-Evening/Near Midnight-

Forest

Kaiden had caught his last meal for the night and ate it quickly. He then padded towards his cave before laying down and staring at the entrance. This was a normal routine for the werecheetah.

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Jyden was further down the forest where he hoped no one would be since he had to reluctantly get ready for his dark side. My turn soon. Shut up. To him, his dark side, Darth was really dangerous and would attempt to kill anyone nearby which was why Jyden needed to be alone if possible.

---

Park

Price
Sitting on an empty bench, a vampire who appeared to be in his 20's was playing his guitar softly. It was one of the only things that kept his mind off of a certain something that dwelled within him.

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In cat form, Juno was searching around for his vampire friend which didn't take him long cause he found him sitting on a bench by himself. Hey, Price. He thought to him as he walked over to him.

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At home, heading to park

Abby was studying some more of her magic in her garage. Once she finished casting a few tiny spells on inanimate objects as practice, she put everything back to normal before getting her pet rabbit, Whiskers and going outside and towards the park with one of her spell books in hand.

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Park
Invisible, Seth was laying down on a tree branch and plotting against a certain vampire even though he wasn't as fond of this as his dad was anymore. The only reason he was still doing it was cause he just didn't have his own victim yet.

“CAW! CAW!”

Skye jolted out of his peaceful sleep and opened his eyes to see dark feathers and a beak inches away from his face. Which crow was this, again? Steve? Debra? Derek! It was Derek.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Skye mumbled, “What’s up, man?”

“CAW!” Derek reached under his wing and pulled out a five dollar bill. He looked at Skye with an expectant expression.

“Aw, thanks buddy,” Skye stuffed the bill in his jacket pocket and took out a handful of cat treats. They were freeze-dried chicken, nothing too unhealthy. Derek gladly ate them and flew away, cawing his thanks.

Skye yawned, looking at his watch. It was almost midnight, not nearly the latest he had ever been awake. He sat up and lifted himself out of the soft patch of moss he had been sleeping in. If he was awake, he might as well take a walk.

His peaceful mood soured a little when he thought about his plans for tomorrow. His family was going to some fancy party and they were forcing him to go. He would have to clean up, wear a stuffy suit, and fake-smile at a bunch of pretentious rich people, pretending he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. Well, if there was one good thing he could say about events like that, at least the food was always good.

He heard a loud caw, and another crow fluttered down and settled on top of his head. He recognized her voice, this was Barbara. She was always good at telling when something was bothering him.

“Hey, Barb. You joining me tonight?”

“CAW!”

“Thanks,” Skye smiled, walking further into the woods.

Hannah wa sitting in a tree deep in the forest singing David Bowie’space oddity. She had felt the urge to be in the forest tonight and she could take care of herself. She saw a guy that she recognized walking through the forest (Jyden) “ hello!” She called out to him.

Pine needles softened the blow of Connor's boots to the forest floor as he trudged through the trees. The midnight moon overhead and the dim light of a dying flashlight were all he had to guide him through the unfamiliar wilderness. He had been at this for nearly an hour with no sign of the clearing his patron had mentioned. He would give up and go home if he wasn't afraid of what the minor deity may do to him if he did not uphold his end of the pact.

So, he kept walking, scanning the pines for the symbol his patron had shown him. Runes. Connor was familiar enough with the basics of the magic writing system. He knew the runes for the elements and some fundamental spell casting components. This rune was different though, a unique rune that Vindsval used to communicate with mortals. Connor had it written on a scrap of paper, held in his left hand while he had the flashlight in his right.

Finally, the now flickering beam of his flashlight illuminated the rune, etched into the trunk of a pine tree. He stepped into the small clearing and turned off his flashlight, thankful the moon shone bright enough here for him to see fairly well. Step one of the mission was complete. Connor shouldered off his backpack and exchanged his flashlight for a pen and leather bound journal.

What now? Connor wrote at the top of a new page. He clicked the top of his pen rythmically as he waited for the deity to respond.

The water felt cool against the Siren's scales, her mint-green hair flared out around her as her head poked out from the calm pond. Her eyes scanned the tree's that surrounded her, she felt like there were other's prowling about...but then again that wasn't unusual. She was occupying a fairly large pond in the middle of a lush forest, Humans never dared to venture so far to actually come across the clear and sparkling pond - the perfect home for a Siren.

