“Hurk… bleuh! Ack… Ack! Bleuh!” Veronika’s head could only get a few inches off the ground before everything rushed back, sending a discharge of vomit and bile to the grass that she rested on. The world was a spinning carousel of putrid confusion. The only safe action was to plummet back to the ground, lest another flurry of what rested in her stomach decided to surface. After a few minutes of rest so that the body could adjust, her leather-clad form slowly rose to a standing position, which was met with a thankful sigh.

Unfortunately the moment faded and a feeling of unease set in as Veronika realized that she had no idea where she was. None of the surrounding scenery looked familiar; neither did the bodies on the ground. “Could they all be dead?” She thought, but there was only one way to find out. Kneeling beside a young form, it only took a quick check of the pulse that this one was no longer with them. A terrible sadness began to resonate within her, hoping that the others were different. If not, then she’d have work ahead of her digging the graves.

Darkness was something that Killua did not fully understand, yet he was full of it. An adequate assassin at only the age of twelve, he had had more than his fair share of drawn flesh. However, never did he think he would meet his match so soon. It was true that everyone had a match - the universe was a place of balances so it was only natural that he would come across individuals stronger than him. Still, Killua was uneasy by the existence of such threats and was overwhelmed by their appearance - the Chimera Ants, a species of insects that devoured other beings for nutrients and passed on their characteristics to the next generation. The battle against the ants put Killua at bay. He watched as his fears became reality and as others fell. Gon, his best friend, began to steadily dwindle from his happy-go-lucky self into the monster that Killua felt he was. Darkness. It was Killua's greatest opposition and his best asset. It was the darkness that took him from the Chimera Ant conflict and his friend to his current location, which was a whole other obscurity on its own.

As the warmth of the sun's light beckoned him, causing his tightly shut blue eyes to budge, Killua came to realize that he was no longer in the NGL, the primitive country under siege by the Chimera Ant species. The atmosphere was different and strange to him; nevertheless, Killua felt more at ease now than he did before. The boy lay in the grass with his mind wrapped in thought. He obviously couldn't stay wherever he was long. He had to get back to the NGL before the situation got worse. He clambered onto his feet and launched an investigation of his surroundings. As he stood, his legs wobbled and he teetered out of weariness. What.... Killua thought, wincing. His prior condition, while it wasn't the best, definitely was far from how horrible he presently felt. Enduring the side effects of his sudden awakening, Killua scanned the lush scenery. It seemed tranquil but he was still puzzled. How did he get here? Why was he here? Most importantly, where any Chimera Ants around? Perhaps the worst had happened and he was captured. The enemy may be very well waiting to pounce and make him supper.

Killua shifted into a state of high alert, becoming intrigued when he discovered that he was not alone. There were others there with him and their circumstances seemed to be similar. It was odd for him to even be standing among these individuals for they all looked so bizarre. Even those who he could identify as human featured key alterations from his own familiarity. Killua considered separating himself from the group but not so soon. It was very likely that anyone of them could be a friend or foe. He would use this chance to observe and distinguish those who were shady from those who were earnest. Cautiously, he stood in seclusion and awaited for the first interactions to commence. While he was certainly on edge given his awakening in an unknown land, Killua was oddly void of visible apprehension. Now would be the terrible time to show any sign of weakness. He was not going to give any of them the idea that he could be exploited. Instead, he looked rather relaxed as he folded his arms.

"-now that's what I call an entrance", mumbled the Skeleton Detective as his mind focused on his sudden awakened state. The smell of dust hovered about his, nasal cavities. He had still not entirely figured out how he had retained every single one of his sense, yet he had no, sensors. The state of being suddenly awakened was strange to him; as he never tended to sleep, just, meditate. That's what he called it anyway, in truth, he was just sitting around with nothing better to do.

He sprung up, as springy as a skeleton could be, and rotated on the spot around 5 times before he realised that he was not where he was meant to be. This wasn't Dublin, definitely not, this was too, too happy to be Dublin, which is not difficult. It's not every day you get to see a burning city in the distance. But, then again Skulduggery was beginning to get bored of the things you don't see every day. They were getting a tad mundane. Again he rotated, this time noticing the conglomeration of people that had seemed to also appear alongside him. He went to inspect one, leaning down unpleasantly close to their face to see if he recognised them. Young. Male. Blond. Average clothes. Nope, no recognition. Except, this could be someone Skulduggery should know, but doesn't really care less, but then, he'd have to find out later.

