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A cat.

Leila stood there and looked at the transportation the queen had assigned them, which was an enormous cat.. With a hollow body with windows. And ten legs. And hollow, glowing eyes that stared blankly forward.

How absolutely adorable.

Leila brought both of her hands up to cover the gasp of excitement that escaped her mouth, her eyes wide in amazement. What a beautiful creature! Or was it even a creature at all? What was its body structure like? How did this evolve? Everything about this cat was so exciting - she felt an urge to give it a giant hug - of course, there was no way Leila would be able to fully hug that monstrosity, but still - she almost wanted to keep it as a pet. How did this thing function? What was inside?

Before Leila even got to the thought of having her curiosity satisfied, she was dragged into the wide gaping mouth of the cat-bus-hybrid - which was supposed to serve as an entrance and exit, apparently. The one dragging her also grabbed Jasper with the other hand - she was one of the newly arrived humans, dressed in a windcoat and with short, straight hair that was coloured a vivid orange. She seemed to be one of the few people who shared Leila’s excitement about boarding the cat-bus (a group which, incidentally, excluded the white-haired, hooded Vincent). Moving quite incoherently along on the supporting surface that was the cat’s saliva-covered tongue, Leila’s feet weren’t doing much of propelling her along, but were merely keeping her from collapsing onto the ground as Riley towed her by the arm.

Its tongue, its teeth, the inside of the cat’s mouth - and the residue food that was sticking in various places and their terrible smell. The girl gleefully marvelled at every part of the insides of the catbus that met her sight, even for seconds. Such interesting structures - such a pity that she didn’t know nearly enough biology. She’ll most definitely need to research that - when she got back -

- oh.

And then the catbus took flight.

Leila did not even remember them arriving at what she supposed to be the passenger area for the bus- a quite spacious area, with large openings on the sides that were presumed to be windows, but without glass panels. That being said, Leila was lucky not to have fallen out of one of them, when the sudden acceleration swept her again off her feet. The fashion in which she crashed into one wall of the catbus, back first and rest of the body following, folding into an uncomfortable curled shape on the back of the seats with one leg having nowhere to go and sticking half into the aisle in the middle - that would not be considered as much of a result of a lucky incident.

The catbus moved forward in a cycle of much like that of a land-bound feline, except it moved in the air, ten legs repeating the same cycle that originally involved only four; and each tightening and extending of the spine were jolts in the archs of the unstable path of flight taken. Trying to remain standing in such a vehicle was like trying to remain standing when the direction of gravity changes randomly six times every second.

The seats lined the sides of the catbus and were cushions and coated in...fur? What kind of creature has the inside of a digestive system coated in fur? What else was the mouth supposed to lead to? Did it even have a digestive system?

It took some time for Leila’s efforts to regain a relatively normal position in her seat, and to look around and come to the conclusion that this majestic creature, like much of everything in Nowhere, was not to be made sense of by the rational mind.

A few of the other humans were sitting in nearby seats. Right besides her was Vincent, who was so determined not to take this ride at first. He was now clutching the back of the seats in front, apparently uncomfortable.

Everything still smelt like half-digested fish.

The cat bus propelled itself forward at what must have been the speed of light, and the humans that hadn't fastened their seat belts were tossed around the bus. Harper was one of these unlucky humans and the boy rolled down the center aisle screaming. Thankfully, the cat saliva was a little sticky and he managed to grab onto one of the chair's legs. "This is crazy!" The boy yelled as he clung to the seat and pulled himself onto wobbly legs.

Riley who was seated near the front laughed. "This is Nowhere, what did you expect?"

Harper had to admit, she had a point. The bus took a sharp left and Harper crashed into the seat. He clung on tightly then stared at Leon and Jasper. "Guys! Grab a seat before it turns again." The bus did a barrel roll and the world turned upside down. This was worse than the SSF and worse than the beanstalk! He watched as Leon and Jasper rolled down the aisle and winced sympathetically at the duo. "Come on," he reached out a hand and offered for the both of them to take it. His seat had just enough room for the three of them.

Unlike the despairing Harper, Riley was laughing her lungs out. This was the most extreme ride she had even been on! The cat bus zipped forward and suddenly, she felt someone fall into her lap. The girl looked down to see a dazed Inadi and snickered before giving him a cheeky grin. "This sure is a wild ride, aye? The roller coasters on earth can't compare." The bus leaped forward and she reached out to adjust the frightened man's glasses. However before she could give him a helping hand he shot up and began apologizing. The bus took another sharp turn, really, it would have been impossible to not fall over. She gave him a dismissive wave but couldn't help but laugh at the way he was reacting. He was being silly. "It must have been fun working for Mr. Cuddles." She stated in an attempt to break the awkward silence he had created. "Nowhere sure is weird, huh? If I wrote about this...if I took a picture." Her eyes had shone with determination. "There'd be no way the newspapers would say no." The girl shrugged when she realized she was rambling then laughed as the bus picked up speed.

"Zephy! H-How far is Sol!" Harper yelled. If this kept up for much longer he'd puke. He clung to his seat then looked at the people all around him. Some were just as distressed as he was but the girl with pink hair, the other new girl and Haku were just sitting there looking happy.

The cat bust continued traveling at ridiculous speeds before the cat let out a sharp yowl. They didn't have enough gas.

Riley turned to look at Inadi then Lesley. "Uh...I don't think I like the sound of this."

Harper's eyes grew the size of dinner plates. "Z-Z-Zephy?" When, no, if they got home. It'd be a miracle if he wouldn't need a therapist.

The cat began screeching like crazy, it's tail flapping up and down in vain. It was out of gas! It needed Tuna oil and quick. The cat stretched out it's feet and screeched as it felt through the air even faster than it had flown. Everything was a blur and bus erupted into an orchestra of screams. There was a crash and suddenly they were rolling down a dusty hill and inching closer towards Sol's border. Riley wasn't screaming in joy but was instead clinging to her seat for dear life and Harper, he had both Jasper and Leon in a death grip. It would be a miracle if they survived this. It would be a miracle if they got out with all their limbs and it'd be a miracle if they actually reached Sol in one piece.

The lost souls were given a miracle. The hill was made of jelly and the dust had been sugar all along. The cat purred and licked at the jelly as it rolled down hill. Eventually they reached the border and crashed into a tree. Unlike the candy land behind them, Sol looked like a place in fantasy novel with mountains in the distance and sturdy trees as far as the eye could see.

"I...I can't believe we're alive." Harper wheezed as he pushed himself off the floor. So much had happened since January 1, 2014.

It was crazy but Harper felt a little braver. Had this happened to him during the beginning he would have died of a heart attack, but now he was willing to soldier on. He looked at the others before a wave of panic shot through him. "Is everyone alright?" He asked in what was supposed to be a soothing voice. He called their names one by one then sucked in a breath of air. Now wasn't the time to panic. "We can climb out through the windows."

"I-I'm good, but let's not do this again." Riley made a face before jumping to her feet and dusting herself off. She grabbed the nearest people Inadi and Haku and pulled them to their feet. "You guys okay?" She then offered another one of the lost souls a hand.

Harper waited for the others to exit through the window and once the coast was clear exited as well. The cat bus was napping and they were in the middle of the forest, caught between the border of Sol and the Candy Kingdom. "Zephy? Do you know the way to the cast--" Before Harper could finish his sentence several green slimes began crawling out of the bushes and appearing out of Nowhere. "What?"



More and more slimes arrived at the scene and the amulets on their necks began to glow. "Zephy? Should we run?"

The messenger didn't look phased. Instead she kicked on the slimes to the side and gave them a smile. The girl stated that she was a non-combatant then stepped to the side and told them this would be practice.

Harper stared at the small critters. They couldn't be so bad, right?

Riley laughed. "Have you played any MMO's. Slimes aren't so bad." She grinned deviously, her amulet glowing a darker shade of red. She could feel the power coursing through her veins but how exactly did one utilize it? It had been an accident when she used it in the castle.

Riley snapped her fingers and a small flame flikered to life on her palm. Her eyes widened in amazement and a pang of joy shot towards her. Apparently emotions affected ones powers and the flame grew thrice its size, nearly burning her hair. Riley let out a yelp as she staggered back and tripped on one of the slimes. She didn't notice but the liquid-ish light in her amulet went down.

The ground rumbled and from within the forest appeared a slime monster half the cat bus' size.

It let out a growl and suddenly all the baby slimes began to pounce. One clung to Harper's face and the boy crashed into the ground. They had crashed into slime territory and the creatures were very territorial. Their first fight had begun.

The kingdom of Sol was a beautiful place, and most said that its architecture was modelled after the sun. It was obvious, really; Sol’s structures, from the lower district to the noble sector, all had the emblem of the sun somewhere, be it on the roof or as a manhole cover. The peach-colored cobblestones shone elegantly, giving the streets a dreamy color when sunlight struck the stones, and the light pastel colors worked in wonders with the lemony facades all other houses had. However, war had struck this city of paradise, and now there was ruin festering on the breached side of the city.

The lower district was the first to fall- the dragons have attacked it with so much force and intensity that the outer wall had caved, and now the creatures were marching in as they pleased. The vanguard was trying their best to hold them off, but…

“Team C-3, to the left, occupy Seventh Ray Street!” Somebody screeched and a troop of guards ran towards that avenue, their metal armor clanking loudly and blending in with the screams of the other soldiers from Team C-2 who had encountered a fire-breathing dragon.

“This could be worse,” A tall, lanky soldier cheerfully exclaimed as he patted down the flames coursing down a female soldier’s back. Thankfully they had doused their clothes with water, so none of them were burnt too badly. The dragon was still snapping at the other members of their team, though, so they had to go back to the fight to help their comrades. “Oh shut up, Mons. What’s worse that this!?” The girl screeched, pushed the dude away, then charged at the beast with her sword drawn. “For Sol!”

“Well, it could be an acid-spitting dragon! I heard they have lots of those!” The soldier named Mons called after his teammate before rushing in to help.

“Can you just shut up and help your companions!?” Songbird hollered and threw a piece of dirty gauze at the retreating soldier before turning his attention back to the wounded fighter he was treating. The other guides were helping much as they could, but frankly the three of them (Serenade, Dissonance and him, of course) weren’t good in war stuff, so they were basically just flying around helping in minor stuff. Songbird wished he could do more.

