The Joy of Hunting

Well, isn't that a lot to reply to. Sorry I took this long- I've got to measure my words carefully, my raw reaction is usually disagreeable no matter what my feelings are.

TheArchvile wrote:

Nobody reply yet? Time to remedy that!

No, thirteen hasn't replied yet. He must be busy.

TheArchvile wrote:

Really good read, I like your style! Some might find it's a little hard to follow sometimes, particularily during dialogue, but I think it makes it more engaging somehow, making the reader have to think harder to be able to follow. You doing that on purpose? If so it's quite clever!

I'm always happy to hear that people enjoy what I've been working on. But difficult? I don't make it difficult. Sometimes I muddy things, but in general I make sure they're still clear enough. As for dialog, well, I do take a lot of liberties- so I can see sometimes I might make things hard to follow or understand.

TheArchvile wrote:

I read the whole thing straight from the beginning cause I sorta forgot how it started, I lol'd hard a few times even though it was second reading, especially the bit about the red tent, and the storm sprites sexing up Marlene's computer. The RPG reference bit had me grinning the whole time, too.

Again, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it.

TheArchvile wrote:

I did notice a few paragraphs in the last chapter where the spelling and grammar broke down, the part where Faulkner attacks the fairy with flaming "power" has quite a few errors, but it's an isolated issue, as the rest of the story is very very well written.

I learned most of my english through practice rather than study, so maybe words fail me at times. As for that particular segment, now that I look at it again, yes, it is pretty choppy. To be honest I don't remember if that was on purpose or not, sometimes I break the grammar to make things look every sort of frantic, but I think those were honest mistakes.

TheArchvile wrote:

It's refreshing (and hilarious) to see the jungle through the eyes of a bunch of city-slicker fairies, and I think you portrayed their difficulties dealing with the wild in a very relatable way. (All the while keeping up the twisted humor, no less)
They almost act like a bunch of city slickers in the woods on earth (I basically live in a forest so I see it alot) It makes their antics strangely believable even though it's mostly played for humor, and, you know, they're a bunch of size shifting, man-eating fairies...

Heh, thank you. I always aim for believability- I'm part of a very skeptical generation. The relatability, on the other hand, was the reason why you have Metzger.

TheArchvile wrote:

I love Metzger! Midair [sic] lol...

Who doesn't?

TheArchvile wrote:

Well done! Keep it up!

Oh, I try.

TheArchvile wrote:

(btw are we gonna find out what Lenna did with Miel?)

Err, ah, stay tuned for next chapter!

The Joy of Hunting Part 8- It Begins

=====

It had been so long that she had forgotten this feeling.

With every short wheeze, a burn tickled her ribs. Her ventral area felt oddly heavy, almost dragging her down. Joints stiff and irresponsive, her ears felt like they had cotton jammed in all the way to her brain, thumping painfully against the inside of her skull like it was pumping blood. She was cold, her belly was dragging against slime every time her arms pulled her forward. That was the blood on the outside. Her heart felt like it would sooner than not stop pumping the blood on the inside.

Her airway felt sore and stiff, a scentless, heavy stink rotting in her mouth and nose. She was so tired she could just slump- but she was already lying on the ground, dragging herself forward out of pure instinct. She knew it would accomplish nothing, but her blurry arms crawled on their own, dragging her towards whatever blurry world awaited a few inches forward.

Once upon a time, this too would've come to pass. But not anymore. She was ill- but not just that. She had been ill before.

But now she was alone.

Once upon a time she thought there'd have been some sort of comfort in knowing she'd die alone. She had let Scylla die alone, after all. Faulkner had let Ramsey die alone. Moirat and Navari had escaped. And she had had her pound of flesh before the final sunset. She could've went down with a bang.

Instead, now she was dragging herself along the ground, her neck muscles straining to find her blade. Maybe she could still kill herself before that fairy got to do anything to her: she knew she wouldn't get eaten. Her final fate would be more imaginative... she was still within eyesight, if only her eyesight could tell anything right now. Her head panned around, her arms turning to toss her body on its back.

It was ironic, all that blood on her body and she couldn't smell any of it. She could only feel cold and itchy, the warmth must've been gone by then. Strangely, the fairy wasn't responding. She was looking at her crawl on the blood and feathers without any response whatsoever. She said nothing. She did nothing. Probably had a blackout.

Well, she had accomplished that much, at least...

Raising her finger to her face, she tried to activate her ring.

-Ryuuzan, I need your help. Tell me where my sword is.

A moment later, a voice only she could hear answered.

-Misty, I know what you're thinking. We don't need you to kill yourself.

-I don't care what you need. They'll torture me until I tell them where the fairy is, they'll kill me afterwards.

-Pay attention. Though you believe you can't get out of this alive, there is a window of possibility.

-There's not, Ryuuzan, I can barely move... just tell me where my sword is, and I'll kill myself.

-I won't do that.

-JUST DO IT!

-I can see a future where you survive.

-You are wrong or lying. I'm... I underwent complete synthesis with Mojave. And he's dead. For an Alfido, that means I'm condemned.

-It is unbecoming of you to give up like this. What you did was foolish and unnecessary, but you can still escape. I'll send a team to pick you up.

-They're four! Even if those Stormtroopers could get here in time, they wouldn't be able to do a thing!

-That's why I won't send any "stormtroopers", Misty. You're getting out of this all by yourself.

-I can't, idiot. I'm dying. Just tell me where my blade is!

-Very well. Listen to my plan, then I'll humor you. I repeat, it's not necessary for you to die.

-AAaargh. Fair enough, but I'll hold this against you.

-For the rest of your life, Misty, so for your sake be the kind that holds long grudges. Pay close attention. You're still on the edge of the Fairy Kingdom. Send Piggy off again. Keep in contact through either Brutus or Gaul...

======

Meanwhile, less than a mile away, Isa was trying to hold herself together. Still barely a handful around a moderate-sized Marlene whose wings had recently been torn by a bird, she warily watched her friend's back, almost staving off the awareness that if anything really happened she couldn't really do much about it.

"Isa, wait..." Marlene tilted her head back, looking at her over her wings. Isa returned the look.

"Eh?"

"There's something I need you to do." she added.

"What is it?"

"I think it's a good moment to practice." the eldest replied.

"She could come back at any moment. We can't practice right now."

"I need you to hide me." she said. "My wings are broken, I can't shrink myself..."

"Neither can I."

"Your wings are fine!"

"Look, you know what's the matter..."

"Hear me out!" Marlene protested. "I just need your wings for a moment. You give me the power, I'll do the magic."

Isa looked around a last time.

"How?" she cried, gingerly.

"Just sit on the ground and hold your hand out to me, I'll do the rest."

Isa wordlessly stood next to Marlene's comparatively gigantic form, wondering for a moment what was she thinking about. Then she held out her hand to Marlene, who put one finger to her.

"Now, don't concentrate. Just wiggle your fingers... like this..." her thumb came down on the back of her hand, and the two digits slowly drew circles against her skin. "Just like that, it's alright. Close your eyes..."

Closing her eyes, Isa fiddled with those fingers sliding around her body. Running in circles around her hand, her own digits running circles against her index fingertip, she slowly felt more and more of Marlene's skin. It was rough at first, but soon she felt it becoming softer. Tracing those circles together she explored more skin every moment, lazily feeling her fingers work their way up the torso-sized fingertip all the way to the first knuckle. Nearly instinctively, she brought her other hand to feel the fingertip twirling in her grasp, feeling it up to the second knuckle. Her wrist felt surprisingly light at this, as her hands clambered to the second knuckle.

Moments later, she felt herself kneel down, and explore the palm of Marlene's hand. And then her wrist... she slowly grabbed one of Marlene's fingers, breathing slowly, feeling the hand shrink in her grasp, her other hand running up to her friend's elbow, and then shoulder. Her fingers soon overwhelmed the fingers, reaching the palm, then the wrist, then the arm, and then the inside of her elbow. She could feel those fingers caressing her wrist so lightly...

Opening her eyes, she saw Marlene- or rather, what was left of her, kneeling before her, barely coming up to her belly button. Standing up, Isa wondered what Marlene's size was. With a small smile, she thought she was the right size.

"Okay, now hide me!"

Bending forward, Isa grabbed Marlene, and holding her to her chest, she flew away.

Completely forgetting about Metzger, as is customary...

...and seemingly forgetting about Gaul, too, who had been watching the entire time, and was now sweeping down on them with its talons forward. There was always room in its gullet for people who tried to escape. Its moist, fleshy gullet, with tight muscles gripping a powerless meal, reminded all too soon and to its surprise that every being that could be considered one was always made of meat. That mortality waited for all, that the price of life is death. That sooner or later, everything was over, in the darkness of another being...

...much like what had just happened to it, minus the darkness. The moist, fleshy air gasped and coughed as it clawed wildly at its invisible prison, soaked in gallons of something. It slowly saw less and less of itself- and to the outside world, the animal disappeared.

To Metzger, however, it hadn't. Its bone-tearing claws were still somewhere in its stomach, and the taste of its dusty feathers and the particularities of the rear end of its own digestive system was still in his mouth. It was frankly a feat that he had managed to shrink it in time, too. Revenge probably had something to do with it.

Revenge, for the record, wasn't sweet. But he had other things to think about right now.

"Nemyra..." he coughed. "Isa, Marlene, are you two okay?" he asked, turning to the two fairies right now in midair.

"My wings!" Marlene cried, looking down at where Metzger should probably be.

"I got... I'm okay." Isa added.

"Good. I'm... Sam might be in trouble!" he barked, taking a single hop and buzzing (for once, he was making noise) at a frantic pace towards where he thought his sister would be.

"No, wait...!" Marlene cried, but it was far too late.

Avoiding dozen after dozen of trees, giving both canopy and ground a generous, wide berth, determined eyes darting around to check for nothing in particular, his teeth grit, he quickly made his way around the woods. The sudden scent of blood spurred him into a panic, only increased when he saw a colossal wolf somewhere in the distance. No, more than one.

He made landfall quickly upon seeing a large, drawn-out stain on the floor. Taking a look around, he quickly spotted the huntress -he'd deal with her later- and his sister, her magnified frame slumped against a tree, gashes all over her limbs and one bruise on her forehead, under which two eyes stared off blankly, trembling slightly. She was breathing, thankfully, one of her wrists limp against the ground.

"Samantha!" in a single fluid motion, he embraced her body, invisibly. "Are you okay?!"

She gave out a slow sigh, returning the hug with one of her arms.

"Metzger..." she mumbled. "I'm... I'll be okay. I got her, Metzger. You said she had Rui, right? I got her..." she sighed. "Did I do okay?"

Metzger let out a long, heaving sigh.

"You did great, Samantha." he said, trying to forget about the huntress who had done this to his sister. If only he could. If only he could forget about that and focus on healing her- he wished he knew one thing, anything, to soothe her pain. But all he could do was embrace her. Embrace her and hope the warmth alone was enough for her- there was one thing he could do, he could go up to the huntress and see if he could make her talk. See if he could keep her alive. But that meant letting go of his sister. He had to comfort his sister- he couldn't think of anything else.

BOY had he been stupid. He should've shut his mouth. If only he hadn't tried to play hero, Samantha wouldn't be in this sorry shape- all he had were a few throbbing bruises in his scalp, waist, and shoulders. There had to be another way. But it was Rui. Samantha wouldn't have stood for that- he wouldn't have let her know, he really shouldn't have, really shouldn't have. Could he really have done that to her? Hide her that Rui had been caught? Could he really have done that to himself... hide this, and let it go by?

"I'm sorry it came to this, I really didn't have the time to think, they found me, and..."

"Metzger, it's okay. We caught her." she mumbled, trembling. "Rui... Rui should be safe now, right? We'll find her, and..."

"Shh, shhh, it's alright. We'll be okay, we can wait."

"N..." she began. "No, Metzger, we can't waste time like that, we've got to get going!" she cried. "If we give them time they will... get away, we'll..."

"Samantha, you're a mess. If we get going like this, you'll die."