He stood up from the seemingly unimportant boy as a raven cawed and dropped a scroll, right on top of his head. He scowled uselessly at the raven, contemplating taking out his revolver and shooting it, yet decided that it would be better for him to save the ammo, he didn't know where he was, and if he could find any ammo useful for this thing. The scroll promptly bounced to the ground and rolled towards a boy's, or a girl's feet, she was all dressed up in some medieval attire, and slowly manoeuvring back, her hand on some kind of rapier. She then turned to face the burning city that Skulduggery had witnessed earlier. She looked as if she almost 'suited' this place more than he did, she might know something about, well, something.

"I hope you know more about this than I do, because I do not like not knowing where I am. I am a friend, I hope." He scratched his head, and lifted his fedora, there was no point in disguising what he was, there were people here that could possible be weirder than him, but that would be incredibly unlikely.

The call of a raven was what had woken Dave up. His mind awoke but he kept his eyes closed, in darkness. He laid there for a bit, not keeping track of the time. The ground was actually pretty comfy, but he couldn’t lay there forever. His eyes slid open and pushed himself into a sitting position despite the aching in his joints. He rolled his shoulder a bit to get some stiffness out and looked around. He noticed the skeleton man, burning city, somewhat normal looking people who he didn’t know, all in all nothing too shocking.

He stood himself up before his knees wobbled a bit, he steadied himself quickly. Okay, so he had no idea where he was. That seemed to be recurring theme in his life. He reached back and noticed his katana was strapped there. That was good, hate to be caught somewhere new without a method of mass destruction. He saw that everyone else was already up and about.

“It seems I’m a little late to the party.” Dave said calmly. “But it certainly seems to be one hell of a party.” He walked a few steps while stretching his arms out before noticing the situation arising with the skeleton apparently trying to talk to the child and getting threatened. Dave strode over the scene and decided to speak up.

“Whoa, calm down there Chris Hanson.” He said, walking up to the masked man threatening the skeleton. He seemed to not want to cause any harm so there was no reason to be threatening anyone with weaponry.

The young woman couldn’t help but stagger back in surprise as the bodies raised one by one, revealing that everyone was in fact alive. Even a skeletal being rose to the occasion, approaching a young child that Veronika had not noticed in her sickly stupor. It was a mystery how something that breathed death could so easily walk as if everything was normal, although this was coming from an undead. But these people couldn’t be in the process of hollowing… could they?

With everyone so preoccupied with swords and silver tongues, it was interesting that the scroll on the ground went unnoticed. Hoping to bring some clarity, Veronika cleared her throat loudly and began to read. "Thou who are reading this heed my words carefully. Maketh voyage to the Domain of Elyae, where our King sought to save his world by meddling with the workings of forces beyond his control. Once you have stepped your feet upon the glorious city, heed hastily to the Tower of Linette, and at the top of the momentum, your souls will find rest once again. Bewary of the Empty Ones that wander Elyae, forever damned to trudge through the streets of their accursed city in a violent, destructive state of limbo. I cannot give you any more information, but I can say that I wish you the best of fortunes. I pray that She will bless your souls, Lost Ones. Only you can change the fabrics of fate now."

Elyae, never had such a name graced the ears of this battle weary individual, but the prospect of putting the soul to rest was just enough to put hope in the heart. “I’m not exactly sure why we’re here, but I highly doubt that fighting one another will help. What I can say, is that all the signs are pointing to that place being Elyae. That place off in the distance that smells of death…”

The situation was certainly getting interesting. It was still strange but Killua found himself entertained. His deep, interior worries about his own predicaments didn't waver. He didn't feel right standing among these people, all of whom he did not know, while his friends where int he midst of a daring battle. Yet, Killua wasn't one to dwell so long on these worries. Knowing that Gon was a strong willed boy, Killua temporarily convinced himself that he and everyone else would survive while he was...wherever he was. His current location needed to be identified soon. Attracted by the burning city that loomed in the distance, Killua's curiosity to find out where he was almost caused him to jump the gun by leaving the group to go exploring. That was an idea that would soon prove to be premature and unwise. Remaining in observation mode, Killua's attention drifted away from the bantering of the girl and the skeleton man - an individual who Killua had so far likened to the equally creepy Hisoka - to another object of interest. He watched as a woman lifted the scroll up off the ground and listened carefully as she read it. He had noticed the raven drop the scroll before but did not feel the need to address it. These people were strange and there was no telling how any of them would react to sudden movements. One man had already nearly dismantled the talking skeleton with his sword. Tensions were a muck.

