched back into the air silently keeping pace with the trio. The shadows followed the light, as they always would, slithering and shifting over the dead branches and roots as if urged on by a darker presence, yet they did not encroach on the small circle of light the fire flies made as they floated betwixt and around them. As friendly as the flower girl seemed she still gave no motion or even a notion that she would part with her name, perhaps in a brighter setting she could be coaxed to write it in the earth; a silly believe that knowing someones name gave them a slight power of you, even more so then naming an object.

There was also the small fact that the girl hadn't spoken since she was seven, she wondered briefly if she would even be able to speak should she attempt to utter a sound. With a slight shrug and another bright smile, she lead them deeper down the path taking in what she could see curiously. In truth the view on the ground offered little vantage too heavy with brush and bramble for their hidden light source to break through the heavy darkness as it seemed to absorb the light rather then dispel at the touch of it. Perhaps this forest was wrong, but it held an air of magic and time, as if it was the first. The first forest, the one true forest, like in the stories her mother would whisper her to sleep with. The idea that she was in such a place fueled the girl's excitement as she pressed on, careful not to let go of the hands in hers, the ever growing feeling that to get separated would be as certain as a ill-timed death.

The smell of fire still hung heavy in the air, but it was slowly replaced with the smell of water and iron, as the girl faltered slightly, a first, yet she was not found of things made of the new age. After all iron was just starting to be worked in the village, and to her that seemed like witchcraft. A soft hoot from the Owl seemed to only aid her distaste to continue on this path as she looked between her traveling companions, it they wished to press forward she would not argue, but the faint sound of laughter on the wind did little to settle her doubts.

As the fire overtook them, Kituo shuddered. His skin blistered as the heat's intensity rubbed against him. The heat was greater than any he had ever felt before. It was so hot that it forced him to prod the lantern away from his chest, its warmth only adding to the smoltering torture. Not only was the heat pounding him, but the smoke from the fire was beginning to choke Kituo. It was becoming increasingly harder to breath and as he hacked and choked, Kituo staggered on his feet. He couldn't rely on the lanter to get him out of this crisis. If his willpower couldn't succeed then he was finished. It made Kituo feel more uneasy to see even the monkey bats withdrawing from the flames. The fire was truly an adversary to them all.

He didn't know whether it was through sheer will or not, but somehow Kituo found the strength to keep his feet moving. While he didn't register it at first, he was actually being guided through the inferno by the shine of the purple lantern in the distance. When he did take heed of it, he could only manage a small grin as a display of his hope. The purple light gave Kituo reassurance in that he would not have to rely solely on himself. Kituo knew he wasn't the best equipped for keeping himself alive. For all he knew the entirety of the forest had already been engulfed. But, if the purple light still gleamed then there had to be a safe point ahead. Having a set destination motivated Kituo to pick up his pace. Hurrying along, he pushed the lantern back against his chest and gritted his teeth to endure the heat.

As Kituo trudged, his body began to gradually feel lighter with each step he took. This continued until he swore that he was floating through the air - a sensation he felt during his descent from above. The lantern in his arms almost blinded him as it reacted to the purple light that advanced onto them. As good as it felt, Kituo himself finding temporary pleasure in the familiarity, he was unable to fully remove himself from the fire that surged through the forest. He came back down to reality and pushed forward with his passion increased by a morsel. Kituo's heart had been worked to exhaustation. No longer able to zip, it thumped within Kituo as his body slowed down. The smoke was weighing his lungs down and he was becoming feint headed. Kituo panted and fought to catch as much oxygen as he could salvage. As he nodded in and out of darkness he swore he caught a glimpse of something looming near him. Whatever. If there indeed was something there, Kituo figured it unwise for it attack him giving the circumstances.

C'mon, move. Kituo urged, trying his best to lift his leg. Contrasting with his soaring head, the mass of Kituo's body was becoming heavier. Kituo staggered again and nearly fell. At this rate it would be near impossible for him to progress. He coughed and prepared to quit. But, just when he was about to fall to his knees, his body was suspended mid-drop.

The voice of the girl seeped life back into Kituo as she held onto his arm. Did she say that they could get home if they gathered all the lanterns? That was a symphony to Kituo's ears.

"A-alright," he chucked, forcing another step.

He had nothing to lose by resisting his own demise.

Hazel eyes glistened and shone with the reflected lights of the dancing fireflies surrounding the flower girl. By the sounds of an orchestra unheard, she watched the flower girl twirl and swirl, almost euphoric in her spiralling movements. A full smile now blossomed and held on fondly at the full dusky rose coloured lips of the Latina as her eyes traced downward from the flower girls face to the the hem of her dirtied gown, billowing and swishing in accompaniment to the music unheard.

