Forest-Fire

[Koga]

"Woooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh" Koda bellowed gently as the wind rushed through his hair. His feet were firmly placed in the saddle straps on Fia's back and his hands were pulling back on her reigns as forcefully as he could. With a mighty caw, Fia's wings raised up allowing the wind to slow her down and lift her up higher into the air; just narrowly avoiding crashing into the colossal Karri tree directly in front of them. "Phew, that was clo-OSE!" just as they thought they were safe Fia felt a sudden change in the wind current behind them and narrowed her wings. She tilted them to the right, and flew straight out of the path of a behemoth cyclops. The two watched with an odd mixture of horror and glee as the strange creature crashed straight into the same oversized Karri tree.

They could do nothing but stare in complete awe for a few moments. Had this really just happened? Where did this thing come from, and more importantly: how the hell did they not notice it earlier?  For a short-while it felt as though the only sounds in the entire forest were the incomprehensible groans of a cyclops with a mouthful of tree bark. Wildfire stood up tall on the back of Fia, lifted his fist in the air and finally breaking the silence shouted, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU BEEF-WITTED PIGNUT!?" The cyclops muttered some more unintelligible grumbles for a few minutes before Wildfire could actually understand what he was saying, "p-p-p-preehh--prrreeee-eCHU- pret-pretty - prrettty bir- ACH HUCK YUCK CH- prettttttty bird."

Wildfire looked down at Fia, then back over to the cyclops. "You were chasing us... because of Fia?! You almost killed us both you half-wit!" Fia circled around the cyclops for a bit. However, the cyclops didnt make any move to respond. Wildfire merely observed the beast for a few minutes, with its' face buried in the Karri tree. "Don't you have anything to say for your self? You almost killed us, KILLLED US." When the cyclops didn't respond Koda looked down at Fia and whispered, "Take us closer." The Phoenix flew them right next to the cyclops' ear, "HEY LUMPY CANT YOU HEAR ME? WE ALMOST DIED!" The cyclops grumbled a bit, before finally shouting, "MEAN BIRD HURT THEON, THEON CRUSH!" The cyclops lifted his fist so suddenly that it took both Fia and Wildfire by surprise.

CRASH the mighty fist knocked the Phoenix right out of the air, and sent Wildfire flying straight into a nearby tree. "FIA!!!" He shouted as he slid down the trunk and onto a large tree branch. He could do nothing but watch as the Giant caught Fia with his opposite hand. "GIVE HER BACK" he shouted, as he pulled his staff off his back and started sending balls of fire in the cyclops' direction.

[viestrus01]

The young elf slowly walked through the forest, enjoying the sounds and sights of nature itself, carrying her trusty, giant book. Or spellbook. Whichever you prefer.

Humming to herself, she stopped every once in a while to talk to the animals nearby, fetching some fruits and herbs all the while with their help. The usual, as one would say.

Suddenly,a  loud crash entered her ears, followed by a small , short quake. Having been in this forest for some time, she knew exactly what was going on.

"Is that cyclops hunting again?" she asked her arachnid friend, who tagged along with her for the ride today. They both stared at each other, the spider making a motion akin to that of someone shaking their head. A moment later, Erynies' expression shifted momentarily to that of surprise.

"He's chasing something?" Well. That can't be good. If that guy's chasing something, he could practically trample this whole forest down in a day!

Deciding to talk that cyclops into calming down, Erynies stepped up her pace, now going in a jog instead of a slow walk. Mid way through running however, another quake sounded, along with an angry shout, saying something like 'Theon crush!'.

'He's angry...' she thought, feeling herself tremble already as her heart started accelerating. Still she ran as fast as her small feet could take her.

A short while later, a bunch of animals started running towards her direction. Erynies could hear them scream, sense their fear, all of them running away from the now mad cyclops. From all of the commotion, she could hear someone shouting 'Fia!'

After that, a wail of pain from a bird. Big, from the sounds of it.

Erynies quickly ran, this time towards where that wail came from. As she got closer, she could see fire raining down on the cyclops.

Before she could asses the situation any further though, a giant feet planted it's way in front of Erynies, nearly crushing her.

