The soft hum of the VTOL's engine was the only sound that could be heard. Four dim bulbs were the only sources of light inside the aircraft's cabin. The passengers were a team of Operators of the Haynek Institute of Research and they were aboard Raven One, one VTOL out of three flying to the remote village of Riventor. Originally there was only to be one team on this operation but a last minute change by Mister Haynek himself added two more teams to the assignment.

The team inside Raven One consisted of six Operators. They may know who each other was but this was the first operation they went together. They departed from the institute's mobile base once it reached Kazimierz. However, the base would soon move away since there was business elsewhere. Fortunately, the VTOLs would keep close by. Once they have delivered the teams, they would refit and refuel at a nearby Kazimierz city and wait there until the teams request extraction.

The team's leader, Blizzard, was seated during lift off but soon left her seat and stood around looking at her PDA. Wu, a Feline Defender hailing from Lungmen, was fast asleep in his seat. Rumors say he was once part of the Lungmen Guard Department but Wu denies these. Ibon, the team's Liberi Medic from Columbia, was happily listening to her music player in her seat. She was known in the Institute for spending time in Rhodes Island where she got treatment for her Oripathy.

Not a word was uttered between the team members ever since they took off. Now was good a time as any to break the ice. Or the team could just stay in each others' worlds until they reach Riventor village.

The radioes crackled to life. "Raven One, this is Raven Two. Sensors detect turbulent weather ahead."

"Copy that, Raven Two. That's weird, forecasts said there'd be clear skies over here. Well, let's try to ascend above it. Raven One, ascending to twenty-thousand feet."

"Raven Two, ascending to twenty-thousand feet."

"Raven Three, ascending to twenty-thousand feet."

The sound of gun shots echoed slowly as if stuck in time. The screams of bystanders and the explosions around the urban environment were identified by Rex's hazy vision as he wiped his face clean. He was without a weapon, without protection, a useless combatant in this moment. More shots seared through space ripping by his ear drums, sounds of led ricocheting off metals, to the average individual, all of these sensory details would have been overlooked. It was Rex's sense of calm that got him through these fire fights and a deep trust in his training which developed the instincts now relied upon for reacting. There was something peculiar about this scenario though, it was too slow. It could be compared to swimming in swamp or mud, thick and dead. His hand came up once more to reveal blood, was it his? It didn't feel real...before he could investigate...the kick happened.

Rex dropped out of his traumatic daydream immediately reacting by gripping his weapon. He did not know whether to be surprised about what he had dreamed or the fact he somehow dazed off in the middle of a VTOL ride. The turbulence had kicked him out of his head and into reality. Rex could feel it climbing higher into the clouds which was probably to avoid the continued turbulence. If he had been awake prior, he'd had likely heard the orders to climb by the flight crew.

Rex scanned the poorly lit cabin counting six operators, 'Zasada, Longgui, Wu, Ibon, and the fearless leader, Blizzard' and the Feline Defender, Wu, was having much more success at sleeping then Rex did. He knew the basic profile of his colleagues brought to him by Blacksteel Worldwide when offering him up for this mission to H.I. What he did not know, was their battle performance.

After his visual sweep, he collected his thoughts and began smoothly pressing down the frame of his custom X-95. A quick audit of weapon functioning gave him a nice warm feeling before sliding the carbine to his side on the sling strapped across his body. He moved down to his side arm disengaging the holster retention with ease. The SIG felt balanced in his hand, it was not his preferred tool for action, but it was always ready for emergencies. Holstering his SIG leaning back in his seat, he raised his gaze to the ceiling. Drawing his arms behind his head, he crossed one foot over his knee and shut his eyes once more as the cabin gently shook a few more times as the VTOL propellers cut into the air.

---

Among the crew, was someone who would almost fail a breathalyzer test 100% of the time, and she was currently fiddling with some electrical looking device near the cockpit.

Aaaagh, how long were they going to be flying in this dull hunk of metal? Couldn't they make these things more interesting? Make it look like a dragon! flamethrowers! Oh oh, she knew how it could be improved! A full liquor bar! Ahaha, yes, that makes everything better! Ah, but no, they wouldn't let her do that. Stupid military protocols. It was a good thing it was only illegal if she got caught. Stupid doctor taking away her lab time because she was a good businesswoman. Hmph.

Really, at this point Zasada was just trying to do something to distract herself from this long, boring flight into the sticks. Like really, she was a Ursus city girl. She shouldn't be here! Certainly she was interested in running numerous of morally and legally questionable tests on Originium, but she had people before! She could send people to collect that for her! Aaaah, pathetic. Look what she was reduced to.

...well, that was fine, she deserved this, anyways.

"GAH, You duraki are more boring than my previous co-workers." Finally, she broke the silence, her impatience and the silence finally getting to her. The fact that other people weren't keen on replying to her didn't seem to deter her in the slightest. Immediately, she locked eyes with Rex, flashing him a smile, her pale skin tinged with red a bit. Knowing her, she had likely sneaked in a drink somewhere. "Ahaahah, you, you're finally awake! We're going to be crossing the border soon! Riventor is on the horizon and we're dealing with turbulent weather. Ahahaha, all we need now is to get shot down or something and it'll make for a great story to tell. Crashed, having to fight off some scum, and a bottle of the finest Vodka."

The Ursus quickly moved over to Rex, taking a seat next to him with a large grin.

"Say, you're from Blacksteel, right? You must be pretty good with that gun of yours. Hmhm, have we worked together before, I can't remember." Rex would clearly be able to smell a faint scent of alcohol, but it'd be odd for Zasada if she didn't faintly smell of it.

After Rex responded to Zasada, a sudden and hard rumble rocked the plane. It jolted Wu awake and caught the attention of Ibon. It would have launched Blizzard into the air had she not grabbed a safety handle in time. "Pilots! What the hell was that?!" She angrily but worriedly demanded.

The radioes crackled on in response. "We've flown into the turbulent weather, it seems. But we ascended, didn't we?"

The VTOL made another hard rock and Ibon was thrown from her seat. "Everyone! Get to your seats and buckle up!" Blizzard ordered as she did the same.

The aircraft continued to shake and rumble, and then there was the grumble of thunder. "It's a freaking storm out here!"

"All Ravens! Descend to five-thousand feet!"

As soon as the order was given, the VTOL sharply dove down. Inertia made the sudden descent uncomfortable but fortunately, the team was fastened to their seats with its belts. It took several tense moments but soon enough, the VTOL stabilized... but then there was another rock and now, the boom of thunder. "What the hell?! It's still here!" The pilots were now panicking.

"It's following us!"

*CRASH*

The sound of glass shattering made it clear that the situation has become worse. Perhaps to a point of no return. Fast winds blew into the VTOL's cabin as it began sharply descending again. "Pilots! Report!" Blizzard repeated for a couple of times but there was no response at all. The Vulpo leader unbuckled and rose from her seat. She fought her way towards the cockpit against the mighty winds and the aircraft's quakes. "What the?! Damn it!" She could be heard cursing.