"But what will happen to Rui!?" she cried. "I can't leave her like this. You can't leave her like this either or you wouldn't have told me!"

"Maybe, but we need to think with our heads. You need help right now. It's no use to keep on like this." he sighed.

Samantha let out a chuckle.

"You... you wanted to go to the beach..." she sighed, trembling. "Imagine if we just... if we just..." her voice trailed off, her eyes dizzy.

"WAIT!" Metzger gasped. "Stay with me, Samantha, don't give up, not right now!" he grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. She grimaced.

"Mmmeet... th... that hurts..." she mouthed.

"Sorry, but stay with me, don't give up right now..."

"What's the matter?" an unfamiliar voice mouthed from behind him.

"YOU- save it."

"Is anything wrong?" she asked. He quickly turned around for an instant- seeing the huntress' face smirking from the ground.

He let out a snarl. Right now he had the most important thing in front of him, he couldn't spare the time to talk with that monster.

"M... Metz, help... lie down..." she mouthed.

"Eh?" Metzger asked.

"S... soil." she managed to mouth.

Metzger looked around, then laid her shoulders down on the grass, trying to find something to raise her head a little. Unable to find anything, he had to settle for holding her head himself.

"We'll be fine, sis..."

"S... si..." the huntress began.

Metzger turned to her.

"What is it?"

"Sis..." she mouthed.

"Huh?"

"I... hope... your sisss sss ss...." she hissed.

"I can't hear you." he growled.

"I hope your ss- ssister... sss..."

"What is it!?"

"I hope your sister... dies." she said, letting out a short chuckle afterwards.

Shaking his head, Metzger hoped his breath wouldn't betray him. Every bone in that woman's body had nothing but bitter thoughts to offer him. And he wouldn't have it.

"What's the matter?" she asked, again. "Why are you so quiet? Did your sister die?"

Gulping, Metzger tried to feel her pulse. It was there, strong and clear, but she had obviously been through a lot.

So had he- he had no idea what to do anymore. He pursed his lips and gulped, grimacing as hard as he could. Nothing he could do would help this situation.

Just then he saw a familiar glitter approach through the treeline. Hadn't he been so confused and frightened, he'd have felt Isa before he saw her. But instead, all he could do was watch them as they approached.

"Metzger?"

"I'm here!" he near-snarled, his voice betraying that yes, the huntress HAD gotten to his nerves.

"Samantha!"

Isa flitted over to her friend, looking at the multiple lacerations on her skin and the large bruise forming on the side of her head. She wasn't bleeding- but that wasn't a relief. An invisible force held up her head despite her muscles were clearly relaxed, even under that shirt. She pulled over close to her, depositing Marlene's toddler-sized form on the ground. Gulping, she flitted back up.

"Are you okay!?"

A sudden growl suddenly burst out of the air in front of her.

"No, she's not!" Metzger barked. "She's not okay, stupid."

"Sorry." Isa sighed. "But... but..."

"I know." he answered. "Isa, keep watch on that woman. Sam, I'm going to take your shirt now, okay?"

Samantha just grimaced in response.

"This is really important." he said, bringing his hands over her body quickly, grabbing her shirt and pulling it up over her chest. "Raise your arms now..."

With some help, Samantha raised her arms over her head, allowing her brother to take it off. The shirt shook in midair for a moment, hanging from its side for a moment, while her head was slowly lowered to the ground.

"I'll take just a moment." the shirt said, flying off to soak itself in the remnants of a pond. Then without any warning, the shirt tore itself apart.

"Ehhh?" Samantha mumbled, looking at the shirt.

"I needed some threads." a wet segment replied, wrinkling itself to soak one of her gashes. Another strip rubbed the gash- Samantha's body shuddered, pain shooting her all over.

"Ayyrr...!" she squeaked, her neck tensing. Metzger caught her head before it went back down again.

"Sorry...!" he gasped.

"Sssorry doesssn't cut it, what are you doing?" the huntress hissed. "Are you trying to kill your sssibling?"

Metzger kept silent, he wouldn't answer to that, he wouldn't...

"That silence only confirms it..." she laughed.

He was determined not to answer. He had more important things than shutting her up.

"What will you do if she dies because I'm distacting you? Because I will distract you until she's dead, yes I will." she cackled. "Unless you kill me. So what's it going to be? Who are you saving, your sister or, Rui, was it? Rui must be your girlfriend if you're going to let your sister die. Oh, you're a lusty little devil, aren't..."

"SHUT UP, YOU WASTE OF FLESH!" his voice roared.

"No!"

"Oh, I'm going to shut you up if it's the last thing I do to you-" the remnants of the shirt balled violently.

"Metzger, don't! You'll kill her!" Isa cried, flitting up in front of the shirt.

"Get out of my way!" the balled-up shirt folded and flattened itself, sliding under the giant fairy's head. Something very heavy stepped around Isa, bringing a foot down near the huntress. Something sucked air in, and then grabbed her arm.

"WaaAH AH AH AH aarRRGH you're killing me...!" she screeched with a smile, as the strap around her breast suddenly flew off. "You lusty little devil you're going to..." she had to shut up as the strap was jammed into her mouth. All she could manage from there was a screech, still with a smile. She cried as loud as she could as her skirt tore itself free, and then tied itself around her head and face.

Then her head softly floated down to the ground. That's when Metzger realized something- she still wasn't buck naked. She still had a ring and a pair of sandals. And he had a hunch about that ring. No, it was more than a hunch.

Her hand stretched out, her ring flew off. Her sandals jammed themselves free of her feet and flew away, landing a few yards to the side.

"Make a noise, I dare you now." he grunted, letting go of her. All she could make now was a muffled, indistinct screech.

For some reason, he found it satisfying. Almost delicious. Boy, it'd be nice to kill her like he had killed her pet bird. But right now, Samantha had wounds that required either magic or some sort of healing- those gashes were just too deep for him to clean comfortably, but he had to do something. He couldn't just let it be. He couldn't just sit there and wait for the land to work its magic- even if it did. He had never really known how much power the land had- he had no way of telling. All he knew was that he had never seen anyone hurt like this, specially not his sister. He didn't know, he just didn't know! All he could do was keep trying to clean her wounds- but what if that hurt her?

He tried to recall something, anything about wound dressing. Nothing really came to mind. Nothing except that Marlene knew a thing or two about it. And she had her wings hurt. Isa wouldn't suddenly develop the skill to grow to Samantha's size all of a sudden.

And right by then, he felt Isa flit close by.

"Metzger, what the hell were you thinking!?" she yelled. "What you just did was the dumbest, riskiest, AND most sexist thing I've ever seen!"

"Won't you... please focus on my sister..." he sighed. "Not on me, but my sister..." he sighed, again. "Samantha, she..."

"She'll be fine, Metzger. That's all you need to know. Now get your head on straight, and come over here."

Metzger grimaced.

"Yes, Isa..." he sighed, quickly, hopping up and following her towards the other side of Samantha's body. Marlene's itsy-bitsy frame, a third of Isa's size, was already waiting for them.

"Marlene, what do we do?" he asked.

"First of all, you calm down, young man." the eldest said. "Your panic's not what we need right now. Your panic is NOT what Samantha needs, cute as it may be."

======

Silently, she snapped her fingers again, crackles flying harmlessly through her fingers. Closing her fist, the electricity disappeared. She grimaced, clenching both fists anew, opening them again, dozens of glowing arcs of electricity flying between her hands, just like before. Turning to the cave wall next to her, she brought her fingers together, and an arc went spiraling into the wall. Holding her breath, she started spreading her fingers, the arc traveling along the wall, just like before. But something was missing.

Baring her teeth, she narrowed her eyes, and stretched forward her hands, trying to force a stronger current, something that shattered the rocks like it used to. It just didn't happen.

"DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!" she barked, swinging wildly her clenched fists- "ARGH!"

The backlash tossed her aside, filling the air with a scent much closer to a burnt stink than ozone. Scrambling to her feet, she angrily shook her smoking hands- realizing her back felt really warm. Turning around, she realized, embarassingly, that her hair had caught on fire. With a gasp, she turned back towards the wall and tried to smack her hair against it.

A moment later, she groaned out her frustration, smacking her hand against the wall, looking down at the smooth surface she was standing on. With a quiet snarl, she turned towards one of the devices close to her on the table. Stepping around the massive apparatus, she found a silver sheet on the floor.

Next to the silver sheet, her sister's roundish, ginger-haired, tan figure continued to merrily devour her prey, one handful after another- a long white bar.

"Hey! Gelta!" the redhead called out, putting her pigging out on hold for a minute. "Anything's up?"

Gelta walked up to the silver layer on the floor, looking down at her reflection. The surface wasn't a mirror- luckily, right now her frame had been deformed until only the barest similarity was left. She could see her black hair framing her pale body, her brown eyes, and her mouth. Luckily she couldn't see her ears, not too clearly, now clearly not her own- most of her features were obscured by a thin white sheet forming a makeshift robe hanging down to her knees. It wasn't too smooth- but it was necessary in the cold of the cave.

"What's the matter?" her sister asked. "Is... something wrong?"

Of course she'd think something was wrong, seeing her mouth like that. Even through this blurry reflection, she could see her own expression, hopeless and disdainful.

Why couldn't Flanne see what was wrong by herself?

"Can't you tell what's wrong by yourself!?" Gelta growled. "We're here misshapen, twisted, mutilated and dwindled to nothingness..." she began. "There's a neko who ATE us. She's still here. She's still alive, she's still arrogant in her ignorance- she thinks it's funny." she continued. "I can't tell if that man has any interest in us or not. I don't like him. I don't like the way he talks. I don't like the way he walks. I don't like the way he looks, or the way he looks at us. I don't like living in this HOVEL." she raised her voice. "It smells horrible, it's DARK, COLD, DAMP and UGLY."

Flanne shook slightly. She didn't like it when Gelta got mad.

"Well, if you're cold, why don't you try some chocolate to warm yourself up?" she offered. "I couldn't ever finish it by myself!"

"And you, Flanne, you're making this HOVEL a PIGSTY." she growled. "You're living off SCRAPS, you're PIGGING OUT on them. You... it's sickening."

The other woman seemed to shrink into herself a little, doubtful and ashamed.

"Come on, it's not so bad..." she sighed. "Don't take it that way!" she giggled, trying really hard not to feel ashamed. "Come on, try some..."

"I DON'T WANT ANY CHOCOLATE!" Gelta suddenly cleared the distance between the two of them with a single step, grabbing Flanne's shoulder- she gasped in fear. "You just don't get it, do you!?" she snarled. "You're here happy to be fed, happy to be petted like you were some little animal. What the hell is wrong with you!? I always knew you didn't have any pride, but this... this is humiliating, even for you." she said, disgust clear in her face. "I can't watch you do this..."

"Gelta." a voice cried next to her.

She turned to look at Miel for a moment.

"This has nothing to do with you." she said, without meeting her gaze.

"I've done all she has. If you have a problem with her, you have a problem with me." Miel stated, directly.

The black-haired woman turned to look at her other sibling. Her blonde hair framed a face that wasn't amused in the least, looked like she was about to scold someone. She had a rough idea of who it was, too.

"What is it, then?" she asked, putting on a challenging tone.

"Disagreeable as our situation is, you change nothing by bullying Flanne." Miel explained, her face straight and more than a little pissed. "I lose a little respect for you every time you do this, Gelta, and if you do it again, I swear..."

"WHAT are you going to do about this!?" Gelta cried. "There's nothing you can do, Miel, you gave up EVERYTHING when you put the four of us in their hands! Why should I even obey you!?"

Miel stood her ground, looking down her nose at Gelta. She glanced at Flanne for a moment- she wouldn't fight in front of her.

"Flanne understands. And so will you, one way or another." Miel frowned. "May I remind you I never put anyone in anyone's hands? We ended up in their hands by sheer chance, and it was only the kindness of fate that allowed me to make a desperate attempt to keep us alive." she winced. "Now, I won't deny we're in a VERY disagreeable position. We basically hang on a whim, our strength has been reduced to nearly nothing, and our options have been drastically cut down. Yes, we're not living in the most dignified way. But let me ask you, would you rather have DIED in the most undignified way?" Miel asked.