Killua quietly absorbed the information provided to him as the young woman read from the scroll. At first, he didn't make a big deal out of it. It was common knowledge to them all that they were no longer in their respective areas of familiarity. What shocked Killua, what caused his icy blue eyes to briefly widen and his ears to perk, as the frequent mentioning of "souls" in the scroll's text. Killua did not notice any aspects out of the ordinary about his own body. While he may have been a bit dazzled upon his awakening, he certainly felt fine now. He convinced himself that his condition was fine and ignored the inclusion of the world "limbo" as it was read by the young woman. He wasn't dead. There was no way he would leave his friends behind during such peril. Either way, he seemed as if he had no choice but to collaborate with these individuals if they were going to survive. The scroll had already pointed them in the right direction. It would at least be worth it to investigate. The boy stepped forward. After placing his hands in his pockets, he decided to share his concerns with the current circumstances of the motley assembly. There were a few things about the scroll that bothered him. He thought it best to make it known before they all resorted to trudging off into potential oblivion.

"That place would be good to check out," Killua nonchalantly acknowledged while approaching the young woman who had read the scroll, "but I'm not too eager to go just because some scroll says so."

It was true that the scroll was the only lead they had in this mysterious land, Elyae. But, despite its obvious value to the group, Killua still found it logical to be skeptical. Just who had written the scroll and sent the raven to drop it off to them? He figured that person couldn't be too far away. Besides, he wanted to relax a little bit longer. A few minutes wasn't long enough to let everything soak in. Also, there was the matter of these "Empty Ones" which were mentioned as threats by the scroll. Killua didn't feel exactly up to full strength and he wasn't sure that everyone else was either. Well, except for those who were already interacting. There were bodies littered around and a burning city beyond. Contrasting with is initial impulsion to explore, better judgment guided Killua to the conclusion that formulating a set plan before mobilizing would be more beneficial. Proper introductions were also still in order.

As the girl jumped back in fear, Skulduggery attempted to reach out to help her up, yet he was interrupted by a sword dashing across his hand, slicing a small part of his suit. He then looked towards the tip that pointed towards him, held by a mysterious masked man, who was obviously 'heroic' and 'brave', or as Skulduggery liked to say, stupid.

"Whatever you are or might be you'd best speak quickly and cleverly to save whatever semblance of life you might have left" whatever semblance of life? Oh yes, he must be referring to Skulduggery's less than normal appearance. Speak quickly and cleverly? Skulduggery could do that.

"That suit was brand new, and very expensive. Well, it was free, because I knew the tailor, but, anyway, it would have been expensive." He stated, tempted to sink the thought in with a slap, but he thought against it, he thought the sword wouldn't really do much damage, due to him being skeletal and all, but he has been wrong before. He pulled the sleeve out, closely inspecting the cut that had been created within his "expensive" suit. The girl spoke again, and he thought back to her previous comment.

"W-Wait! I don't think he w'ants to hurt anybody!" Skulduggery smiles, well he tried to, but it just appeared pretty scary, seen by the reaction on most people's faces.

"By the way, young one? What is a White Walker?" Skulduggery thought through all his history and experience, but he could not think of anything he could come across with a similar name, then he thought.

"Did you mean a vampire?" It was the only thing he could think of why had a similar appearance to the name mentioned. He was just thinking through what else it could be as he heard the large speech suddenly erupting from behind him, and discovered that a strange cloaked woman read the scroll which had mercilessly hit him on the head earlier. He then turned back to the group to discover what their reaction is.

Zal kept his sword pointed at the skeletal man as more people rose and began to react to it as if it was not beyond odd that a skeleton was walking and talking. He listened to Skeleton speak about a a cut Zal had accidentally, through his ineptitude with a sword, made in its suit. Well whatever soul was bound to live a life in such a body, it seemed more concerned about its image then about eating anyone or anything along those lines told in stories. ....Stories? What stories? Who told him such things? Where did he come from? All these questions came rushing up as Zal began to realize he did not remember much of his own life. As he turned to listen to a woman read of a scroll that was lying nearby Zal tried to puzzle out who he was beyond his name. There wasn't much that he could even use to try and guess at his life and the as he thought about it more and more he began to notice a dull ache in his head that was slowly increasing the more he thought on his memories. He unconsciously began to rub his temple with his off hand as the woman finished speaking and then also reacted the same as most everyone else.

With a sigh Zal lowered his sword to his side.
"Apologies, waking up in field with next to no memories is a bit stressful. Even more so when one looks up to see skeletal man moving towards a young boy. I hope you'll forgive me for reacting so harshly, and sorry about the suit it was not my intent to do that." With that said, Zal took a breath in, hoping that what he did next wouldn't end with him getting his face eaten "My name is Zal, what are all of your names?" he said as he raised his offhand towards the skeleton in an offer of a handshake.