[Koga]

Wildfire grimaced at the screech of his dear friend. "Don't worry Fia, I've got you!" He sounded so sure, but in all actuality he was nearly petrified. Swinging his spear-staff in a variety of swift powerful movements, his goal was to overwhelm the cyclops through shear force. However, it seemed that none of his blows could burn past the creature's thick skin. Quickly getting frustrated with himself, Wildfire lowered his spear and shouted "DAMN IT! DAMNITDAMNITDAMNIT!" He shook his head out and thought to himself for just a moment Alright Koda you got this, cool it cool it cool it His hands made their way to his head and he began to literally rip his own hair out.

After letting out an angered groan, he paced back on the branch so that his back was to the trunk. Then he made the awful mistake of looking down. It was a long fall, and he wouldn't have Fia to catch him should he accidentally drop. He saw the elven girl from up here, but he didn't pay any notice to her. All he could think about was getting his Phoenix back. Koda looked back up at the Cyclops and gulped.

Then out of nowhere, he began to run toward the opposite edge of the branch. He twirled his staff in a full circle over his head before jumping off the branch, pointing the staff behind him, and shooting out  a heavy burst of flames. The burst only lasted about three seconds, but it was enough to carry him straight to the beast. Not having any way of bracing his crash, Koda full on body slammed the cyclops, getting him right in his eye.

The Giant stumbled back, and attempted to close his eyelids but Wildfire's body prevented him from doing so. His eye began to water as he reached out in front of him, blindly looking for something to catch his balance on. The giant's foot slipped, and he began to fall down. Only in that moment did the Giant release Fia to grip onto a nearby tree. The giant's massive body just barely hung on the tree, and Fia began to fall.

[viestrus01]

Erynies leapt back, visibly trembling now after nearly getting crushed.

The cyclops' mad, fireballs are being hurrled at it...

Someone's trying to kill this thing.

It'd be too dangerous for her to stay here. Thinking quickly, Erynies ducked behind a nearby tree, watching the whole battle unfold. She saw a red-haired man on top one of the branches, and even from where she is she could see he's visibly concerned.

Then, he did something quite extreme, at least to her.

She saw him leap off the branch, point what looked to be his weapon backwards, and a short, but powerful burst of fire came out, effectively launching him towards the cyclops.

"Magic..?" she uttered, astonished. She's never seen anyone utilize fire magic like that before!

The next thing she knew, another quake came, the giant's body crashing onto the ground in a giant, messy heap, with the redhead still positioned on it's head, right on top of his eyes, really. From it's free hand, a giant bird, colored with that of fire, fell towards the ground, the giant's grip having loosened.

A loud 'thud' resounded in the air, and the girl moved again.

She finally got close to the giant, majestic bird, barely conscious. Kneeling in front of it, she listened intently to what the bird had to say. All she could gather was pained groans. It was writhing, in pain, and it needed help. Now.

She opened her giant spellbook, skimming through her notes to see if she could find anything of use, her arachnid friend crawling it's way to her forearm. Her eyes darted about, in panic, before she found a useful note.

A salve, potent to curing wounds and minor illnesses.

She examined the bird again, more thoroughly this time. Due to it's size, she hand to stand and probe around for a bit, walking around it to see if there were any wounds hidden beneath it's fiery feathers.

She looked at the side of the bird's skull, and found quite the nasty wound there, bleeding heavily despite being a blunt wound. She could've sworn this part of the bird's skull caved in slightly.

"Oh, you poor thing..." Making a salve would take too long! She needed to do something, anything to stop the bleeding long enough for her to gather materials and make that salve.

Something came to mind suddenly. She quickly turned the pages of her book again, this time to the front page, where a small note -instruction really-, is inscribed.

'Projection spells rely on images and the imagination. These spells, therefore, could practically be used for anything.' She stopped reading there.

Can it be used for healing, then?

Well. She had to take her chances.

Doing this will take quite a bit out of her, but even still, she placed the palms of her hands gently on top of the bird's wound. She then took a deep breath, exhaled and calmed her fast beating heart, focusing on imagining an image in her mind.

The image of a giant wound, bleeding badly.

The feeling of excruciating pain.

Then the image of that wound gradually closing, less and lesser blood flowing out.

The feeling of pain slowly fading away into a distant memory.

Her eyebrows scrunched together and eyes clenched shut, she began projecting the image. A small, simple rune formed on top of the bleeding wound, a dim, turquoise light emanating from it.

Even at the beginning process of casting the spell, Erynies already felt exhaustion hitting her full force. Projecting both an image and feeling into reality really does take a lot out of you...

Beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks, the turquoise glow growing in it's intensity. Slowly, without the elf seeing it, the wound began to close.

The process went on for a few minutes, and by the time she was finished, the wound had already looked about halfway through recovery. She smiled, feeling proud of herself for doing a good job (this being her first time doing this with her magic) before blacking out.

[Koga]

Koda felt the Cyclops crash onto the ground, and peeled his face off from it's sticky eye. "Ew..." He muttered to himself as he pulled his hand free from the eye and wiped a large amount of eye-juice off of his face. For a moment he had forgotten all about the battle, and could do nothing but focus on the fact that he was in giant ball of disgust. Then he heard the giant begin to wail.  Oh no.. He thought himself as the giants eye began watering even more.

Feeling the tears form beneath him, suddenly Wildfire remembered Fia. He dug his fingertips deep into the Giants eye and muttered, "You want to play with fire...?" He squeezed even harder on the Giants eye, and the Cyclops let out a pained roar. "THEN GET BURNED" Wildfire shouted as his hands ignited in flames. The Cyclops began crying out even louder than before, his limbs flailing in the air, and he shook his giant head back and forth

"GET OFF LITTLE MAN" The Giant screeched as he grabbed Koda with two fingers, and flung him off his face. Wildfire felt himself flying in the air, and from there he saw Fia laying on the ground next to a KO'd elf. He pointed both of his hands behind him and used his flames to gently land on the grassy ground. Wildfire looked at the Giant, as he lay on the ground crying out in excruciating pain. That beast was definitely not going to be bothering them anymore.

Feeling much safer now, Koda stepped away from the Giant, and walked over to Fia and the Elf. He wasn't sure what the elf had done, but Fia was conscious now, and looked like she was going to be okay. The Phoenix approached Koda and nuzzled her head into his chest. "It's okay Fi..." he whispered to her. Fia cocked her head at the Elf and cawed gently. "Did she help you?" He knelt down next to the elf and observed her and the giant book for a moment. "A mage..." He whispered to himself. He lifted her book, and suddenly realized that its even heavier than it looks. How the bloody hell did this little girl carry this thing? He thought as he placed the book on Fia's back. Then he slid both of his hands underneath the girl and began to carry her safety, Fia trailing closely behind him.

-EDIT-

They walked down to a nearby river, where Koda gently placed the small elven child beneath a large oak tree and began to wash off both his and Fia's wounds in the river. He had just now seen the severity of the scar on Fia's head. "Looks like she wasn't able to finish it huh?" He gently poured water over the wound and sighed. "We need to get you something for that Fi." He dried off his hands on his pants, and pulled out a few bandages from Fia's saddle-pack. He wrapped them lightly around her cranium, Fia whined as the bandages touched her wound. "It's going to be okay little dove, just stay still."

[viestrus01]

Erynies' eyes fluttered open. Blue-ish grey eyes darted about, looking at her surroundings, her vision still hazy before realizing where she is.

She merely stayed quiet, knowing she's still in the forest. The cyclops' pained cries could be heard, even from this distance. She winced at the sound. Even if it were a cyclops, she still felt some pity for it.

That begs the question though; how did she get here?

The last thing she knew is healing that horrible wound on the bird's head-

"The bird!" She exclaimed softly upon remembering. She tried to get up, but a wave of lightheadedness struck her all of a sudden.

"...little dove, just stay still." She jumped as the sudden voice reached her ears. Who is that?

That was when she finally noticed the redhead by the river, along with the giant bird, the redhead's hands wrapping a bandage on it's head.

She sighed, smiling a bit, seeing as the bird is in good hands now. Though she still can't move. She'll need to rest some more.

Deciding to rest once more, she leaned back on the tree and let her thoughts wander. The bird's wound was severe, but it was healed now. Though it still needed to be tended to.

She then remembered the salve.

That should do the trick! It'll definitely help with the bird's recovery! She went to fetch her giant book, but realized it wasn't there. She panicked a little, eyes darting about once more, before spotting her book on the bird's back.

Sighing, as she thought her book was safe for now, she closed her eyes, trying to remember the materials for the salve. After a while, she smiled.

Good. All of the materials are here in this forest. Should be an easy matter to brew it.

A slight ticklish feeling made her attention snap towards her forearm, where her arachnid friend now stands. It looked at her with (what she registered to be) worried eyes, asking her if she was ok.