---

Meanwhile, waiting by the city gates…

Avian Rider was assigned along with the famed bounty hunter Victoria Sieghart to wait for the humans, and though he was a tolerant man, the current flow of events was wearing his long thread of patience thin. “Where are they?” He asked silently, his calm violet eyes scanning the horizon for a sign of an approaching cat bus. He was tall and had a sinewy build, and there were several blades strapped to his back. If one had to guess, his weapon of choice were the double daggers, although there was something special about the sets he was carrying.

“… I don’t know and I don’t care. They won’t help much anyway; hauling them along is a waste of time. Here we are, two of the best fighters in the kingdom, loitering for a bunch of crying babies who’ll run crying to Delirium at their first bruise,” The fiery-haired lady replied dryly, her smoky gray eyes narrowing in disdain for Her Highness Delirium’s lack of concern for the chaos which has befallen Sol. Like her companion, she had a wiry body and had obviously been through her fair share of battles. She was wearing a belt with leather pouches angling by the side and a deadly-looking whip hung from her slim hips.

Avian smiled at her then gazed back at the distance. “Calm down, Vicky. Once we’re done with them we can fight on the front lines again,” He commented cheerfully before taking notice of a flock of birds rising up from the border forest. “That’s odd, betelgeese don’t migrate until next season. I wonder why they’re flying away?” He muttered and crossed his arms over his chest, a confused expression on his face as he mulled about the preternatural occurrence.

“What… the hell… are you… looking at…?”

As the catbus jerked to and fro throughout the air, performing amazing twists and turns and other aerial feats as it did, Vincent was thrown back and forth inside the terrifying ride, struggling to keep himself from banging his head against something and projecting all of the sweets he had eaten a short while ago back out again. He failed. He was vaguely aware of someone being shunted into sitting next to him, but he had yet to properly look at them, instead his eyes were screwed shut, hoping again and again for this monster truck derby reject to finally end its ride so he could have his two feet back onto solid ground again.

You know what they say about being careful what you wish for.

The catbus and its best attempts at mimicking a rollercoaster suddenly came to a thankful stop, but that wasn’t the only thing that stopped. Everything about it came to a screeching halt whilst still in midair, and Vincent was granted only half a second to breathe before the bus started freefalling faster and faster to the ground below.

‘Going to die.’ He thought. ‘I’m going to die! …fuck that!’

Without even realising it, his hand had snaked out and gripped Leila’s shoulder, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms, her face suddenly squishing against his bare chest. Whether or not he was protecting her or using her as some sort of ill thought out protection from the inevitable crash was impossible to say.

Thankfully, the landing wasn’t too bad, and miraculously enough both of them came away unscathed without any injuries greater then a churning stomach. In the minute it took for Vincent to come to his senses, awakening and taking deep lungfuls of air, the catbus had came to a sliding finish against a tree, and everyone was safe. Leila, meanwhile, was still sandwiched in-between Vincent’s arm and chest, and he finally noticed her, his eyes glancing down with several blinks, as she looked up. A trickle of sick stuck to his chin from the thin river running down from the edge of his mouth.

Vincent suddenly let go of Leila and propped her back to sitting normally on the chair next to her, suddenly returning to his stock glare. “What?” He asked. “Tch. Don’t wet your panties or anything. You’re safe. And you’re welcome.” Vincent laughed, easing himself to standing upright again and walking out of the bus.

---

“OOOOOOOOORRRRAAAAHHHHH!!”

In the onset of the slime attack, Vincent was the first to charge forwards and fiercely move to attack the larger, master slime. He was a man of practical action, preferring to ignore the small fry and go for the big cheese himself. If a roar like that could propel the smaller slimes to attack them, then making it cry should naturally lead to them all bouncing home to their mother slimes and crying in their beds.

His arm reared back, and the amulet that hung around its neck started to shine as the liquid inside sloshed about. He could feel it this time. Feel strength bubbling up within him, surging from his chest and through his right arm, centering finally on his fist. He could feel it build, and build, and build. Fuck yeah, this was power. And he was going to slam it straight in the slime’s face!!

Like a cannon, his fist shot forwards, and connected squarely against the slimes’ face (or whatever the most accurate descriptor for this could be when considering all of a slime tends to just be… face). The surface of its body rippled like the surface of a lake from the dropping of a stone, and for a brief moment, the King, or Queen, Slime, seem to freeze in the spot. A sly grin sketched itself upon Vincent’s face, before-

“…uh oh.”

He found his fist was trapped inside the gelatinous creature, and for his power and might he couldn’t pull himself free, with the slime’s body beginning to extend and snake itself around Vincent’s arm to further ensure he was trapped. And that wasn’t all, as the slime reared open its massive maw, eager to eat dinner…

As they flew off in the cat, Ace was full of excitement. Not just because of the sweets, but because she had never flown before. And to be defying laws of nature made it all the more exciting. She was sitting by the window, next to Vincent and Leila, and every sharp turn or movement they'd make, Ace would grip onto the seat so instead of falling over like Inadi, she merely leaned to that side. "This is better than any rollercoaster I've ever been on! " And she hadn't been on many of them.

Just as they were flying into the air, suddenly they were falling straight to the ground. "Whoa, we're going pretty fast." Ace stared out the window for a few moments before looking at the other terror stricken faces. By the looks of it, maybe it was a bad thing. Did that mean she was going to panic? Of course not! Instead, she just clung on to the seat as the bus fell from the sky. Well, she was holding on until the impact had the large cat tumbling down a hill. It was almost impossible to keep balance as they tumbled, and to prove that, even though Ace had a solid grip on the seat she ended up tumbling too. She tried reaching for safety but the only thing close was Leila and Vincent.

She would have grabbed on to them too, but one wrong miscalculation had her over the seat and by Lesley. "Thankfully these seats are soft." She looked up at her- no, it- and waved. She laughed lightly before rolling to her feet. (She had fallen upside down next to Lesley)"That was some ride!"She looked around towards the dazed faces and spoke. "Is everyone all right?" Out of habit, she went over and helped Jasper up. "You still alive right?" Ace smiled and patted her shoulder. "The faster we get this over with, the quicker we can go." She reminded and then followed everyone off the bus. Harpist seemed to be fine so she doesn't have to help him.

"So about this cat smell, " Ace wrinkled her nose in distaste. As she walked out, the first thing she saw was a wave of... "What's that?"

Well it didn't take long for her to realize and learn that she was suppose to be fighting. "This will be fun." She still had the hilt of the empty sword (alternatively: She grabbed a sword from the bus, if she didn't keep hers)- either way, Ace possessed a weapon. "C'mon Harper! You have to fight back!" Ace watched as Riley massed with her powers. "Let's kill them with fire shall we?" Ace grinned deviously and watched as the fire sword appeared in hand. Before any attacks could be dealt, Vincent managed to get the first hit... Sort of.

"If you're going to show off, at least do it right." Ace steeped as a few of the slime creatures crawled toward them. "Watch and learn." Was Ace really about to attempt showing off a skill she didn't  have? Of course she was!  That's part of her life!  If was all based off of winging it. Who knows how she survived for all those years...

As the three of those small slimes slithered toward her, a sudden build of energy tingled through her. It felt like she could accomplish anything with her sword. And she sure would try. With a quick swing, Ace brought the sword across the slimes in a horizontal motion. It cut the first two in half- massive she had gotten lucky. The third, her f flaming sword stuck inside the slime- but that was a bad idea considering it began to bubble on the inside, before exploding. "Awesssomme!"In the face of danger, she was having a lot of fun.

" You guys should try this! It's really fun!"

There was little that Leon didn’t immediately like about the cat; it was part cat and part bus, what wasn’t to like? The feline’s Cheshire smile made a similar grin erupt on Leon’s face and he spent a few moments marveling at the cat’s entire structure, eyes wide at the fur-covered seats inside and the pretty tail. He was the last person to get in and while he had initially been very excited to take a ride inside a cat, the moment said cat opened its mouth he had scurried a meter away with an utterly disgusted expression on his face. He looked at the guide incredulously, as if the problem was as obvious as daylight.

“You expect me to walk through that? Not in these pants and shoes, missy!” He was answered with a hard kick to his backside and, as disgusted as he was, Leon tried to walk in with minimal damage to his attire as possible. Why was everything attacking his backside lately?Taking a seat somewhere in the middle, Leon was no longer fascinated by the catbus and was instead mildly horrified at the condition of his pants. It was just a little bit of saliva but still, he was seriously considering taking a cleaner ride to Sol. Unfortunately the catbus decided to take off, just as Leon was prodding the furry walls and ripping a little bit of fur out as revenge.

The ride started with a jolt and Leon could hear the whirr of its tail. As it abruptly took off and most of his fellow humans started looking a bit green, Leon thoroughly enjoyed himself and let out an excited whoop of exhilaration when it accelerated and performed feats that rivalled those of a fighter jet. He threw his arms up just as one would in a rollercoaster and screamed in joy, enjoying every bit of the ride. Even the part where the catbus ran out of gas and shook violently before descending in the same manner, rolling down the hill as the humans held on for dear life. Except Leon. His arms still were in the air, waving along the bumping and rolling that the catbus was doing. As a result, he had tumbled out and landed on his head in the far corner, his new crown rolling away.

“No! My beautiful cr-“ His words were swallowed by the final crash of the bus’ landing and he scrambled after his precious crown before placing it carefully on top of his messy hair, making sure it would stay in position. Luckily, it had teeth at the edges that dug in and allowed it to stay on his head. He chuckled at Vincent’s dislike towards the ride and at his smushing of Leila against his chest. That couldn’t be a pleasant experience, not for someone like Leila, Leon reckoned. Nevertheless, he once again left the bus on his tiptoes, inwardly mourning the shoes that were now covered with saliva.

As soon as he stepped onto the grass, he turned to the oversized cat and patted it on the nose. “You need to get yourself a proper door, you hear? One that’s preferably not covered in saliva.” Leon gave it a poke and turned away, only to be met with the sight of Vincent about to be devoured by a huge, living blob of slime. Harper was off to the side, having his face eaten by a smaller slime. And by the looks of these slimes, Leon wanted to retreat back into the bus and wait for the rest to be done dispatching the slimes to wherever they came from. But he couldn’t do that, it wouldn’t be moral. With a shake of his head, Leon decided to go help Vince since said man’s adversary was considerably bigger. There went his notion of trying to avoid the aggressive blond.

But there was no way in Hell those slimes were going to get to him first, let alone touch him. Leon was dead-set against being devoured and made use of his prancing-skills, avoiding the slimes with some considerable effort as he nearly lost his balance. As soon as he reached Vince, however, he saw that Vince was rapidly being sucked into the slime-thing. And Leon didn’t know how to pull him out with all the mini slimes at his feet. The problem was, the mini slimes weren’t all that small either.

