Amelia grinned widely when Meryn pat her head. She was paying no attention to the conversation around her, as most children do at this age, but she cried out in protest as Meryn climbed a tree and she tried to hide behind Spooks' cloak when the green man went insane with trees. "Tree madness," she muttered to herself. She had heard of such tree enthusiast before, and her friends back in Enn had urged to meet him, but she never dared. The trees in the park were all she needed.

Spooks unfolded a crinkled paper with an animal drawn onto it. With big eyes, Amelia concluded she wanted one. She grabbed onto Miss Lily's hand and drug her off towards the ruins full of them. "Miss Lily, we are getting one!" She demanded, though she had no intention if letting Miss Lily catch one for Amelia. Amelia was going to catch one on her own, with her little stubby fingers grasping to catch one.

@Mokley@c3p-0h @Darinthus @hoppiholla391

So, we need to catch these felidrakes, huh? I thought, after Spook told us what to do. He wandered off, but I was thinking about how to catch one. Why not try food, it works with nearly everything else.

---

Quite a few minutes later

Well, meat seemed to work, now I just needed to grab one fast enough. I just have to keep putting meat in a cage and trying to close it in time. This is going to be a long hour or so, I thought.

As Theodore was thinking to himself of the past the group's guide stopped and showed everybody a drawing of a strange hybrid like creature called a felidrakes, it looked like a cat with dragon scales, wings and tail. Half dragon. Half cat. Completely adorable with a touch of perfection. Maybe he can have one as a pet? He wondered if his kids would like one? Owen for sure, Nino...not as much.

Theodore set down his bags onto the ground as well as the cages he's been carrying, the man quickly dug though his bags for balls of yarn. If the Felidrakes were as cat like as they looked he has the perfect way of getting them. He gathered three small balls of yarn of all different colors, but all bright enough to catch the the felidrake's eyes as he with with them to get the little creatures attention.

He reached for his recently placed cage. But to his shock there already was a felidrake sleeping within the iron bars of the cage, soundly sleeping away as Theodore was going though his bags. Theodore was speechless for a moment but then he smiled and he silently closed the cage door which he seemed to have forgotten to close. Before he handed the cage to Spook he cut and placed a small string of white yarn and a small piece of meat from his leftovers to keep it fed when it woke up.  Theodore gently lift the cage and brought it over to Spook when he was hearing distance from the mask man he softly said with a modest smile, "I caught one, Spook... well not really caught it, I just found it in my cage as I was getting ready to catch others."  as he finished speaking he gently placed down the small occupied cage in front of the strange masked man, the Felidrake softly stirred awake before going back to sleep. "I go and try get some more of them, I think Amelia wanted to catch some so I help her."

 As Theodore finished speaking and bowed slightly to Spook and walked to his bag to gather the free cage by his things as well as some pieces of string to help them get more. Theodore nodded to himself as he got his things and he started to walk up Amelia and Lily, he had a cage in one hand and a few pieces of sting in the other.
As he caught up to them he spoke softly and said, "May I help you two? And I think you forgot a cage to placed a felidrake in, Amelia."

 @Mokley@hoppiholla391@Irisity

Fiammetta laughed quietly. "So you are saying if not for me you'd deem it lesser? That's so like an artist to say something like that. Always the quickest to judge yourself, and always the slowest to accept a compliment. You should have more pride in your work, Telio. Even ripped apart and soiled by that ruffian's cruel joke, I can tell..."

She connected as many of the pieces together as she could, and held them up to the sun.

"It was beautiful once. And it will be again."

The pencil lines stretched out in every direction as the colors ran, dripping into new and unforeseen patterns and colors. Slowly but surely, like modern art, chaos was making it into something new with every passing moment. Before the beholder's very eyes, it evolved with each new emergent detail adding a new layer to the painting. Would it really be beautiful again once it dried like she said? And what she said earlier, when she said it... was she referring to the painting or Telio?

She carefully pocketed the pieces.

"But if you do not want it until then, I shall hold on to it and take care of it for you. Consider it an honor."

The Traveller spoke up, interrupting them and giving them their first assignment.

"Felidrakes? I've never heard of creatures such as these," she said, confused. "If they can teleport, then how are we supposed to catch them? Won't they escape their cages? A noble of the house Anzivino always accepts a challenge when it's given to them, but this sounds like a fool's errand! Do you mean to mock us, Traveller?"

Meryn started when the paper sparked and split. Too taken with this new discovery, she didn't hear most of what Spook had to say. Something about… killing something? Or no, they were supposed to catch something. Meryn just brushed it off, trusting she'd be able to figure it out later, and if nothing else, she could just follow whatever the others were doing. She'd always been good at thinking on the fly.

Edging closer to the garland, green eyes focused and bright, Meryn crept her hand closer to the garland. The silver bell tied to her branch tinkled with each movement, measuring her breaths. She studied the odd insignias decorating each paper. They looked different from Spook's tattoos or the engraving on the tree. So… ornate compared to the simple script. Meryn leaned in more, uncaring of the way the branch creaked under her weight, fingers reaching out to trace the markings. If she touched one again, would it have the same reaction? What even had the power to make it do that?

Magic?

The corner of her mouth turned up at the thought, her heart skipping a beat. Meryn's hand was a breath away from the garland when suddenly a mewling chirp made her jump. The bells and leaves gasped as she caught her balance again, looking for the source of the sound. Her eyes widened when they fell on the creature that had called her up into the canopy in the first place. It was an odd little… cat… lizard… bird? It was nestled on a branch a few feet away from her, half hidden in the leaves. Its eyes, as big and curious as her own, followed her, taking in every inch. Meryn tilted her head to the side and it copied the movement. She tilted to the other, and her smile grew as it followed her again. Whatever this creature was, it was awfully cute.