The elf nodded. "I feel a lot better now, thanks," she said softly. The spider then did a motion as if pointing towards the redhead. It then 'spoke' again.

"He carried me here?" She thought as much, before the spider said something else. "Talk to him?" Erynies turned towards the spider. "You mean offer him the salve?" The arachnid made a motion akin to that of nodding.

[Koga]

Wildfire had thought that the Cyclops would have stopped screaming by now, but apparently he was wrong. The screams were distant and somewhat quieter now since they had walked so far, but he was definitely not escaping them just yet. Koda sighed at the sound of them, part of him wondered whether or not the Cyclops would be permanently blinded after their last encounter. However, when he looked back at the wound on Fia's head he stopped caring. The Cyclops didn't really intend to hurt them in the first place, he had just wanted to play with the bird and Wildfire realized that now. Regardless, the Giant almost killed Fia in the process, so Wildfire had no problem letting his temper get the better of him. It was sort of a strength and a weakness.

"Who are you talking to back there?" Wildfire asked without turning around, a sly smirk grew on his face. He had heard the girl's distant whispers to the spider and had figured she was just mumbling to herself up until now. He bent down and filled his palms with water from the river, then  lifted his hands over his head and poured the water all over his sticky face. He began wiping off some of the eye-gook from his skin. Afterward, he shook his hair out and turned around, just now noticing the spider. He opened his mouth to bid the girl a warning, but then he realized that she was looking straight at the spider, and that the spider was making some strange movements. It almost looked like they were communicating. "Is that your... friend?" Wildfire asked, sounding slightly confused.

Fia turned around to face the Elf as well, and cooed with delight when she saw that she had awaken. The Phoenix (that stood a full foot taller than Wildfire) hobbled its self over to the girl, sat its large body down in front of her, and nuzzled its head into her lap, continuing to coo gleefully. Wildfire chuckled a bit at the sight of this. "She likes you!" He said with a big smile on his face. It was sort of rare that Fia showed this kind of affection toward anyone else other than Koda, she had not known many people, since Wildfire generally tried to avoid them. Usually when people saw Fia they either kept their distance or tried to study her like she was some weird science experiment, but this girl was different.

[viestrus01]

Erynies jumped as a lump of feathers landed on her lap, later realizing that it was just the giant bird she helped earlier. It nuzzled against her, looking happy and delighted.

Erynies couldn't hear anything from the bird, other than it happily cawing, but just from that cawing alone, she could sense happiness and energy practically radiating from it, despite having just recovered. She felt her arachnid friend jump too, crawling towards her shoulders.

"Careful there, ya big bird!" said the spider,"You nearly crushed me!" Erynies had to chuckle at the spider's temperament. Then again, it did have a point. It did nearly get crushed by the fiery bird's head.

It was a little condition she had, this, which allows her to talk to animals. Some way or the other, her ears can register animal thoughts and somehow translate them into words. Only she can hear them, though. Kind of like telepathy, only it's not. The spider kept on ranting some more, Erynies chuckling both due to humor and delight. The bird kept on nuzzling at her. She, in turn, gently pat it's head, her small, almost bony fingers coming into contact with folds of long, white sheets -the bandages the birds head is wrapped in.

She gently traced the bandages, finding the wounded area. Again, her fingers ghosted above the wound, so as not to instill anymore pain to the giant bird, examining the wound and how it's doing. After a while, she sighed, her hands gently resting on top of the bird's cranium.

"The wound," she said shyly,"it's healing, but still needs to be tended to..." Her arachnid friend once again shouted at her.

"C'mon," it said,"tell him about the salve!" Erynies slightly nodded, standing up, gently ushering the bird's head off her lap. Another wave of lightheadedness struck her, but this time it was dull enough for her to stand (albeit wobbly), and reach for her book resting on the bird's back. She picked it up, wobbling some more to the point of nearly falling, before she found her footing and sat down on the grass once more.

She opened the book, flipping through the pages until she found one on the salve.

"Here," she said, pointing to the book and motioning for the redhead to look, letting the page's contents explain everything.

[Koga]

Fia fluttered her wings angrily at the spider's comment, she couldn't actually understand what it was saying, but she could tell that it was definitely something negative. "Thank you for helping me" she spoke to the elven girl in the same manner the spider had. Fia felt safe in the girl's lap, almost the same way she felt when Koda was on her back. This Elf was the only other person Fia every showed this kind of affection towards other than Wildfire, so Koda looked at them rather strangely.