The radioes crackled for one last transmission. "Mayday, mayday! This Raven One, we are losing altitude! Mayday-- BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

---

Zasada and Rex awaken with a concerned face looking over them. "Oh, thank God! You're awake! Wu, they're awake! Rex and Zasada."

Somehow, the team emerged mostly unscathed despite the crash landing of their aircraft, only getting briefly knocked unconscious. Wu and Ibon were the first to awaken and had quickly pulled the rest of their team out of the wreckage. The Liberi Medic checked up on them but fortunately found no serious injuries in any of the team members. Just minor concussions from the rough descent.

"Blizzard had apparently pulled the VTOL up so that it would crash horizontally rather than vertically. Unfortunately, she and Longgui are still knocked out." Wu explained to the newly-awoken Zasada and Rex, motioning at the unconscious Vulpo and the Lung-Pram lying in the grass with Ibon by their sides. "As for the pilots... I've never seen anything like it. You're welcome to take a look if you want but I'm warning you, it's pretty disturbing."

Should Zasada or Rex or both take a look at the cockpit, they would find the corpses of the pilots still on their seats. They had long, thin rods of Originium pierced into their helmets and heads. Looking at the windshield, they would see distinct holes punched through it. It appeared the Originium rods shot through the glass and into the pilots' heads. Did the weird storm do this in some freak coincidence or was it something else at work?

"Blizzard doesn't look like she's waking up anytime soon and we need a plan of action." Wu addressed the remaining team members. "The radioes aren't working and even if they did, I don't think they'll reach the Institute mobile base. We need a long-range radio. Working long-range radio." The Lungmen Feline then gazed to the forest ahead of them. "We also can't stay here. I bet Riventor's not far from here. We can ask for help there. But that means we'll have to carry these two."

"What do you guys think?"

There it was, the break in the silence, and we had not even reached the drop point.

Rex thought as one eye lid lifted to spot Zasada honing in on Rex for his attention. Her loud laughter and liquor inflated personality was a lot for Rex who valued his peace, but he also always had a small space in his heart for studying the most interesting of characters. "All we need now is to get shot down or something and it'll make for a greater story to tell." Rex's mind stopped listening after her foreshadowing, why would anyone wish that upon themselves? clearly her instability was not the most important asset for this mission and as she continued speaking, Rex began analyzing, she was not necessarily one he'd be willing to trust will follow orders, someone who may be great for unconventional ideas when in a pinch, and crazy enough to execute on it. Zasada seemed more like a wild mustang than a well-trained dog of war. Rex watched from his one eye as she scooted her way over to his side, he'd admit her grin was contagious but his lips did not give in.

"Say, you're from Blacksteel, right? You must be pretty good with that gun of yours. Hmhm, have we worked together before, I can't remember." Rex would clearly be able to smell a faint scent of alcohol, but it'd be odd for Zasada if she didn't faintly smell of it.

Rex figured it was time to give her the attention she had been aiming for, "I am from Blacksteel, I don't believe we have and I feel confident I'd remember a character like yours." Her breath was keeping him from turning his head all the way to meet her eyes. In the middle of proceeding the conversation forward, a snap jolted everyone into space and back down. Rex dropped his foot to the floor and tugged on his seat belt for a safety check, he looked over to Zasada, both eyes catching hers with a slight smirk, "congratulations Ms. Zasada, it looks like you are the oracle on this mission." His reference was to her comment of "crashing" earlier, he wasn't sure if it'd stick in her consciousness, but it didn't matter. The VTOL regained a short-lived balance as another crack of sound shattered the crews false sense of temporary reprieve. The VTOL suffered another down fall, Rex braced himself, checked Zasada for any possible safety misses to her own seat, and made sure his weapons were close. The last thing Rex wanted was to crash and survive without his weapons near by.

The sound of metal twisting at impact with a fist full of gravity haymaking Rex's body left his mind silent. Yet for whatever reason, it wasn't his time. The cognitive lights to his prefrontal cortex began charging on, he coughed up smoke from his body's reaction to purge any obstructions in the airway. Both of Rex's eyes opened to a concerned look, "Oh, thank God! You're awake! Wu, they're awake! Rex and Zasada." Ibon yelled over to Wu as Rex was slowly rearranging the rolling marbles in his head. His hands instinctively reached for his side arm and carbine to make sure they were still equipped, they were.

Rex slowly got to one knee before standing all the way up. His eyes shifting slowly from one field of view to the other attempting to sketch out the area they crashed in. Lots of trees in the distance while current standing in a clear green meadow. Wu gave a debrief of the situation and gave warning about the pilots. Rex would decide to check the pilot box those two fallen soldiers who commandeered them up until their last breath. Paying respects to the dead was necessary for Rex if possible, they wouldn't be able to take the pilots with them or call for an E-vac to pick the bodies up until they got a signal. The sight he walked in on however was both disturbing and confusing. Originium pierced through both pilots around the same spot. Rex's first inclination was not to conclude this was merely a storm accident, an originium storm is unpredictable, these strikes appeared precise. Rex walked over the bodies, he knelt down fiddling his hands through their pockets to check if there was anything useful for the remainder of the mission. A pack of smokes, two rescue knives, two standard issued glock-19 pistols, and two small flash lights. Rex clipped off one of the belts pulling it from the body's waist and wrapping it around his. He positioned the belt with the holster on the opposite side of his existing SIG side arm. Rex brought the items back to where the group was recovering and dropped them for anyone who may want to add to their equipment before moving out.

Rex looked over to Wu, "We move to Riventor and complete the mission, I can load up Blizzard." Rex's effectiveness was in his ability to fire a gun, albeit having Blizzard on his shoulder would effect his ability to use his primary weapon, he'd manage fine with his SIG pistol. Rex looked at Ibon and Zasada, then back to Wu, "It may be best Wu because of your physical capabilities if you take the Longgui, while Zasada scouts forward and Ibon manages vitals for our two unconscious friends here while we move to Riventor." Rex recollected Zasada's profile having been proficient in stealth which drew up his idea for her taking lead as a scout to make sure we didn't fall into an ambush. The fate of the pilots still kept Rex questioning the greater picture that may be playing out, his job in his mind was to mitigate risk of an already dangerous start. After suggesting his ideas he looked back at Zasada, "How do you feel about playing scout for us?"

Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp were Operators of the Haynek Institure of Research and aboard the VTOL desginated Raven Three. They were part of an investigation of the strange presence of Originium in a remote village in Kazimierz called Riventor. There were three teams on the operation and they were part of one. Originally, there was only supposed to be one team that did not include either of them but a last minute change by Mr. Haynek himself saw the addition of two more teams.