"Anything would be better than this. Anything."

Whatever this came to, arguing in front of Flanne had to be avoided. Telling Gelta her truths had to be avoided, no matter how much she deserved it. Anything would be better than that. Anything.

"Breaking the spell, for example." Look a little dumb but optimistic, she could make her points from here- even if the only thing Gelta would ever react to was a swift kick in the nose. "Would that be better than this? I'm working on it."

"And how much more of this am I supposed to take!? I am not a pet!" Gelta snarled.

"I know that, and you know that. We're not pets, Gelta, but the neko doesn't know it." Miel replied. "Be patient."

"I've been patient for a week already."

"You haven't been patient enough."

"Where's your pride!?"

"My pride?" Miel asked. "There's only one thing I'm proud of. You." she smiled. "There's only one thing I want, and it's for us to go back to normal. And the best way, right now, lies with these hunters."

"That's delusional! We haven't made ANY progress whatsoever!"

"Be patient. You heard the hunters." Miel grinned. "In two days, they're meeting the rest of their group- they DO have wizards. I'll have them fix it."

"You'll have them fix it." Gelta said, blankly.

"I've gotten you three thrown up, right? I won't fail you." Miel replied. "Or maybe you have a better plan?"

Gelta stood straighter.

"Of course. We just have to make a run for it now, that way we'll be rid of the hunters."

"And then what, Gelta? Are you going to snare wild rats for all of us, so we can ride them into Negav?" Miel smirked. "Where do you think you'll find a wizard? How are you going to convince them to help you?"

"I'll think of something."

"I already did."

"There has to be another way."

"There is this way."

"What if there are other nekos in the organization!?" Gelta exclaimed.

"I already asked him. There aren't. Only elves, humans, and a robot." Miel replied.

"He must've been lying, he didn't look like he was willing to share any information."

"I know how to make people talk." Miel smiled.

Gelta shook her head.

"I don't know how can you be so sure."

"Believe me. I can make him do anything I need- or seem to need. Because he's nice. And you know what I do with nice people." Miel finished, quite smugly.

Gulping, Gelta shook her head.

"And you're one to complain about the smell. That's your hair that burned, isn't it?" Miel smirked.

"Magic is doing NOTHING." she growled. "This is what it means to be this tiny."

"This situation is only as bad as we let it be. There's no shame in taking all they offer out of their own free will- we know we deserve better, they don't." she grinned. "By the time they find out, we won't have a problem anymore."

Gelta looked away.

"You think I'm not upset?" Miel asked. "But I have to be patient if we're getting out of this. And so do you."

And with that, she fell silent.

"Now, Gelta, when the human comes around, I'll have him prepare a bath for you, and do something about the smell of your burnt hair, okay?"

With a grimace, her sibling nodded. Miel put one arm around her shoulder, giving her a little embrace.

"Be patient. I told our mother I'd take care of you us, and that's exactly what I'll do." she smiled. "Now go, there's nothing wrong with making the best of our time here, we aren't coming back to this place, or size, ever."

Gelta sighed.

"Fine..." she began. "...but you better make it work."

"I give you my word. We'll be out of this mess sooner than you think." Miel smiled.

"I'll go wait for a bath, then..." Gelta shrugged. "See you later."

"See you later too." Miel chirped, turning to Flanne. She was right now grimacing, looking down as Gelta left.

"What's with the long face?" Miel smiled.

Flanne shrugged.

"What I told her goes for you, too. Nothing's wrong with making the best of our time here." she added, sitting down next to Flanne, putting one arm around her shoulder. "I'm reading, you're having chocolate- you know what, I'll have some too." she added, snapping off a handful of it from the bar. "Don't let her get to you. You haven't done anything wrong."

"But I made her upset."

"Please, don't." she chuckled. "Her misery might need company, but it doesn't have to be yours. You don't have to feel guilty about enjoying what she can't: if she can't, it's her problem, not yours." Miel said, taking a bite off the handful of milk chocolate in her hand. She gulped quickly. "Boy thish ish shome shweet shtuff..." she grimaced, gulping uncomfortably. "Don't know how can you even stand being close to this stuff." she gulped, her tongue flicking on itself, trying to drool out all of the flavor. "Anyway, stay with me, okay? Don't let her sour you. Don't. Just don't let anything sour you. I don't want to see you sad." she added, embracing her sister, resting her head on her shoulder, stroking her back under her short red hair. "Don't let it get to you, okay? I'll get us out of this mess. I promise."

Letting go of Flanne, Miel stood up.

"Smile now, okay? There's nothing wrong here that we aren't fixing soon enough." Flanne smiled at her. "Atta girl, Flanne. I'll go back to my reading now. Don't let anything get to you, okay?"

Walking back away from the milk chocolate bar and her attendant, Miel returned to her current passtime- a notebook she had found.

This book alternated between cheery poems and mathematical artifices regarding... waves. Nothing she really knew about, but the poems were sure uplifting. Sometimes, there were even journal entries intersparsed. The last one mentioned her, she had even been doodled. It had been a little awkward, but frankly flattering to see herself drawn on the corner of the page. The thing that really gripped her, however, was the starting of the book.

The first pages, almost half the original thickness of the book, had been torn off. The first readable entry was a poem. Sea Blue.

Sea Blue

Join me under the waves,
come and let's dance together.
Now that you opened the gates,
let us flow in this wavy ether!

Join me under the waves,
eyes closed sing the long song.
Just you wait 'till you see the bottom,
once you do you won't want to float up.

There's a key by the old tree,
if only you could see it like I do.
Pocket it to swim down free
up there the wind is too cool.

Maybe you're scared of swimming,
I can't just dip my toes though!
I'll see ya when the storm is dimming,
guess at times the sea's just too rough!

Every morning I look out to the sea,
so blue and deep and great and wild.
And thinking away while I sip my tea,
how it's most clearly not a child!

How I envy sailors, men indeed,
who brave the waves day and night.
But one ounce of such courage I need,
to challenge and conquer my fright.

Majestic ebbing and flowing tide.
Sleeping men might end up inside,
Sleeping fish might end up outside.
To stand your ground is nothing but pride.

Asked a dolphin to teach me to swim,
rode her back to the coast on a whim (from her, not me).
Right now my chances just seem slim,
figure I'll just try to stay proper and prim!

By the lighthouse I stand my ground.
Scanning the horizon looking for a sound.
My only company's kept by my hound.
I buy its food in bags of a pound.

But its heart belongs to the sea,
and mine has drowned in my tears.
Fate, if you will listen to this plea,
can the salt ever dry out my fears?

If that day comes, join me under the waves.
From dusk to noon we shall dance together.
The round moon as my witness I promise,
for you I will do my best, and then better.

Pursing her lips, Miel reflected upon the words she had just read.

-Awkward, unsubtle, lacking in metric, and poorly worded.- she thought to herself. -Then again, it's just a human...-

Think of the devil, she heard a rustling sound, followed by a loud sniffing. Then the human's noisy, if discreet steps on the rubber-gripped ladder as he descended into the cave.

"Some hair got burned, that's all!" Miel cried. His slow steps, his mockery of stealth, was offensive to her. She heard him sigh and walk up to the table she was resting on.

"You keep scaring me." he said.

"Where's the neko?" she asked, not looking away from the book. Apparently, he looked at it, too.

"That's mine." Faulkner pointed, blankly.

"If you don't want me to read it, take it off me."

"Step back first. I'm brutal." he growled.

"If you say so..." she sighed. "It wasn't that interesting, either way..." she stepped back. He grabbed the thick notebook, and tossed it on a high shelf. How very forbidding.

"So why burnt hair?"

"Did she get herself eaten?"

"Up ladder, saying it stinks too much, listening either way." He turned to the entrance. "Don't linger!"

The neko gingerly hopped down the ladder. Without a word, Faulkner went up to the ladder, removed it, and shoved back in position the bush on top. Then he slid a wire mesh under the bush, and pushed a button on the wall. A red light illuminated a yellow sign in front of him- "WARNING HIGH VOLTAGE".

"What do we do about the smell, now?" Lenna asked, grimacing.

"No windows to open." he grumbled.

"Won't it attract predators?"

"Maybe; at least, they know the wheres." Faulkner grumbled. "We leave, we're not coming back."

"Right now?"

"When." he corrected. "Don't touch anything for a while."

"Why?" Lenna asked.

"We smell like hair now." Faulkner spat. "We'll smell like hair either way if we don't vent it out before washing."

"What's your plan, then?" she asked. "This place doesn't have a vent either. It's dark, it's damp, it's cold, and ugly."

He pursed his lips. Then he took the flat plastic sign that read "WARNING HIGH VOLTAGE" in his hands from under the red light.

"Do you have a fan hidden in a safe behind that sign?" Lenna asked.

"Need room." he turned to look at her.

Lenna took a few steps back. Then her face betrayed her chagrin at the sight of what Faulkner started doing...

Using the plastic sign as a sheet, he went on to fan the air out of the entrance.

"Is that your big plan?"

"It's something." he grumbled.

Lenna's grimace widened.

"How did hair get burned here, anyway?" she snarled. "Hair, of all things!" she paced around. "Someone's going to pay for this!" she turned to Miel, still covering her face.

"Uhh..." Faulkner quickly began, turning to Lenna. "I think it was me."

Lenna blinked, looking at him.

"How so!?"

"I left the stove drying my clothes..." he shrugged. "My bad."

Lenna shook her head.

"I'll hold this against you. That stench gives me a headache!"

-The feeling is mutual.- he thought to himself.

"Will you help me, or not?"

"I can't stay here, Faulkner! Not with this scent on the air, it's POISON! It's fucking POISON!"

"Bottom board, right, antidotes." he replied, holding in the need to say 'fucking antidotes' afterwards.

"I'm not joking!" she barked.

"Cupboard, left, sanitizers." he growled.

"Are you mocking me!?"

"What the fuck do you want!?" he snarled, turning around. "Medication and cleaning products, ALL I have here."

"Well, I'm getting out!"

"Smelling like that, you're dead." he grumbled.

"Fine."

Pushing another button, he slid away the wire mesh.

"See ya." he smirked.

"Don't be such an idiot! I didn't mean it."

"Then don't say it." he grumbled, replacing the wire mesh and fanning more air through the vent. "See about that smell, don't pester me!"

Lenna rolled her eyes, and turned to the board of drawers behind her.

"Stand back, Miel." she began, opening the bottom board on the right. Out came a large stand full of white thin cardboard boxes- and some tubes, flasks, and sprays. Strange, she hadn't expected a native to keep such a pharmaceutic stavery in this corner of the multiverse.

"Which one?"

"Pick yer poison." Faulkner growled.

Looking at the labels on the boxes, she just had to open her mouth again. She couldn't read half of those languages.

"Which one do I want?" she asked.

"Headache, top right. Coughs, bottom middle. Skin rash, yellow tube on the right. Fever, spoonful of top flask. Spray the left thing on infected wounds. Sore joints, the bottom right cream. Allergy pills are under the stand, it lifts over, next to the pills for intestinal parasites. I've got an allergy scratch test if you don't know if you can take those things."

"An allergy test?" Lenna asked, incredulous. "What for?"

"For allergies, duh." Faulkner grumbled.

Lenna looked over the stand full of medication. She still couldn't believe it.

"I'll take a painkiller for the headache."

"Top right pills should do, unless it's a migraine, injection of the lower left flask."

Looking at all of the discardable syringes in the middle, Lenna decided the headache this smell gave her wasn't so strong as to inject herself. She opened the top right box, slid out the plastic sheath- there were only three pills left.

"None of those things is past its expiration date, right?"

"I'm careful about those things." he replied.

"The fact you're careful doesn't mean they won't-"

"If it rot it's in the trash. Check yourself."