Dave stood there and listened to the child's explanation of "White Walkers" and realized the skeleton indeed did not fit the bright blue skin and eyes appearance, mostly due to the lack of skin and eyes. He also noticed the girl seemed to edge slightly closer to him which was strange, Dave wasn't used to being seen as the safest bet to someone else. He noticed the gash in the skeletons suit and suddenly decided to watch his shirt around the masked man. Dave might have made a remark about it but someone had started to read the scroll that had dropped earlier. Head to Eylae... it was fantastic none of them knew where that was, though the girl reading it assumed it to be the place smelling of death.

"Sure let's go, I've marched to death for worse reasons then a scroll telling me to." Dave said in a deadpan manner. Whatever got them out of this place the fastest seemed to be the best bet, though shortcuts had led him wrong before. The masked man who had just been threatening the skeleton suddenly introduced himself as "Zal" and called forth for introductions. The girl next to Dave was apparently named "Arry" and he was sure to learn more names soon. Normally He would give a smartass answer to a question like this but he decided that he would give his real name for the convenience of not having to explain himself later.

"I'm Dave." He gave plainly, they weren't on a full name basis yet. Now that his introduction was out of the way Dave had a moment to examine the merry band of travelers better for a second. There was Zal, the boy masked wonder; Arry, the only one seeming to acknowledge him; a woman in leather attire, the one who had just read off the scroll; a well dressed skeleton, the one who had just been threatened for being a nice guy; and another light haired kid, another one who seemed to be taking this as calmly as he was. It was certainly an interesting group to be gallivanting with.

The silver haired child was correct; after all, there could be a trap waiting. And if there was anyone in the group who knew about traps, it would be Veronika. “We don’t really have much of an option. There doesn’t seem to be much else around, it could take days to find another settlement. How exactly do you think we all got here anyway? No, something tells me we’re going to be stuck here for some time.”

Thankfully, the unease soon died and brandished weapons became introductions. It was good that everyone decided to keep things short and not go on about their life stories. Yes, it’s always useful to have a mercenary on your side, but what if they knew that she was also a former bandit? Ignorance would be bliss in this situation. “And I am Veronika.”

Killua listened to the reasoning of the woman who had the scroll, Veronika. He had to admit that she too was correct based on their current predicament. Maybe if they had come there willingly, Killua could pursue the choice of an alternative route. However, since they had all wound up there mysteriously, there wasn't much room for deviation. Apart from their current location and the mysterious Elyae, the group had no idea what lay beyond. Killua took a brief moment to try and pinpoint where at in the world they may be. It didn't exactly occur to him that they may be somewhere totally different, despite the contents of the scroll that was dropped. Speaking of the scroll, while everyone else appeared to accept the fact that they had no other leads, and Killua too did that accept with hesitation, the boy still had his doubts. On top of that, there was the hidden uneasiness he had about the group. They were such an odd assortment. There was no way they would hold up throughout the entirety of their tenure within this strange land.

"I'm Killua," he introduced coolly, almost as if he had something to hide. He did, however. The boy wanted to conceal his true nature in case he may need to kill any one of them later. He specifically had his eyes on the skeleton man. There was no way he was going to let his guard down around him. He also took note of the individual who had threatened the skeleton man, Zal. They were both perceived as dangerous by Killua and he fiddled with the possibility that he may have to deal with them later on. In the mean time, the boy decided to put these musings aside to express his current position on the enigmatic Elyae. "Sure, let's go," he said with indifference. He wasn't sure whether he would regret his agreement or not.

Rin awoke with quite the heavy headache and in quite the arkward spot. Laying flat on his back face up it took him a second to notice he was laying on a tree branch. Nervously looking around he grasped hold of the branch and attempted to get his bearings. "Uuuuugh, what did Rin get into now?" He muttered as he rubbed his aching head. The sound of a bird flying by quickly gave him an idea of how high up he actually was. Watching carefully as a crow dropped something in which Rin's eyes followed all the way onto a persons head. "No... many persons, did these persons put Rin in this tree? A cruel joke indeed." He spoke to himself in his rhaspy lizardish tone.

Attempting to get a firm grip on the obviously dead and barren tree filled with bare branches, he leaned his head lower to get within earshot of the now awaking small group of people that resided below. They obviously did not know each other as Rin could tell when one pulled a sword on the cold one. Maybe because he looked different from the others? "Great now Rin has to deal with racists on top of being in this strange tree... in such a strange world." He added. "It smells different here, not at all like home." Stretching out a little further he tried to use his Synthesia spell to figure where he may be but got a quick burning reminder of the damn collar around his neck. A jolt of electricity coarsed throughout his body and caused him to let go of the branch he was holding onto.