They departed from the institute's mobile base once it reached Kazimierz. The base would soon move away, however, since there was business elsewhere. Fortunately, the VTOLs would keep close by. Once they have delivered the teams, they would refit and refuel at a nearby Kazimierz city and wait there until the teams request extraction.

But things quickly went off plan, a sudden and freak storm hit the three VTOLs. Communications with the other VTOLs were cut off as the raging winds hammered the VTOL. "It's following us!" The pilot cried. Not a moment after, something struck the aircraft's hull. A large shard of Originium invaded the cabin and practically destroyed one of the rotors. Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp's leader, an old Kuranta woman with blue hair, ordered an evacuation. Parachutes were issued to the team and Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp were the first to go.

They never saw anyone else jump out of the aircraft.

---

The two landed into the thick woods that surround Riventor. Breaking through the canopy, their parachutes were caught in the branches but it was easy to cut loose and land safely to the forest floor. Upon getting their bearings, they would soon notice that most of the trees of this forest were dead. It was only through their sheer numbers and thick branches that they block out the sunlight. In fact, there were so many trees that they felt like walls. It was almost suffocating.

Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp were alone. It was up to them what to do next.

Dragonheart was fast asleep aboard Raven Three.
For a lot of people, it might be difficult to do something like this; what if an enemy attacked? What if Raven Three crashed?
What if anything bad at all happened?

Well, if anything bad did happen, Dragonheart would probably be woken up, but the fact of the matter was, he didn't know how long it would be until he was able to get any sleep again. It was much better to rest now, while he could, in case he had to spend the next few days sleepless.
If you're curious about what kind of dreams the half-Sarkaz, half-Draco might be having, the answer is disappointing;
He was dreaming about sitting in a cafe in Londinium, enjoying his time with a nice few donuts and a fresh cup of coffee. The dream felt warm, and cozy, but there was a certain longing hidden behind it all.

His slumbering reverie was torn away from him when the turbulence hit the VTOL. His eyes shot open, and his hand was already on the hilt of his sword by the time he was looking properly around.
"It's following us!"
Whatever it was, it wasn't good. The entirety of Raven Three felt like it was going to be wrenched apart by the giant hands of some colossal beast, and for Dragonheart, it practically felt like they'd flown straight into a Catastrophe. He got to his feet, gripping one of the support handles that lined the interior of the VTOL, and went to check on the situation that the poor pilots found themselves in. As soon as he took a step towards them, something massive exploded through the hull. It was massive-no, to describe it as massive was still an understatement. It tore through the hull like some sort of missile, and Dragonheart had to shield his face from the smaller pieces of whatever it was that broke off upon impact.

Once he thought it was 'safe'-as safe as safe could be in an aircraft that had been hit by.. whatever it was, he dropped the arms that were covering his face and stared at the destruction before him. It was gigantic, and, Dragonheart realised, it was a chunk of Originium.
Whatever was going on here, it definitely wasn't a normal storm. The idea of a giant monster trying to rip Raven Three apart seemed more likely than he'd expected. He caught the voice of his leader, a Kuranta woman with blue hair, over the screeching of alarms and the screaming of the other people aboard. He couldn't hear anything she'd said aside from 'evacuation', and that was enough for him. In a few moments, parachutes were being issued to the remaining people that were onboard. Of particular note was a fellow Infected, a Caster Operator known as Will-O-Wisp. She was probably younger than him, but that didn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.
The next few moments were a whirlwind of fear, action, and even more fear. The wind on Dragonheart's face as he fell through the sky was a familiar feeling, and he was vaguely aware of Will-O-Wisp's presence falling alongside him.
It was a dangerous thing, to leap from an aircraft in the middle of a storm, but the alternative was worse. Midair, he turned to look up at Raven Three, but couldn't see anything through the storm that assaulted it.
He couldn't see anyone either. Nobody was following them, not even their leader. He did, however, catch sight of Will-O-Wisp, and was torn- on one hand, company was always great; on the other hand, it might've mean another mouth to feed, which could complicate any long-term survival plans he had.

He swung his body back around to face the earth beneath them and became acutely aware of the forest below. He waited until the air was calmer and the storm was far above them before opening his parachute, making sure to call out to his fellow Operator to do the same. He glanced around, wondering if there were any other survivors from Raven One or Two, but he couldn't make them out. He could see Raven One taking a nosedive further past the forest that he and Will-O-Wisp were landing in, but that didn't guarantee anyone would survive. He turned his attention to his more immediate surroundings, and noticed two distinct features of the terrain- first, he could make out what appeared to be an old, dilapidated church to the south, and to the north was what appeared to be a large lake.
However, something immediately put him off about it. Was the water there pitch-black, or was it just his eyes playing tricks on him?

As they got lower and lower to the woods, he called out to Will-O-Wisp to brace herself. He pulled his legs up to cover his torso, and when he hit the trees, he did so hard. Bark scratched at his clothes, a few sharp ends of what should've been the canopy jabbed him through his outfit, and he was jostled almost painfully when the parachute came to an abrupt stop upon getting caught.
It felt like he'd been in a one-man car crash.



Dragonheart gritted his teeth and unbuckled himself from his parachute, dropping to the ground with a rather loud thud that hurt his ankles. It was dark in this forest- the canopy was making it more than a little hard to see, but what he could see wasn't normal. The trees surrounding them were.. dead? They had absolutely no leaves to speak of, but they made up for it by the thickness of the wood and the sheer amount of trees. It was a miracle that they hadn't hit the canopy like it was the ground and died then and there. That said, these woods would certainly provide plenty of wood for campfires if he had to make any.

However, there was more for him to think about;
In his mind, he was weighing up whether they should go and investigate the crash-site of Raven One, or head straight to Riventor. Any surviving members of Haynek Institute's taskforces would probably be heading there first, so it made sense as a rendezvous point.
That said..
If that storm wasn't a storm at all, then it made sense that the place nearby with the most population would also be the place where whoever conjured it resided.. or whatever conjured it. While they could go in blind and hope it was just a normal settlement, Dragonheart figured it might be better to wait for any survivors to show up before heading in.

Of course, that implied that there were any survivors in the first place, or that they'd pass through these woods, and he wasn't sure that that was the case.
He shouldn't be making any plans on his own, anyway. Admittedly, he'd forgotten that he wasn't flying solo this time around, and had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he'd forgotten that Will-O-Wisp was even there with him.

So, there were now three options; look for survivors, wait here for survivors, or head into Riventor by themselves. That said, perhaps there were more important questions to ask first.
He turned to look over at Will-O-Wisp and gave his Vulpo companion a faint smile.
"Are you okay?"

@PaulHaynek@RezonanceV

---

Ah, there it was. She'd be disappointed if something didn't go wrong. She halfway considered not following that buckling up order and just holding onto a seat and laughing the entire way down but eh, no need to scare the big scary gun toting Blacksteel operative just yet. Still, she couldn't help but to laugh as she felt the VTOL plummet to the ground. If she was gonna die, might as well go out with a smile!