The amulet. Leon’s hands flew to the orb around his neck and he looked at the wispy liquid. He wasn’t sure how it worked exactly but he suddenly felt the air around him shift. His body felt lighter, as if it was suddenly carried by the air, and he hopped up, stepping on a slime with both feet. Shuddering in disgust, Leon stomped on every single one of them, somewhat relieved that the cleanliness of his shoes wasn’t that compromised. And Vince was sinking into the giant blob way too fast.

Locking his arms around Vince’s torso, Leon heaved. “Darn it, you’re heavy…” He grunted as he yanked with all his might. A few moments later Vince came free, just as the blob’s jaws chomped together. Luckily all it tasted was air, as Leon yanked Vince out of the way. “Think before you leap, blondie.”Leon said with a rather amused expression. However, the liquid in his amulet had gone down more than halfway, much to Leon’s disappointment.

Ace and Leon were actually making good progress and some of the more cowardly slimes crawled back into the woods.

Vince however had managed to enrage the giant mother slime. She let out a loud howl and suddenly the slimes that had scurried off came back with more company. Their numbers had doubled. Perhaps, they had even tippled. The giant leader slime opened its mouth to chomp on Vince but before she could so some ballerina in a crown came prancing towards her. He was light on his feet, as if the wind itself were aiding him.

She stomped down on her children and the mother slime watched as they went splat. She would eat them all!

Her eyes turned to face Vince and she opened her mouth wide above his head. However, slimes weren't the fastest things out there and when she chomped down on what was supposed to be her meal there was nothing but air. The slime scowled before spitting a stinky green goop in Leon's and Vince's direction. It covered them from head to toe and seeped into their clothes. It was a signal, and the tiny slimes who weren't busy begone making their way towards both boys.

One jumped onto Leon's head and gobbled up his crown. However, it didn't like the taste of gold and spat it out at the boy's feet.

"C'mon Harper! You have to fight back!"

The boy was rolling on the ground as slimes latched onto him. Eventually he managed to pull the clingy one off his face. He took in a gulp of air then kicked at one that was tugging on his pants. The slime flew into a nearby tree and went splat. Harper wanted to apologize but decided not too since the slime's siblings were biting his shoes.

"Shees, you sure can scream." Suddenly there was a flicker of fire and the slimes by his feet scurried away behind a bush.

Riley gave him a grin and held out her hand. A flame danced on her palm and she looked really proud.

"Don't use up too much," he warned as he took a look at her amulet. She still had more than half but after a few seconds of keeping the flame burning, he'd notice the liquid move lower and lower.

Riley laughed and tossed him a metal pole she had taken from the bus. "You worry too much."

She was just like his sister. Stubborn, reckless, fiery. Harper laughed and took the pole with a nod. "Thanks." The boy then spun around and made his way towards Vince and Leon. "Are you guys okay?" The moment he yelled some of the slimes turned to look at him. One leaped into the air, attempting to cling to his face. The amulet lit up and suddenly he was holding the pipe as if it were a sword. He slashed at the air and sliced the slime into half. He watched it fall to the ground and made a face.

Riley in the mean time was grinning from ear to ear at Ace. "You're really good at this!" She complemented when Ace stabbed one of the slimes and made it explode. "Man, I should have grabbed a weapon." The girl let out a low whistle as two slimes went her way. One leaped at her face but she caught it between her hands, yuck. The girl felt the heat in her finger tips and watched as the blob began to melt. It was pretty cool but it left her hands all green and sticky.

The giant blob had finished recovering and it charged towards Vince and Leon at full speed, arms of slime now outstretched. It had a score to settle and it was very hungry. Thankfully, both boys looked like they would be a good meal.

The ride the human party had on the catbus was far from pleasant, yet different individuals were at a different distance from "pleasant". The majority found it to be a harrowing experience, the side effects of which would surely require months of therapy to heal.As for Hakuren, he could not care less whether the vehicle was upside-down or not.

Positioned comfortable in his seat, he had stretched his legs forward on the ground, leaned back and placed his hands behind his head, subsequently holding his hat whenever there was a sharp turn or a loop. With his eyes shut and expression positively happy, one would think he would truly be purring, if he were a feline. Whilst everyone else screamed and clung for their future grandchildren's sake, the young man in the midnight green coat did not even bat an eyelid at the happenings around him. The seat belt properly fastened around him, the howls of terror and fear were only elevator music as he thought about the many opportunities his new power offered, as well as the numerous methods of utilising its potential.
An ability, the basics of which was to tap into the world around oneself to a molecular level, in order to decrease the pressure and lower the temperature, reordering the structure of hydrogen and oxygen atoms, perhaps of other elements as well, seeing as this was Nowhere, was truly marveling in theory. Ice. It could be morphed into anything. It could have any thickness. Place enough energy into one single snowflake and that innocent little piece of white could flutter at your command to your unsuspecting enemy and freeze them in place. But there might truly be no need for it. After all, every living being had water in their system. The requirements would be to simply concentrate hard enough on the target and ice could form, halting them from the inside out. Their own body could become their own icy prison.
Alas, this would not be done with ease and the lad knew this well. Regardless of the countless ideas stirring in his mind like a wild snowstorm, magic this dangerous would not yield without a fight. It would take some time, if it could be metaphorically assumed that such existed in this dimension, before he would be able to attack accurately. Without a doubt, there will be a need to exercise and get accustomed to casting spells in action. Practice makes perfect. Figuring this out, the boy wondered in his thoughts:

‘We’ll reach the border and simply get escorted to the castle. Where’s the fun in that? I doubt there will be any chance to practice before clashing with the more problematic opponents. It’s been awhile since something out of order happened. If anything would happen, it should happen right about-’

At that very moment, the catbus halted in midair.

‘now?’

Out of fuel and our of sight, the fluffy giant lost altitude rapidly, dropping like a rock, it’s head towards the ground. The critter let out yawls of displease as it fell from grace so quickly, yet its pleas were not heard, for the screaming of the humans inside were louder than a room full of sewing machines. Harper had grasped a hold of Leon and Jasper, someone was trying to yell something to the rest, but the words got lost in the wind, and the only thing that made Hakuren uncomfortable was the thought of that short ponytail of his getting out from his clothes and waving like a white flag, as well as for his dear hat, which was now under threat of being swept away by the current.
“Oh no, you don’t.” he mumbled as he used both of his hands to keep his fedora on and hair concealed.
Unfortunately, this would prove to be a bad decision.

The impact was rough, yet did not end with a mere crash. The bus rolled downhill, turning its insides into a pot, which was being stirred. Hakuren’s seat belt could no longer perform its duties and broke, and, due to the fact that his hands were occupied, he was sent into the whirlwind chaos of the car. Several times he slammed into Leon, who had also lost his balance. Not uttering a single sound, the black-blue-haired person kept his eyes closed and arms around his head. It would end eventually. Until then, he would have to be a bowling ball and roll with the rest of them.

Harper said "I...I can't believe we're alive."

Those were the first words that broke the painful silence. The catbus’s journey had inevitably been cut short after it slammed into a tree. They were now at the border between what looked like a dessert fairy tale and an ordinary forest. Grouching and moaning, the Lost Souls rose to their feet, but were neither in shock, nor shivering in fear. This was, after all, a normal field trip to them. Such unexpected occurrences were actually rather common and, for their sake, it was best that they got used to them.

“I’m fine.” Hakuren said with a smile when his name was called by Riddle. He was still on the floor, but managed to push himself up to a sitting position with some effort. The catbus’s surface was so soft and comfortable. It would be one of the fines beds, if used for sleeping.

Riley said "You guys okay?"

The new girl asked, offering him a hand. The young man did not reject the offer.
“Yah, no worries.” he responded in a friendly manner. The red-head’s face was lovely up close, her hair was a flame, just like her amulet, and her eyes were a light blue, like a winter sky, yet did not have the chill he was looking for. The one who had it was not there and he was partly glad. Having someone so bluntly remark his actions in a negative way was not to his liking. Not in this dream, at least.

Up on his feet, Hakuren headed for the window, but rather than leap down when on the frame, the youngster grabbed hold of the fluffy wall on it’s outer side and hastily climbed upwards. Without any difficulties, he reached his destination and sat comfortably on the catbus’s roof. If one becomes stranded, it is best to look around from a high point and establish one’s location. Albeit he did not see a road or the like, the lad did spot something peculiar. Slimes. Indeed, creatures exactly the same as the ones from video games approached them in great numbers. From the safety of the roof Hakuren observed as the rest of his comrades took action or rolled around in cowardice with a slime on their face, such was Harper’s case. Lying in his chosen spot, it was as if he was watching a gameplay video.

Vincent established his role as a beserker by bulldozing his way through the animate half-liquid army and entering a one-on-one battle with what appeared to be the boss of this newbie level, the giant slime. Typical for his class, the blondie didn’t think twice before he acted. No, he didn’t even think once. He simply jumped in head-first into the arena that had quickly formed, using his mere fists for weapons. Despite the fact that his amulet was meant to give him massive amounts of strength, it did barely anything against this creature, which was not made of a hard substance. The man got stuck before landing a proper attack on the thing and would have been devoured, were it not for Leon, who came to the rescue and barely pulled his comrade out of the way. They reminded the viewer of Timon and Pumba, the famous troublesome due.

On the sidelines, Ace and Riley were doing a splendid job. Gracefully dancing with flames, they burned and sliced all that came in sight. It pleased the eye, especially Ace, whose size was bigger and flexible. No wonder they had red hair. Now, if only they wore something a bit more suitable. Surely, they felt torrid in those clothes. Something that revealed more skin, for instance. It needed to breathe as well. What Mado had found back in Yonder would have been perfect for them.

Immersed as he was in his thoughts in what kind of attire he would like to see the ladies in, what did manage to divert Hakuren’s attention was the loud ‘plop’ sound, which had been made by the giant slime. The leader had spit a green substance all over Vincent and Leon, which attracted the little ones towards them. While those poor unfortunate souls had become the main targets of the monsters, Hakuren had placed a hand over his mouth, trying to silence the laugh that was already making him shake. This was hilarious. Feather would be absolutely revolted to have goo practically everywhere on him. He was no queen, just a silly princess.