Ever so slowly, she raised her hand to her face and put a finger to her lips. The creature sat up a bit straighter, watching intently. Meryn turned her attention back to the garland and crept forward again, glancing at the ground far below her in her peripheral, nerves lacing with her curiosity. She doubted she was supposed to be doing this. It was probably dangerous. A poorly executed fall from this height certainly was.

Her smile turned impish. Meryn reached forward and grabbed at the paper.

Lily raised an eyebrow when Spook revealed the drawing of their quarry with a flourish. Cat dragons. Of course, it had to be cat dragons. She leaned forward, tilting the pencil sketch up to the light with one finger, and was about to ask exactly how they were supposed to go about catching the little beasties when a little hand fastened around hers again.

She sighed as Amelia dragged her away, regaining her usual graceful stride after an initial surprised stumble. "Amelia," she said patiently, glancing up to the stairs winding away to the top of the hill. "You're going to need—"

Lily blinked as Theodore appeared, then smiled as she spotted what was in his hand. "A cage," she finished, gently tugging the young girl to a stop. "There—Mr Taylor's kindly brought you a new one. Good luck, sweet."

As the girl retrieved her new cage, Lily took her own path up the crumbling stairs. She wasn't wearing her usual fair—there was much less skin on display, for one, and for another, she was wearing an old pair of her sister's boots, tightly bound above her knees so they'd stay up. For a split second, she missed the heeled sandals she'd thrown into her bag—at least they were familiar. Also horribly impractical, though at least she didnt have to wear three layers of socks to get them to fit.

Her musings were interrupted as she reached the top, and she planted her hands on her hips as she surveyed the ruins. Dumpy little statues that were nonetheless creepy as anything; an impression not helped by the eerie music the wind played across them; and a host of felidrakes, dozing or grooming themselves in the sun. Of course, most of them vanished with a slight poof when they spotted her, and the ones that remained were just far enough out of reach that they'd have plenty of time to bolt if she went after them.

So Lily simply gave a deep, put-upon sigh, and picked the best, sunniest, most comfortable spot for herself.

She had some experience with cats and none with dragons, but she figured that this spot—where it was sunny but not blindingly bright and there was a moss-covered statue at her back—must be fairly desirable. These weren't felidrakes in the middle of hunting or looking for water, either—these ones were sleepy and lazy. The best way to approach a cat. Lily sat down cross-legged, making sure that the iron cage she'd brought with her was well out of sight. She dug in her sack for a moment, pulling out a small burlap bag of travel rations. A piece of her favorite jerky was laid in front of her, another in her open hand resting on her knee, and then the bag was stuffed back deep in her sack. She leaned her head back against the (admittedly still creepy) statue, closed her eyes, and waited.

Long minutes passed where the only sounds were the quiet pops of felidrakes, reclaiming their spots on top of statues. Once, one appeared so close she could feel her hair move with the momentary breeze of movement, but still she held her stock-still posture. If nothing else, she thought, at least she was getting some sun.

Finally, though, she hit pay dirt. Lily didn't dare to even crack open an eye as there was a pop followed by a snuffling sound, then the unmistakable sound of chewing. Then, ever so gently, she felt a small paw on her leg—it withdrew quickly, but then returned, as if testing if she was really as lifeless as she appeared. Lily fought down the smile as something small, curiously heavy, and fluffy crawled into her lap. Her fingers twitched as a rough tongue and tiny teeth pricked at the piece of jerky left in her hand, but the felidrake didn't seem to mind. Only then did she dare to open her eyes and grin down at the tiny creature, and a good thing to—if she'd been completely unsuspecting when the drake suddenly jumped up to curl across her shoulders, nosing its way under her hair, she would've done more than just twitch. As it was, she was proud of her reaction to this thing suddenly deciding it wanted a higher vantage point.

Hesitantly, Lily raised a hand to touch the tail, with its strange mixture of fur and dull spines. The tail jerked away under her fingers, but the felidrake continued to munch contentedly; when it was finished, it burped, then curled its tail loosely around her neck, settled its chin on its paws, and apparently dropped off to sleep. She stayed perfectly still, but couldn't help smiling.

Maybe she wouldn't need a cage after all.

@Bornlucky @Irisity

Amelia accepted Mr. Taylor's gift gladly. "Thanks!" She was about to turn to Miss Lily to ask her if she wanted to join, but she was too late. Miss Lily wandered off into the ruins with a cage of her own. She frowned and looked at Mr. Taylor. "Wanna come with me?" She stuck her little fingers in between the cage, imagining her own little felidrake inside. She had tried to tame a street cat before, but it didn't work out well. It almost clawed her eyes out, giving her a slight distaste for cats from there on. But dragon kitties? She could deal.

@hoppiholla391 @Bornlucky

Well, meat seemed to work, now I just needed to grab one fast enough. I just have to keep putting meat in a cage and trying to close it in time. This is going to be a long hour or so, I thought.

The bushes rustled.

A black-furred felidrake padded cautiously forward, its pink nose wriggling and green eyes wide. It sniffed in the direction of the meat. Its scaly tail swished and its wings shifted patiently.

It caught sight of Alex. Its head lifted, ears perked, curious. "Prr?" It sat down, kneading its paws in the grass, and stared at him again. "Prr?"

It made no more movement toward the cage or the meat. It only stared at Alex with bright green eyes.

Before he handed the cage to Spook he cut and placed a small string of white yarn and a small piece of meat from his leftovers to keep it fed when it woke up.  Theodore gently lift the cage and brought it over to Spook when he was hearing distance from the mask man he softly said with a modest smile, "I caught one, Spook... well not really caught it, I just found it in my cage as I was getting ready to catch others."  as he finished speaking he gently placed down the small occupied cage in front of the strange masked man, the Felidrake softly stirred awake before going back to sleep.