A slight tilt of the head the tall Latina gave as she continued to watch in delight, oblivious that her own black-smeared and blood dotted light brown face was but a shadow of her own mother's lovely face now, accented even more by the brilliant red flower tucked behind her right ear. Yet still, she sighed, both hands reached upward and found themselves clasped together neath her dirtied chin and long neck as, yet still, she watched-- no, admired the two of them now, a beautifully unique and alluringly sexless body inadvertently swept up in the twisting frills and humming aura of the dancing flower girl.

A moment, for just a brief moment, Mia-Canta joined in on the dance as she caught the hand of the flower girl. And so a small giggle trickled away from MC's mouth. What else could one do in such a sublime moment; dancing with fireflies in the forest of Hell, after narrowly escaping the fall of the devil's frying pan?

Nothing but laugh for their poor souls.

And so they ran on. And on.

The beautiful sexless one's name was: Robin. Even her voice was sexless. A sideways glance, MC gave her, just a curious glance... The garb Robin wore was not familiar in the very least to MC, but they seemed to be rather practical and functional. And Robin's hat! Oh, how Mia-Canta wanted to pluck it off Robin's head and try it on for size. Esta Bonita! But as they ran on, the curious glances soon turned into more intrusive glances as shy hazel eyes continued to trace the lithe physique of the other girl and slip around and about checking for those certain lovely mountains and lovelier valleys.

If they made eye contact, Mia-Canta was sure that in the low light, Robin would not notice that the tall Latina had quickly turned cheek, with said cheeks at full heat and blush; a sheepish, possibly guilty smile still residing upon full dusky rose lips.

Mia-Canta thought for a second as they ran, about where she was, and exactly what she was doing before waking up here in the Forest of Hell. Yes, MC did love to wear dangly trinkets, baubles, beads, feathers, bracelets, bangles, braided strings and such lovelier things, but why so many this time? And her hair above was rather showy and her top neath her poncho very, very showy and revealing. As if... was it fiesta back home? What time of year was it? And where were her shoes?!

And oh, how curious she was to know of the others' last memories before waking here too, but that would have to wait for now. There was a change in the forest and in the disposition, it seemed, of the silent and fading flower girl. And now MC smelled the change as well.

It smelled like when she and her siblings would take the dogs to show them off-- it smelled like when they were getting closer to a someone's home... the face or faces linked to such smells were clouded in her mind, she could not see them. But MC found the smells launched in her memory the old metal of a bridge that rose high above swift moving, frothy liquid rushing past large, slippery rocks neath it.

MC slowed down a bit and tried to impress such images upon the owl, and in those thoughts she tried to emote concern and trepidation, but all the while she kept her mind and aura open to any thoughts or images that Senior Buho might impress upon her. But just trailing those thoughts and images, sliding in and out were questions about who was shooting at them and why... and of course, what exactly was emitting the violet light from the lantern tucked away in Robin's possession.

. . . he could hear a voice that sounded familiar to Simon. He hasn't heard that in years since her accident but there no mistake that it was his sister . . . Simon made an executive decision to himself that he was going into the gully without notifying since he was behind everyone else and it was his own personal matter. . . . he would just take one [mask] for himself and return the wolf to Talan. . . . Simon walked over to the tree with the fox attached to it . . . Simon took the whole flower and placed it directly into the base of the torches flame.

"Hello, can you hear me! I can't see you yet but I can hear you. I don't want to be alone anymore!" Simon whispered quietly in the gully.

The flames devoured the flower, and the torchlight popped and burned bright blue. The flowers at Simon's feet glimmered and reflected the blue light; their white petals shone like ghosts.

"Lonely boy . . ." the voice whispered, weak and unearthly. It surrounded him, coming from all around, from the shadows and from the shimmering flowers themselves, and the blue-tinted darkness. "I want you to see me. Take me away. I trust you." The voice was soft and soothing. "Under your feet. Look."

Indeed, if Simon only looked down and moved his foot away, he would see a glimmer of blue stone; it was a blue diamond set in a black metal necklace, buried in the ground among the shining white flowers, where no animal dared to tread.

"Take me to the river. I am the water to the fox's flame. You and I, my dear lonely boy. You and I."

The flames were coming close, fast. Within minutes they would overtake the flowers and turn them all to ash.

In the opposite direction, the green light moved on ahead.

The bloodrats' bites left bruises and small punctures all about his arms and torso with some trickling blood down his body. . . . As the woman released him from his bindings Tala suddenly felt empowered, his life was in his hands once more and he was going to make this forest, and any who opposed him, feel his wrath. . . . With all this going on Talan didn't notice the woman put around his neck until it was resting around his neck. He jumped slightly in surprise but quickly understood the look she gave him. He'd play along for now, at least until the current crises is ended.