The slime gag was a good one. It was enjoyable while it lasted, but the situation got serious when the boss headed straight for the soaked humans with an alarming speed and might. Rage burning in its eyes, it certainly wasn’t preparing to give them a bear hug.
Letting out a sigh, Hakuren rose from the comfort of the catbus roof and stood on his feet, watching the scene before his sharp green-blue eyes.

“Just when it got interesting.” There was a light smile on his face, but what exactly did it mean, no one could ever be certain. “Usque ad caelum et ad turrim surrexit.”

Where did the incantation come from was not a question that bothered him. The point was that he knew of it and was sure would work.

Ice quickly formed below Vincent and Leon’s feet, yet did not freeze them. Instead, it built up, layer after layer, becoming a huge pillar, which elevated the two boys before the giant slime reached them. How the two were going to get down was none of Hakuren’s concern.

“Pluviae et lacrimae. ”

Several enormous icicles fell from the sky, ready to pierce all that was below them. Once a slime got struck, it would become frozen in place, but if there ground were to be the landing point, then ice would spread and freeze what was in the close perimeter. A good attack it might have been, but the youngster was shooting randomly and had no firm control over what exactly his needles of ice would hit or what would be frozen by their touch. It all depended on how fast those close by were.
He didn’t consider it a great flaw, though. From his perspective, his groups was doing nicely, although he didn’t know how well the catbus would take the cold that was now present upon its back.

“Get a move on it, Harper. Or do you want me to freeze you in ‘time’?” Hakuren joked as he continued sending ranged attacks. The liquid in his amulet had reached its half and was dropping below that marker.

Granted his outward appearance didn't show it initially, but Inadi truly was happy to see that Riley was taking the whole situation well. Normally when Inadi bumped into women or landed on them things didn't go nearly as pleasantly as this did. Inadi would always have to find some way to defend his actions and explain that nothing was intentional. It was amazing how people these days would get so bent out of shape over simple misunderstandings. And a normal and truthful reason as to why it happened was never good enough. You always had to provide some form of strange and elaborate explanation to it. Such a tiring thing when you really get down to it.

Riley's first bit of small talk banter was pretty basic. It did make Inadi think back to his early days with Mr. Cuddles. They were anything but fun to be honest. Though most of it was due to the fact that he was meeting a giant talking bear for the first time. I suppose that would make anyone really think about what kind of situation they were getting into. “Early on most of his recipes were easy enough to understand. I'm just glad that he wasn't a bear from our own world, otherwise I would have been mauled for sure.” Inadi joked as the bus began picking up speed.

This thing was starting to get nauseating. How could this thing travel so quickly? It was a cat for crying out loud, not an F-15. Inadi quickly stopped himself from questioning this universe. Nothing in Nowhere was ever going to make sense. The likely hood of anything ever making sense again after this was going to be a very rare day indeed....for however long they were going to be stuck in this place. Hopefully after this whole Sol business Inadi's part in the deed would be done and he could just go home.

Straightening his back to lean on the seat, Inadi's face was showing signs of being less stressed out. Now he was listening to Riley talk about paper's and pictures. A journalism dreamer? Quite an odd thing to be searching for considering the state of the business, but then again everyone has their dreams. Inadi's was no better. Getting published was nearly impossible and it required a hell of a lot of luck. Maybe even more so than a journalism job required. Inadi smiled and turned to face Riley in his seat, his legs now in the walk way.

“You know, I was trying to get into writing myself back home. Mine though was novel writing so a bit different than journalism. If you ever want to work on writing together maybe we can...” Sudden diving stopped Inadi mid sentence as he began grabbing the two rows behind and in front of him trying to keep himself in his seat unlike what happened at the elevator. The screeching of the cat wasn't making things any better or any more fun. To be honest it was making the man very nervous as he prayed for things to stop moving around so quickly.

Suddenly the cat landed in a sticky batch of jelly. Inadi didn't believe it when he hear the sloshing of the substance beneath them and immediately went to see their landing pad, completely ignoring everyone and everything on his way. Finally stepping out of the cat bus he reached down and grabbed a hand full of the jelly beneath him. Recognizing it somewhat, he brought it up to his nose and gave it a wiff. Sure enough it was a flavor of jelly he had been getting back when he worked at the desert shop with Mr. Cuddles. Hopefully this jelly wasn't just in this one location, otherwise that would have meant that that the bear was traveling all the way out here to collect the supplies. No telling how far they were from Nowhere considering the speed that the cat bus was going, but it was clear that it wasn't a close distance.

As he stood back up Inadi looked to see the sight that everyone else had already gotten a look at. Disgusting little collections of gelatinous blobs that were coming up and seemed to be wanting to pick a fight. I suppose with the amulets they all received they would have had to expect some form of fighting coming their way, and Inadi was silently thanking Lady Luck that all it was were little slime balls. He would have preferred rats or some other form of rodent, but these weren't bad either. As the little things slithered their way up to him, he grew a little nervous as to what they could do and quickly began kicking them like a soccer ball. Could they digest you once they clamped onto you? Did they sink into the flesh and spread disease? Whatever they could do, Inadi did not want to find out.

Watching the others get involved in the fight, the two he found himself staring at the most was the incomparable duo of Vincent and Leon. The two, or to be specific Vincent himself, decided to pick a fight with the biggest one there. Clearly the pack leader if these things ran in packs, the big one clearly didn't seem affected by the punch that the man sent right into the face of the creature. In fact it seemed as though Vincent was now stuck because of it. Leon tried to pull him out and luckily did so before the giant thing decided to take a chunk out of Vinvin over there. Returning his attention to the slimes around him, Inadi realized that kicking them away was not going to cut it anymore. He needed something to remove these things faster.

The amulet. Staring down at it he saw that it was nearly full, with some of the liquid being emptied out back at the palace by accident. As the slimes began inching closer to him, he decided it wasn't worth being cautious anymore with the power. Thinking back to the palace, Inadi quickly focused his thoughts. His anger made him produce the lightening last time. Quickly clapping his hands together, forming a scowl on his face, his sight was slightly blinded by the sudden appearance of a bright white light from his hands. As his eyes adjusted, he saw lightening surrounding his hands. Luckily his idea worked. Now it was a matter of how he wanted to handle it. Simply shooting it at the slimes was probably not going to work seeing how Haku was seemingly just showering the field with ice attacks, some of them getting close to hitting Inadi. Maybe another bolt was in order.

Inadi didn't have any training in spears or staffs but at this point he was going to have to make due with something similar. With his hands still together, Inadi began slowly pulling them apart and a bolt began forming in front of him. He figured the longer the better, but watching the liquid in his amulet start to fall rapidly he decided that one from elbow to elbow was going to have to do. Quickly grabbing a hold of the bolt be began looking around at the slimes surrounding him. Some had been frozen thanks to Hakuren, and other were still inching closer. Shoving the bolt forward like a spear, he stuck a small slime that was getting a little close for comfort. The creature sizzled as the lightening began coursing through its body. Pulling it out of slime and watching it shrink into a puddle, Inadi quickly turned his attention to another one that was frozen and quickly golf swung at it. The ice crystals that shattered off made an impressive shine in the sunlight he had to admit, watching it with a smile.

Returning to the task at hand, he began sticking small slimes one by one, all the while trying to fight his way over to a group to his left that held Riley and Harper, both of whom were fighting off the slimes themselves. “Don't know about you but I'd really like it if these things would just top showing up.” Inadi quipped as he continued to thrust his bolt, now watching for any that tried to go airborne towards his face. Last thing he needed was slime covered glasses.

Harper:"Guys! Grab a seat before it turns again."

Cat saliva, expired tuna, and roller-coasters should never mix. Twists, turns, and spins sent the bunch of them flinging in various directions. She felt like the silver marble in a pinball machine. Ping! Ping! Ping! Insides churning and feeling arms and legs of others and her own smashing with one another every couple of seconds, it wasn't pleasant. The pass out. It was coming. Lurking in the corners of her mind; creeping closer with each somersault of her body. Being contorted in ways that it should never be bent. Pain and sickness. How many times had she puked since she got there? Once, twice, thrice? The number she could no longer recall. A hand. It was Harper, her savior in tough times, he was always there. It took a couple of desperate swipes until she finally achieved a firm hold on his arm, using it as rope to get closer. Harper embracing both herself and the feather-earringed male, her eyes were tightly glued shut as she held onto him with all her might. A grip so intense, she was sure some of his blood cells were wondering what was the hold up.

Not one moment did he ever wish that they had peregrinated to Sol, this bus ride was just way too good to pass up. If such a ride were available on earth it would no doubt be immensely lucrative. Its volatile movements added hoards of anticipation and Lesley enjoyed every bit of it. Suddenly the flurry of thrill began to sputter out as the cat bus metabolized its last drop of tuna oil. Just when he was about to fulminate about the ride being cut short, its devastating misfortune branched out into the beanstalk ride, but a bazillion times better.

Riley:"Uh...I don't think I like the sound of this."

"I do!" he replied enthusiastically, bouncing up and down in his seat with childlike giddy. Lesley flashed his pearly white teeth at her, his supposed human fangs were a little sharper than the average Homo sapien. At some point during the descend, Ace tumbled upside down beside him, her boobs blocking a good view of her actual face, but he obviously didn't mind. They looked rather soft. Like a fluffly cloud.

Ace:"Thankfully these seats are soft."

It snapped him out and his face reddened, mishearing her comment and thinking she had somehow seen the strange thoughts that presented themselves in his peculiar imagination when she used the term soft. "Huh? What?! What soft? No, nothing is soft!", but she had already walked off. Releasing his panic in heavy sigh, it hadn't even occurred to him that they'd already landed.

Jasper groaned, but oddly, something changed about her when they landed. She felt free and clean. No longer sick. Glancing just a few meters in front of her, a puddle of unidentifiable chunks of dessert were scattered in an unappealing trail. Digging through her subliminal memory record, she could not remember ever throwing up.

Ace:"You still alive right?"

Taking her offered hand, she was just like Harper. Always there to lend a helping hand. Her knights in shining armor and she was thankful to have been in a group with them. It brought the trio closer and she felt secure in their presence.

Sliding out of the opening, she landed clumsily on her bottom, but luckily the ground that met her bony buttocks was light and comforting. Looking down, she realized that it was made of Jello. How convenient.