Spook paused in his painting and tipped his masked face up to Theodore. "Good," he replied smilingly. "Set it down over there." He shifted his position and knelt on the road again, drawing complex shapes on the stones, completely in disregard of everything outside his work.

"Felidrakes? I've never heard of creatures such as these," she said, confused. "If they can teleport, then how are we supposed to catch them? Won't they escape their cages? A noble of the house Anzivino always accepts a challenge when it's given to them, but this sounds like a fool's errand! Do you mean to mock us, Traveller?"

For awhile, Spook appeared not to have heard her. His paintbrush moved quickly and accurately, and an ornate magic circle was beginning to take shape in the middle of the road. He was waiting for something.

Her smile turned impish. Meryn reached forward and grabbed at the paper.

CRACK!

A noise like a gunshot resounded through the forest. The felidrake near Meryn suddenly disappeared and reappeared on a higher branch, tail down and ears back. It peeked down at Meryn around the side of the trunk in complete betrayal.

The felidrake that Theodore had caught -- the one sleeping in a cage near Fiammetta's feet -- also disappeared with a poof! It reappeared instantly in almost the same place -- pop! -- and the cage and felidrake toppled over together. The felidrake righted itself and paced in a circle and huffed, still trapped within the upended cage.

"The cages are made of iron," Spook happily answered Fiammetta's question without looking up from his painting. "They can teleport themselves to exhaustion and never move an inch. Their magic can't cross an iron barrier."

Telio didn't understand why Fiammetta was making such a big deal over the drawing, and it even irritated him a bit when she began to criticize him; not his work, but him. Did she really think he didn't take pride in every piece of art he produced? Art was not just his livelihood, it was his life, and he was fortunate enough to be able to sustain himself with it. So when something didn't come out the way he wanted it to, or when something was ruined, it was his right to throw it away, for it was his life, not anyone else's.

"It was beautiful once. And it will be again."

For some reason, those words seemed to calm him. Indeed it had been beautiful, but how could it be once again? The picture was ruined; he would just have to draw another one, and he was certain that there would be plenty of other fascinating things on this adventure to draw. However, he could tell from the way Fiammetta held the drawing, that her gaze was not one of sympathy but of genuine admiration. He wondered what she saw there, but he didn't have to understand for the sentiment to reach him. "Thank you," he said. "I'm glad you like it."

That was all he could say before Spook issued them their first task: catch a felidrake. The creature was like something out of a fairy tale; all the lovable cuteness of a house cat splashed with the magical whimsy of a dragon... He wanted to draw one! He would get the job done nice and quick, and he would use all the free time he had to draw one of those delightful critters. He was certain that if he showed anyone in Enn his picture that they would think he made the creature up, but these were real things!

He was ripped out of his reverie by a sudden pop and felt a weight on his head, as well as several pointy claws. He looked up with his eyes alone, not wanting to tilt his head back. The felidrake looked down at him, apparently mistaking his head for one of those quaint little statues he saw them roosting on. It lifted its claws, and when they started to get tangled up in his hair, it realized that something was off. Slowly, Telio raised his free arm. If he could just grab it and get it in the cage... He went for it. He felt the felidrake's fur between his fingers for barely a second, and then, POP! Perhaps getting them "nice and quick" wouldn't be so easy.

Scarlett Autumnwalker

"So, we're here to catch some felidrakes," the masked man called out, a piece of creased paper dangling at his fingertips. "They're fast, they can climb and glide, they can teleport short distances at will, and they need to be rounded up. How ya do that is up to you -- just don't kill them. You'll want to check everywhere. Go on."

"Aw… Such an adorable little creature…"

Scarlett noticed how this felidrake creature was reminiscent of a cat, coupled with pointy ears, dargon-like wings and small bony thorns trailing up and down its tail. As she continued to coo at the image of the felidrake, rustles in the thick leaved trees were heard, almost startling the red haired woman. She could see scaly tails and pointed ears rushing through the tree branches, and small shadows meandering through the bushes. Just as Spook had described, these felidrakes were quite fast on their feet. This was going to be quite the challenge.

Hm… How am I supposed to catch one? I don't exactly want to trap them in my cage… That would seem a little cruel… These felidrakes deserve their freedom too.

Scarlett decided to venture up into the small temple, resting above the old, crumbling stone staircase. As she walked up, she noticed the area to be lined with small, child-like statues of various sizes, many of which were topped with sound-a-sleep felidrakes. A soothing sound filled the air around Scarlett, a breeze passing through the thick tree branches. The young red head felt so at peace here… She even felt like joining the felidrakes as they descended into a deep slumber.

Soon enough, Scarlett encountered another woman, one with hair just as fiery as hers. The woman was much smaller than Scarlett, of course, which made her bit her lip in embarrassment. Scarlett was fully aware that she was taller than most people in her area, and seeing another woman roughly four inches smaller than her made her feel a bit.. insecure. Still, Scarlett gave the woman a kind smile, pushing her height conscious thoughts out of her head.

"It's quite lovely here, isn't it? So quiet and peaceful… I might as well just sit here have a little nap myself!"

A few pops sounded throughout the little temple as Scarlett's voice was raised, making the young woman jump. Felidrakes appeared and disappeared, popping out of nowhere and everywhere. Of course, sudden sounds would most definitely startle the small creatures. Scarlett made a note to herself to keep her voice down after that.

Placing the cage down on the moss covered stones, Scarlett loomed over the statues, looking down at the sleeping felidrakes. She was careful not to stir them, otherwise they would just get frightened and poof out of sight again. She continued to wander around for a bit, almost like a ghostly figure trailing across the ancient looking temple. A red haired ghost, that is. The felidrakes were disappearing less now, and even more were coming to join the outdoor nap. Scarlett couldn't help but let a smile spread across her pale skinned face.