"Aha, Oracle? Unless Vodka gives me such abilities, I'm just paranoid! Learn to be a little bit like that yourself, you'll live longer, eh~!"

The sound of twisting metal and a brief loss of consciousness followed as the vehicle slammed into the ground.

Yet it seemed as though she was not destined to die today.

"Geh I'm up I'm up!" Zasada's body jerked to wakefulness, nearly face planting her own into Ibon. "Ey, jeez, and here I thought you were a lovely angel welcoming me to the afterlife." She rolled over, rubbing the back of her head. "Eugh, I feel like I just woke up after a night at a club..." Still, she was alive, that was good enough for the moment. The Ursus scientist got to her feet, frowning as she observed the crashed VTOL, listening to the status update and making sure to see the pilots with her own eyes.

That was...definitely new.

"Ah, too bad I don't have any lab equipment. I could probably figure out what that is in a mere matter of days with enough drink, heh." She reached into her coat, pulling out a small canteen and quickly downing a swig. "Hm, was it caused by the storm somehow? Perhaps that thunder...some sort of atmospheric originium phenomena?..."

And thus Zasada completely stopped listening to Wu as she quickly started coming up with theories for what exactly had happened. It seemed likely that somehow originium somehow nearly instantly crystalized in someone without infection or with low levels of it. The only things she could currently link to the happening was the storm and the abnormal properties of the place they were currently heading. But a natural phenomena just didn't follow someone like that...mhm, perhaps something in their VTOLS attracted it?...

Was there some sort of precedent for that she could think of?

Not to mention, just what would they do now? Obviously they needed to still carry out their field tests. It was a shame to leave valuable research samples, but she couldn't take the time to even do small tests. Riventor was likely close enough, but if the radios weren't working...a side effect of whatever that storm was?

It would take the Ursus a few seconds to respond as Rex poised a question to her.

"Hm? Ah, sozhaleyu, I was lost in thought." She replied finally with a smile, stuffing that canteen back into her coat. "Mhm, yes, would make the best use of my abilities...though I do not understand why we would have need of a scout, hm? Not like we're going to be attacked by something, but caution is always prudent." She ran a hand over her coat, reaching inside of it and feeling around. "Mhm, yes, It seems mostly everything is intact so I can scout fine. Should I run into any trouble, I'll light a flare, hm? You'll be the third person to know."

She wouldn't get too far ahead, and the path to Riventor shouldn't be too difficult, so with a casual wave and a lazy smile she set off in the direction their destination was.

Unlike Dragonheart, Kit was unable to get even a moments rest. Aboard the VTOL was the constant Swish-swish, swish, swish, swish-swish of her multiple tails excitedly whipping about around and behind the younger infected girl, unable to keep the anxious, hopeful grin from spreading across her youthful face. Bouncing about in her seat, she seemed unable to contain the pent up emotions within her. And could you blame the girl? This was her first official 'mission' with the Institute! Of course, she had been on training missions and the like, but this was her first dispatch for anything like this! She had hoped to be able to talk to her new teammates along the way, but it seems they were busy either sleeping or talking some official nonsense she didn't really care for amongst themselves. Boo! They were boring!

But she would be damned if that put a damper on her mood! The turbulent weather before hadn't, so this wouldn't either! There would be plenty of time once they reached their designation to be able to get to talk to the others, and there would be other teams there as well! At such thoughts, the swishing of her tails seemed to increase in frequency, another reason why her teammates were currently avoiding her. They didn't want to get slapped god knows how many times because the girl couldn't contain herself!

Though only a moment later, a high pitch cry filled the air as the sides of the VTOL seemed to be slammed by a constant marriage of wind. Who was screaming so loudly? It took a moment for Kit to realize it was her that was screaming like someone about to be brutally murdered and covered her mouth, face flushing red before she let out a much quieter scream as the VTOL shook again. It was hard to see if she was shaking or if it was the VTOL itself, but a moment later she squealed yet again as a large shard of Originum pierced into the cabin, and if not for her following the order to start evacuating, it would've skewered her where she sat.

Pale-faced, she slapped her hands against her cheeks and shook her head. She needed to calm down! She was sure that everyone else was panicking enough as was, her constant screaming wasn't helping! Doing her best to keep her footing despite the now failing and falling aircraft, Kit took the parachute offered from the team leader, glancing to her side at Dragonheart and shot him a grin, albeit a bit forced as the fear was evident on her face, before making the jump with him.

What happened next was probably just as terrifying as being aboard the vessel. The turbulent winds battered away at the girl, her hair and tails whipping about out of control around her. No one would've been surprised if her small, light frame would've just been picked up and tossed away by the winds. Even if the girl wanted to, she couldn't look back. If she did, all she could see was the storm and her own hair fluttering around. She was sure everyone else was fine and was following them now!

At Dragonhearts prompt, the panicked girl began groping about for her parachute cords. A moment later, her frail hands gripped onto it and gave a tug that was perhaps a little too hard, though it didn't seem to be a problem as it deployed smoothly enough. With the worst of the storm behind them, she took this chance to try and get all the hair that was currently in her face back into place as they descended. What the hell was that anyway?! She thought that they had avoided the storm! The last thing she heard the pilots say did stick in her mind, however. What had followed them? Was it perhaps the storm? No-no-no, that couldn't be right. Storms can't follow things! That was just silly, even for her!

Another prompt from Dragonheart brought her back to reality. Brace for what? Her eyes widened as she finally registered the forest beneath them. Oh, right. Landing. With a grimace, she tucked herself into as small a ball as possible, arms in front of her face and knees tucked into her chest, her tails wrapping around her frail flame before the painful impact. Even with the semi-controlled, slowed descent from the parachute, she wasn't quite prepared for such a rough landing! Smashing into dry, sharp sticks was about as pleasant as one could imagine-as in, not pleasant at all. She grimaced as several times she felt something cut through her clothes, by the time she had come to a stop she knew she was covered in scratches and bruises. She brought her hand up to a particularly nasty cut above her cheek, her hand soon becoming wet, sticky and warm as she brought back to inspect the blood on her still shaking hands. Well, she was in pain and bleeding, so at least that meant she was still alive and kicking!

Wiping the blood on her skirt, she could still feel it oozing out of the cut, down her chin before dripping down onto the ground and canopy-wait, there was no canopy now that she looked. It was all just thick branches of dead tree. That explained the painful impact with it. Squirming about in her harness as she searched for the buckle amongst her messed up clothes, hair and tail, a loud groan came from one of the limbs she had gotten stuck on.

Oh no.