Lesley slipped down following the albino chick. He couldn't quite summon her name. 'Wasn't it like Casper or something?', he thought to himself as he followed casually behind her. Her stature was a lot like his. Tall, elongated, and extremely lean. Seeing the slimes a distance away, he noticed she was no longer wearing the glasses she had on back in the castle. 'Aw poor deary. She must've dropped them during the fall.' Speeding up his walk, he caught up to her, his long strides getting him there in a matter of steps and he swung his arm underneath her's, intertwining them in a friendly gesture. An act two close females would often be seen.

An intruder. A personal space bubble popper. Turning her head swiftly in alarm, her view was met with hopping flocks of curly pink hair. They smelled sweet and fragrant. Shaking her head into focus, she knew who it was immediately. Lesley the newbie.

"Don't worry pumpkin! I got your back!" he smiled widely, tilting his head alluringly to one side. Aside from her name, what he did know about her was that her amulet didn't seem to do anything. He decided he was going to be her protector. 'Oh my. She looks so fragile... like a swan.' His eyes trailed her facial features. She was a unique individual alright.

Lids stretching to its summit, she almost tripped in utter bafflement. Gulping in alarm, she stiffened and stared straight ahead, not knowing what to do or how to respond. But now she knew what he meant when he said that. Globs of living jelly squirmed about and the others were already brawling with them in a powerful battle.

"Get behind me." Taking a step ahead of her, he crossed over onto her lane and put a hand out before him as a slime bobbed its way towards them at threatening speeds.

She was more than happy to comply with his intent and she scurried near his back, using him as a human shield to the possible dangers in front. "Come on. Do something!" Jasper was beginning to panic as it got closer and Lesley just stood there with his arm out.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!", he replied in irritation and confusion that the rainbows weren't springing out of his hand.

Haku:“Pluviae et lacrimae. ”

Pointing frantically at Hakuren, her observation summed up a theory. Harry Potter. He needed to cast a spell maybe. "Say something. A magic word!"

"Ok! Okay! Uhmm something about rainbows. Uh.. colors! Rain! Sun! CAREBEAR STARE!" A ray of primary hues shot out of his mouth and obliterated the pre-frozen glob and in it's place grew a patch of beautiful lush grass with a single perennial. Thankfully, Haku had slowed it down with his ice voodoo.

Her heart resuming it's beating, she was clutching Lesley's shoulders and peeking out through bundles of hair. "That was close."

"We need to help them!" A herd of the Maple Story-esque creatures were headed straight for Vince and Leon.

"Rainbow PUKE!" He'd seen it in a meme once and he decided now was the time to put the useless pics into use. Almost an exact replica of the cat bus entrance, he dropped his jaw and a flurry of colors with solid painted chunks came hurtling out of his mouth. It felt amazing.

"Stop! Look at your amulet," the dangling jewelry piece was depleting in liquid content before her very eyes,"You're almost out."

His upchucking abated and he held his amulet up to the sky in hasty examination. It was less than half way, more like one fourth. "What am I supposed to do?", he asked hurriedly as he grabbed her by the arm and ran away from the slimes that were closing in on them.

Yanking Lesley into a bush, Jasper frenziedly snatched his amulet and focused hard on its watery essence. When nothing seemed to happen, she began to plead and pray. 'I don't want to die. I don't want to die,' she chanted it over and over in her head as she heard the slimes inevitably surrounding their temporary hiding spot. A white sparkling tear slipped out of her eye and flew ghostly into Lesley's ornament. It filled up to three fourths its initial height.

Just when the two of them processed what had happened, a mini slime roared as it poked its head through the sugar bush.

"Carebear stare!", he said out of surprise and remembrance. It howled, splattering them with mucky spit as it crawled backwards, retreating its head from the bush. "You're a healer!" he exclaimed. His face was covered with green spit.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a real doctor,” Songbird commented wryly as yet another soldier was wheeled in within the ransacked boutique he had (temporarily) utilized as a medic camp. Most of the real doctors, apparently, were partying in Sol’s castle. Oh, psh, they weren’t there because they were scared of the dragons, no; they stayed inside the thick, secure walls of the fortress because there was a steady flow of patients in and out the prince’s rooms!

If you didn’t call that sarcasm, you’re brick dumb.

Songbird sighed and then turned away from the door (and the ensuing chaos happening on the streets outside) to look at the rows and rows of injured fighters. He was already stripped to his shirtsleeves, and somebody (probably Dissonance) had strapped an apron around his waist as if he was baking pastries instead of applying pressure to bloody wounds. A scowl flitted across the item hunter’s face, drawing his smooth features into that surly mask he was so renowned for. Oh this day was just great. Being a guide was just great. Everything was so freaking great. His transition from simple citizen to an insta-nurse was oh-so-great! GREAT!

Thugbird growled before stomping off to the opposite side of the room, giving a bunch of soldiers individual kicks on their armored behinds to remember him by. “Stop crowding around my patient and scram, maggots,” He snarled and the lot of them slithered outside after seeing his expression. Even the poor boy on the bunk became as pale as chalk as Thugbird began applying a splint on his foot.

---

A new bunch of slimes popped out of the nearby bushes, once again surrounding the Lost Souls. This group was bigger than the last, and the lot of them looked ready to pounce and obliterate when the sharp crack of a whip in the air reverberated within the forest and just like that, two of the slimes were sliced in neat halves. Victoria and Avian walked into the clearing, the former with a fierce look of revulsion on her face as she swung her whip up again like a lasso, while the latter was eyeing the sleeping catbus with what seemed like curiosity. However, just when it seemed like the humans were going to be saved by a couple of badasses, a loud rumble burst within the deeper part of the forest and a massive slime monster, one even bigger than the catbus, slid in front of the Lost Souls.

So basically they’d have to contend with that one while the more experienced warriors deal with the babies. Tough life.

“Humans, listen- Oh hey Zephy,” Victoria glanced up and waved at the messenger, who was happily perched on a tree, before returning her attention to the humans. For some reason the appearance of the boss slime caused a flood of its mini friends to pour out from within, like, everywhere, so basically she and her partner weren’t moving anywhere anytime soon. Avian narrowed his eyes before running forward a few steps, facing the incoming slime monsters, and then spun in the air with his blades extended, resulting in goo flying everywhere in copious amounts. Yeah, whatever, it was a fabulous move.

“Freeze that thing to keep it from moving for a short while. Alternate between heat and ice to make it shrink. Oh for pity’s sake, don't try to make it burst!” Victoria called out as her trusty whip hit slime and made it into sashimi. “Force won’t work on that type, so you have to stick with your magic abilities!”

“Get a move on it, Harper. Or do you want me to freeze you in ‘time’?”

He'd recognize that taunting voice anywhere. Harper scrambled forward, barely avoiding an icicle shard. "Very funny, Haku." He found himself sliding across a small patch of ice. "We all know that's irrelevant now--aah!" He tripped on a frozen tree root and hit the ground face first. Tiny slimes began to surround him, and some started hopping on his back. Thankfully, they didn't have sharp claws and ended up tickling him instead. "H-Help," more and more slimes began piling up on him. Harper pushed himself free and launched himself forward, pipe still in hand.

The boy spun around and slashed, slicing a leaping slime in half. The liquid in his amulet depleted with each slash and soon he was down to half. Harper panted for air as he ran. "Guys, why are there so many of them? For each one we destroy, two appear!" He let out a yelp as another slime leaped and sailed past his head.

“Don't know about you but I'd really like it if these things would just stop showing up.”

Harper turned to see one of the new people. Inadi, right? The boy gave him a nervous nod. "T-That'd be great. There's too many of them at the moment." A small slime clung to his shoe and he gave it a kick. It crashed against a nearby tree and went splat.

"Well, if we want them gone we're gonna have to beat 'em." Riley gave both boys a grin before nodding her head in Inadi's direction. "If we get out of this, we'll definitely have something interesting to write." She stomped down on a lone slime, her grin growing broader by the second. "I wouldn't mind having a writing partner. Well, that's if we survive this." She laughed a little then bounded off towards Leon and Vince.

Each time she stepped on Ice it would melt. It was handy, but the liquid in her amulet decreased each time she did it.

By the time she was close enough to Vincent and Leon she was huffing and puffing, both hands on her knees. The idiot still managed a grin though. Riley took a few moments to recover before she cupped both hands around her mouth. "Hey! Are you two alright up there?"

The battle raged on and mama slime let out a helpless roar. Those humans were killing her children. They would pay!

The giant blob barreled towards the ice pillar at an alarming speed and before Leon and Vince knew it they were falling. Riley scrambled back and watched as the slime inched towards the dazed boys. "Guys! Requesting back up!" She yelled before summoning more flames to life. However, the simple action made her feel queasy and the flames died before she could make use of them. The girl stared at her amulet and let out a nasty curse. One fourth left, she wouldn't be using magic any time soon.

“Humans, listen- Oh hey Zephy,”

Harper spun around at the sound of someone's voice. The boy stared in awe as one of the Nobodies sliced through a slime with relative ease, then let out a relieved sigh. They were going to be saved! The redheaded nobody started giving orders and Harper straightened up. Alright, they had to listen, they could do this.

"You heard them!" He yelled desperately. "Force won't work."

Riley backed away from one of the slimes and laughed. "Totally, so let's get this done, huh?" She gave Ace a ridiculously big grin then looked to Haku.

"Wait!" Harper was the epitome of serious. "We're low on magic, so remember, we need to rely on each other."

The girl just laughed. Moments ago Harper had been an absolute klutz, but now he was staring at everyone with furrowed eyebrows and genuine concern. "Force won't work aye? Melee fighters think you can keep the baby slimes busy for a bit?"

Harper looked at Leila...they were the only melee fighters. "Leila, let's keep the slimes away from them." He gave her a nervous smile, "team?"

Riley shook her head. "They'll need some help. Ace, Haku, you heard the lady let's hammer it with some fire and ice." She looked to the lightning mage then at Leon. "Our magic isn't enough though, we'll need all the help we can get." With that said that girl began waving her hands above her head like crazy. "Hey Mrs. Blob, come and get me!" She then gave one of the smaller slimes a kick.

The giant blob growled then launched a charge straight at her.

Meanwhile, Harper was calling the attention of most of the smaller slimes and soon enough he and Leila were surrounded.

After a swinging fire around for so long, when the liquid in her amulet got lower and lower, she could start to feel her own energy drain. It made her pay enough attention to realize she was dangerously close to the end of her line. "Break time it is..." The sword disappeared and she was now put on the defensive. To avoid the slimes that tried to attack her, she ducked out of the way for everyone else to take a few hits in. Watching them all fight made her giggle. Some were fighting wildly and desperately, and then there was people- mainly Haku who fought with expertise as if he'd been doing it all his life. She watched in awe as he did. His cool manner of doing things surely fit the ice magic style.