The roots beneath them writhed and shifted. The ground buckled, fell out beneath them, turned to mud then to quicksand in a blink. Vines and branches seized Talan's leg and waist, bound the woman beside him and yanked them down into the sand -- the other pirates wore the iron armor, and thus the trees could not touch them, but the armor itself made them sink all the faster.

"Rhea!" one of them screamed, flailing helplessly. "Rhea, hurry!"

Fireflies swarmed above them, almost mocking, illuminating the undulation of deadly sand. In their flashing light, several black shadowy figures loomed over the pirates as they sank.

Randold -- still bound -- slipped silently beneath the sand.

The woman -- named Rhea -- took hold of the pendant around Talan's neck, tangling the monkeybat skulls in her grasp. She gave the chain a painful yank just as the quicksand closed around his head.

Talan's mind was suddenly spinning, his stomach in knots and nauseous, his body strained as if he were being stretched on a rack. Lights flashed behind his eyes where everything else was darkness, and a piercing pain exploded in his head. And then, vertigo: suddenly he was lying on a slick metal surface with the roar of rushing water thundering below. It was dark. Too dark to see.

Rhea was beside him, choking and coughing and leaning over the rail of the damp metal bridge, gasping for air. They'd nearly suffocated in the quicksand. None of the other pirates had made it out.

The bridge itself was not simple: through touch, Talan might discern the cogs and gears lining the outside of the rail, and poles that held up strings of lights. Just beside the place where Rhea and Talan had appeared was a handle and a crank.

Upstream, an inferno burned brightly, rushing closer, devouring the trees.

On one side of the bridge, a violet light approached.

From the other side glowed a familiar green light.

. . . as her hand curled around the stem of the flower the world went dark for a brief second. . . . she tilted her head in a slight bow towards the [owl] before skipping forward leaning down to examine the lantern, tapping the glass like a curious child . . .

The violet egg within the glass flashed ever so slightly with each tap, just the minutest of response to the invisible girl's touch.

And Eveline was even now fading from existence.

The light of the lantern passed through her, leaving only her dress and the garland of flowers untouched. Within minutes she would be completely unseen, and even the light of the lantern could not reveal her.

Deciding to give the strange woman a flower after all, she reached up to untangle another red one from her crown while seamlessly slipping the bright white flower into the mix.

Robin nudged at the owl, letting it know that it would have to fly off for her to jump.

The owl shifted, eyeing her curiously, but it spread its injured wings and with a tilted flutter soared off to light on another branch, leaving drops of its blood on Robin's shoulder. It paused there on the branch to look over them all, as if to ensure they made it across the gap safely.

MC would feel the owl's concern -- but at the same time it was confident that the rumbling at the top of the hill would take care of the problem of the feathered arrows. The injured bird did not expect the archer to survive.

. . . she bounced down lightly on the ground next to the blue flowers instantly reaching out to pick a few of them braiding them into her crown. . . . Looking up at the strange woman she offered out on of her own flowers with a bright smile . . .

MC reached neath her poncho and pulled out a dark feather that still held its rainbow sheen . . . she held the gift out to the fading flower girl.

Robin put the lantern under her shirt, dimming it’s light to avoid attracting any unwanted attention, and pressed forwards, mapping out a path for the others to follow.

. . . MC reached out in front of her to grasp the hand of one girl with her left hand and the other with her right hand.

just as quickly did the feather dissappear into the pocket of the girl's dress, did she welcome the warm hand of this strange woman. . . . Unaware that the pretty blue flowers she had picked where still glowing and had attracted fireflies that started to circle around her, she giggled at the sight of them. Offering them a slight bow, she grinned further as they started to light up the area around them even more beckoning them forward. . . . Giggling softly she slipped her hand from the strange woman before spinning lightly in circles admit the fireflies.

She grabbed the girl’s wrist and gently tugged her forwards. Robin looked at her with steady eyes and urged her to continue with them.

. . . too heavy with brush and bramble for their hidden light source to break through the heavy darkness as it seemed to absorb the light rather then dispel at the touch of it. Perhaps this forest was wrong, but it held an air of magic and time, as if it was the first. . . . The smell of fire still hung heavy in the air, but it was slowly replaced with the smell of water and iron . . .

Eveline would hear a whisper in her ear -- the quiet voice of an older boy, quivering slightly: "Hello, can you hear me! I can't see you yet but I can hear you. I don't want to be alone anymore!"