Shooting a glance, she saw several glistening silver sheaths in the trash, together with some unfolded cardboard boxes. Pushing a pill out of the plastic sheath, she tossed it in her mouth, and poured herself a glass of water from a bottle slung on her back. Gulping it down, she took a deep breath, waiting for the painkiller to take effect. Then she turned to the left cupboard behind her, inside which she found many cleaning products- and a few products that weren't meant for cleaning, exactly, like a few scented candles and an ambient deodorant spray.

Frankly, she wasn't really so interested. Closing the shelf, she tossed the med stand back in the bottom drawer and turned back to Miel.

"Let me guess, still haven't remembered any details on the wizard." she shot, sidewards.

"It's good to see you too. And no, we've been locked up here all the time." Miel shot back. "It's not very likely we find out anything new by sitting here. We've already put together all we can; you can either break the spell, look for the wizard, or search for more clues in the ruins we mentioned earlier. That is all there's left, Lenna."

"Well, amuse me." she grumbled. "I need something to do until the painkiller takes effect."

Miel winced lightly at the demeaning demand. Faulkner seemed to stir.

"Amuse you..."

"Yes, amuse me."

-No, why don't I amuse you instead? I'm not for your amusement, nor are they.- Faulkner thought. -I've got some books, and a player...-

"Well, I wouldn't know, Lenna. I've never been asked to amuse someone..."

"Hey, I've got a player." Faulkner volunteered.

"Not now, I'm with them." Lenna replied.

"Ever seen a player, Miel?" Faulkner turned, suddenly looking too nice. "Good time-killer. Kind of silly though." he blinked. "Dumb."

"What do you mean by player?"

"Player. It... plays things. Audiovisual." Faulkner seemed to struggle with the word for a moment. "I think it's called a television, that ring any bells?"

Lenna shook her head.

"Cupboard, right..."

Turning around, Lenna opened the cupboard and pulled out a plastic object.

"Lay it on the table. You want to call your sisters, Miel?"

"It'd be a good moment to wake up Parfe. If you could just open that door for me..." she began, pointing at the door on the side wall. Wordlessly, he nodded and opened that door. "Oh, and could you carry me over there? I'd like to wake her up myself..."

Wordlessly laying his hand in front of her, she dragged herself on top of it- carefully he crossed.

"Close the door, don't turn on the lights."

Closing the door, he shifted his patch reflexively to his other eye.

"There's something I want to tell you, Faulkner."

He gasped quietly at the sound of that. For all he knew, she really didn't care about him one way or another- now she wanted to tell him something?

Placing her right by a small table, she dragged herself out of his hand, and sat on the surface.

"What is it?"

"This isn't very easy to say. But from the first moment you laid an eye on me, I wondered what to make of you." she began, in the darkness. "You would save me, but you wouldn't even ask Lenna to spare my siblings."

He took a deep breath.

"Why? Why didn't you?"

"It doesn't work." he replied, stiff. "She'd just have eaten you later."

"She ate them right there. Why didn't you even try to buy them time?"

"Didn't cross my mind, frankly." In response, she hummed.

"Weren't we all the same to you?" she continued, even more stiff than he sounded.

"Yes."

"Then why did you try to save me?"

"Because... I would." he replied, stiffly.

"And why?"

Faulkner shuddered.

"Wasn't about you, but your plight. Same as your sisters, I know, but ends all the same if you die." he said, almost apologetically.

"Then it was the same to you whether I died or... got spared?"

"Mercy's a curious thing, no denying it. But you're Lenna's problem." he hissed, defensively. "Not mine."

"Is that how you see things?"

"It is what it is. Doesn't matter if I don't say it right."

"Does that make what you just said okay?" she asked.

"Nothing will make it okay."

"You could've apologized for letting it happen."

"Wouldn't make it okay. Apologies don't make it okay. Nothing will ever make it did okay."

"I'd have accepted an apology."

"That'd be insulting your intelligence."

"So you won't apologize?"

"To apologize for that would insult apologies." he declared. "Can't defend what I would have let happen."

"Well, you clearly don't think what you did was right. So why do you pretend you do?"

"Doesn't matter what I think. Just what I do." he looked away for a moment.

"Well, you've been doing a lot of nice things for me lately. So why, if they don't make it okay?"

"What nice things?"

"You volunteered to share that stupid toy, whatever it is, with all of us, you gave Flanne that chocolate bar, and remember who made what I'm wearing. You didn't pulverize me when you found me reading your diary. You even agreed to help us find a wizard. Why?"

Faulkner hesitated, in the darkness.

"Wouldn't hurt anyone for being rude. That... I remember, is why I didn't want you hurt." he stirred. "Not killed, at least. Not for being rude. Rude's all you were; the rude are people too."

"So if my sisters had been rude to you..."

"No way to tell anymore; forget about me. Mercy has no hard rules." Faulkner replied. "I know you're not as mean as you play either."

"What... do you mean?"

"Not everyone insists so much on family in that situation, you did. You didn't touch anything you asked for, they weren't for you. Maybe I'm overreading, you told me I only see what I look for- but..." he hesitated. "you're kinder than you let on."

She went quiet.

"Some people think that's weakness- but was taught to appreciate kindness, to let it be..." he stopped.

"Now you're just being corny."

Faulkner's frame shook.

"Don't like what you hear, don't ask for more then." he composed himself. "Waking your sister up or not?"

"I'm up already." another voice replied. "Who could sleep with all that arguing?"

"My apologies." the hunter sighed. "I'm... turning on the player. Wanna watch something?"

"Player?" the voice asked, yawning.

"It's like..." he stopped. "Watching stuff happen." he explained. "I brought interesting stuff."

"Well, sure. I don't exactly have any plans for today, remember?" she asked, sarcastically.

"May I turn on the lights? This is a little odd."

"Having light in a burrow is odd enough for me, but knock yourself out." Flicking the switch, the room was brightened up by the white cylinder on the roof. Dragging herself out of several hankies tied together, a small woman with brown hair and an uncanny resemblance to the others stood up and approached Miel. Faulkner glanced at the stove- none of his clothes had been burned. Wondering for a moment how would those girls have gotten a fire going, and where had they hid it, he shrugged and decided to chalk it up to 'a wizard did it'.

-I'm treading lightly enough either way. Now one of them's a sorcerer; maybe they really are elves and not hypnotized tomthumbs?- he thought to himself.

"...you talk to him for?" she grumbled, suddenly catching his attention

"You'll see in time, Parfe." Miel whispered. "But I have a feeling we can trust you!" she turned to the hunter, beaming.

"What?" the last elf, Parfe, asked. "After what he said you think you can trust him?"

"Yes, Parfe. We trust you, Faulkner."

His eyes narrowed, sucking air in through his mouth. His hands clenched for an instant.

"On account of your plight I'll overlook this test." he snarled. "Shouldn't. First you knew's I hate being tested."

"I just told you I trusted you, so stop making drama-"

"I never NEEDED nor WANTED your trust, wouldn't let myself be TESTED for it."

"Fine, fine, sorry about that..." Miel sighed. "No need to get yourself on a huff."

-You say sorry only to do it over again.- he thought. -Wilder people would've hurt you for that.-

"Now, you mentioned that player, so now the four of us are awake, show us?" Parfe asked, smiling.

-The things I do for a smile.- Faulkner thought, shaking his head. Then he extended his hand.

"And by the way, Faulkner, Gelta wants to take a bath, so start heating the water..."

"Right..." he grumbled. "I'll heat your water while you're watching the player."

======

Gulping, she took a look around. The bleeding, broken woman she cradled in her arms just barely retained the use of her wings- hopefully that woman's brother would return soon. Sooner than later. He should've been there already, why didn't he come back any sooner!?

"I'm here!" a voice gasped, yelling from the front. "I'm here, I'm here..." it came closer.

"What took you so long?"

"The wind's stronger than it looks up there, I got blown, it... I couldn't see anywhere to go..."

"Couldn't you see anybody from there?"

"All I can see is a BIG tree in that direction..." he pointed, gasping, in the direction where the sun threatened to set. "I can't see anyone from here..."

"No one? No harpies? No sphinxes?"

"No! No one!"

"Wasn't there an AIRSHIP or something...?"

"NO!" he cried. "NOTHING!"

"Well, we can't just panic like that, Metzger..." Marlene said, standing little right by Isa.

"It's going to rain soon." he sighed, looking up at the clouds that were gathering slowly around them. "It's going to get dark..." he mumbled, taking a look at Samantha's body- her shirt now torn to shreds and used to bandage her wounds, wounds they had cleaned very patiently.

Barely could he see her face. Barely could he see her closed eyelids, her limp lips, from this angle, barely could he bear coming closer to take a better look. Barely could they perceive him, as a littany of slow gasps, an indefinite tension in the air, an invisible intent.

"I'm serious, you need to calm down."

With a little hesitation, he took a few deep breaths. His presence fading fast from the world at large, only an ominous presence remaining as the littany of gasps vanished.

"We... need to think with a cool head, right." he looked up. "Last thing we need... is more trouble..." he mumbled. "We've got to go somewhere, either we go back to drop Sam off at the other side of the bridge..." his voice turned away, interrupted.

"What do you mean drop her off!?" Isa cried.

"I mean put her on the ground! It's all we have right now!" he cried back. "Samantha said there were supposed to be fairies here, but I haven't seen any! I've yelled at the top of my lungs, it's just a mercy nothing dangerous came here after the kenshas!" his voice wavered, as if he were shaking his head side to side frantically while speaking.

"Calm down."

"Look, we already helped the bleeding! That's great, but we HAVE to do something next."

"And I'm telling you to calm down." Marlene replied, stoic.

"I already did. But you keep ignoring me, you keep telling me to calm down- I already calmed down!"

"Take a deep breath."

"I... already... did. Stop telling me to calm down. You're not helping things anymore." Metzger finally gave in. "I'm serious."

"Don't, Metzger. Just don't." Marlene snapped back. "Okay, we'll go back, then. There should be a healer close to the bridge, there always was when I was a kid."

"But... not anymore, or we'd have found them." Isa sighed.

"Doesn't matter, we should go back." Marlene replied. "We're never going to find a healer in time here."

"No."

Metzger's eyes shifted back towards his sister.

"No." she murmured again. "Don't go back."

"Samantha?"

"We need to go deeper, follow them..."

"We can't follow anything with you in this state!" Metzger cried.

"We have to." she mumbled.

"Just look at yourself, sister!"

"We... have to." she grimaced.

"Look, we'll come back later."

"But they could be at the gate by then, we'd never get there!"

"Gate? What gate?" Marlene asked, puzzled.

"They say there's a gate at Ur-Sagol, made by humans, it kicks away their enemies..."

"Is that gate far?"

"Almost as far as Miragia..."

"Yeah, but is that far?"

"Yes. No. I don't know!" Isa cried. "I don't know, I know what the map looks like, but that's it, might be... might be a stone's throw..."

"It can't be a stone's throw." Marlene replied.

"Then we'll go back." Metzger cut in.

"But..." Samantha began.

"What's that!?" Isa suddenly cried, looking away.

Metzger blinked a couple times as his eyes took in what he was seeing.

"Oh my...!" he gasped.

Black, dead eyes bored right into Isa's form from a long, white head with thick meaty lips, behind which a long, broad, dry tongue licked long, long teeth. Its hide was covered with short, coarse-looking white fur. Its neck dragged a long, pale mane, and two antennae decorated its forehead. One hoof after another soundlessly clapped against the ground as the creature approached them in its surefooted stride. A small leather pouch dangled under its neck, hanging on a large metal-inscripted strap. The creature was as tall as the glouteux at the shoulder, but its neck -and their current scale- made it even more impressive, almost ungodly in its magnitude.

"What the- fly, Isa!" Metzger hopped.

"No, don't!" Marlene replied. "It's good!"

"But- look at it!" Isa cried, as it approached her, striding ever more surefooted. Ten paces now.

"It's good, it's not going to hurt you. Get down, Metzger-"

"Marlene, why won't you...! It's too close!"

"It's good! Trust me, Isa!"

"Isa, it's...!"

Five paces. Its colossal frame approached Isa's, its ominous head turning just for an instant to peek at the huntress. The ground squelched under its hooves.

A colossal maw approached Isa, broad tongue sticking out, ready to lap her...