She watched as the new kid Inadi used cool lightning attacks and then as Lesley used.... rainbows and flowers. It was definitely weird, but it proved effective for him or her... and it was helping Jasper. So she just accepted the weird power with the weird person. Rainbows spewed from Lesley's mouth and lightning and ice rained down. This was surely something she wouldn't see everyday. Why would anyone want to leave here? But of course, she remembered some panicking when they had begun to forget simple things the longer they stayed.

She didn't have time to reminisce because two strangers jumped into action and began slicing and dicing slimes. "Sweet!" She watched the whip and the blade move in expert motion. It was quite the show. Until she realized that they were surrounded by little slimes, and the mother slime was fast approaching. "Well, it's some party."

She had enough of a break, and was ready to fight again. She pranced toward Inadi and Harper. "C'mon you two! We can stop them, just keep them away!" Like it was that easy. She laughed and followed Riley. That redhead knew how to have fun. Ace leaned against the ice pillar. When she requested back up, Ace was already slicing up the slimes near them. "Don't worry! I got your back!" She looked up to the boys for a brief moment and then to Riley and Harper. "Rely on each other?" That was something she never did before. How on earth would that work if they were all inexperienced with their own skill? Well, it was one of the times where winging it was necessary.

Orders were given and Ace laughed. "Riley, if you really want to get its attention, you're going to have to do a better job." Ace stabbed one of the slimes before kicking it to the side. Another growl was heard and she watched it launch itself forward. "How does that thing move? It doesn't have limbs. That's kind of weird you know. But I guess that's Nowhere for you." In the middle of the fight her mind wandered off to something of less importance. "Whoa, that thing is getting close." She noticed and hurried off to the side to avoid getting a direct hit. "Alright, freeze and burn! Let's do this!" The sword lit aflame again- Ace realized that she didn't need to keep it lit and it saved energy that way- and she sliced at a few small slimes that wandered to their mother... Only making the large one even more upset.

“Tch. Don’t wet your panties or anything. You’re safe. And you’re welcome.”

Leila was rather glad that she was safe, yet Vincent’s “you’re welcome” was uttered before Leila had time to thank him not to have crushed her or snapped her neck between his arm and chest.

The crash landing left the catbus lying horizontally, five pairs of feet squirming idly on the sloped surface they landed on. It growled weakly for a couple of times, perhaps out of hunger or pain. Leila almost felt sorry for the poor creature.

She gathered the strength to push herself upright and, hands and feet carefully choosing points of support to make up with the incoherence between the direction of gravity and the orientation of the collapsed catbus, made it to an exit which was once one of the windows. She carefully slid herself out through the opening, and off the side of the catbus and down to the ground, finding herself standing alongside many of the other humans and a couple of Nobodies that accompanied them on their trip, all recovering from the recent fall.

Quite curiously, the ground was...a bit bouncy. And sweetness. Sweetness was in the air. Leila looked around in amusement as the sugary flavour registered itself at the tip of her tongue. It wasn’t that noticeable back on the bus, beneath the scent of expired tuna, yet now a look at the scenery and it was now clear that they have arrived in a very different biome in Nowhere - a place where the ground was jelly, covered in a layer of fine, powdered sugar; rivers and puddles of water were viscosious fluids that were various kinds of syrup, and vegetation and flora bore the bright, splendid colour schemes of the sugary goods arrayed in candy shops.

Interesting, Leila thought as she dusted her skin and clothes of the powder and combed her partly tangled hair mostly free of sugary flakes, while she resisted the childish urge to start hopping up and down on the elastic substance that composed the ground.

She still couldn’t take her eyes off the surreal scenery around the place. Red-and-white striped branches and leaves extended off tree trunks in the shapes of spiralling, rainbow-coloured vines sprawled the space between other plants, twisting and turning in a fashion reminiscent of the chewy sour candy strips as their ends hung freely. The colours were so toxically vivid and saturated - this sight gave a whole new meaning to the term “eye-candy”. Leila wondered what sorts of creatures would populate an area like this.

What even was she thinking. Slimes, apparently.

* * * *

Why were they attacking the slimes? Leila couldn’t quite make out what was happening as she scurried around the scene that was now a frenzy of fire and ice and lightning and classic Latin spells and all that jazz. Leila maneuvered around the scene, cautious not to step on anything she isn’t supposed to and not to be hit by the icicles that also happen to be raining out from the sky and not to accidentally step on something she shouldn’t. There was this once she almost shoved her left foot right into a slime, and prevented it narrowly by stumbling a couple of steps backwards and almost falling over herself.

“Ah! I am so very sorry - ”

She immediately apologized - part of that “proper etiquette” her elders back at home stresses so often - hopefully the little jelly creature didn’t take that accident personally - and then she had to take another sudden jolt back because if she hadn’t the gelatinous jaws may have closed on her foot instead.

The question just changed from why were we attacking the slimes to why were the slimes attacking us, and Leila found herself hopping around the field evading the furious bouncy cubes at any cost, the dimly glowing green amulet swinging around dangling from her neck as she did so.. A few staggering steps later, she came to a halt besides Harper, who was trying to fend off the incoming slimes with the pipe he was holding. The combat came to a pause as all parties took a moment to assess the situation.

"Leila, let's keep the slimes away from them."

Allllright? But with….with what?

"Team?"

The boy then asked. Leila, however, did not have time to react at first because one of the slimes just decided to start charging towards the two of them.

What to do? Try to stop it. With what? Something. There was nothing in her hands. There had to be something. A candy-cane twig fragment some distance away. Too small to do any good. Too far away anyway. Jelly-dirt or sugar dust or something else from the ground. Bad idea. A shimmery, translucent thing a couple of steps away - one of the icicles from Haku earlier. That would work. That would work! But still too far - no, just close enough. Worth a try-

Leila wasn’t exactly sure what went through her mind, neither what exactly she did in accordance. Yet at the end of that half a second, she recalled her arm swung in a rather elegant curve that allowed a trajectory of the sharpened piece of ice into the direction of the threat - the slime now throbbing unhappily with the heavy icicle buried halfway into the centre of its front face. She was panting and she could feel the liquid draining away as the weight of the amulet decreased slightly.

Team?

She looked over her shoulder to Harper.

”Team.”

She replied in what was probably the faintest, most uncertain voice possible as she stepped back into a defensive stance she had no idea where she learnt from.

"Yes, I am." Heart beating faster than a drummer at a rock concert, she noticed her amulet did not drain that much. It made sense since a healer would need the ability to recharge and heal many others in order to be of some use. Unsure whether she should leave her hiding spot in the bush or not, the knowledge of being the lone medic in the group definitely caused her a great deal of pressure and anxiety. Imagining gruesome outcomes of her failure to refuel her companions, a renewed bravery and courage implanted itself into her usually empty glass of confidence as she emerged out of the temporary coverage. Beckoning Lesley to come out and join her, the battle beyond her shelter was horrific, her legs quivering slightly in visible fear.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, two foreign individuals entered the war with some rather intimidating slime-killing moves. A huge chested female, probably bigger than Ace if not equivalent, dove in; whip lashing through the green globs with such ease. Along with her came a male holding intricately structured blades who executed some athletic ally lethal moves on a couple of the unfortunate monsters. His attacks matched those of playable characters in Soul Calibur and they were brutally impressive. To the humans dismay, their supposed saviors were hastily surrounded by dozens of slimes and were unable to reach them.

Off in the distance, a fat green head could be seen bobbing up and down towards their direction, candy cane trees parting and snapping like measly twigs in its destructive path.

The humans embroiled in the center of the action began to gather closer together, seemingly forming a sort of group effort against the enraged mother blob, its hate fueled by the annihilating of her offspring. Catching sight of most of their amulets, the lot of them were dangerously close to emptying. Alarmed by this, she shut her eyes and tried to focus on refilling their draining capsules of power. Her own encasing suddenly radiated a hazy glow, her lids still sealed shut in troubled concentration. A few minutes elapsed as the others continued to obliterate slime after slime, until her mental energy finally gathered enough authority over her amulet to communicate a mass restoration process. White airy wisps streamed out of their glass enclosure and began to snake into the amulets of the preoccupied humans as they fought, their ornaments filling as Jasper's steadily drained. A heavy pressure was starting to engulf her chest as she continued her rejuvenation move.

Stopping once the others had a safe three fourths in their amulets, Jasper passed out with a mere couple of drops left within hers. So this is what the Queen meant about consequences. Simultaneous multiple regeneration of essence was an ability would need to work on and master, but for now, she lay on sugar powdered jello with a nearly liquidless amulet.

"Don't worry! I got your back!"

Riley grinned as Ace sliced through one of the slimes. "Great! I'll watch yours too, no worries." Riley caught another slime that leaped towards her and watched as it melted in her hands. "Ick..." the mother slime let out a deafening roar and the girl winced before grinning like a Cheshire cat. "We got it's attention! Ace...I hope you're speedy." The girl gave the swordswoman a salute then began running in the opposite direction. For a giant slime that thing was actually speedy.

"Guys! Someone help Leon and Vinvin." The girl leaped over a bush and nearly crashed into a tree. "Oops!"

The slime had come barreling after them and was hot on their heels. "Ace, let's split up and distract it. Then when it's confused, pow, right in the kisser."

”Team.”

Harper hadn't been expecting her to answer and he hadn't been expecting her to cut a slime's face clean off either. His hesitant smile turned into a determined one and he gave Leila a nod. "Alright then, we'll need to work together to keep them away from the others." He turned to look at both Vicky and Avian. "Mr! Ms! The mages have the mother under control, can you give us a hand with these little ones, please?" Harper kicked one away before slashing at another with his pipe. He hadn't been doing anything flashy so the liquid in his amulet was just a little bit below the half point.

Suddenly their amulets grew brighter and Harper turned to see a fallen Jasper not too far from them.

"Jasper?" He stared at his friend with wide eyes. "Gosh..." The boy froze up and one of the slimes tackled him from behind. He tripped forwards, planting face first into the ground. He pushed himself up and noticed she was breathing. The boy looked from Avian to Jasper and to the slimes that were now trying to chase after their leader. He felt conflicted but understood that they had a job to do, the others were counting on them too and if he and Leila didn't keep those little slimes busy then the plan would fail. He sucked in a breath of air and stared at the nobodies almost desperately. They had lost so many people already, they weren't going to lose anyone else now. "PLEASE TAKE CARE OF HER." Harper practically exploded before turning back to Leila and looking more determined than ever.