"Yeah, I noticed." Koda said in regards to the wound.

When the Elf stood up Fia fluttered her wings again, annoyed. "Hey, come back!" She cooed, she had the same temperament as Wildfire in some respects.

"Hey wait.. are you talking to Fi?" Wildfire inquired, sounding very perplexed. "W-Whats she saying?How're you doing that?Whats the spider saying?" He continued, he had never seen any sort of magic quite like this before. This girl was capable of speaking to the spirits of animals, how could she possibly be doing that? For his whole life he pretty much only ever focused on fire magic, since his teacher was a Phoenix. He began to wonder about all the other sorts of magic, only for a moment. Was this some strange act of magic that he's just never heard of ? Or was it something else? And if it was magic, what other sorts of magic were out there? The thought of them all hurt his head; he knew the way fire worked--not much else really. How could you possibly manipulate the same energy he used to make fire, to hear animals? It just didn't make sense to him. I think I'll just stick to fire magic...

Wildfire snapped back into reality when she opened the book. "That book's heavier than you are." He said half-jokingly as she flipped through the pages. When she finally reached the page with the salve, he knelt down and looked at the book curiously. He read through the ingredients rather quickly, then looked back at the girl. "This is great, but do you know where we can find any of this stuff?" He had not been too familiar these woods yet, having just recently come here because he heard of a nearby civilization that was supposedly a good hide-out for mages. He had yet to make it there however, they were almost there when the Cyclops interrupted his trip. It had been smooth flying up until that point too, figures.

[viestrus01]

Erynies nodded, and upon hearing the bird complain, chuckled once more, letting it rest it's head on her lap once more. She then turned to the redhead, feeling her arachnid friend fuming slightly.

"We can actually find all of the ingredients here," she began,"I... actually have some right now..." She then pointed to the final sections of the ingredent list. "We'll need to gather these two. They're... not too far from the river," said the elf as she pointed towards the deeper part of the forest. "They usually grow there."

A small chuckle escaped her lips as the arachnid spoke once more. "Ya really think this guy's gonna know what the herbs even look like?" Erynies sighed, giving the spider a look. She then let it crawl onto her index finger.

"Just look for some strange looking and colored plants," she said,"you should be able to spot them easily." She then stood up once more, again, gently ushering the bird's head off her lap, muttering an apology before going over to the riverbank, spotting what looked to be two objects ideal to use as a makeshift bowl. With one 'bowl', she began to gather water.

[Koga]

Wildfire sighed as many of his questions went unanswered, though he didn't bother repeating them. For a moment he wished he could speak to Fia the same way this girl could, but he decided to forget this wish for now and continue on with the task at hand. When the girl pointed to the forest, Koda looked to it and then back to her. "Thank you so much for your help, but...I have to ask you, why are you being so kind?" He asked, looking at her peculiarly. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the help and everything, but you don't have to do this you know?"

With that Wildfire stood up and dusted off his clothes. Today he had been wearing a dark red short kimono with yellow borders, on top of red and orange harem pants. His clothing was a little torn and dirty after the battle, but he didn't seem to mind too much. He turned to face the woods, and as he did Fia walked over to him. Koda took a step toward the forest before stopping abruptly. "Are you going to be okay here by yourself?" He asked, remembering how the girl nearly passed out earlier on.

Fia looked back at the girl and cooed, "You look ill." A worried look grew on the birds face as she looked back at Wildfire.

Koda gently brushed the feathers on the side of her head, "Why don't you stay here Fi? Make sure she stays safe, okay?" The bird nodded and walked back over to the girl as she gathered her water. With that, Koda continued to walk toward the woods but then something else came to mind just before he left, "You know, I never caught your name."

[viestrus01]

The elf jumped a bit at the inquiry, only realizing now that she hadn't introduced herself.

"Erynies," she said,"that's... my name." She then stood up, having gathered all the water she needed. Walking back to the tree, she took off the outer layer of her sash, sat down and let the bird rest it's head on her lap again. She then began to take off the bandages, dipping her sash in the water and began dabbing the wound with water, cleaning it more thoroughly.

"No reason really," she suddenly said, breaking the silence,"I'm just... doing this because she's hurt. I couldn't have left her like that..." It's true. Erynies just has a really soft spot for animals. They were her friends, and the only reason she managed to survive alone for this long alone. She was thankful for them and would try doing whatever she could to help, regardless of what they are.