It was her chance to escape from the annoying humans and to let herself go, to let the refreshing waters sooth her aching and dry skin. She still wasn't used to her human form, it was so unfamiliar to her.

The poor female let out a sigh that caused a few bubbles to float to the surface, slowly moving in the water as she grew bored. She could hear creatures moving around in the forest: the padding of footsteps, the beat of wings, the cries of a poor soul who was going to be lunch. "Food..." The words came out softly as she realized she hadn't eaten in awhile. That was another thing she was having to get used to, in the ocean fish and coral was readily available but here it was a little harder. She grumbled as she flicked her tail, causing a loud splash. Out of boredom the Siren began to sang, to no one in particular, she simply wanted to sing.

Her song drifted through the tree's and wound it's way to any willing ear. They were lucky for this song wasn't to lure the weak-willed, rather a sad song that reflected her loneliness in a world that rejected her existence.

@unicorgi
Jyden turned to the one who spoke to him. "Hi."

((Sorry for the one-liner, still a little tired.))

(Es ok)

“Watcha doin in the forest? It’s supposed to be dangerous at night” maybe he was one of the dangerous things, well she guessed she would find out.

Venson sits on top of a tree, holding his scythe in one hand. I wonder if there's an opportunity to have a little fun tonight? He looks around, and see two people walking towards each other, calling out a greeting. This looks interesting. He grins at the woman's comment about the dangers of the night. He softly whispers to himself, "So close, yet so far." His voice carried by the wind.

'Wakey wakey, John'

The words were sounded like a rockslide in John's mind as his eyes flicked open to reveal he was flat on his back in the middle of a forest. It smelled different though, and it was warmer here than wherever he remembered laying down.

He had been knocked out and dragged off once before, but last time they bound his hands and left him somewhere indoors. This time...he was in a forest and without even turning his head knew his axes lay beside him and his weapons were nestled in his jacket. There was no need of a jacket so thick here though, but comfort was never his priority

He sat up with his hands set on the ground behind him. Something wasn't right. There was no stench of burning or decaying. For most everyone this would be considered a good thing, but John liked familiarity. There were voices somewhere in the distance, and picking up his axes John walked towards them.

@unicorgi
Jyden was little hesitant as to why he was out here, but since his dark side would be taking over soon, he might as well say something now. "Listen, I don't know, but you might wanna leave."

((brb))

He taps his scythe against his leg, twirling it. He begins slowly walking across the tree branch, using the scythes momentum to keep him upright. He grins, and begins spinning the blade of his weapon around his body, making a sheet of metal around him.

She gave a somewhat sad smile and said in a soft voice “i think I’ll be fine. If I’m honest I don’t know why I’m here either” just a thought. I wish I knew what it’s like to feel fear that I won’t be able to defend myself. I’m too busy worrying about what I might do defending myself. Welp no reason to dwell on sad things when unnecessary. she cleared her throught and smiled again this time cheerfully and this time she spoke in a bright voice “so what’s your name? I think I might have seen you before but not much.”

Skye had been walking for a few minutes when he heard voices ahead of him.

He murmured to Barbara, “Interesting. Sounds like a woods party. I’m gonna snoop.”

He crept closer to the people talking, keeping himself hidden behind a large tree. If he were in a different mood, he might have approached them and said hi (because it’s not every day he finds other woods people), but he had just woken up and all he really had energy for was being a creep.

Suddenly, a loud CAW made his heart skip a beat. Barbara had fluttered off of his head with a smug expression on her face.

“You betrayer,” he hissed. Barbara cawed again and flew off.

Skye froze in place. There was no way those people didn’t hear that.

@unicorgi

Forest

"It's Jy-" Midnight had hit before he could finish as a transformation took place. His hair became longer and changed to black. His eyes became golden. His clothes went purple to black and white. As a completion, two swords appeared in his hands. His dark side, Darth had taken over. "hehehe..." Luckily, Jyden could still still send thoughts to others. As I was saying... It's Jyden. He sent to Hannah.

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Still in cheetah form, Kaiden layed his head on his paws, eyes half-closed.

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Park

Price and Juno were conversing with each other though the vampire had finished playing his guitar by now.