He stepped between the baby slimes and the path leading into the forest. "Guys, what are you waiting for? Go, Leila and I won't be able to distract them for very long. Watch each others backs and make sure you keep an eye on your amulets."

Meanwhile, Riley noticed her amulet grow brighter. "Huh, Ace? I think we got ourselves a miracle." The slime was still after them but had slowed down considerably due to all the branches and bushes. "Let's heat things up!" The fire mage rubbed both hands together, a fireball flaring to life in each hand. She tossed it as if she were pitching a baseball and while one fire ball sailed over the slime's head and lit a tree on fire, the second one hit it right in the face.

The slime roared before inching back and crashing into said tree. The burning tree would make it really easy for the others to find them.

"GUYS!" Riley cupped both hands over her mouth. "There is seriously no time like the present!"



Meanwhile in Sol...

"The dragons have breached the perimeter! The north side is of Sol has caught fire." The soldier was ready to fall over.

They had been fighting without end but still the dragons came. Not to mention, they were at war with Aven and low on both supplies and men. His trembling hands clenched the hilt of his sword. "Men, if we die, we die in battle. Glory, honor and courage!" He let out a roar, before raising his sword over his head. "Platoon 5, to the north gate. Bring the catapult and for the love of celery get me some clerics and mages and archers!" He hopped onto the nearest horse and began riding towards the wall.

A red dragon was perched above it, and the city smelled of soot and blood.

"This is getting out of hand, Songbird," Serenade nodded in his direction. "Good job..." some of wounds were grizzlier than most and a few of the men looked like they wouldn't make it. The black rabbit pulled out her violin and began to play. The reason the rabbit sisters were always welcome in the queen's castle was because their music not only enchanted but also granted special effects. Euphoria, sadness, they could tug on the heartstrings with their notes.

One of the dying men's faces lit up with a smile and he exhaled softly before drawing one last breath. The other suffering patients calmed down and those who had been afraid moments ago were calmer now, some had even fallen asleep. Hopefully it would help ease Songbird's nerves as well. "I hope this helps," she muttered before looking at the chaos that had erupted. "Hopefully the humans get here soon, though to be honest, I don't know why the queen thinks they'll be of any help." She shrugged then turned to look at her sister. The idiot was on one of the horses, getting ready to leave with platoon 5.

"Sis! Song! See ya later." She called as the horses trotted off. May the Glow cloud keep them safe.

Riley said "They'll need some help. Ace, Haku, you heard the lady let's hammer it with some fire and ice."

“What is this? “Game of Thrones”?” Hakuren smirked in response.

Despite all the effort put into their attacks, the slimes had only increased in number and now, with an even greater opponent before them, a gigantic smile towering over the catbus, the situation looked grimmer than Greg Eagles’ Grim Reaper.

The goddess of fortune smiled upon the humans by granting them back-up, a duo, composed of a lovely femme fatale and an astounding male warrior. The movements and skills of both were most impressive. It was as clear as daylight that they were experienced on the field of battle. Yet, before they could reach the main target, countless of little monsters surrounded them, inevitably blocking their way. Even with these extra two players, the party was at a disadvantage.
With the liquid in the majority of amulets reaching its final limits, things were looking gruesome for the Lost Souls. The mages, who were meant to be the main battle force, were weakened, their attacks growing less effective and accurate. The only method they could use was unbreakable teamwork. Quite the hassle, considering how many enemies they had. It would be hard to simply keep yourself out of harms way, let alone to watch the back of someone else.

Despite the fact that the scale was not tilting in his favor, the young man in the midnight green coat continued smiling and casting spells. Standing on the roof of the feline, he limited his rain of icicles to only a specific range around his companions. Whenever Ace found it necessary to chatter with Riley regarding teamwork, he would lock down on the slimes, which were closest to them and stab the critters with an icy needle.
This reminded him of a game he had once played, where the objective was to shoot as many flying roosters as possible. It was a fun piece of entertainment, yet not something he enjoyed on a daily basis back in his own world.
However, this game was a million times cooler, both literally and metaphorically. He could not feel the cold, yet the light ring-like sound ice made whilst forming in thin air was like a symphony worthy for even Beethoven to take off his wig. The flow of magical shards was like the pitter pattering of a little mouse on a smooth marble floor. Each time a slime was engulfed by frost and frozen in place, be it by a strike or by being near a fallen icicle, it was as if it were being embraced by the hands of a gentle mother, an embrace which granted eternal sleep.

Marvelous this artwork of magia was. Alas, it would not last long. The two girls of a flame had begun making their attempts to attract the slime Queen, succeeding each and every time they took action, yet Hakuren was in no condition for a boss battle. Indeed, he had his teammates for support, but his energy was alarmingly low. Stars had started sparkling in front of his eyes in the middle of shooting ice at a couple of animate gelatins, which had wished to take the opportunity to attack the fire benders from behind while they weren’t looking. Taking a moment to catch his chilly breath, a quick glance at his egg-shaped charm proved that he could not possibly continue his duties as a magician, not when his life was hanging by a thread.
All of a sudden, he felt something strange. Ever since he had obtained his power, the youngster had not sensed a single pinch of the cold he was emitting. And yet now, as he was on the brink of collapsing, there was the strange sensation of his own temperature dropping from the inside out. It was peculiar. Could it be that, once the liquid ran out, the magic one was granted consumed the owner? He could only applaud the idea, for it was something he would come up with, in order to give some character a dramatic death. Albeit his entire being was signaling how life-threatening his current state was, the boy did not believe he would die. No, not at all. It would be far too disappointing to end things here. And, if you found his annoying so far, then he certainly had not the slightest intention of ruining this pleasurable experience for you.

And in this darkest hour, if time at all existed, came a savior, a ray of hope, which shined like the sun over the wary and insane. Jasper, the polar bear of their group, used her abilities as a healer to bring light into the darkness of her comrades’ existence. Her holy blessing healed their hearts and granted them spirit for the future ahead. Bit by bit, the liquid increased and soon enough it was restored to only one quarter below the maximum.
Turning to look at the praying lass, Hakuren noted her medic potential before having his attention be drawn back to the happenings in the center of the battle arena.

The Grand Duchess of slimes let out a terrifying roar of rage and ferocity. This being was positively furious. Consumed by wrath, it charged forward, crossing the plain and in the direction of Riley and Ace. It meant business and not the sweet kind.

Riley said "We got it's attention! Ace...I hope you're speedy." The girl gave the swordswoman a salute then began running in the opposite direction. For a giant slime that thing was actually speedy.

Unlike the rest of its kind, this monster was fast and gaining speed rather quickly. If it were allowed to do as it pleased, it could go straight through the ice pillar, on the top of which were Vincent and Leon. Moreover, it could gobble up the entire catbus in one go without even choking.

It was time to cue the music.

“Rosa floret in tenebris est. Is caeruleus sicut nix sub lunam. Secundum imaginariam somnium inside somnis”

(A rose blooms within the darkness. It is blue, like the snow under the full moon. An impossible dream within a dream.)

In front of the beast’s path bloomed a garden of roses, ones made entirely of ice.
A wintry essence waltzed in the atmosphere. Vines full of thorns spread rapidly both upwards and opposite the approaching attacker. They sprouted and curved in various ways, the spikes growing sharper and deadlier, killing off any slime that was nearby. It was a masterpiece. The few flowers, the petals of which were created to the smallest detail, sparkled under the light and shimmed in a soft blue tone. The branches, despite being made of a material so hard, looked elegant and graceful, like the long arms of a ballerina. Beautiful they were and served their role well.
Once the Queen slime slammed into them, her speed dropped dramatically, and, despite still being able to move, the trees and bushes provided additional obstacles, whilst the thorns dealt damage every time the monster inched closer.

This spell cost Hakuren a great amount of liquid and it was down to barely a quarter of the maximum. To his delight, this effort was not meaningless. Riley, the fire mage, had enough time to generate a fireball big enough to send the boss staggering backwards. With the thorns piercing and freezing the bottom and flames burning its top, the slime was stuck between two polar opposites and had no chance to prevail. The victors of the day had already been decided.

Riley said "GUYS!" Riley cupped both hands over her mouth. "There is seriously no time like the present!"

“Don’t be silly.” Hakuren laughed. “In the first place” he took one step back and placed a hand against his head. “there is no...” The roof ended.

Falling from the top of the catbus, Hakuren crashed down on the ground, which, luckily for him, was soft, just like a pastry. The lad let out a groan of displease and pushed himself up. It felt as though he had not slept for days and was about to succumb to sleep. The moment he realized why this had suddenly occurred, he did his best to stand up. There was far too little magical energy inside the amulet. Despite having defeated the giant, the humans were not out of the woods just yet. There was no telling what could come next. This was Nowhere, after all. Thus it was a very unwise decision to leave oneself as vulnerable as him.

Scratching his head, in order to get the blood flowing, the youngster scanned his surroundings. There were still a couple of small critters lingering about and creeping closer to what looked like a pile of pale rags. Upon closer inspection, it proved to be Jasper’s collapsed body. Only the slight ascending and descending of her chest indicated she was alive, for she neither shivered, nor twitched, not even when a piece of gelatin was milimeters away from her.

“Sheesh, what an idiot.” he sighed and pushed himself upwards.

With a snap of a finger a cluster of small ice shards appeared. Moving together, as if they were in an invisible flow, they whisked around the unconscious girl, driving the creatures away and eventually striking them. Meanwhile, the young man walked towards her with his amulet, the substance inside of which was fading away little by little. There was barely any inside now.
He crouched down and took her in his arms, one hand going behind her back, so that her head could rest in his hand, another gently holding her chin. The young man bent and came closer to her face. Eyes closed, lips connected, jaws parted. They tenderly kissed for that very short moment.

Loading...Loading...Battery at 50%

(Will add more from here on out, depending on whether or not Kimchi wakes her up.)
(just for the record, it would be funnier if she woke up XD )

As lovely as it was, there came a time for them to part.
Still holding the girl in his arms, Hakuren shot a few slimes, which were nearby.

“Oh? Has Sleeping Beauty not awaken, yet? Maybe I should try again~” he purred.

Thankfully, Jasper had had enough liquid in her own amulet, in order to heal him, albeit she was not aware.