"AAAH!"

"You thing get away from...!"

"DON'T BE STUPID!"

"AAARCK!"

Dropping to the ground, Isa felt herself scooped up by the shoulder, backing away from the creature on instinct- the warm breath of the creature washing over her as it took a moment to withdraw. Its lips smacked loudly, it let out a snort. She cried, almost freezing in fear-

"That's enough, escape!"

"It's just getting to know you, it's an echydin!" Marlene cried, still clamping to her neck.

"They're wild animals!" Metzger snarled.

"Now you're just being stubborn." Marlene coughed. "It's got a pouch strapped on. And it's called Ecco, look here."

Isa gasped, looking at the strap around the creature's shoulders, the pouch on its front. Next to it, there were metal letters, fairy script, reading "Ecco".

"It's okay, Metzger, you can come down. Come down so it can see you. It's safe!" her back passenger cried, joyously. "We'll just have it take us right to "

"Marlene, it's still an animal..."

"Charming!" she shot right back. "Just come here, it's not going to hurt you. Hey there fella! Can you take us to your friends?" Marlene beamed.

Metzger kept his eyes nailed right on the quadruped, waiting for it to make a move. Innocently, the creature reared away and raised its head, displaying its pouch.

"Come on, Isa, get us in!" she said. Looking over her shoulder, Isa met her little friend's gaze for an instant.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Hop in!"

"Wait- we don't know this animal, or anything about it." Metzger sighed. "Are you sure you want to trust it?"

"I told you to calm down. Now do what I say and get in there." Marlene smiled. "Don't forget that woman, we need her alive."

"In there with us?" Metzger cried.

"If you think Sam's bad, she's worse. Now, we don't have all day."

"It's not going to rain for a while-"

The echydin suddenly took another step back.

"Huh?"

The first thing she saw as she spun on her heels was a large, bloody maw, quiet, hungry eyes behind. The beast's gray hide was easily recognizable from pictures she had seen before- a kensha beast.

"They again...!" Metzger exclaimed.

"You knew there were kenshas here!?" Marlene gasped. "Metzger, hurry up. Do we follow the echydin or not!?"

The returning carnivore took a step forward...

"NOW!"

"Okay!" he cried, quickly taking the bound huntress from the ground. Making a dash for the pouch, he quickly met Isa in there, and laid down the huntress next to him. Time was just tight enough to spot out of the corner of his eye a second kensha- and wonder how many more there were.

"Okay, fella, run now!"

======

Holding his fists down, he raised his smile to the rainy sky. His eyes closed and his wet hair clamping itself around his head, his feet spread and lying in the shallow pond, he took a deep breath of moist, comforting air.

And then another. Just breathing was wonderful, letting in the fresh, pure, vital air of this forest. Almost as a challenge, he turned around, and raised his hands towards the sky. He wasn't paying any attention to the treeline, and he didn't have to. All he wanted were the raindrops rolling over his skin- the storm, the forest, the pond, it was like all of it was there just to bear witness to his manly body under the rain, to be the heralds of his smirk.

Like it was all there just for him.

"Ryuuzan!" he exclaimed, his deep voice growling over the rain. "I'm here!"

Cracking his neck, he opened his eyes, and turned to look at his left, where a man in a black cloak approached from.

This other man wore a blindfold, his pointed ears and green hair sheltered beneath the canopy. His elven features were devoid of any expression.

"Sareu." he replied.

"Come closer!"

"It's raining."

Sareu let out a scoff. Then he slowly, almost hesitatingly, approached his blindfolded companion.

"Is the plan coming along well?"

"We have the lure." Ryuuzan said.

Sareu removed the hair from over his face. His cold, green eyes blinked a couple times.

His face, when not under all that hair, was handsome, except for those green, sunken, large eyes. A square nose stood firmly above a thick jaw full of long teeth, guarded by a haphazardly trimmed beard. Every wrinkle in every feature betrayed his bloodthirst and arrogance.

"Good." he said dubiously. "Continue."

"We lost Scylla in vain, however; it couldn't make the lure effective, Moirat and..." he sighed "...Navari took its place, they should deliver it shortly." he pursed his lips. "Fortuitously, the lure worked on a group of three fairies who had a personal connection to her- they managed to capture Misty."

"Just three?" Sareu asked, smiling.

"I saw only three." Ryuuzan reported. "But they've sustained enough harm to act as lures themselves- with any luck..." he hesitated. "they will."

Sareu let out a disappointed sigh. Then he smiled.

"The way you hesitated when you said 'with any luck'... you don't think they'll function as lures, will you?"

"It will be unavoidable in either case for you to have to take action." Ryuuzan replied.

"I like that." Sareu chuckled. "But if we do it, we do it quickly. Past tomorrow is the full moon."

"As soon as you feel ready, Sareu." Ryuuzan nodded.

Sareu let out a chuckle, looking out into the forest.

"Then the moment the rain dies down, I shall go forth, and hunt." He took a deep breath. "Again."

That was an intense chapter here ^^
lot of things happening and the scenes with the wounded Samantha was really emotional.
There is a few moments where the action confused me a little but it flowed well overall. I wonder if those Kenshas are
the same than in the previous chapter XP

The Joy of Hunting Part 9- Brunch in a Rainy Day

[The Cool Oxalis belongs to Silent Eric. So does the Elori.]
[Dimension-jumping trucks are driven by Turboman500.]
[Feyweed belongs to Zoekin.]
[Fire-breathing ninja pirates from the future FTW.]
[Izzelette belongs to PrinnyDood-Abides.]
[Credits to Frogjelly for pointing to hot air balloons]
[I'll apologize in advance for all the disjointedness]

======

Soft as his awakening was, listening to the droplets hit the forest all around him, it was shortly preceded by a feeling of nausea and headache he had never felt before. But as the events of the previous day caught up with him, he felt kind of relieved to be alive- for the instant it took him to remember how serious the situation had been.

Try as he might, he couldn't remember anything; blinking rapidly, his eyes focused on the brown ceiling above him, his head turning to the side, where a round hole on the cavern (though it felt way too warm for a cavern) let the light of a cloudy, rainy noon in. Despite the dreary memories, the dryness beneath him and the rain outside managed to comfort him in a way he'd never have expected. As he sat up, a soft, small hand fell from his chest to his thigh- a combination of surprise and expectation gripped him as he looked at who had been sleeping with him.

"This...?"

The hand on his thigh belonged to a little boy, not even- grabbing the hand, he carefully lifted it off his thigh and lowered it on the dry bedding beneath them, being careful as he slid away not to make too much noise. Come to look at it, he had been sleeping on a bed made of shredded dry leaves- the thought of it made his wings flutter for a moment. As he slid away a little more, he felt something pulling on his other hand's little finger- a string tied around it, and to the boy's little finger.

It appears he wasn't careful enough. Grimacing, the boy opened his eyes just as Metzger undid the string tying him.

"Are you awake?" the boy asked.

"Yes, I am..." he began.”Can you tell me where my sister is?"

The boy sat up.

"On the lower hollow. Temi told me to tell you she'll be fine."

"Oh, thanks." he said, with an invisible smile. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sabor. You're Metzger, right?"

"Yes... yes, I am." Metzger chuckled. "How...?"

Sabor blinked quickly a little more.

"Isa told me. You're Samantha's brother, right? Since you're invisible, I had to grab you to make sure I didn't lose you."

"I see, but... why don't I remember any of this?" Metzger asked, feeling just a little bewildered. "Why would you lose me?"

Sabor let out a yawn, giving Metzger a short view of his teeth- and throat. Healthy kid. Kind of tan, ginger, and with nice... red eyes, all around as cute as a button.

"It's kind of a long story..." he began.”It started when you got on Ecco."

"The echydin?"

"Yes, he's my mother's echydin." Sabor began. "He brought you here, but he took a shortcut."

"Aha..."

"So he went through a feyweed field."

"It did what!?" he blurted.

"Mom scolded him for that." Sabor blurted in return, seemingly nervous.

"Are we all here? Samantha? Isa? Marlene? And the insane bi... bird-woman?" Metzger snapped, realizing he was talking to a kid.

"Yes you are! That woman too. Temi's letting her rest for now."

"Temi's your mother?"

"No, Temi's one of mom's friends."

"Okay, so everything's alright." he sighed. "My head hurts though..."

"You just passed out, you were groggy and crazy, Temi said your head might hurt for a while. But she'd have liked you to know everyone else is okay."

"That's great news. Thanks, Sabor. When can I see my sister?"

"She's on the lower hollow around the tree." he replied. "You can go right now if you want."

"Okay, just one more thing."

"Okay?"

"What is this place?"

======

"Still doesn't wake up?" Isa asked, turning to the figure before her, right now wrapped in feathers, at the end of the hollow.

"Like a log. I don't know if she'll ever wake up." she was answered, in a stern tone, by the fairy behind her.

"But she has to wake up someday?"

"I'm not so sure..."she replied, running her fingers through her red bangs on either side of the head.

Isa sighed.

"She may just be screwing with us then?"

"All I'm saying is that I've never met anyone who slept this heavily." the redhead replied, running a hand over the broad blanket of hair behind her head, under a large bun. Then she put on a cap with a red cross on it.

"I wish she'd wake up already. We have things to do." she turned to her companion, looking at the leaves covering all of her softer parts.

"Give her some time. If Metzger wakes up and she's still asleep, we'll try to wake her up. People need sleep."

A few snores seemed to accentuate the importance of her words.

"Thanks, Temi."

"You're welcome, Isa." Temi smiled. "Well, today everyone got up late; brunch will be upstairs."

"I think I'll stay a little longer..."

"Well, don't be too long, or there might be none left for you!" Temi exclaimed.

Isa nodded.

"I won't be late."

And in response, Temi beamed.

"I'm just joking!" she chuckled. "As long as no one gets greedy we should have enough for everyone. Still I'd let her sleep if I were you; I gave her something so she can heal faster, but I'd still let her rest."

And with that, she hopped off the hollow, to flit her way upwards.

"I'd still let myself rest too." Marlene grumbled from within her feathery covering.

"You're awake?" she hissed.

All she got for an answer was a mumble.

"Are your wings...?"

"You're going to find out the hard way if you keep talking." Marlene grumbled.

"It's time for breakfast."

"I fast in the mornings."

"It's almost noon."

The bundle of feathers shook a little.

"I'll be there..." it grunted, a little dark-skinned head suddenly peeking out from the bundle.”So comfy..."

"Well, don't be long. I'll wait for you up there."

"Mrrm."

Rolling around, Marlene wondered for how long she could pretend the world would just go away. Sleep was soooo nice... those loose feathers were just so soft, so warm, so good. The noise of rain outside, the knowledge her wings had been broken the day earlier, the more or less pointlessness of anything she could do was just suggesting she stayed in to sleep. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted just to go back to sleep. Everything could wait until the rain ended, and if the rain ended at night, it could wait until the night was over, and she could just sleep away... and sleep... and sleep...

...but the girls needed her. And there was the issue with Samantha's friend too. And Metzger. They were driving a hard bargain; if she stayed here to sleep, they'd... find something else to do without her. That'd be so awful... she needed to get up. She had been in this forest in her youth- well, in the past. Maybe she'd take another look now- she'd owned this place once. This could be fun. Screw 'em hunters and birds and stuff- there was nothing bigger and stronger than her in the forest. That should count for something.

Tossing aside the feathery covering with a smile, grimacing at the sudden rush of cold air on her back, she sat up, felt the rush of cold air on her thighs, and stood up, feeling the bedding beckon to her once more. Feathers... nice. She could always feel sorry for the bird later... all she knew now was that it was a nice bed.

Waddling groggily towards the opening, she spread her beetle wings, and started buzzing, just to check if her wings were okay. Satisfied with her state, she flitted her way up to where she felt a small crowd of her peers- in another hollow that had probably served once as a nesting place.

"Just how many birds used to nest in this tree?" Marlene mumbled to herself as she jumped into the hollow, feeling warmth and pleasant chatter wash her over as she entered the small hollow. The ground was oddly level- more importantly, there was a blanket laid on the ground, where several dozen small critters were scurrying in circles. Several women sat naked by the blanket, taking one as mood struck.