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Abby arrived at her destination and sat down on an empty bench adjacent to Price's. She opened her spell book and began to read in silence.

She turned around quickly when she herd somebody say something (skye) the. She turned back “ok, I’m uh Hannah. What just happened?” This was confusing, she turned back to where the voice had come from “hello?”

He phazes slightly, turning mostly invisible. He breathes, "How interesting."

Skye felt like a deer in headlights as he watched the guy’s appearance change. The swords definitely didn’t make him feel any safer. The girl had definitely heard him talk, and was looking around.

He timidly stepped out from behind the tree, waving awkwardly. Hopefully he didn’t seem threatening at all (not that he normally was threatening, but the last thing he wanted was to scare these people).

“I know this seems really creepy. Uh, sorry. I’m Skye,” he mumbled in his normal near-monotone voice. He hoped it wasn’t apparent how uncomfortable he was.

He kept an eye on the shape-shifting man, mentally preparing himself for anything.

Just then, it occurred to him that he hadn’t even had to deal with this awkwardness. He could have just turned into a crow and flew away with Barb. Dumbass… Well, it was too late now.

She gave a friendly smile “hi skye! I would introduce myself as Hannah but I think you already heard me say that. It’s totally fine!” She saw he was uncomfortable and felt sorry for him.

Once Cressia was finished singing she lazily floated at the top of the water, staring up into the blue sky. "I suppose it time to get going...I've been here for quite awhile." The Siren thought to herself, slowly using her arms to push herself towards the edge of the pond. Using the strength of her muscled tail Cressia wiggled her way up onto the grass, willing herself to transform.

It was a painful thing, bones snapping and breaking, skin peeling and stretching. A lot came with turning a fish tail into a pair of humans legs. After minutes of being in excruciating pain, Cressia staggers to her feet, gasping as she attempted to catch her breath.

She stood there with the wind at her back, unfortunately changing like left her with no clothing, luckily she kept a stash nearby for such occasions. With dripping wet hair Cressia found the pile of clothes she'd left underneat some brush and dressed herself, head perking up as she heard voices echoing from the trees. "Was there a group of people in the woods? Why?"

As he waited for a reply from his patron, Connor heard a few voices deeper in the woods. He assumed it was some teens messing around, but moved to the edge of the clearing to be safe. Vindsval had been specific that Connor was not to involve other mortals in his work, but he had shown his best friend some of his magic regardless. Who could keep something that cool completely secret?

You must uncover the stone from its resting place beneath the earth at the center of the clearing. Charge it with moonlight, then bring it home with you.

The instructions appeared in Connor's journal, beneath the question he had previously written. He nodded to himself and put the journal into his backpack, then retrieved a small gardening shovel. Leaving his belongings behind by the trees, Connor walked to the approximate center of the clearing and began digging.

The stone was not too far beneath the soil. He unearthed the object and brushed it off to get a better look at it. The stone fit in the palm of his hand, and swirls of turquoise and gold shone out from its inky blackness. Connor recognized it as labradorite, a stone known to carry magical properties. He wondered briefly why Vindsval had him come out here to dig up a fairly common crystal, but pushed the irritation aside and focused instead on the task at hand.

Now all he had to do was ... charge it ... with moonlight? Connor wasn't sure at all how to do that, but he didn't want Vindsval to think he was incapable of completing his tasks by himself. So, the boy took a deep, steadying breath and held the stone out before him, letting the moonlight hit it.

Nothing happened. Was something supposed to happen? How would he know it was charged? This isn't a phone.

While he was distracted by his thoughts, the colors in the stone began to intensify and come to life. Blue, green, and gold light shone brightly from the stone, collecting in tendrils and moving around his body. He startled, nearly dropping the crystal, but balanced himself and watched in awe as the colors swirled through the air before his eyes.

A bright white beam of light from the moon hit the stone, and sent a wave of light rippling through the trees, then everything was still. Guess it's charged now, Connor thought, amused. He slipped the crystal into his jacket pocket and went to retrieve his backpack. As he slung it over his shoulder, Connor heard the voices deep in the woods again.

Had they been able to see the light rippling through the trees? What were they doing in the forest at midnight anyway? Connor's curiosity pulled him toward the voices, and he was unable to resist.