With a loud squeal and a loud snap, she fell through the 'canopy' but luckily for her the cords got caught once more and instead of falling-perhaps with some rather unsavoury consequences-onto the forest floor, instead she was now just hanging off to the side above Dragonheart. Oh thank god he had made the landing as well! And she had found him already as well! Things were beginning to look up already!

"I'm fine! Just got to...gah get out of this." With a wide grin directed at the older infected, Kit would begin her search for the buckle to her harness once more. Though despite her positive attitude, one could take one look at her scratched, battered form, blood still dripping from the cut on her cheek, and could probably guess she hadn't had the greatest time of it all. But despite the injuries, none were particularly a problem so long as they were properly tended to as to avoid infection-well, the other kind of infection.

Unless Dragonheart intervened sooner, the girl would provide a rather amusing sight as she seemed to just get further tangled up in her parachute, the frustration visible on her face as her little legs flailed about like a child throwing a tantrum. "Any...moment....now...!" It was obvious the girl needed help, but seemed too stubborn to ask for it. Eventually, she began so tangled up that she was now hanging upside down, her limbs a tangled mess around her as she dangled above the man, the blood now running into her hair.

"Umm...can you cut me down please?" With a sheepish grin and a bright flush on her face, she finally caved in and asked for her teammate's assistance.

He tried his best not to laugh.
Really, he had absolutely nothing against his fellow Operator at all, but.. Well..
He cleared his throat as he watched her 'free herself' and waited for her to either pull it off through some sort of miracle, come crashing to the ground, or tangle herself up-
Yep, there it was. She was tangling herself up more and more with every movement. Dragonheart conveniently found a nearby tree to be very, very interesting indeed, until Will-O-Wisp's voice reached his ears with the words he'd been expecting for a while now.

"Umm...can you cut me down please?"

He glanced over to her, gave her a small smile, and spoke;
"You seem like you've got this under control. I'm going to look around a bit."
He took a few steps away from his helpless companion, then turned back to her with a grin that could only be described as the cheekiest grin Dragonheart would ever pull. He made his way back over to Will-O-Wisp and hefted his Fangs of the Pit- now having been put together in their twin-blade state. He pulled back and tossed it up at Will-O-Wisp's parachute cords, slicing through them cleanly and letting his weapon impale itself into a nearby tree. He was too focused on what came next.
The sudden freefall, especially upside down, wasn't going to end well, so as soon as he noticed Will-O-Wisp begin to fall, he stood under her and caught the poor Vulpo in his arms.

It was in this moment that he noticed the myriad of cuts, bruises and scrapes that marred her. The cut that sliced deep into her cheek. especially, was nothing to scoff at. Unfortunately, there weren't any Medics around, and Dragonheart wasn't able to heal anyone but himself. This made things even more complicated than they already were.

He looked down at her, furrowing his brows, silent. Then, after a few moments of contemplating his words, he spoke;

"We have a few options, so I'll cut to the chase. First, we can go to Riventor and see if anyone else turns up after us. That said, this could be risky. Who knows who, or what, is waiting for us there? Whatever hit our aircraft wasn't a normal storm, and that makes me worried." He paused to let the information soak in, and to let himself breathe, before continuing.
"Our second option is to head over to Raven One's crash site. I saw it fall further to the east, basically in the opposite direction of Riventor. However, going there could waste valuable time in getting to somewhere safe. That said, if a Medic survives, they could patch you up. On top of that, if Riventor is.. not as friendly as we'd like, we'll have backup there to immediately help out."
Talking this much really sucked. Usually all of this was done in his head, but the circumstances were different this time. Not only was he not working alone, he was working with an injured person.
"Our third options is to wait here, set up camp, and pray that any survivors will run into us instead of passing us by in order to get to Riventor. It's probably the worst option of the three, but it's also the most immediately safe option."
He paused again, glancing at Will-O-Wisp's legs.
"That said, I'm happy to carry you if you can't walk. It's better for you to save your energy if you have to. In situations like this, exhaustion will kill you. What do you think?"

While he wasn't going to give the Vulpo total command, he was eager to know her thoughts on the matter. She knew the state of her body much better than he did, after all, so he was leaving it up to her to choose the goal she felt most comfortable going for.
That said, he didn't say any of this aloud, so she had no way of knowing it.

Dragonheart wasn't good at this.

Zasada scouted ahead into the Old Woods. Fortunately, there was a wide, clear dirt path that presumably lead to Riventor so long as there were no forks or intersections in the road.

The Ursus scientist would be the first to see before the rest of the group. The woods that surround the path were so thick and numerous, they acted like some sort of wall. Looking through them was nigh impossible. One would need to enter the forest to see what lied beyond. The trees were also mostly dead, only through their numbers and thickness were they able to block the sunlight from reaching the forest floor.

Nothing happened as they traversed the path. In fact, everything was quiet. Eerily quiet, like something was about to pounce on one of the group. The tense silence was broken with a shrill shriek. The sudden scream belonged to Ibon and Zasada was forced to regroup with the others.

"What the?! What happened?! Where's Longgui?!" Wu angrily demanded at everyone. He was supposed to be carrying the unconscious Operator on his back. Suddenly, his back felt light and discovered that Longgui was no longer there. Nor anywhere. "Where's Longgui?!" He repeated, panicking a bit.

Ibon, meanwhile, fell to her knees sobbing. The poor Liberi was scared but not beyond words. "She... she... she disappeared!" She managed to squeak out. "I was-I was-I was looking at her. She-she was on Wu's back and-and-and when I blinked... she was just gone!" She then sobbed and cried. "I hate this! I hate this!"

Wu could not believe what he heard. He paced back and forth. "Damn it! Damn it!" Wiping his face, he came to a decision. "Rex, Zasada. Take Blizzard and Ibon to Riventor and seek help. I'll go find Longgui, alright?"

Not a day has passed and the group was already down an Operator. Blizzard was still present but unconscious and Wu volunteered to go look for the missing Longgui but was that really a good idea?

---

While Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp discussed what to do next, the sounds of sticks breaking immediately put them on alert. Halting the talk, the two Operators faced the direction of the approaching sounds. The woods were thick and concealed whatever was coming upon them.

Then it appeared. Out from the darkness of the woods came a black-furred dog. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary dog but upon a closer look, it was a huge dog. An impossibly huge dog, it was as tall as a person and was therefore much taller than Will-O-Wisp. It had red eyes and razor sharp teeth and those coupled with its black fur lended it a terrifying appearance.

It approached with a growl, its eyes focused on Will-O-Wisp. It appeared it was drawn by the smell of blood, and the Vulpo girl was bleeding. It thought nothing of the abilities of its prey or her companion, only that she was prey.

Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp had a fight on their hands. Or perhaps it was wiser to run away for now?