So silent, yet so serene… I would love to take a nice stroll down here during the morning hours…

Suddenly, the other woman she had previously spoken to fell to the ground, another poof if smoke appearing right beside her. It was a felidrake… a very curious one at that. It nipped at the meat in the lady's hand, its wide eyes shining with delight. Scarlett watched in awe as the felidrake shifted itself into a comfortable position upon the other red head's lap, its eyes slipping shut. Scarlett hesitantly walked over towards the other woman, crouching down as she smiled gently at the sleeping cat-dragon thing.

"It seems to like you, doesn't it?" Scarlett whispered.

---

@hoppiholla391

As Emma scampered off in hopes of reining in the suddenly energetic forest spirit, Lux strayed slightly, unable to fight the pull of curiosity. She made sure to stay within earshot, though, in case mysterious Spook decided to give them more information about the mysterious quest.

Lux found her gaze being pulled overhead, toward the trees Roy loved so much. She had glimpsed movement earlier from somewhere up on those branches, too fast for her to have seen clearly, but not enough for her keen eyes to have missed it. Whatever it had been was quick, there one second and gone and the next, almost like… Lux tried to stop the giddy smile from spreading on her face, but it was no good. The damage was done. Her eyes unconsciously drifted to Meryn, who was already climbing up some branches, narrowing conspiratorially as she watched her.

Was it a coincidence that Meryn was climbing the same tree she saw the shadowy blur that was (maybe, possibly, if the stars were being nice to her) something teleporting?

Probably.

But that was beside the point!

She quickly inspected the tree before returning to Spook's side, right as he began to detail the nature of their first mission. They were to catch felidrakes. While the strange name was enough to seize her attention (she picked up on the portmanteau rather quickly), the sketch and subsequent explanation made her freeze on the spot. No way. Lux stared wide-eyed and jaw slack at Spook, then at the sketch, then at the forest that housed the creatures, wondering if she somehow unwittingly drifted into another daydream. That tended to happen quite often; embarrassingly often, really. But it seemed everyone else heard him as well and they'd already scattered in pursuit.

Lux didn't know whether she wanted to cry or laugh or run back home to grab her brother and show him. Creatures that were half something and half something else were real. Creatures that could teleport were real. Creatures that used to exist only in books, in the stories Lowell told her, were real and they were within reach.

After emitting a sound that was halfway between an excited cheer and manic giggle, Lux picked a direction and ran, her cage swinging wildly behind her. She stopped beside Emma just long enough to point the direction she's going, no doubt quite a hilarious sight with her mouth hanging wide open with overwhelmed excitement and her lilac eyes bright with unadulterated glee.

Now that Spook pointed them out, Lux saw the felidrakes everywhere. She caught yellow eyes staring back at them warily and shadowy blurs around every corner. Her ears became attuned to the soft popping sounds they made before they teleported. If she hadn't been so excited, she could have devised a clever plan to trap one of them. From what she had observed, the limited range of the felidrake's teleportation could be manipulated. If she just looked for the perfect spot, she could try to force one into teleporting close enough to capture.

But no, she was indeed overly excited and any coherent thought process was out the window.

Instead, Lux dove right for the bushes where she saw a tip of a tail swishing, hands immediately closing around whatever scaly part of it she had touched. When seconds had passed and yet the felidrake remained within her grasp, Lux scrunched her nose in curiosity. She popped her head out from the bushes and lifted her hands to see her catch… and regretted it as soon as she did.

Sharp claws greeted her, digging down her face, leaving a light trail of blood in its wake. The felidrake retracted its paw, as if it to strike again, when a loud gunshot echoed through the forest, startling the creature into teleporting away. Lux saw it reappear high up on the tree next to her, perched on a branch. There was an almost smug look on its face as it stared at her, as though it was trying to taunt her, but she noted the way its ears perked up in wariness and saw through its ruse.

Lux jutted her lower lip out. What was it that made the smug little cat-dragon anxious? She wanted to get closer, but there was no use trying to climb the tree—there were no safe footholds, the lower branches looked far too flimsy, and she didn't have Meryn's magical talents. Lux held out a hand, signaling the felidrake to wait for her, even though it might not understand what she was trying to say. Whether it understood or not, the felidrake remained at its perch, looking about cagily.

She ran back to where she last saw Emma and Roy, wincing slightly at her stinging scratches. "Did you guys hear that boooom sound?" she asked, complete with sound effects and wild hand gestures, as she skidded to a halt in front of them. "It spooked one of the felidrake!"

^{@Diggerton@Darinthus}

Emma shook her head as Roy completely ignored her. He's going to be a handful. But, for now, Roy wasn't her focus. All around them signs of long lost civilization presented themselves. Spook introduced the place as the Nearlight Thicket and the Temple of Spring Whistling. She had always known, of course, that other people lived outside the great walls of Enn, but to see it so personally was something Emma never truly conceived of, and was rather exciting for her. Her mind began to form questions, but, most chiefly, she was wondering if there were any settlements that lived without walls.

The prospect was rather exciting for the botanist, for such a civilization would interact with nature in such a different and significant way than the people of Enn that had lived in the walls for so long. The wall formed a sort of 'closed ecosystem' inside Enn. That is, Emma could name every single plant that grew within the city, and due to its limited scope there would be no more discovered by the botanists of Enn, unless some were brought in from the outside by a Traveler. Conversely the village that lived without walls would have access to a significantly greater scope of flora than her, and would know of applications for them far greater then what she could puzzle out. Forivel had taught her processes that would hopefully help her identify the uses of such plants, but what she could muster was little more than educated guessing and cautious testing with the hope of not ingesting something that would kill her.

But that was a thought for another time, and a question for Spook.