[Koga]

"My friends call me Wildfire." Koda said, as he turned his head back toward the woods. "I think I can definitely consider you a friend." He said this with a wide smile, then began to speak again, "I really can't thank you enough! For everything you've done,it means so much, I.." Koda paused for a moment, considering what he was about to say. "I owe you one. Big time." It was a lot for him to offer someone a favor, he generally didn't want to owe anything to anyone. His father taught him that lesson when he was very little, and he still remembered it to this day. Yet here he was offering a favor to a stranger. However, somehow he knew this wouldn't be a mistake. He trusted Erynies, as odd as it may seem; he just learned her name minutes ago, but there was something about the way Fia reacted to her that made him feel... safe?

Then he disappeared into the wood, leaving Fia behind him. "You think he's going to  be okay by himself..?" Fia asked Erynies, feeling a bit worried. She felt the water run over her head and nuzzled her face deeper into Erynies' lap, searching for reassurance. She pretty much spent her whole life at Wildfire's side so it was strange for her to be without him even if it was only for a few moments. Wildfire had raised her from when she was a baby, she had been there when he was with his family, she was there when he left, and for the past three years they have literally not left each other's side--until now. She knew he was leaving to help her, but still she felt a little scared without him there. "I hope so..."

[viestrus01]

Erynies smiled reassuringly, understanding the bird's worry. Still gently dabbing the wound, she spoke in a soft, reassuring tone.

"He'll be ok," she said. "You saw him, right? And besides, this forest isn't too dangerous." The spider, now seated on her shoulder suddenly made a motion, beckoning the elf to look at it. It then spoke, with a hint of understanding in it'sit's voice.

"Poor bird's real worried..." it then turned towards Fia. "Want me to tell the others about that guy? Or maybe ya want me to watch him, keep him outta trouble?" Erynies momentarily stopped dabbing the bird's wound, deep in thought. She then turned towards her arachnid friend, nodding.

Well, just to reassure the bird...

"I think your right... go tell some of the others about him, and help him find those herbs." She chuckled a bit. Deep down she knows Wildfire can handle himself -heck, she did admit to that just now.

But, since Fia's so worried... Might as well send out an 'escort'.

[Koga]

Meanwhile, Koda treaded through the woods, looking around for any plant that looked colorful or extravagant. He saw a purple herb with blue specks growing on the ground, he didn't really know if this was what he was looking for or not, but he picked it up anyway-- just incase. As he went on through the woods he began to pick pretty much every and any herb he could find, if one of those herbs was the one he was looking for he didn't want to miss it. However, he was running out of room in his arms.

As he walked he started to feel sort of lonely, he could not remember the last time he had been this far away from Fia. He sighed a bit to himself feeling rather melancholy now. It was mid-day, but this deep in the forest everything was dark. The trees provided near complete protection from the sun, and the only sound he could hear now was the occasional rustling of leaves. It was then that he realized that the Giant had stopped screaming. Finally... Koda thought to himself as he continued on through the woods, the screams had been driving him crazy with guilt, but now they were gone, and so was the Cyclops' suffering. This brought Koda back to his thoughts on the Giants eye, part of him hoped the creature wasn't going to be blinded forever. He only had one eye, and if Wildfire had ruined that for him he'd feel really bad about it. How was a blind Cyclops to survive in this wood? There was so many mysteries, and strange creatures lurking about, he couldn't imagine trying to traverse this place blindly. He'll be okay... that guy was huge.

Koda found a three-leefed plant with a red stem, and immediately picked it up and tossed it in his pile of herbs. The trip had been a little creepy, but for the most part everything was okay. None of the forest creatures seemed to bother him, and the loneliness gave him an eery sense of peace. He dropped one of his herbs and stopped for a moment to pick it up when he realized that he had grown a giant red rash on his arm. Oh no... he thought to himself. He must have picked up some sort of poisonous ivy along the way, and he had no way of telling which herb it was. He looked at the pile of herbs in his hands and decided that what he had here wasn't enough; there were still plenty of unknown plants to be collected and he didn't want to go back without the right herb. So he pushed forward.

--

"Thank you." Fia said, sounding much happier now. She was happy to know that Erynies was somehow connected with the spirits of the forest, and that Koda would be safe under their protection. "So how is it that you can speak to me anyway?"