"W-wait! I seriously need a hand!" The look on the girls face was priceless as Dragonheart turn his back on her. He was kidding right?! Surely he was! Just as she was about to call out to him again though, the man turned around with a wide grin on his face. That scoundrel was teasing her! She wasn't sure if it was the blood rushing to her face from embarrassment, or simply because she was hanging upside down so gravity, but the red-faced girl awaited her ally to cut her down-albeit pondering for a moment how he would achieve the feat. She was a fair bit up above, so she doubted he would be able to-

"Eh?" Her thoughts were cut much like the strings of her parachute by the blades he flung at her. In the time it took her to let out a shriek much the same as she had been doing aboard the VTOL earlier, Dragonheart had moved into the dropzone and caught the lightly built Vulpo rather easily. "D-Don't scare me like that!" Even redder than before, the girl let him know her displeasure at his little 'joke' and subsequent sudden cutting down-though admittedly the second part she had literally asked for.

Though she quietened down rather quickly, despite the pout and obvious irritation she showed, as he began to explain their options though. She would give him an earful later on how to treat a lady! Right now, as he quite obviously had found out, she was hurt, they had little idea of where they were, limited supplies due to the sudden nature of their evac, and that was just to name a few of their problems! Well duh the storm wasn't normal! Well that's what the girl wanted to say, but instead kept her outbursts bottled up in her as she gave him a smoldering glare to accompany her pout, especially when he offered to carry her. She would never be able to live it down if the others found out she had to be carried! She was treated like a kid enough as it was!

After a moment to consider the options, she wriggled out of his arms, landing with her arms and tails outstretched and letting out a little groan. Ok, that hurt a little. But nothing a mature woman couldn't handle! "I'm fine! A little beat up, but nothing a little dressing won't fix. The uh real deal is a lot....more intense than I could've thought hahaha." Accompanying her nervous laugh was the constant anxious swishing of her tails as she surveyed their surroundings for a moment. "Option 3 is a no go...this place creeps me out." Shivering as to prove her point, she patted down at her clothes as if to make sure everything was still in one piece. No immediate pangs of pain, she could move ok-so nothing serious then!

"For now, I think we should start heading to Riventor. We might be able to run into the others along the way, and I'm sure that wherever they ended up they're probably heading that way yeah? Anyway, I'm Will-O-Wisp, and you're uh Dragonheart right?" Forever the optimist, unless she had seen her teammates and fellow operators demise, it seemed unlikely anyone would be able to sway her to think any differently. She went to take a step forward when a sudden snapping sound filled the woods around them. Almost immediately, Kit's ears and tails stood at attention, her little body swerving to face the source of the sound. Well, her face wasn't red anymore was the positive to be find here. The bad news? Well, that was because she was as pale as a ghost at the sight that was closing in on them.

Larger than her with jet black fur, teeth glistening in the dimly lit forest as she knew that it's piercing red gaze had settled on her-some sort of monstrous wolf had found them, singling her out as his prey. She seemed frozen in place as her mind frantically began to go over her training. Ah yes, of course this was the answer!

"On second thought, please do carry me!" Almost immediately the girl turned around and leapt back into his arms, tails wrapping around him for support as she curled up against the larger man. She was no chance of outrunning this beast! And this way, they would be able to flee faster! A genius plan if she said so.

Everything she said registered in his head, but he felt no real need to respond; she was carrying the conversation with herself wonderfully. Though, when the Caster asked his name, he nodded in confirmation. It seemed that heading to Riventor was their best bet, though he couldn't help but feel as if it was a bad idea.

The snapping of twigs brought his mind back to the moment, and before he'd even registered what that sound actually was, he'd extended his hand out towards his weapon and brought it flying back into his grip. He narrowed his eyes, watching as the massive, predatory.. thing moved into sight. He crouched down a little, readying himself for battle, but that decision, too, was made for him.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Caster?!" he hissed at his companion. With one hand, he held her, and with the other, he readied his sword. Wolves can't generally can't climb trees, but in this place it seemed more likely that the thing would just break the tree down in order to get to them instead of climbing it. He bit his lip, weighing up the odds;

A Vanguard who, theoretically, could kill this thing on his own, but who knows what kind of mutations it might undergo? It could turn the tables at the last second, and then that'd get the two of them possibly killed. His partner was injured, and her heart obviously wasn't in the fight.
Plus, he'd find it hard to evade the creature's attacks with Will-O-Wisp clinging to him like she was. Narrowing his eyes in more than a little annoyance, he made the decision-
He who something something runs away, will live to fight another day" after all.

So he turned and bolted through the trees with his cargo firmly pressed against his chest. He knew she wouldn't fall off of him- her tail secured her well. Anything in the way was promptly sliced apart by the Fangs of the Pit, letting him and his companion maneuver surprisingly nimbly through the trees. He wasn't at all sure of how close the monstrous 'wolf' was, though, so he had to make a plan..

And he did.
"Close your eyes and brace yourself. We're going up."
Moments after saying this, he tossed his Fangs of the Pit into the trunk of a nearby tree, leaped up onto it, and bounced up into the branches. This was a particularly thick tree, in fact, it was one of the only ones he'd seen that he was somewhat sure that the wolf-thing couldn't climb up after them.
Once up there, he waited to see what the thing would do- had they lost it? Was it able to climb? Would it try to knock the tree down?
With his 'baggage' secured, he watched and waited. His weapon was already back in his hand; if that thing had grabbed it..
No thanks, bro.

So he waited, poised to throw his weapon at the wolf-thing if he had to, but also ready to leap to a nearby tree as well. The benefit of having such a dense, dead canopy made entirely of trees branches was the fact that it made it relatively easy to climb from tree to tree. Heck, if he could get back up on top of it, it would only be a matter of walking along the canopy until the got to the edge of the forest.
But should he risk it? Running blindly would get them nowhere; they needed to see where they were going, otherwise they'd be running forever. The top of the canopy was the best option, but as it stood, they had a more obvious problem.

Besides, what if they ran into a pack of these things? What if they ran right off of a cliff? This place was a death trap. No wonder everything here was dead.
"I have an idea, but I'll need you to let go of me for a bit. Sit next to me, and hold on to the branches for your life. The thicker ones.
I want to cut a path up to the top of the canopy. That way, we can see where Riventor is and head there instead of running blindly through a forest for hours until we drop dead from exhaustion and die."

@PaulHaynek@RezonanceV

---

Thankfully, it seemed like she was correct in thinking there didn't seem to be anything to worry about. The trees created a natural barrier too thick to see through and too difficult to even traverse unless she wanted to just try burning everything down. (Which, while fun, probably wouldn't be helpful.) The only concerning thing was how quiet it was. No animals. Nothing. Reminded her of the calm after some...experiments.

And then a scream.

Ah, there it was.

Zasada 'hurried' back. That is to say, she decided to simply walk at a leisurely pace. No sense in drawing attention to herself, though she did make a point to keep moving. Immediately, something was wrong - where had Longgui gone? She let the others explain before offering any input herself.