She instead shifted her attention to their surroundings, particularly the strange creatures that Spook described as Felidrakes. Hmph. Feline drakes. That's cute. I wonder if we can keep one? She smiled as she mused to herself. Spook named their goal: Catch one. Although she doubted Spook's purpose was to collect pets, she hoped that at the very least they weren't food, or going towards some equally unpleasant use. For the time being she would observe; the most effective way to capture one was observation. Discover what they eat, then use it to capture them. Simple. But her chief concern (Lux) soon came trotting up to her, obviously incredibly excited. Lux was all exuberance, mouth hanging wide open, running about excitedly before pointing off in a direction and then running about excitedly in that direction.

Emma truly and thoroughly adored Lux. The young girl had an unmatched exuberance, paired with curiosity and intellect beyond her years. Plus she was cute has hell. All of this led to the almost sisterly bond Emma felt she shared with her and why she would never tell Lux the truth behind the Marquis' death. That was certainly an unpleasant thought for Emma. She couldn't bare the thought of Lux suddenly seeing her as a murderer.

Emma's attention was now split between Lux and the Felidrakes, but she devised a plan soon enough. She observed another one of her travelling companions, a man she was not familiar with, using meat to a degree of success in baiting them. She would do the same, but upgrade his methodology. First she delved into her pack, fishing out a piece of salt beef she had packed for her journey. She packed double what she thought she would need; she planned to share with Lux if she did not have her own food and the Spook didn't see fit to provide any. For the time being she tore off a piece of it and returned the rest to her pack. She then rested her cage in a spot away from the others, of course making sure she still had Lux in her gaze. She placed the beef inside the cage, laying the first part of her trap. Next she delved into her pack again, producing one of the multitude of wool bandages she packed. She had of course intended to use it healing, but for the time being it would have another use. She next produced a knife from her bag, and skillfuly used it to separate thread from the bandage. She then tied the thread to the door of the cage. Her trap was now assembled. As soon as a Felidrake cautioned its way into her cage, she would pull the string and it would be trapped.

Soon enough one of the creatures did approach, and as it greedily lapped up the beef she enacted her plan and successfully trapped it. Her plan proved to be a good one, and she had produced her Felidrake. She strode purposely to Spook, proudly displaying her Felidrake. "Hey, Spook, I got one." She said, gently placing the caged creature next to the masked Traveler. "Say, Spook, you've been out here a while, right? Do you know of any villages that don't have walls? I've never really thought about it, but I'd like to visit one if we get the chance..." However, her attention was stolen from Spook as she saw Lux walking back towards them, face scratched. "Actually, tell me later, I've gotta go check on her." She said, pointing to Lux, not waiting for a reply from Spook as she whisked off towards her.

Emma had realized that she had been distracted from her task of watching Lux, and instantly felt guilty. She felt even worse when she saw her face. The scratch wasn't bad, but Emma still worried of course. Lux talked of a loud booming sound in her typically adorable manner but Emma was more concerned with the scratch. She knelt down in front of the girl, gently grabbing her head to examine it. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I did hear it, but I'm sure we're going to hear all kinds of crazy noises out here," Emma said gently, "However, I'm more concerned about your face. It doesn't hurt too bad, does it?" She gently traced the cut with her finger, "It's not too deep. Do you want me to bandage it? I'll go with you to catch one of the Felidrakes after, I've already got one." She said, smiling warmly, giving the girl a slight wink.

_{@Skittles @Mokley}

Meryn had been expecting some sort of pop or bang when she'd grabbed the garland – not a full on boom. Ears ringing, she jumped back on reflex as papers scattered around her, but the branch she was sitting on was narrow and trembling. Throwing her hand back for support, she misjudged how much room she had and her palm slipped off the branch, rough bark slashing her skin. Meryn's eyes widened as her body tipped sideways, the extra weight from her bag and the cage throwing her off even more. But with her hobbies, Meryn wouldn't have survived long if she didn't have quick reflexes, and before she had completely tumbled down, she dropped her legs over the side of the branch. Her body jolted as her legs were suddenly supporting her weight, hooked around the branch. Her bag slipped from her shoulder and it and the rusted iron cage fell to the ground, narrowly missing Emma, the woodcutter, and that odd silver-haired girl who always seemed to pay too much attention to her.

Letting out a sigh – or maybe a huff – Meryn scrunched her eyebrows together. Ok, so that hadn't been her smartest move. At least there wasn't anything breakable in her bag. That cage was another matter, though. Refocusing, she brought her dangling arms up to the branch to start pulling herself back up and praying it didn't decide it was too weak to support her weight before she got up. Her right hand stung as she grabbed, reminding her of the scrapes there, but she gritted her teeth and ignored the pain. She was about to start clambering up when her movement sent a soft jingling sound through the leaves.

Meryn paused, forgetting her position, and looked up. There, hidden in the cleaves and scattered bits of paper, was a sparkling silver bell. It seemed so delicate and… pure, nestled up in the tree like this. Meryn's hands released the branch and she stretched over to the bell. It was tied to the tree with a shining line of thread. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to fiddle with the tight not. Why were there all these things stuck up in the tree? And how was the bell so shiny and clean still? Shouldn't it have rusted or gotten dirty out here? Unless they'd been put out here recently. Meryn's mind drifted back to the paper she probably shouldn't have grabbed as she glanced back at the shredded remains of the garland, her hands still fiddling with the knot. Whoever had done this wasn't going to be very pleased with her handiwork. A thread of guilt ran through her, but she was too curious to give it much thought.

She was suddenly ripped back to reality when something with claws, wings, and a tail swooped past her face. What happened next was a blur of leaves, claws, wings, and agitated chirps, and the branch decided it wasn't going to tolerate her any longer. With a crack, Meryn found herself falling. Instinct overtook panic as she flailed in open air, looking for anything to grab hold of. If nothing else, she had to get herself in a position to fall correctly, and not on her head. Her hand found something long, slender, and scaly, and she grabbed hold, hearing a shriek in response. The next thing she knew, the forest canopy was much farther away from her than it should've been, and her back hit the ground, knocking the wind out of her.