[viestrus01]

"Hm?" Good question, she thought. She never really knew where she got this ability from. It wasn't like she studied it or anything. The first thing she knew when she woke up was that... talking to animals seems... normal. Obviously it wasn't, since Wildfire was surprised by her talking to the spider. But to her it seemed normal. A normal, everyday occurrence.

A momentary pause, and she merely shrugged. "I don't know," she began,"talking to animals seems normal to me..." She then removed the damp cloth, bathed in both water and blood, folding it neatly and putting it next to the bowl of water, tinted red slightly due to being mixed with blood. She'll need to get some more later, for brewing the herb.

It was then that she realized nightfall was imminent. The skies began to turn a darker hue, visible from where she is. The now orange tinted skies hinted at daylight leaving for the day, the girl's eyes growing droopy, exhaustion once again taking over. Or rather, hitting her full force.

She sighed, a feeling of worry slowly planting it's way to her being. Where was Wildfire? He'd been gone for a while... had he gone too deep into the forest?

Regardless, Erynies' body demanded rest, at battle with her mind on whether or not to move and search for the bird's companion. The elf was forced to ignore her mind as her eyes fell closed, falling asleep once more.

[Koga]

Fia ruffled he feathers restlessly as Erynies fell asleep. She was definitely not going to be able to fall asleep until Koda returned. She looked around, and noticed how dark it had become. Night was falling, and Wildfire was still somewhere deep in the woods. When was he going to return? What was taking him so long? Will he be okay when he comes back? Fia looked to the forest and then back to Erynies. She told Koda she was going to stay with the elf and she was going to keep that promise, but part of her wanted to go out searching for him. However, she knew that was a bad idea; she was injured, and if she left Erynies alone she would not be able to protect herself should anything bad happen. The spirits of the forest will protect him... Still unable to sleep, Fia stood up, walked a few feet away from Erynies and began to dig out a small pile of dirt with her talons. Then she hobbled over to a nearby tree, and pulled off a few small branches with her mouth. She threw the branches into the dirt, stepped back a few steps, and then coughed out a small fireball into the pile. If he sees my fire, he'll know which way to go. Then, feeling more secure now that a fire was lit, she walked over to Erynies and laid back down on her lap. He eyes still open, waiting for Koda's safe return.

--

As night fell, Koda's vision began to dampen. He looked all around him but saw nothing. This again brought him back to the thought of the Cyclops, he now knew exactly what it was like to traverse this woods completely blindly. It was impossible. Seeing as it was starting to get to dark to travel, Koda decided it was time to head back. He dropped to a knee and removed his kimono. Then he laid it out flat on the floor and placed the herbs onto of it. After scratching at the rash on his forearm a little bit, he began to wrap his kimono around the herbs, creating a make-shift sack. Then he stood back up and threw the sack over his shoulder. he held his opposite arm out in front of him with his palm facing the ceiling. He ignited a small, but constant flame in that hand in order to light a small area around him.

Although the fire made the forest appear brighter, it didn't make Wildfire feel any safer. He could still hear the rustling leaves in the distance and the nocturnal forest creatures start to awake from their slumber. He was unsure of what kinds of creatures lurked in these woods, but he already had a pretty bad encounter with one of them and didn't want to know what else was out there. Koda took a quick scan of his surroundings and then began tracing his steps backward. If I just walk back in a straight line I should get back eventually...

Then he heard it. CRACK. Something stepped on a branch behind Wildfire, he turned back around quickly to see if he could see anything, but nothing was there. "Hello? Who goes there?" He called out, but no response came. Wildfire started to feel fear coursing through his veins, chills started to crawl up his spine as he looked into the darkness and saw nothing. The lack of a response made him shiver, Wildfire remembered why he was here: to find the herbs and nothing more, but now something was in his way. His fear turned to rage upon the thought of Fia's battle wound. "Show yourself coward!" His voice cracked, and his face grew flushed. Beads of sweat began to roll down his forehead, the bushes infront of him began to rustle. A low growling was heard, Koda looked all around him and saw nothing but the distant flickering of a fire.

[viestrus01]

Erynies woke up with a start.

Shoot, she fell alseep... Her eyes darted about and noticed the forest had already gotten dark, save for a small orange light she later saw was radiating from a small fire. The bird's head was still on her lap, and she noticed Wildfire hadn't come back yet.