"Ehh...so something had snatched our dear friend within the blink of an eye - while no one was actually looking, hm?" The Ursus considered Wu's plans. It wasn't half bad, but common sense here would tell them to stay together...yet that didn't seem to have helped Longgui. "Normally its best to stick together, yes...but I don't think that would help us here, hm?" Zasada knelt next to Ibon, offering a canteen of alcohol. "It may not help, but it might. Come on, stand up we got to get moving. Be a big girl, eh?" It probably didn't sound like the sincerest of encouragements, but Zasada never sounded sincere in the first place. She was however, offering her the canteen of the goods which was just about as much of a sign of trust and friendship Zasada had ever given anyone.

Whatever had taken their comrade was able to do so in the middle of broad daylight, while they were together, and supposedly right under their noses. Which meant...it was fast. Precise - and deadly. So why hadn't it just killed all of them?

There were a few clues, but she wasn't willing to bet on any particular cause just yet.

"Rex, carry Blizzard and take point." Despite obviously a bit under the influence still, she hadn't lost the ability to make sound decisions. Probably. Might as well put that tactical training she had to use. She might not have the most conventional training at leadership out in the field, but she had led people before even if they had just been scientists or researchers. "Ibon, I want you to stay back with me." She would gently, but firmly grab the Liberi by her arm and attempt to pull her up. "Walk quickly, but carefully, and no resting until we get to Riventor."

"It may not help, but it might. Come on, stand up we got to get moving. Be a big girl, eh?"

"Uh, umm... I don't-- I don't exactly... drink. Sorry." Ibon declined Zasada's offer of alcohol. "B-but thanks." Still, the kind gesture raised Ibon's spirits somewhat. The Liberi had stopped crying and gotten up.

Wu departed from the party to search for the missing Longgui. Meanwhile, Zasada's plan was followed. Rex took the unconscious Blizzard and took point while Ibon stuck close behind Zasada. The team continued onwards to Riventor, not stopping as per Zasada's instruction. They kept a close eye on each other this time too. Should another member instantly disappear, they would at least know who or what was the culprit.

Fortunately, nothing untoward happened to the team since Wu left. The woods the surrounded was a bit more noisier now with the occassional chirp of birds and the light rustling of small rabbits and rodents. It was a little odd to see them in a forest as dead as this. However, the group was still on full alert. Whatever that took Longgui could still be out there. Could still be stalking them.

The uneventful trip was broken whem Ibon piped up behind Zasada. "Zasada, y-you're a pretty great scientist right? W-What do you think happened back there? Uhh, not Longgui's disappearance although I have questions for that too. I mean, the storm that brought us down. It... wasn't a normal storm, wasn't it?" Ibon asked. "And, and... I've also heard from the pilots that... something was following us."

---

Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp bolted through the woods to escape the predator. The huge dog was hot on their trail, chasing them without being hindered by the dead forest. But when Dragonheart climbed the large tree with Will-O-Wisp on him, the huge dog could do nothing but scratch on the tree's trunk in a vain attempt to climb. It barked and scratched for a while, not at all losing interest at its Vulpo prey.

The two Operators discussed again on what to do next with Dragonheart suggesting that they get above the forest's canopy to get a look on where they were and maybe find where Riventor was. But before Will-O-Wisp could reply, another figure emerged from the woods catching everyone's, including the canine predator's, attention.

It was a tall Feline man with orange hair and tiger ears and tail. He was armed with a shield as tall as him, marking him as a Defender Operator. Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp would know him as Wu, a Defender Operator of Haynek Institute and a member of one of the teams in this operation. Specifically, he was with the team aboard Raven One and a survivor of that crash. What he was doing here of all places was a mystery.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Wu challenged the huge dog. The large predator shifted its attention, finding new prey. It quickly lunged at the Feline Defender who raised his tower shield to block. It took all of Wu's strength not to fall over and keep the dog from him. The predator barked as it tried to bite Wu but the Defender then pushed it to the tree where Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp was.

"A little help here!" Wu called out to the two Operators as he continued to pin the huge dog on the tree.

"Yeah but I don't want to set the forest on fire!" Oblivious to the disadvantages that clinging to him forced upon Dragonheart, the girl clung on for dear life as he took off and sprinted away from the wolf. The vulpo kept her eyes firmly shut as she curled up against his chest, all nine of her tails wrapping firmly around him to secure her without hindering his movements. If anything, one tail would shoot out and steady them by grabbing onto a nearby tree if they stumbled, or swat at a branch to move it to help him maneuver through the forest unhindered. She elected not to look over his shoulder and instead pay more attention to their more immediate surroundings, she didn't want to see the monstrous wolf closing on them. It was bad enough she could hear it's hulking mass tear through the forest through brute force alone!

So when Dragonheart asked her to close her eyes, well she did as he asked as he threw his weapon. It was easy to guess what would happen next as she felt him leap off the ground, her body feeling weightless for that moment in time before the soft thud of him latching onto the tree branches above, feeling it sway for a moment before settling. Opening her eyes as Dragonheart ran her through their immediate options. She gave it a moment to think over, it was a good plan. They needed to work out their location and the ground below was well...she could hear the wolf snarling and snapping at the tree beneath them. Obviusly not ready to give up the hunt on its prey. She couldn't really argue against this, though heights were uh...not her thing. It was better than the alternative!

Starting to unravel her tails from around him, she opened her mouthto respond before a moving figure caught her eye. Was it another wolf?! Was it something worse?! Oh god...oh wait. It was someone familiar to her, a feline man by the name of Wu. He was a fellow operator of the Haynek Institute, a defender if memory served the girl. He was on another team though she couldn't remember which, to be honest she hadn't paid the greatest amount of attention during the debrief. "Last one down is a rotten egg!" Watching as Wu slammed the monstrous creature against the tree, she shot a teasing grin towards Dragonheart before completely detaching her tails from him which allowed her to drop down from the tree.

As she fell, little wisps of fire formed around her. Numbering about five or so and rapidly circling the girl, she quickly called out to Wu "Move if you don't want to get hit!" After warning her fellow operator, she shot off all five wisps at once. Upon impacting the wolf they immediately denoted, washing the creature over with heat and smoke as well as the force of the explosions. Now she still had the problem of falling from the tree of course, but she had faith that she could land on the wolf.

Maybe. Hopefully. And from there? Well...uh she hadn't thought far enough ahead, but hey she could try and wrapn her tails up around it! Oh! Or maybe she could just pummel him with her wisps from close up! Speaking of which, five more were around circling her the instant the previous five had shot off.

@PaulHaynek@RezonanceV

---

As Zasada walked, she didn't take her eyes off Rex and Blizzard. Currently, she wasn't really thinking about the situation more than she already had. Already went through a number of scenarios. At the moment she was just hoping whatever it was, was focused on Wu instead of them.