Teleporting… That, she hadn't expected.

Sound was the first thing to trickle back to her, and then a blurry, washed-out form of vision. Her sight was clouded, her ears rang, and she was sore all over, but she couldn't comprehend any of that because of the way her chest seemed to be convulsing. She was suffocating. Hollow coughs wracked her body and she tried to take in air, her eyes watering. After a few moments, relief finally came, and Meryn gasped in air. Damn, she hurt. Gingerly, pulled up her arms to push herself to a sitting position, gritting her teeth against the pain. Fire rocketed through her side and she winced, looking down at herself.

Meryn had fallen on top of her bag, near Emma and the two odd ones. But more importantly, she'd fallen on the iron cage. The metal had broken in places from the impact, warping the cage's shape and creating small, spear-like pieces of metal. Five of them were buried in her skin, where her waist met her back. Meryn closed her eyes and breathed in what could only be called exasperation. Opening her eyes again, she raised her non-injured hand and carefully gripped the cage. She breathed once more, steeling her expression. Then with a grimace, she yanked it out. Each point had only been in her maybe an inch at most, but she still winced at the fresh blood leaking out of her. Well that sucked. Her hand pressed over the holes in an attempt to stop the bleeding, and with her other she grabbed the cage and tried to throw it away from her. She could only manage to toss it a few inches in her state.

She'd spent less than an hour Outside and thus far she'd been brushed off, nearly deafened, attacked, teleported, winded, and impaled. This adventure was not going well. She blew her hair out of her face with a huff and looked back up at the canopy, glaring at the splintered remains of the tree branch, still hanging stubbornly onto the tree.

For a moment, Meryn was brought back to when she'd been a tiny thing, younger than Amelia. The first time she'd tried to jump from one roof to another. The result had been miserable. And bloody. But little Meryn had survived, pushed herself up, and glared at the roofs above her, tears in her eyes from the pain. And now the Outside loomed around her like a cityscape, daring her to try again.

Meryn couldn't help the way her pale green eyes lit up at the challenge, bright and mischievous. With a smirk growing at the corner of her mouth, she looked around her, trying her best to ignore the people who'd witnessed her inelegant fall (and teleportation?). She glanced at the leaves and papers scattered around her. She was still curious about the papers and their odd markings (and explosions) but she stilled when she found what she was looking for. Lying not a foot away from her was the odd cat-dragon thing that had attacked her. Its eyes blinked open in a daze, but it otherwise didn't move. It was probably just as winded from the fall as she was. Again, curiosity mixed with guilt. But then she remembered it was this little monstrosity's fault that she'd fallen. Of course, she'd have probably been in much worse shape if it hadn't cut her fall in half with its teleporting.

She struggled to pull her bag out from under her, wincing at the pain. When she had it in her lap, she pulled out a bit of dried meat and tossed it so it landed between her and the creature. Smelling the mixture of the meat and her blood, it blinked a bit more and turned its head towards the food. It lumbered up on still clumsy legs and waddled a few steps, only to plop itself down again in front of the meat. As though lifting its head to eat was too much effort, its tongue curled out to pull the meat into its mouth. Meryn watched it with a raised eyebrow. That had taken so much effort, she didn't know if she should applaud it.

Her smile grew and she gave a little shake of her head – bad move as the dizziness came back – and went back to searching the ground. Her eyes lit up when she found what she was looking for. The sparkling silver bell, still tied to a leafy twig. Meryn picked it up, careful not to get any blood on it, and held it up to the light.

@Skittles@Diggerton@Darinthus

The felidrake was right there, a cute little thing, it actually looked a bit like a cat I could see, now that I was closer. Reaching slowly into the cage, I brought out the meat. "Hey, you want some food? Come on, you must want some." I say, trying to coax it forward. It stepped forward a bit, snagged the meat,then scampered back. Looking for some kind of ulterior motive, it seemed. Taking a second piece, then a third, and a fourth, I slowly coaxed it into the cage, putting a fifth in for good measure. Then a loud popping noise went off, and the felidrake attempted to teleport, before appearing in the same spot, looking considerably more tired. I looked around, and saw Meryn fall on top of her bag and cage. Some of the cages bars had stuck into her body. She got up and fed a felidrake a bit, but I decided to go over anyway. "Meryn, right? You okay after that? And, sorry about earlier." I said, once I was close enough for her to hear me.

Observing the trapped felidrake intently, Fiammetta judged that the task at hand seemed easy enough.

"Hmmph! That's it? Hardly a task worthy of a noble. Just you watch, I shall return with the largest felidrake of any of you!"

Despite what she said though, she adjusted her gauntlets and grabbed a few pieces of meat with which to bait one of the fiendishly adorable critters. And it didn't take her long to spot one as she wandered through the woods. A runt, clearly still a kitten and the smallest of the litter judging by its size and the way its empty stomach rumbled. Fearful but curious, it stuck its head out of a bush and chirped at Fiammetta. The malnourished animal eyed the meat she carried hungrily.

"Hmmm..." Fiammetta said, on the fence about offering it a piece of meat. "No, too small. It would be a disgrace for me to return to the group brandishing something so tiny. I am sorry little one, but the house of Anzivino has no time for weaklings."

A tree behind her rustled, and she caught sight of a much larger animal, almost the size of a dog. Her eyes lit up. Excellent! Truly this was a felidrake worthy of the Anzivino family name!

She approached it holding her cage in one hand and a piece of meat in another. Catching sight of her, the larger animal growled, its hair standing on edge as it prepared to pounce.

"Here~," she cooed. "Come here. Yes..."