Having run side by side taking out smaller slimes along the way with Riley and Ace, Inadi found himself basically playing catch up the whole way. He didn't want to use too much of his magic and he didn't trust himself to be throwing lightening bolts around as wildly as Riley was, though he had to say that her tenacity in taking out the big slime was very inspiring to say the least. Made him feel like he was in an actual battle of some sort. Ace as well with her constant use of the sword so elegantly. It was almost like all of them had been doing this for a long time up to this point.

Even while he chased after the bigger slime, not by choice but mainly due to the fact that everyone else was doing so, he noticed that the member of the group with ice powers was throwing them about again. As Riley threw two giant fireballs, one actually hitting the target they all had in mind, Hakuren decided to get fancy with his power and make a bed of roses made out of solid ice. While Inadi originally thought that this was just showing off at this point, he noticed that the slime suddenly became stuck in the spot where the roses were at. He was not able to see the vines and all that, but seeing that the slime was not moving made him feel a lot more comfortable.

Keeping his lightening bolt alive for the moment due to the smaller slimes that were still around, Inadi decided to take a closer look at the giant beast they had just taken care of. Maybe seeing it close up without worrying about being swallowed whole would allow him to have a decent enough chance to learn about the place they were going to. Granted slimes were not going to be easily understood, but its the idea that counts he supposed.

Turning towards Riley he fixed his glasses as he gripped the bolt in his hand tightly. “I'm going to just make sure the big thing is really dead. Besides, we can't be too careful with these things.” He told her as he looked down to one of the slimes he had stabbed earlier. It looked a bit darker, almost as if it had been cooked from the inside due to the electricity. Besides that there was no real sign that the thing was dead. No eyes. No lack of breathing. It was just a giant lump of something that could easily fit into a doughnut or something back at Mr. Cuddles' shop. “The thing could just be resting for all we know, getting its strength back.”

He slowly turned away and began walking towards the giant slime. On the way there, he noticed the tree that had been set ablaze due to Riley's fireball. It seemed like the fire was starting to die out, but at the same time it was a dangerous shot. Had this forest been any drier it may have sent the whole forest into a firestorm. And considering this was supposed to be on the border to this new Sol kingdom that they were supposed to save, a fact that Inadi still had difficulties taking seriously, it would not be a good way to start off relationships. Burning a good amount of trees would have been a poor start to this diplomatic mission.

Inadi rolled his eyes at the last statement. As if he was a diplomat from some stupid movie or foreign country. He was a man from another world that got stuck in some stupid dream world and now here he was reaping the disadvantages of it. He could have died in a giant cat bus accident. He was potentailly on the dinner menu for small moving globs of jello. Now here he was with a lightening bolt in his hand going to check to see if the biggest blob was actually dead. So far this whole thing seemed like just a giant joke made by fate to mock him for making stupid worlds like this in his novels he was making.

Finally reaching the spot where the big blog was, Inadi began feeling a bit of spit get clogged in his throat. Swallowing it slowly, he felt his nerves lock up as he kept the spear he made in front of him, just in case of the worst. The ice beneath the beast was still solid, an impressive feat considering how close the fire was to it. Inadi couldn't tell if he should consider the slime cooked or getting thawed. A small smile broke his face as he finally got to within arm's distance of the beast. Letting out a slow breath, he quickly thrust the spear into the slime and waited for a reaction. To his delight there was no movement or sound made from the beast.

A sigh escaped him as he quickly pulled the bolt out. Just as he did so a quick screech from the big blob was let out and Inadi quickly fell on his back in total fear. As he did so, the spear hit the ground and disappeared into the air. Shooting his gaze from where the bolt used to be he looked back up at the slime and saw it sink further into the ground, similar to the smaller ones from earlier. It seemed like that was just how these things died over time Inadi supposed. Quickly gathering some air to replace the amount that just escaped him with the gasp of fear he just had happen, he turned his head to where the group was and let out a cry. “The thing is dead I guess! Time to start figuring out what to do next!” He bellowed as he laid his head and back down onto the ground to relax.

Staring down at his necklace he saw that it was at half way. That made him worry. If just one bolt was going to take that much away, what would doing something like Riley do to him. Closing his eyes, he decided for the moment it was best not to think about it. Instead he focused on breathing in the fresh air as best he could before he had to go back to the rest of the group.

Now that the mother slime was dead, you’d think that her spawn would at least split up and flee from the area but that wasn’t what happened. The few remnants of the glob army still slithered after the humans, only to have some members of their measly troop get squished under Victoria Sieghart’s steel-capped boots. “How long did it take them to kill the big slime?” She muttered to her partner as they made quick disposal of the remaining monsters. Avian looked uncharacteristically grim when he said, “Around thirty Sol minutes, I guess?” The two of them shared a pained look before approaching the humans; it was almost as if the group had failed some criterion that the two soldiers had imposed upon meeting them, and because of that mistake their worth became even less than the meager amount it already was earlier. Truth is, the slimes were the so-called bottom rung of the monster ladder, and they were often the ones used to train rookie soldiers. An average member of the Solean cavalry could defeat five baby slimes in three Sol minutes by himself or herself, while a mother slime would take about seven to ten Sol minutes.

“Let’s go,” The fiery-haired woman sighed then turned her back to the humans, but her partner stayed to give them a hasty introduction. “I’m Avian Rider, that’s my wife Victoria Sieghart. We’re members of the Royal Dragoons, the elite force which is tasked with the security of the royal family. During times of war, the Royal Dragoons are also the ones supposed to spearhead our forces,” He paused and then smiled ruefully, his head tilted towards the retreating figure of the woman, “Which is why she’s upset. We both want to return to the aid of our comrades as soon as possible, so if all of you would please cooperate to make this excursion a pleasant and efficient experience for both of our parties.”

That being said, he noticed that a few members of the party were wounded and needed help returning to the castle.

Vincent had sprained his ankle, so he was to be assisted by Hakuren and Inadi all the way back.

In Sol’s castle:
The humans were ushered in by their new guides; the wounded was taken to the infirmary, but the urgency of the situation urged the new guides to keep everyone present. They were presented before the heir apparent, since the king was away, and Victoria and Avian glanced at the prince Tobias in worry. They hoped he wouldn’t get too nervous.

“Your Highness, if you will, the time these people will use for repast… Can you excuse me and my wife so that we can assist with repairing the outer garrision?” Rider bowed down before sharing yet another worried look with his partner.

Meanwhile in Sol:

“Thank you, Serenade,” Songbird wiped some grime off his exposed elbow and watched as a nearby soldier drew his last breath. The item hunter’s face contorted into a grimace of ill-concealed anguish as yet another body was added to the already growing pile of corpses. He put his dirty towel down then pulled his sleeves up again, dimly remembering to tie his clothes tightly to prevent these from dipping down into the patient’s face, then gently ran his hand over the deceased soldier’s face to close his eyes. He stepped back as a pair of interns went in and wheeled the body out. “I can’t believe the dragons would do this.”

The medic camp suddenly seemed like a place of peace, isolated from the noises of war happening just outside the door. He also felt his frustration ebb away, only to be replaced by a bone-deep weariness, and Songbird sunk down on a chair, supporting his head with one arm. If he just knew more, he could’ve saved a lot of the soldiers.

“Drink this, Song.”

A warm cup of tea was pressed against the weary bird’s cheek before it was placed down beside the white haired man. Brandy nudged over a vacant stool with his foot and sat down, tiredly sipping at his own mug of watered down drink after placing an old leather bound tome on his knees. He had picked up the old book on various magics during an errand to Sol a long while back and while most of the spells inside were still much too complicated for him, he was loathe to leave it behind just in case the dragons reached the castle. Even if simple magic attacks didn’t harm dragons, it was a nice heavy object to smack things with.

The soft sound of a violin filling the room made him sigh as his spirits lifted slightly enough to give a small smile to the boy with the splinted leg in front of the two guides, only to fall as he spotted a few guards move into the room to carry away another man who had passed. He was rather thankful that Martini had moved the children who weren’t in need of medical care to the castle’s sizeable nursery to entertain and distract them with bubble blowing; they didn’t need to see all the destruction around them.

"Hopefully the humans get here soon, though to be honest, I don't know why the queen thinks they'll be of any help."

Brandy agreed with the rabbit- what was the Queen thinking, sending the humans to Sol? They had none to very little experience in combat and now they were expected to save a country from dragons?

He sighed and shook his head, but tried to stay positive. It wasn’t something he was particularly good at, but he knew bad thoughts would only make things worse.
“I’m sure she has her reasons. Let’s just hope they arrive soon, we need all the help we can get.”

~*~*~*~*~

Up above on a tree branch overlooking the small battlefield of goop, Zephy sat with her arms crossed, legs dangling as she observed the fight with a thoughtful look on her face. Now that Viccy and Avi were here she didn’t need to worry as much about trying to keep the silly hummons from getting eaten by slimes. They were doing well enough for newbies, she mused as fire crackled and ice glistened and- ooh, were those rainbows? Awesome!

Ah, right. Back to the hummons.

The giant slime had finally collapsed into a huge puddle of goo, signalling their victory. Zephy looked down from her perch just in time to see one of the hummon boys sweep the unconscious white-haired girl into a big smooch and she gasped, cheeks blushing. How scandalous!

“Enough with the kissy-kissy!” She leapt down from her perch beside the two lovey-dovey people, giving Haku a whack on the back and nudging him over to where the two Solarian soldiers were standing. “You take care of her till we get back, alright? Now go, we’re regrouping!” Hopping back a few paces she went to nudge a bespectacled hummon who had though it would be a good time for a little lie-down, apparently. “You too, now! Up please!”

After all she had managed to herd all the into a group, she planted herself firmly beside Avi. Viccy had gone on ahead, anxious to get back to the castle. The messenger understood how the woman felt- she wanted to get back as soon as possible to Tobi. The poor boy was probably so worried!

After tapping her foot impatiently through Avian’s brief introduction, she raised a hand in the air and bellowed again.

“Alright, in formation now! Oh except for you guys.” She pointed to Vincent who had sustained a sprained ankle and was now being supported by kissy-kissy man (Haku) and the sleepy glasses guy (Inadi). The poor unconscious girl who had been smooched was now in the care of the young boy (Harper) and the red-haired girl with the smaller chest (Riley). “Everyone else, get into formation and we’re marching out! Good job, you guys!”

The trudge back to the castle was a thankfully uneventful one, and the tiny girl sped off when the castle came into sight, leaving the group with a small wave and a small cloud of dust. She’d meet them when they arrived, right now she just wanted to make sure the prince wasn’t being pushed around again by the soldiers.