"Ah, yes, the storm." Zasada replied with a thoughtful tone. "Quite curious, isn't it. Aside from the already odd readings we get from this place, that storm definitely was interesting! And how our pilots ended up, too! Ah, if only I had proper equipment and time to study them I could do so much!" She laughed brightly. "But to answer you question, little birdie, I'm as much of a loss as you are." The Ursus didn't spare a glance at her as she continued.

Really she didn't wish to idle chatter while they weren't safe like this, but she needed to keep their minds off their situation if she could.

"Theories, but nothing solid. Storms don't move like that. Not even catastrophes, in my current experience. And if something was following us, then why? And why attack us? Was it a person or some thing else? Were they able to control that storm in some manner? And then what happened with the pilots. It seemed like they were crystallized near instantly from the storm." Zasada hummed, pulling out her canteen again and shrugging. "In any scenario...it seems like whatever it is doesn't want us here....so why? Are they keeping us out, or something else in? Heh, maybe I'm letting my imagination run a bit too much." She took a quick swig of the drink.

"Haaa, you sure you don't want some? Never a better time to start than when imminent death is upon our doorstep.

The Ursus kept her eyes ahead, and only briefly reached out to pat the Iberi on the head.

Things moved quickly- someone he vaguely recognized had appeared and given them the opportunity to escape. That said, with Will-O-Wisp still clinging to him, there wasn't much he was willing to do- he was slower and heavier, and she was in a prime position to get injured.
That problem solved itself when the Vulpo dropped from his chest, throwing a cheeky taunt his way as she did. Her words, however, didn't register in Dragonheart's mind. His hand was already on his weapon, and he leapt down from his perch on the tree. He hit the forest floor and rolled, hefting himself up again faster than one might expect. His weapon was already in his hands, and he took only a moment to size up his surroundings;
Will-O-Wisp was on the wolf-thing now, and Wu was still holding it off with his admittedly intimidating shield. However, that thing was still mobile.
That was where Dragonheart decided to strike. With a roar, he tossed his Fangs of the Pit right at one of the wolf-thing's back legs. If luck was on his side, his attack would hit both of its legs and send it toppling completely. It would be a hard shot to miss, but sweeping one of its legs out would give Wu a break and let them pin it down instead of worrying about it staying mobile.
Especially since someone was now riding it.

He had to be careful; one wrong toss and he might accidentally impale Will-O-Wisp. This was the other reason he went low- if the wolf-thing suddenly turned, it might put his fellow Operator in harm's way. Friendly fire was on, after all.

Get the thing on its back, pin it down, and kill it. That's how it goes. Works with everything, even things that aren't animals.
Simple, quick, efficient.

The only downside was having to stare something in the eyes as you murdered it.

---

@PaulHaynek@Lunarlord34

"In any scenario...it seems like whatever it is doesn't want us here....so why? Are they keeping us out, or something else in? Heh, maybe I'm letting my imagination run a bit too much."

"Uuuu, I was hoping you'd say it was something normal and explainable." Ibon was disheartened to hear that even you had little idea what happened in the freak storm and crash. "And don't be so cheerful about all this!" She added a complaint.

"Haaa, you sure you don't want some? Never a better time to start than when imminent death is upon our doorstep.

"I-It's okay. My mom said I wasn't good with alcohol." Ibon declined the offer again. "And don't pat me on the head. I need to get taller and besides, I'm the one who should be doing the patting since you wouldn't wake up."

Wait, what?

-

You jolt awake. Beside you was Ibon who immediately embraced you, sobbing. Moments ago, you were watching Rex, who had Blizzard on his back, marching in front of you. Was that just a dream? If it was, it was so vivid that it felt like a memory. But if it was a dream, when did it start?

Looking around, you were still in the path on the Old Woods. There was no one else around save for the Liberi Medic who was still crying with her arms wrapped around you. "Zasada! Zasada!" Ibon cried. "You-you were just talking to me and you just suddenly... collapsed! Knocked out cold! And-and Rex, he just kept walking and walking. He didn't follow the path anymore and walked straight into the forest!"

"I-I called out to him and he doesn't respond! I wanted to follow him but I-I couldn't leave you alone!" Ibon explained everything that had happened. Quite the feat considering she was probably scared out of her mind right now. "We need to get out of here, Zasada! Come on, before we're attacked again!"

Ibon pointed something at the distance, a pillar of black smoke. "Look! I bet it's Riventor! We're close! Come on, come on!" The Medic attempted pulling you to your feet and possibly drag you. "I don't wanna be in this place anymore! Anywhere but here!"

---

"Move if you don't want to get hit!"

Wu acknowledged and jumped back from the huge dog when Will-O-Wisp's orbs were close enough.

The orbs smashed into the predator, the small explosions making it flinch. The Vulpo Operator landed on top of it but the huge dog was not out yet. The huge dog jerked violently and bucked Will-O-Wisp's off of its back, with Wu coming just in time to catch her. But the creature's small victory was short-lived when Dragonheart's lance impaled it right into its hind body.

The huge dog let out its dying whimper before expiring. The fight was over.

"Never seen a dog that large before." Wu remarked before addressing Will-O-Wisp and Dragonheart. "Are you two alright? Dragonheart and Will-O-Wisp, right? I've read your files at the last day. Uhh, sorry for getting dragged into all of this. It was only supposed to be just me and my team but Sir Haynek made last minute changes."

Wu then saw that Will-O-Wisp was covered in cuts. "Jeez, you look like you had a rough time. Don't worry, my team has a Medic who can patch you right up. Ah, speaking of which, what happened with your team? Did you see what happened to Raven Three?"

"My team's already down an Operator, by the way. Disappeared into thin air. I'm actually here looking for her but..." Wu's face darkened. "...I doubt my efforts will bear fruit."

@PaulHaynek

---

...

This has turned into a difficult situation.

Zasada sat upright, eyes wide as Ibon clung to her First something had snatched the unconscious operator from them, Rex had just vanished with Blizzard, walking off into nowhere and she had seemingly just...dropped without even noticing it. Originum arts messing with her head? Then who or what was the source? Or was she simply going crazy, here? Haaa, no, she was sane, probably more than most.

She barely registered Ibon pulling her to her feet.

"...Right, lets get going then." She said, taking the lead and grabbing Ibons' hand. With her other, she reached into her jacket. A small device with a bunch of wires and a small button on the side. A small, improvised IED. If there was one thing she disliked, it was having mind games played on her, and whatever or whoever this was seemed like they wanted to.

Well.

Next time she got a chance she was going to see how much it liked to have its face blown off. She hoped Riventor was indeed, a safe area. With whatever was going on in these woods it was making her think it might not be, but she couldn't bring that up to Ibon now of all times.

"I dunno what's going on, my little avian friend, but when we get to Riventor, we'll get a nice warm drink and maybe tell stories about how we escaped some big bad monster by relying on our wits, hm?"