The large felidrake hissed, but relented in the face of tasty treats. Cautiously, it sniffed the meat with interest. Fiammetta grinned.

"It's your lucky day, felidrake! You get to be captured by a noblewoman of the house Anzivino!"

She lunged for the cat, grabbing it roughly with her steel gauntlets before trying to force it into the cage. Immediately the felidrake started to bite, claw and hiss, scratching her cheek before teleporting out of her arms and kicking wet dirt in her eyes as it scrambled away with an entire cut of her meat.

"Owww!" she said as she rubbed some of the dirt from her eyes. "You... you miserable little ingrate! I offer you a chance to be a part of house Anzivino and this is how you repay me? I'll make sure you are punished for your hubris, cat. Come here, you!"

What ensued was a comically literal game of cat and mouse with Fiammetta chasing the felidrake all across the desolate patch of forest she'd chosen to search in, cussing and spitting and generally "roughing it" in a way she never thought she personally would have to stoop to.

The battle raged on until the felidrake had claimed all but the tiniest scraps of bait, leaving Fiammetta sweaty, dirty, alone, and completely defeated.

"That... stupid little cat! Mangy stray! That no-good, worthless, low-to-the-ground unappreciative son of a mother born from the bleakest- rrrrggghhhhhhh!"

She groaned in frustration, collapsing to the ground and about ready to cry. It was okay, no one would see her out here. And honestly...

"What kind of noble can't catch a single cat?!" she said, berating herself. "I can't return to the others like this... not after those things I said..."

Behind her, the tiny felidrake poked its curious little head out of a bush...

Telio held the open cage with both hands; a felidrake returned his intense gaze with an aloof look of sheer apathy. A leaf fell from a tree, fluttering to the ground as the two rivals stared each other down. Down, down the leaf fell. Telio ignored the drop of sweat dripping from his brow. Closer and closer to the earth it fell. Telio's fingers danced over the bars of the cage, but it wasn't time to strike... until... NOW! Telio pounced just as the leaf hit the ground, but the felidrake poofed away before the iron could close around him.

Telio felt something on his head again. A furry, fanged face drifted down into his field of vision and let out the laziest "meow" he had ever heard. "Is my head really that comfortable?" he asked, and the felidrake responded by digging its claws into him, fluffing his hair, and curling up into a ball. Telio let out a sigh. By the time he caught one, he would have no time to draw! Then, he got a devious, brilliant idea. He saw the way they played with one another and vied for dominance atop those little statues. Perhaps he could kill two birds, or felidrakes, with one stone.

He immediately pulled out his art supplies, ignoring the felidrake that was purring on his head. He had stared at the thing long enough to get a good mental image. He knew the size it ought to be, the color, the texture, and those brilliant feline eyes. He put extra effort into those eyes. For all the time that he spent on that drawing, he was certain that he wouldn't be the first to catch one of the creatures -- he wasn't even sure if this would let him catch one -- but at least he would have something to show for it. When he was finished, a perfect felidrake was staring right back at him.

A sly grin on his face, Telio slipped the picture into the back of the cage and did his best felidrake impression to wake the critter on his head. It opened one eye, and then the other, and then it was standing upright on Telio's head when it saw the picture. It hissed at first, but when it's rival showed no response it popped to the ground, tentatively pawing at the cage. It had never seen a felidrake so still before, nor one with such an unwavering gaze. With a gentle boot, Telio nudged the felidrake into the cage, closed the door, and reclaimed his picture through the bars of the cage. The felidrake frantically tried to teleport out of the cage, but Telio just lifted it up, looked it dead in the eyes, and said, "My head is not a bed."

Kelsier studied the scetch, still half thinking about the magic rune earlier. He had some idea, from the stories his father has told, that there were forces and creatures out there that defied normal logic. He was brought to the present by Spook's explinaion of what they were up against. Teleporting, Canivrous Feline Dragons. Wonderful. The others immediately set to the difficult task, with various results, some hilarious and others painful. Kelsier just stood there, thinking about the task before he set to do it. These things are small, nimble and have sharp claws and teeth. Grabbing them bare-handed, even with bait, is going to be a painful experience for both you and the feilidrake...could try to chase them, and wear them down, but that would be equally exhausting. If only I had a net. No, wait they would just teleport out of it. His plotting was interrupted by Spook's dramatic revilation of the feilidrake's weakness. They can't teleport through metal... Then, a candlelight went on. Acting on his flash of genius, he hurredly got out of his coat. His coat was a heavy, armored jacket with many deep pockets that he usualy kept filled with stuff, some of it odd, like a carved wood doll, some of it cool, like a stone that he had found cracked open to reveal it's crystal geodes and some of it utilitarian, like some pencils and paper or flint and steel. With the stuff in the pockets to weigh it down, and the armor pieces, to pervent their teleportaion, Kelsier realized it could make a decent makeshift weighed net to catch a feilidrake or three.

Coat waded up and in hand, Kelsier stalked the Feliedrakes with the patience of a predator. He obsered their movements, which were remarkably similar to the cats they resembed, and waited for the perfect opportunity. Kelsier got in a position he could sping from and then didn't move a muscle. Anyone who saw him, could only tell him from a statue by the rise and fall of his breath. He could have gone for one at a time, but the noblegirl's challenge had sparked his competative spirit. It took awhile, but there was a moment when three nearby feilidrakes converged to frolic and tumble. In an instant, he tossed his coat, which spead out and landed on top of the three critters. But one, either faster or luckier than the others, saw the projecile and swerved to avoid it. It ended up near the edge of the cloth and struggled to get away. Unfortunately, its claws got tangled in the weave. Kelsier quickly snatched that one, and it proceded to try and mangle his hand. However, Kelsier's gauntlet thwarted its efforts. Kelsier carefully gathered his coat into a sort of bag, not letting the occasionaly teleporting feilidrakes escape. Kelsier was slightly troubled. Now that I get a closer look, these things are rather cute. He though. It seems a shame to lock them in cages. What could Spook want with so many of them? I hope it is nothing insidious. With the three struggling felidrakes in his coat, he followed his route back to where they had made camp.