"That was quick." she looked up at her. Her hands were at rest, and she was a little too far from the blanket...

"Well, I wanted brunch." Marlene grinned.

"Here's brunch." another fairy with dark brown skin chirped. "Let's see if you can help your friend muster the courage to eat one."

Sitting with the fey, Marlene quickly reached for one of the critters. Each creature was only large enough to fit in her palm- and as she brought it to her mouth, feeling its legs squirm in her grip, she realized how hungry she really was. Jamming the morsel through her lips, she savored it quietly for only a few moments- gulping down almost a little too quickly.

"See, Isa? Try one yourself."

Isa looked at her blankly.

"Well, if you like ants..."

Wolfing down another ant, Marlene took a deep breath.

"Come on, ants can't be a problem for you to eat."

"Well..."

"It's alright." the other brown skinned fairy chirped. "It's alright if you don't like ants. Sabor caught something special yesterday, there's enough for you to fill up."

"Really...?" Isa smiled. "You caught something?"

"They were all trapped there in a slime trail; I just picked a bunch and put them in a jar." Just then Marlene noticed the kid sitting a bit to her left, beaming proudly.

"Well done!" Temi grinned.

"Atta boy!" Isa joined in. "What did you catch?"

"Locusts, enough for everyone." the kid added, proudly.

"Oh, is that what happened to them?" Marlene grinned. "We had seen a swarm of locusts ourselves."

"Nasty things." Temi commented. "Aren't they?"

"Yeah... I was wondering if you had anything a bit less..." Isa began, hesitating near the end. "Insectile."

"Fussy eater?" the other dark-skinned fairy grinned.

"Tarusa, don't tease her." Temi said.

"Okay, okay. I think I've got some almonds if you want, I'll go look for them, you don't eat meat?"

"I'm just not so easy around insects... do you have, I don't know... mice or fish?"

"I think we have some tadpoles, actually..."

"You know what? I'll check on Samantha first."

"Make sure you bring her some ants!" Temi chirped, grabbing a few for Isa- who was gone already.

"I'll get them to her!" Marlene smirked, putting a few more ants in her mouth, and grabbing a few more for the road. "She can eat, right, Temi?" she added, looking at the nurse.

"Yes, but let her eat them herself. I'll be there in a moment, okay? We still have to talk about helping Rui, Marlene."

"Mm...?" Marlene blinked.

"Rui, Samantha's friend."

"Mm... mm, mmhmm." Marlene mumbled, gulping down the ants. "Yeah..."

"You don't know her?" Temi raised her eyebrows. "I thought you were from Kortiki."

Marlene looked away for an instant.

"I don't get out much."

"Yes, Isa told me. Well, Marlene, the thing with Rui is that she can't use any magic at all."

"That must suck-" Marlene suddenly saw a light bulb. "What would they catch her for, then?"

"I guess they caught her precisely because she couldn't? They must've been out to catch as many as they could, and instead just caught that one..."

"Uh-huh." Her eyes wandered sheepishly for a moment. "What are we going to do?"

"Go see if she wants brunch, then we'll see?" Temi smiled. "Come on, go."

Looking into her green, concentrated eyes, Marlene's posture hesitated for an instant. Then she nodded.

"Okay." she jumped out.

Shrugging for a moment, Temi sighed, just as someone hopped into the hollow. A man with two wasp wings, and black and white tattoos detailed enough to make a textbook.

"Monge, how's the human coming along?" Temi asked.

"Well, there was a problem." he yawned.

"What was it? You didn't hurt her, did you?" she frowned.

"No, you told me not to hurt her!" he sighed. "It's just I tried to hypnotize her, and..." he pursed his lips.

"And?"

"And... she fell asleep." he said. "But she woke up, and she wanted to make a deal."

"What's the deal?"

"She'll lead us to her catch, but she wants us to ensure her survival. Nothing less will do."

"Did you try to crack her out of it?"

"It's... going to be impossible. She's barely alive, and she's already in a lot of pain. I don't think I can make it much worse without killing her, or at least making her go unconscious. Making her break any further will take time we don't have."

Temi nodded, sighing.

"Also..." Tarusa began. "That huntress was alone, and look what she did to them. We can't let them..."

"Of course we're going to do it ourselves. I gave Marlene and Samantha elori, if we let them anywhere near a wizard we'll kill them. I told that to Isa, I hope she doesn't forget to tell them."

======

Upon arriving, Isa found a hammock, where her friend lay on her side, wrapped now in clean bandages rather than the remains of her shirt. There was a woman with them, dragonfly wings, tan, black, long straight hair.

"...so we're in a truckstop, more or less." Metzger explained.

"A truckstop?" Samantha raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, like in that book, remember? The one with the dimension-hopping truck driver." Metzger shrugged.

"I don't think I've read that book." the other woman commented.

"You should, it's nice. I wrote a fanfic about David, and one woman he met..." Isa hopped in. "How are you doing, Samantha?"

"The kid said this place is a ranger station. Don't believe it." Metzger cut in.

"Then what is it? Hey, Isa."

"It's more of a stop on the way." Metzger shrugged. "But damn I'm glad it was here."

"Marlene's coming in, she brought you brunch." Isa chirped.

"Actually..." the other fairy said.

"Hm?"

"Yes, we're kind of a waystation here." she smiled. "A good place to stop for breakfast, meet people going in the same direction, share news, maybe look for stuff." she beamed.

"I'm here!" Marlene beamed, buzzing through the opening. "I got you those..."

Samantha sat up on her hammock, slowly.

"Easy, easy." the other fairy pointed out. "Don't exert yourself."

Approaching her, Marlene reached her hand out, showing her a few ants.

"There, she brought you brunch." the last fairy said.

"Yeah. So, Agito... should we meet the crew?" Metzger asked.

"We're... not a crew per se." Agito pointed. "We're only about six people in here, the rest come and go. Sometimes, someone stays over to help for a while, but it doesn't happen too much. So, you're invisible?"

"Ah, yes. Sometimes I forget I'm invisible..." Metzger sighed.

"Why are you invisible?"

"I was practicing illusions, and then someone dared me to stay invisible for a week. I succeeded, but then..."

"Could you... turn visible again?"

"I've tried." the empty space replied. "It didn't work."

"Must be terrible."

"You get used to it." he turned to Samantha. "Why aren't you eating?"

"I don't... like ants."

"Well, you need the strength."

"Isn't there anything else I can eat?"

"They've got some tadpoles." Isa commented.

Sam grimaced. Obviously, Agito saw her face.

"Well, what do you like eating?"

"Mostly, I eat bread. And milk."

"But you need meat."

"I don't eat much meat, actually." she blushed.

"You ate a whole duiker once, Samantha."

"But not all the time." Samantha looked around.

"Well, you must eat some sort of meat regularly. You like mice? Can you charm them?"

"No! I mean... those teeth, they..."

"Can't charm them?"

"No, so I don't eat them."

"Well, Monge can. I'll see if he get you some mice later- but you don't like tadpoles?"

"Too slimy."

"And... what about shrimp? You have shrimp in Kortiki, right?"

"Yes, we do." Metzger said. "And fish."

"I don't like either."

"You don't eat any meat?"

"She does eat fish, she just doesn't like them." Metzger said. "She's kind of a fussy eater."

"As long as it doesn't come to nekos or humans." Marlene smiled. Samantha rolled her eyes.

"Well, what's not to like?" Agito smiled.

"I stick to fruits, myself, I like the dry ones best." Isa pointed.

"You also like eggs."

"And I... yeah, I like fruits too. And insects." Marlene added, guzzling down another ant. "Wild greens, though, were my favorites. And when I could get eggs, I did."

"Eggs?" Agito chuckled. "Well, we do have bread if you want. But I don't think we've got any eggs right now."

"Well, bread please."

"Okay, I'll get it for you. Don't move." Agito went around Marlene, and hopped out of the hollow.

"Which reminds me..." Isa gasped. "Temi told me to warn you two, she had to give you elori..."

"Elori? It sounds familiar..." Samantha pursed her lips. "Is it that plant that gathers rainwater?"

"No, Samantha, elori makes magic work stronger on you." Marlene corrected. "That way the soil can heal you faster."

"Ah..." Samantha shrugged.

"So when they go rescue Rui, she wants you two to stay here."

"She what?" Samantha cried.

"She wants you to stay here."

"We can't do that, we've got to help!"

"If you go you won't be helping. Now that you're on elori, they can beat you easily."

"Then why did she give me elori?"

"So that you'd heal faster!"

"Look, Samantha, it's not so bad..." Marlene smiled. "They know what they're doing, and I'll be with them..."

"She gave it to you too."

"Look, it's not so bad. They know what they're doing." Marlene pouted. "And we get to sleep more..."

"But I can't stay here! Rui needs help!" Samantha suddenly sat out of the bed.

"Hey, you're hurt..."

"No, I'm okay."

"Look, you got hurt all over..." Metzger approached her. His hands seemed to touch her shoulder-

"No, seriously, I'm okay, bro." Samantha replied, tearing off the bandages on her arm. "See? Already okay." she blinked, showing her pristine skin.

"It's still not a good idea..." Metzger mumbled.

"Isa, Metzger, elori is a miracle worker!" Marlene grinned. "My wings are fine already, there's really nothing to be worried about."

"Look, she was told to stay in bed..."

"So what?" Marlene smiled. "She's okay, Metzger."

"Yeah, look!" she said, unwrapping her head from the bandages. "I'm alright now."

"You haven't even had breakfast, can't you at least...!"

"Okay, Metzger, seriously, stop it." Marlene suddenly spat. "We aren't children."

"But..."

"I understand you want to protect your sister, Metzger, but you are going too far. Give her a little credit, she stopped the huntress, not you...!"

"But she almost didn't come back in one piece!" Metzger cried.

"That's enough, both of you!" Samantha suddenly slipped from his invisible, tenuous grip. "That's enough!"

"Samantha, you got hurt horribly-"

"I'm okay now."

"It could happen again, or it could be even worse. That woman was prepared. We weren't. You were lucky to make it out alive..."

"How do you know!?" she cried. "I stopped her, Metzger!"

"Look, even Marlene couldn't."

"But I could. I can do this!"

"On elori!?"

"I'll talk to Temi, not to you." Samantha said, hopping out of the hollow and flying up, still bandaged in many spots.

"But Samantha...!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Marlene turned to him.

Metzger sighed.

"What's your stand, Isa?" he asked. Isa winced.

"Look, Metzger, she got hurt, yes, but that's no reason to treat her like a baby."

"But now she wants to scramble again!" Metzger protested. "Except now she's a powder keg!"

"But it's not impossible to live being on elori, Metzger." Marlene protested. "It doesn't mean you'll die. I've even met wizards while on elori myself in my time and ate them."

"But we have all those people who are going to help. We don't HAVE to go out, SHE doesn't have to go out, we were TOLD not to go out."

"She wants to help her friend, what's wrong with that? Are you going to live all your life doing what people tell you to do?"

"I'm not saying it's wrong to want to help Rui! But they're going to help, we don't have to..."

"So we don't have to help her friend?" Marlene crossed her arms.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"I know what you mean, but we don't have to do that. We COULD go out, that's what I'm saying."

"Well, don't! It's not safe!"

"If you don't like it when it isn't safe what are you doing here!?" Marlene exclaimed.

"That doesn't have anything to do with this! It's not that I'm not safe, it's that we don't have to make it worse!"

"It's not so bad! Metzger, if you're scared, just stay here."

"It's not what's going to happen to me what I'm scared of!" Metzger barked. "Do whatever you want yourself. Just don't try to kill my sister!"

======

"Hisss..."

Looking through the bars, Misty grinned mischievously at the fairies before her. One of them was a ginger woman with a white patch and something green over her boobies and crotch, the other one was a broad man who had hairy figures on his chest, and there was a third, she was dark-skinned with brown hair and everything was blurry. Hehehe. Blurry.