Letting out a slurry or reptillian curses as he managed to hit each and every branch before finally landing face first in the ash covered ground below with a hard thud. "Awww! Why why why does Rin have to be collared like a dog, fall out of trees and get sent to some bad smelling land?!?" The lizard whined kicking and pounding his fist like an infant. Pushing his face out of the ash and wiped a layer away from his snout. "What is next for Rin? Do you want to take my life as well?" He said to his new company of humans.... well mostly humans. Rin sat up in a crouched stance wrapping his tail around towards his front. A stance that allows him to roll any which way if necessary.

Skulduggery peered back down towards his suit and smoothed it down. He didn't really care, all he wanted to do was to test the reactions of those around him. He looked at the odd bunch of those surrounding him, an incredibly strange group of people, and, in the background, Skulduggery believed he saw a dinosaur, yet he took no notice of it for the moment, probably just a hallucination.
"It's fine, the suit's fine. It doesn't really matter, Zal. I'm Pleasant, well that can be argued, Skulduggery Pleasant." He returned the handshake, and noticed the slight shake from Zal as Skulduggery reached out his hand. Understandable, Skulduggery is, well, a skull. As he shook Zal's hand he listened to the boy's, or girl's, Skullduggery wasn't sure which, description of the previously mentioned White Walkers.
"Fascinating, I have never heard of any story like that, except possibly the Sea Hag, but it doesn't sound quite the same..." Skulduggery pondered on the thought that he was not aware of where any of these people were from, or their origins, and only a few, so far Zal and Arry had revealed their names, if in fact they were their true names. Three more later revealed his names, Dave, Veronika, and Killua, God it would be difficult to remember all of these names, Skulduggery decided he wouldn't bother, took too much of his thought process to do, he'd just have to ask.
Skulduggery gazed back towards the place that he had spotted the supposed dinosaur, and discovered that it had moved, and was definitely real. It even spoke! Skulduggery waltzed forwards as he spoke.
"Well, as Dave, and, and eeerrr, Veronika, yes that was it, stated, we might as well head to the tower. But first we should deal with the talking dinosaur maybe? Because, again, this is something I haven't seen before, it is very intriguing." Skulduggery knelt down next to the reptilian creature.
"So I assume your name is Rin, how are you Rin?" Skulduggery held out a hand, then realised how futile it was.

“Hmm… Yes, the mountains would provide ample cover for an ambush to decimate us. And with how tall these trees are, I doubt anyone would be able to attack us from a high vantage point. The only real threat that we might come across would be wild animals, but by the looks of our group, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem….” Now there were seven of them, the newest addition being a very large lizard man. Veronika couldn’t help but give a slight scowl with these unfolding events. It was common sense not to judge a book by its cover, but reptilian men and skeletal figures were usually considered evil in her region, and usually are found collaborating with demons. It’d be a good idea to keep an eye on them, but it would be a good idea to keep an eye on everyone really. “I suggest that we should split our efforts by making a forward party that might scout ahead a bit. That way if there’s trouble, only some of us would be in danger. I’ll volunteer myself to be a part of this group, but I’d need at least one other person to accompany, at least if anyone else wishes to.”

So far everything was going as close to smooth as it seemed it could get, that was what Killua figured as he coolly continued to observe his makeshift teammates and listen to their bantering. Things seemed to take another odd turn when a talking lizard revealed itself...himself...Killua wasn't sure at all how to identify it. The creature appeared to be friendly but nevertheless it became his quickest concern. The Chimera Ants came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and variations. They mostly appeared as humanoid beasts. Was it possible that this "Rin" character was a Chimera Ant. Killua didn't know and he wasn't in a rush to find out. He'd keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't try anything funny. It was already bad enough that the skeleton man was making him paranoid. Now it was time for more important business. It was evident that the group was going to be sticking together. They just had to decide where there were going to go.

Killua listened to the suggestion of the woman, Veronika. Her idea to temporarily split up was at the very least plausible. The group had enough members who looked to be of capable strength for such a dissolution. An investigative group that would inspect their surroundings was perfectly reasonable. Those who weren't exactly strong enough or had yet to recover from the nauseating trip to the weird location could stay behind and wait for further intel. Killua, however, wasn't exactly sure where he would fit in at the moment. He already felt as if they had been in their current position for far too long. Someone at a distance, the individual who had sent them the scroll, was already aware of their location. Who else knew where they were? Would those who stayed behind be safe if they decided to go through with Veronika's plan. So far Killua hadn't heard of any ideas so he decided to agree. However, he would wait to voice his approval once it became clear to him who was going and who was staying - if the others agreed with the plan that is. Killua wanted to separate himself the skeletal man and the lizard for the time being.