He emerged into the clearing. "Can someone lend me a hand here?" He said, loudly, showing the bag of squrming felidrakes and the one held gently but firmly in his right hand.

"Peaceful, yes," Lily replied automatically, eyes once again closed as someone crested the stairs to the temple. "Quiet..." Her words were, as if on cue, punctuated by the pop of a disappearing felidrake. "...not quite."

She finally deigned to look up, glancing over the other redhead with a critical eye. Painfully tall for a girl, really, and she carried herself like a bird ready to take flight at the slightest sign of trouble, but she had a sweet face—and as far as Lily thought, redheads were clearly superior in every way.

As she finished her quick assessment, she idly scratched the felidrake's head with a finger. She'd learned—quickly—that were she to pause in petting the little beast for even a moment, there would be some very sharp claws digging into her legs. The cat dragon seemed to think it had found the one statue in the entire forest that was warm, soft, and came with petting limbs. Marvelously lazy creatures. She knew she always liked cats.

The other girl crouched down, and Lily raised an eyebrow, glancing down to make sure the drake wasn't startled into fleeing.

"It seems to like you, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I certainly hope so," she grumbled, nonetheless continuing to gently stroke the soft fur, carefully avoiding the spines on its back. "This little monster gobbled up half of my pork jerky, burped, and went straight to sleep. If it doesn't like me, it's playing games with me, and I don't appreciate that."

As reluctant as she was to disturb the little thing, Lily glanced over to where she'd set down her cage. "Seems a shame to cage them," she muttered, then turned back to Scarlett. "Wouldn't happen to have any iron bracelets on you? It'd tickle me pink to have one of these things on a leash."

@Jay Kalton

@Crimson Raven @Damiann47 @Jay Kalton @Magnato

Andica stomped off into the temple, barely pausing to listen to Spook's speech to the group and subsequent explanations. She was angry at herself for getting all riled up like this. She had made her choice, had the chance to go back, and turned her back on it. She couldn't go back now that the gates of Enn were shut behind her, so it was stupid to get upset now. She had to focus on her life here and now, as a traveller, whatever that meant.

That was a good, rational argument and all, but somehow it didn't make her feel much better. Figures.

"Can someone lend me a hand here?"

Great! A distraction! That was one of her teammates calling, and Andica didn't waste a moment in running off the source of the shout. What better way to calm down her, stupid, unruly emotions that to go and get caught up in answering a call for help, catching feli-somethings or whatever. Sure, she could do that. No problem.

Rushing back to the main group, Andica saw pretty quickly what the deal was. Kelsier had what looked like a few of the creatures wrapped up in a makeshift bag, and needed to get them into cages. She grabbed a bunch of them and set them down next to the soldier. She opened up the biggest one, and held it up with the door just over the end of Kelsier's coat/sack. Anything that got let out of the bag would go straight into the cage, and she was ready to slam the door on it. Repeat the process a couple of times, and that would be job done. No problem.

Her smile grew and she gave a little shake of her head – bad move as the dizziness came back – and went back to searching the ground. Her eyes lit up when she found what she was looking for. The sparkling silver bell, still tied to a leafy twig. Meryn picked it up, careful not to get any blood on it, and held it up to the light.

The little silver bell glinted merrily in the sunlight. There was something etched into the shining surface, thin and perfect: a tiny rune in the same style as the one in the tree. On the opposite side of the bell, in the same careful, etched script, was a name.



The bell was cool to the touch, and it never warmed to her fingers, nor would its perfect shine be smeared or stained.

All of the bells -- the multitude of shining spots throughout the thicket -- had the same rune etched in them, but each had a different name.

As reluctant as she was to disturb the little thing, Lily glanced over to where she'd set down her cage. "Seems a shame to cage them," she muttered, then turned back to Scarlett. "Wouldn't happen to have any iron bracelets on you? It'd tickle me pink to have one of these things on a leash."

In the distance, Fiammetta's shouts echoed on the trees. Somewhere below, a chorus of bagged and caged felidrakes were screeching and yowling as they struggled to get free.

The temple statues began to whistle again.

Each whistled at a different pitch depending on the statue's height -- together they whistled in harmony, a sweet and hopeful chord that almost made up for the angry sounds in the thicket below.

The felidrake in Lily's care lifted its head suddenly, ears perked in alarm. Its big blue eyes stared wide at the empty air, tracking something that moved invisible to the two women.

The creature suddenly went still, and it disappeared with a soft poof. It reappeared instantly at Lily's feet, and with its ears and wings flattened it slunk quickly away into a hole in the side of one of the whistling statues.

The hollow inside the statue -- where the felidrake crouched wide-eyed, staring at the opening -- was littered with small toys: a wooden monkey that flipped and spun when its arms were pulled; a fat wooden hippo with a hinged mouth and a belly full of coins; a small collection of ornate and ordinary feathers, tied together with string; and a thick, tarnished eyepiece, like the lens from a telescope.

---

Spook sat back on his heels, surveyed his work, and carefully put the bottle and brush away in his rucksack.

The paint dried quickly. In a clearing at the middle of the weedy flagstone road, there was now a magic circle. There were no words and no runes -- just a beautifully complicated pattern of circles, triangles, moons and stars, perfectly symmetrical and unbroken.

"That'll do it," he sighed with the voice of a pleased grin behind his mask. But there weren't nearly as many felidrakes collected here as he'd expected. He folded his arms, contemplating the occupied cages -- then turned around to watch in mild interest as the cityfolk did their best.