"Will I live?" she mumbled.

"Only because we don't have the time." the redhead answered.

"I know!" she chuckled. "I wouldn't ask otherwise. Now here's how I will help you... give me my ring. Give me my ring, and I'll be able to tell you where the fairy is."

The one in a leaf bikini leaned in closer to the bars. For an instant, the huntress wondered where had they gotten bars, or how had they gotten them there... then she decided she had better things to think about. Fission fever was going to settle in anytime soon, HARD. No one she knew of had survived this long after undergoing full synthesis. If this situation had other symptoms she was going to find out quickly enough.

"How?" she asked.

"It keeps me in contact with my companions."

"Why do you need to be in contact with your companions?" the redhead asked, sternly.

"They're holding the fairy." Misty chirped.

Suddenly, she smirked, tilting her head to the side. Misty looked at her blankly.

"I think we're not releasing you, then." she giggled.

"Hm, sure you could just use the ring's connection to find them." Misty chuckled. "It allows us to communicate with each other, after all. But unless I'm on the other end of the line all along, they'll know. Without the codeword, they'll take their rings off and toss them at a feyweed." she grinned.

The redhead kept her smirk, letting out a skeptical hum, looking at her with those green eyes of hers. That smug grin made Misty want to go to sleep, it was too much effort to focus her eyes enough to see her.

"Do you think I'm bluffing? Try me." Misty grinned. "Try and track them, we'll see how far you get."

"Hmm, but you look... very unbalanced." Temi pouted. "Why so?"

"That's because I'm nuts." Misty shrugged, her wild eyes suddenly settling. "Either way, you have a deal. If you give me my ring, you can use it for tracking, on the condition you spare me. If you don't, they're going to scramble."

Looking directly into her eyes, the fairy grimaced. Feeling something warm over her lip, Misty tried to swipe something off her face...

...and found her right hand on her shoulder.

-Strange...- she thought to herself, raising her right hand. It was numb, she couldn't feel anything. Absent-mindedly, she licked her hand- feeling almost nothing except the taste of her own sweat. And even that had a foul characteristic to it. Slapping her numb hand against her lip, she withdrew it some distance away and saw the blood on the back of her hand.

-Nosebleeds.- she thought, giggling to herself. She had to stick to the plan, even if she bled herself dry from every pore in her skin. Right now the plan was all that kept her alive. And it tickled. She was tired, every breath rasping her throat, her sight blurred so hard, and she was cold. Sweating and still cold. Before she had grown too numb, she was sure she had been sweating blood. But that was in the past now, and the past seemed to blur, like her sight, with a delirium of what things may or not have been. Was she growing feathers under her skin? Were there really birds laying eggs in her liver? Would her rib cage explode, a harpy eagle tearing through her chest? Any of those things seemed possible now.

Kinda tickled. She had to stick to Nazuuyr's plan. They'd stick it to Management and giant space cats would destroy everything. But for now, she had a ring to protect.

"My preciousss..." Misty giggled. "Gives me my preciousss... and we tells where fairy is..." she hissed. "But you have to let us live, yes, the fairy has to let us live, my precious, or else she gets nothing, my preciousss..."

======

Temi gave her one long, hard look. Then she turned to the others.

"She's raving."

"Do you trust her?" the guy next to her asked, looking at the tattoos that covered his chest.

"She's not going to be more help than this." Temi rolled her eyes. "It's all we have. If you hurt her she might pass out, if you hypnotize her she falls asleep." she raised her eyebrows. "How did she get herself THIS messed up anyway? She's painful to look at, I don't even know all that's wrong with her... But we haven't got much of a choice. If we want to get Rui, we have to act quickly."

"Couldn't you heal her?"

"I thought about it. Not that I wanted to. But all I could do for her was giving her elori; whatever's happening to her, it shows no lacerations, it's not even magical. I had never seen her condition before, and from what Samantha told me, I'm... I'm not even sure she's human." Temi shrugged.

"She sure looks the part though." Tarusa rolled her eyes.

"And who cares anyway?" the tattooed fairy asked.

"It's not that I care if she's human. I just don't know how to heal her." Temi looked around. "I'm not sure I want to, either. But we have no choice, we'll have to make a deal."

"Wait, are you really going to let her go?"

"I'm thinking about it." Temi replied. "Rui's a friend of Samantha, I'm not going to let her die just to avenge her."

"Sam's not going to stand for it."

"We have to do what's best for her friend." Temi replied. "If that means letting her go..."

"Well, you can't."

"I know." Temi replied. "But we need her help." She took a deep breath. "Bring her ring, Monge."

======

He stared at her form, now with crossed arms and a tilted head. The phrase that had escaped him- he had no idea he had been that shaken up. And he had no idea she had been that dense. He also had no idea why she looked at him like that, so disappointed, her lips pursed, her eyes- why would anyone look at him that way?

"What you say, Metzger?"

"I said I didn't care what you did, but my sister had to stay out of this!"

"Well, I don't care what you think and neither does Samantha." Marlene replied. "We'll do what we want, not what YOU want. If you want to stay here, stay here."

"Look..."

"Now see you." Marlene turned around, and hopped out of the hollow.

"Hey, that's rude...!" Metzger managed to mouth, as he went after her.

"Do you really want to keep arguing?" Isa suddenly asked, just as Metzger's foot slid against the edge. He stopped.

"I guess not."

"Give her some time to cool down, okay?" Isa continued.

Metzger sighed.

"I know I'm being pushy."

"Well, you can't be pushy with Marlene. She's been shut in her home for who knows how long. If you try to stop her from stretching her legs, she's going to crush you."

"Still, it's my sister..."

"I get it, Metzger." Isa smiled. "But your sister is an adult."

"Really?"

His tone was confusing. It clearly wasn't sarcastic, but it wasn't serious either.

"She's all grown up." Isa compromised. "And she can take care of herself. A bit better than you, may I add."

He shook his head, invisibly.

"Marlene's definitely old enough to take care of herself too, Metzger. You should respect that."

"But it makes no sense. She's on elori, and she wants to go out, pick a fight..."

"I don't know if anyone can put up much of a fight against her. I mean, her power, it's..."

"But her wings were broken."

"My point is, you should trust her a bit more. She knows what she's doing, and you don't know everything either."

"Look, I know that. It's just I can't pretend she can protect my sister from everything. And she's so irresponsible. She took all that elori, and so did my sister, and they want to go anyway? That's just too much!"

"You could trust her. She knows a lot more than you do."

"That's no reason to talk down to me like she does. What I say doesn't matter, it's not just now, but always."

"Well, she's just that way. You might want to let her cool down for a while..." she hesitated. "I've only known her for a while. But she doesn't seem the type to stay mad. I'll talk to her later, okay?"

Metzger took a deep breath.

"Okay..." he shrugged. "But I really can't let my sister go. If something happens to her, I..."

"Yeah, I saw what you did to the huntress."

"That's not what I mean!" he protested. "If something happens to her, I've got no idea what I'm going to do. What I'm going to tell Mom and Dad. What about her friends, it's... she makes friends easily, you know? And if anything happened to her, and I couldn't stop it... I... I know she feels the same way about Rui. Who wouldn't?" Metzger sighed. "But Marlene, she just eggs her on with those things... I don't want anything bad to happen to her either, but I can't let her drag my sister into this..."

"Give your sister a little credit. That's all the advice I can give you."

He made a pause.

"Okay..." Metzger mumbled. "But it's a dangerous world out there. I mean, most of it can be handled, but there are some things that scare me! And with good reason!"

======

The trees provided little protection from the rain, but he had his hood up and a skintight suit. Lenna had settled for a large windbreaker and thick pants instead. To her credit, it wasn't yellow or red. As far as he knew, almost nothing would hunt under this cold rain- well, ALMOST nothing. Some creatures felt empowered by a lukewarm shower. He wasn't one of them.

But as a mercy, this rain seemed not to interfere with his primary scouter. If a fairy of all things stumbled upon him, he'd know.

At least, that's what he thought-

"LENNA!" he barked, gripping her arm quickly. "BEHIND!"

======

"LENNA! BEHIND!"

Izzelette had just gotten up when she suddenly heard those shouts. The cloud cover had been pleasant to sleep under, but after it had started raining... well, the water had flowed down the canopy, and then flowed down her branch. The warm rain had been pleasant, even in dreams, until a mischievous drop hit her forehead.

Well, that was it for the nap. She got up, and looking for something to do... her antennae confirmed that there was a tie for the largest creature around. Neither of them was a wizard, and both signals felt like game to her. Taking a short hop, she lazily drifted towards them- then heard that scream right behind her tree.

Quickly emerging from behind the tree, she saw the splashes left by two sets of feet, both of them running away now. Looking down, she realized they'd been leaving tracks- it was funny when she noticed those tells. It could be a challenge to track using only those. Interestingly, she thought as she went after them, why had they noticed her only then? If they had noticed before, why did he bark only then?

Silly humans. Anyway, she had plans for the evening now! It was raining, but that was only a good challenge!

Chasing after the two of them under the canopy, she waited for one to stumble in the slick mud, grass and roots they were trying to sprint over. That's what happened to people when they didn't fly. And they didn't disappoint, one of them, the one with the tighter, darker clothes suddenly turned in his sprint and fell to the ground. His companion didn't stop. Smart. Well, one of...

BANG!

...but the thunder was supposed to come after the lightning...!?

She flitted up as quickly as she could, struggling to regain her senses, turning away from the human an instant while her sense of balance returned. It took a moment for her eyes to focus back, looking straight at him.

"DAMN!"

And when she noticed the spent device on the ground, she realized that he had somehow brought thunder and lightning into the mix. Looking into his muddy clothes, into his one exposed eye, the other hidden under a patch, she realized he was not her everyday human.

Well, that should be fun!

"Bring it!"

======

"Bring it!"

"WHAMN!?" Faulkner snarled, darting away- that reaction had been completely unexpected, he'd caught her in a playful mood or something, and that was bad news. Until he had a better idea, he needed to put some distance between the two of them. The ring in his hand kept him apprised of Lenna's position, the device on his ear kept him apprised of the fairy's, who was still hot on his trail, straight behind him...

...wait a moment he now got two fairy signals and one of them was moving too fast at...

CRACK!

He swung a whip, lashing her body with crackling leather- it disappeared. This one was an illusion. Damn, the real one had stopped! Now he couldn't see her anywhere! Taking a few steps to the side, he looked around frantically, hoping Lenna had her in sights. He sure didn't. Why did he always panic at those moments!? He had to remind himself that even when he didn't start it, he should finish it. Otherwise, she would.

Listening intently to the device in his ears, he put one hand over his forehead, trying to blot out the water running over his face. Despite his best tries, he couldn't see her.

And he couldn't hear her moving, either. He gripped his whip tightly, walking in a direction he hoped took him away from her... or at least tempted her into flight...

======

-Strange...- Izzelette thought to herself. She could still feel him close by, but he wasn't sprinting straight away from her. He had chosen the weirdest angle, it kinda looked like he wanted to go right back towards her, like he was showing her his back again, like he was hesitating cluelessly around the trees. Was this guy stupid or something?

Well, better get him, so she dropped off the branch and chased after him again. Much to her surprise, he immediately put a tree between the two of them. He hadn't even needed to look at her. Hell, he had even stopped...

-He can tell my position...- she thought to herself. -When I got off that branch, he noticed me. When I got off the other branch, he noticed... so...- she thought. -He can tell if I'm flying?-

There was only one way to tell if she was right. Confidently, she hopped into the air and approached the tree he was behind right now, feeling his position, concentrating completely on this one. The other was too far away to care.

She went to her left around the thick trunk, and he moved right, clockwise. Then she moved right, counterclockwise around the trunk, and he... hesitated. She decided not to peek over the trunk, not just yet. First, she had to confirm he wasn't going anywhere.

Giggling to herself, she landed a few steps away from the trunk. Then she stayed still.

At first, he didn't move.

Then he started hesitating. She approached the tree.

And then he moved straight away from the trunk, taking small, slow steps. Peeking over the edge of the trunk, she saw him look around carefully, his hands twitching.