The owl swooped down from above and snatched the flower garland from Eveline's disappearing head, its claws curled tight among the blue glowing flowers, the shimmering white flower, the black glossy feather and the red blossoms woven together. The whispering voice was suddenly gone, taken away with the garland as the owl flapped higher and ahead to lead the way -- though a tremendous effort was put into the work of injured flight, and it flapped low and hard just above their heads, the flower garland dangling from its talons.

Fireflies swarmed them and flowed ahead, pulsing little yellow lights, lining a path through the woods that the owl quietly followed -- toward the sound of water and a bright green light that moved in and out of the shadows of the forest.

. . . the brilliant red flower tucked behind her right ear. . . . MC found the smells launched in her memory the old metal of a bridge that rose high above swift moving, frothy liquid rushing past large, slippery rocks neath it. MC slowed down a bit and tried to impress such images upon the owl, and in those thoughts she tried to emote concern and trepidation, but all the while she kept her mind and aura open to any thoughts or images that Senior Buho might impress upon her. But just trailing those thoughts and images, sliding in and out were questions about who was shooting at them and why... and of course, what exactly was emitting the violet light from the lantern tucked away in Robin's possession.

The owl was suspicious of MC's thoughts in its head; it peered at her as it flew, with Eveline's garland dangling in its grasp and the blood on its tattered wing drying. Its mind closed off to her immediately, like a door being slammed in her face -- but then it very purposefully gave her snaps of information: The spores of the mushrooms were the cause of the flower-girl's condition, of MC's annoying power (the owl's personality had an elderly aura, like a bitter old man prone to sarcasm) and of Robin's ability (which he had seen and scoffed that no one else had noticed), all of which would eventually fade as the effect wore off. Pirates would shoot them, keen on stealing the lantern for themselves. And the lantern was alive, and imprisoned.

The owl flapped on, and MC would sense flashes of its increasing pain. Bloodrats skittered in their wake, lapping up the trail of blood.

Ahead, the rush of water grew louder. Soon the glint of metal shone in the light of the violet lantern, and the end of a metal bridge could be discerned. Rhea and Talan stood at its center. Deep rushing rapids roared beneath it.

The owl finally succumbed to its pain. It dropped the garland on the ground and a tree branch dipped under the bird's tired weight. The fire that they had been fleeing from was indeed behind them, but here it became clear that the inferno burned on the other side of the water. It ravaged closer to the swinging green light at the other end of the bridge, which illuminated Kituo and Anise.

The fireflies stopped, and did not venture any closer.

She rushed forward and grabbed at Kituo's arm intent to pull him towards the purple light. "Come on," she eagerly urged. "We can get out of here if we gather all the lanterns together! Come on! We'll be free of this hell."

His skin blistered as the heat's intensity rubbed against him. . . . Not only was the heat pounding him, but the smoke from the fire was beginning to choke Kituo. It was becoming increasingly harder to breath and as he hacked and choked, Kituo staggered on his feet. . . . While he didn't register it at first, he was actually being guided through the inferno by the shine of the purple lantern in the distance. . . . Hurrying along, he pushed the lantern back against his chest and gritted his teeth to endure the heat. . . . The smoke was weighing his lungs down and he was becoming feint headed. Kituo panted and fought to catch as much oxygen as he could salvage. As he nodded in and out of darkness he swore he caught a glimpse of something looming near him. Whatever. If there indeed was something there, Kituo figured it unwise for it attack him giving the circumstances. The voice of the girl seeped life back into Kituo as she held onto his arm. Did she say that they could get home if they gathered all the lanterns? That was a symphony to Kituo's ears.

"A-alright," he chucked, forcing another step.

He had nothing to lose by resisting his own demise.

Shadows moved at the edges of the green light, backed by the glow of hot flames -- and then they were gone. After a few minutes of running, as if they had lost interest the dark figures no longer appeared -- only the ghastly twists of old trees and the sprint of fleeing animals that passed them. Occasionally an old carved statue appeared and withdrew in the light of the lantern -- but all this would be engulfed by fire before long.

The trees moved all around Kituo. Their roots and branches bowed away from him, as if the light of the lantern willed the forest to let him pass. Even the ground smoothed before Kituo's feet, allowing him to move as quickly as he was able while the flames rose fast and hot behind him and the valiant princess at his side.

Ahead was the sound of rushing water.

He would see in the light of the lantern the glint of metal. Water seethed across his path, rapids that were impassable on their own -- but a narrow metal bridge spanned them. At the center of the bridge stood Rhea and Talan. At the other end was the purple light, which softly illuminated the figures of Robin, Eveline and MC.

The fire was almost upon him.

Anise suddenly dropped unconscious to the ground. A sharp wooden blow-dart quivered in the side of her neck.

Just at the edge of the green lantern's light, the high white ears of a rabbit mask ducked into some high weeds and were gone.