"What's taking him so long...?" She knows that even with the spider already telling the others about his presence, some wouldn't be more... willing than others to leave him alone.

She wanted to search for him, but knew her still drained body would do no good. Her eyes are feeling droopy again, for one thing. So, she decided to do the next best thing.

She's experimented with this before... her spells can be used to also summon things, not as powerful as real summons are, but still helpful in certain situations. And last time it didn't drain her too much! Eh... hopefully this time it wouldn't...

She cupped her hands together and began imagining a small wisp, small but radiating with light. A small, more complex rune than the one she used to heal Fia with formed, a dim, lavender-ish light coming out of it. And out of that rune came a lavender-ish colored wisp.

Not as bright as she intended, but it'll have to do.

It floated about in the air for a second, dancing lightly in the wind before it went off, having already been given it's orders. Should be easy enough, since Erynies already knows what Wildfire looks like.

She then sighed, feeling more tired than ever. She noticed, by the glow of the fire, her skin looking more pale than ever, she could actually pass for a legitimate ghost!

Sleep began to take her once again. She fought it. No,she shouldn't sleep now...not until that redhead comes back safe.

[Koga]

Fia felt Erynies awaken and  watched her with curious eyes as she casted her spell. "That's some strange magic you've got there, I've never seen anything like it." She watched the wisp form, and fly through the air searching for Wildfire. Then Fia looked back to Erynies with a worried glance, "Are you going to be alright? This looks like its taking a lot out of you."

--

Wildfire pulled his spear off his back with his free-hand and pointed it at the growling bush. "Do you want to die coward!?" He shouted rather loudly, igniting the tip of his spear in flames. The growling seemed to grow more and more intense. He was pretty sure whatever was behind that bush couldn't understand him, but he decide to threaten it anyway. For some reason yelling at whatever it was like it was a person made it seem less intimidating to him. The growling died down for a few moments and Koda saw the reflection of his fire inside of two little yellow eyes staring back at him from the bush. That's when he knew what it was: a massive Connloathian Tracker, but what was it doing here? Oh bloody hell....  When the beast hurled itself at him Wildfire did not hesitate in shoving his spear straight through its gut. He wasn't going to be playing any more games today.

The dog whined as Koda slid his spear back out of it, and walked straight passed its dying carcass. He looked behind the bush the beast had come from, lighting the area with his fire staff. What he saw nearly brought tears to his eyes: the fallen corpses of what appeared to be Mordecai from Connlaoth. Their bodies were beaten, mangles, and somewhat rotten. Wildfire could tell they had been rotting here for at least a week. The hound must have stayed here with them ever since, such loyalty. There was only one thing they could be doing here: hunting mages. His thoughts ran back to his father. These were the people his father was so scared about. These people were the reason he had to hide his magic abilities growing up, why his father refused to let Fia stay; they were the reason he had to leave his home. Part of him felt...sad? Yet another part of him felt strong. He had successfully avoided them on his own for three years now, and although they were definitely still a threat to him he was safe in these woods.

Wildfire had turned around to leave when he saw the wisp, somehow he just knew this was Erynies' doing. He followed it back to the camp without question. When he arrived he was dirty, bloody and beaten but he had a ton of herbs with him. The right ones had to be in his sack somewhere. He looked to Fia and then to Erynies. "Are you- are you alright!?" He asked as he dropped his sack down, lifted her makeshift bowl from earlier and emptied it. He then refilled it with water and brought it over back over to Erynies. "Here drink" He said, getting on a knee to hand it to her. "Now I owe you two favors."

[viestrus01]

With a trembling hand, Erynies grabbed the bowl, shaking her head at the mention of a favor. She then carefully brought the bowl to her lips, emptying it's contents slowly so as not to spill any of the water.

She then noticed the rash on the redhead's hand, and the sack he had with him. Had he picked up a poisonous ivy?

'I... should've given him more details,' she thought as she gently placed a hand on top of the rash, casting a quick healing spell before nearly blacking out, the only sound keeping her awake being a sudden rustle in the bushes close to where they are right now, along with a shout.

"Over here!" she managed to register through her haze.

Somehow, she sensed danger. Her body went rigid and tense, trying her best to stay alert despite being severely exhausted. Her hand gripped Wildfire's arm tighter than she would've liked, feeling fear and foreboding find it's way into her.

These guys again...