His head turned right towards her- she retreated behind the trunk. He was still walking, hesitatingly, away from the trunk...

-So as long as I don't fly, he has to see me?- she thought to herself, holding in a thrilled giggle. -Well, that's fun!-

It was going to be impossible to sneak up on him. Not while he was looking around like that. She needed to make him look in only one direction. So peeking over the edge of the tree, she saw the perfect spot for a scare.

The hunter was heading towards a different tree right now. He hadn't fallen for an illusion the first time- he had lashed at it with a whip. But that meant... that he couldn't tell the illusions from the real thing, or else he wouldn't have bothered. Well, if he couldn't tell them apart... then it sucked to be him!

With a few gestures and a grin as big as her head, she created an illusion right on top of him. And when the illusion beat its wings, the hunter swung his whip right up- with hilarious results where it concerned his balance: he slipped, and fell on his bum and shoulders.

"DAMN!"

Poor guy. Well, time to stop playing, she reminded herself, growing to a reasonable size to get there walking. Taking slow, measured steps, she approached him. Twelve paces. Eleven paces. Ten paces. He picked himself up. Nine paces. He stood up to his knees, dirty with mud. Eight paces. Almost there. Seven paces. He was facing away from her. Six paces.

"Gotch-!"

And then there was a blur of movement coming from his direction. The next thing she knew, she had doubled over and couldn't breathe.

======

-Holy shit...- Faulkner thought, his stiff fingers still after that strike. That lunge had happened lightning-fast. He saw her half-tanned figure stagger away, almost threatening to recover her breath. Thank Nemyra for the kind of speed he was capable of... had he reacted a fraction of second slower, had he moved one foot per second less, she'd have eaten him. And gotten away with it.

Hell, he hadn't even touched the wings. Sareu would be pleased.

Running quickly up to the fairy, he smacked her in the throat, he placing the necklace on her.

-Lenna.- he called through his ring. -I've secured her.-

Taking a few steps back, Faulkner gave her a moment to react. She turned to face him, gasping- well, it didn't matter anymore.

"Hey!" she cried. "That hurt!"

-She didn't say it wasn't nice.- he thought to himself.

"That hurt, you dog!" she continued. He locked his eye on hers. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He didn't answer. Tempting as it was, he wouldn't cross words. Not with this kind of creature. He already knew what she would have to say.

"But it doesn't matter!" she smirked. "You had your chance, and you lost it..." she kept looking at his exposed eye. She looked at him so intently- she wasn't even blinking, he realized. "...do you have any last words before lunch?"

Only silence would come from his lips. He had nothing to say to her. She had nothing he wanted to hear.

"Well, in that case..." she grinned, raising a finger. "That's all."

He felt that odd tingle...

...and then she stiffened, letting out a short yelp. Her eyes were suddenly very wide- locked somewhere under his eyes, his gauntlet, where he had pressed a button.

"What... what is that?" she asked.

There was no need to think it anymore. All that was left was doing.

"What was that?" she asked again. "Answer me!" she insisted. "What did you do to me? That was like lightning..." she was thinking out loud now. "So you're a wizard?" she smirked. "But... you don't feel like a wizard." she grimaced. Shaken- that's what she would have him think she was. But she wasn't shaken. One instant outside of his traps and she'd devour him. She wasn't shocked, she wasn't shaken. She was only craving freedom as always.

And as she pointed a finger at him, he remembered what kind of freedom she craved. The freedom to hurt him, the freedom to kill him, the freedom to render him and everything about him meaningless for nothing at all, for a passing sensation, for an ephemeral joy. For the freedom to hunt him. For the freedom to enjoy it.

For the joy of hunting.

He pushed the button.

With another shrill yelp and a pained gasp afterwards, she dropped to the ground on her knees, gasping a little afterwards. Then she raised her eyes- there was mock-defiance intermingled with the parody of fear.

"Well, I guess you're not a wizard, you just shocked me!" she giggled, panting, her voice now betraying an ersatz nervousness. "So, you reckon you're tough, huh?" no answer, she wouldn't stop talking at him. Panting at him. Just then she seemed to realize what he had put around her neck. And as she grabbed it, he pushed the button again...

"WHOOOA!"

She had no choice but to unhand her necklace, twitching, before his callous gaze.

Strangely, she seemed to stir at the sight of his eyes. Her expression flickered for a moment. There was something akin to dawning horror in her face.

"Okay..." she mumbled. "I guess you win this round..." her voice toughened up. "...but I'll win next time, and I'll eat you!"

He didn't react. He didn't have to react to this kind of monster. He didn't have to point out anything.

Her lip quivered.

"I... I mean, it was fun, and... we could do this again, don't you think? It'd be fun!" she smiled. "Wouldn't you like that? I'd like a chance to get even..."

She looked genuinely scared now.

"So I'll just take off this necklace now and AY-AIH!" she cried, recovering quickly- or at least starting to yell again quickly, maybe too quickly for her throat to adjust. "Stop that! I just want to take it off, it hurts, you know!" she cried, grabbing it anew- he didn't hesitate to jolt her again.

Her hands now stiff, her hair puffed up all over, she grit her teeth in despair, starting to avoid his gaze. She let out a pant... then her trembling lips started to meekly form words once more.

"Stop that or... I'll scream! Something's going to come! And it won't eat me! Nothing eats fairies! It'll eat you, just you! All I have to do is screaming! Something's going to come! SOMETHING'S GOING TO COME! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME OR WE'LL BOTH DIE!" she yelled, at the top of her lungs, ever more shaken, her eyes trembling, probably watering up under the rain. "LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME YOU... YOU MONSTER!"

Making sure he didn't lose his focus, he wiggled his nose a bit. Whatever he did, no matter how tempting, he was not to speak to her. Even a single word could doom him...

"LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME!" she cried. "SOMETHING'S GOING TO COME AND EAT YOU! EVERYTHING CAN EAT YOU! LOOK..." she grimaced. "LOOK OUT BEHIND Y-!"

======

She grit her teeth as he advanced slowly towards her, not prying his eye off her for a second. Then he placed himself behind her, looking from over her towards the new arrival.

"You took your time, Lenna." he said.

"Help me!" the fairy cried at the newcomer. "He put this necklace on me, and now..."

"I know, I gave it to him." Lenna replied, moving towards her, kneeling down. "Wouldn't you agree it'd be a shame to damage your wings, hm?"

"Y... what?" she blurted.

"You see, we're fairy hunters." Lenna explained. "We weren't counting on you, but while we're at it, we might as well take you, don't you think?"

"B-but... wait! Don't... don't do this, there must be something I can do... maybe... I'll stop eating nekos, how about that? All I need is that you take this off me and let me eat that MONSTER!"

Lenna raised her gaze towards him. He realized that he had broken his poker face, listening to the fairy.

"I think you made him upset..." she said. "My partner, F-"

"DON'T!" he exploded. The fairy, now helpless, barely on her knees, had shaken with his voice.

"What is it?" Lenna asked.

"NAME." he croaked. "DON'T!"

"Okay... " She hissed. "You see, my partner doesn't talk much. He doesn't like arguments, so as long as you don't argue with me, he won't hurt you any longer. Do you understand?"

The fairy nodded. He didn't care what face she pulled anymore.

"Now, put this on..."

"No!"

"Faulkner!" she demanded.

"IMBECILE!" he yelled. She gasped, and turned to look at him- what the hell. He pushed the button, and she crumbled, crying, on the ground.

"Saying she was an imbecile was a little too strong in my opinion. She's just scared."

"YOU, LENNA."

"I'm sorry?" she raised her eyebrows.

"IMBECILE!" he snarled, taking one stride to put himself face to face with her. "NAME, DON'T!"

"I don't understand..."

"FEH." he croaked.

"I don't get a word of what you are trying to s-"

With a swift movement, he tossed his knife at her. Coherently with the reflexes expected of her kin, she dodged. After seeing him sheathe his knife again, she turned to him, and...

"Now..."

"NULLIFY THIS WAY." he croaked, moving towards the fairy. Taking a small cotton tissue from his pocket, he showed her how he soaked it in a bottle of alcohol. Then he rubbed it over her neck.

"Wait! Get out! Get AWAY!" she thrashed, but the electricity still in her body was keeping her from coordinating too much. Then all of a sudden, he released the pressure on her neck, throwing the cotton away.

She clambered away on her side, just in time to see him take something else.

Something thin that glinted in the light.

And when his thumb pushed on its base, liquid came out of the tip.

He assaulted her, his frantic eye locked closer than it had ever been, the new utensil right before her face. It was thin, like a hair, and metallic, but so massive at the same time.

And the sight of its metallic tip made her gasp... and then faint.

Pocketing once more the syringe, Faulkner cuffed the fairy and hoisted her over his shoulders- just when from Lenna's left breast pocket, a head peeked out. He locked his eyes on those of the president of their freeloader club... Miel.

"Hello." she began.

"Hm."

"What is it with your name?"

"..." Faulkner knew he had better things to do than satisfy their curiosity. Right now, these two were best ignored.

"We're going to ask again, you know?"

"Trust me." he snarled. "Just don't."

"The only thing I trust right now is your sadism..."

"QUEEGLESH!"

Much to her amazement, Miel had managed to elicit a loud giggle from him. So loud, in fact, that one of his knees had bent for an instant.

"Today!" he snarled.

======

Climbing the air along the height of the tree, Metzger made his way to the mess hall (Mess hollow? Eatery? Whatever the locals called this place). It was probably as good a moment as any to grab a bite. He was a bit worried about his sister, but right now he had to eat something himself. Surely she wouldn't have stormed out on an empty stomach, would she? No, Samantha knew better than that. And once she started thinking with her stomach, all her pickiness went away.

He couldn't help but wonder where had she gotten so picky from. He had never been picky about meat himself, their parents hadn't encouraged her to be picky about meat... oh, well. Look at that, he thought, as he landed, seeing all the ants laid out on the surface in front of him, and several very attractive women around them.

"Hey..." he began. Then he cleared his throat. "Hello!"

Of course, a disembodied voice calls some attention. All four of them turned to him, but only one in particular dared break the silence. She was quite pale, with... the strangest hairdo he had seen in a lifetime. And the strangest hair to boot. A pale purple over her pale body, with two brown eyes, almost red. Her facial features were soft and quite round, cute all in all, if not too enticing. Or maybe she'd be enticing by herself, but next to the others, she looked just too kiddy.

Opposite her lay a tan beauty the kind of which would be worthy of displaying in a pin-up, with tan skin and the sort of golden, glossy hair that one would always want to imagine. She had the most perfectly alluring eyelashes shielding her deep blue eyes, a body to die for, with the kinds of curves he'd strole until his hands wore right off. Heck, even that nose was the kind he liked, and those full red lips couldn't get any better. The ones in her mouth, he reminded himself, as he saw an ant be pushed through them.

Next to her, there were two other figures paling in comparison- one's head just seemed too short, with thin eyes, and the other one had the colors all wrong, she was pale with blue hair and red eyes.

"You are?" the beauty called out to him.

"Metzger!"

"Huh?"

"You're Metzger, right?" the pale and purple fairy asked. "I'm Mince, nice to meet you!"

"Oh, hello... have we met?" Metzger asked, a little surprised.

"Your sister told me about you. What you did was brave."

"Oh... it was nothing."

"Don't kid me, sit here. Come on, invisible guy." Mince laughed. "Over there are Nifil, Fane and Cezra."

"So you're Nifil..." Metzger started, putting on a winning face no one would see.

"Yes...?" the beauty replied, somewhat confused.

"Sounds fitting. Nymphlike." Metzger blurted out, trying to sound confident.

"I'm Cezra." the blue-haired fairy replied, tilting her head, letting him catch a glimpse of a diamond earring. Wow, he wasn't expecting that, it kinda pried his eyes off Nifil. "And she's Fane."

"Nifil's aunt." Fane replied, brushing a lock of dark red hair from her thin eyes.

"And I'm her stepmother."

"Yeah. And I'm Fane's sister. Come on, sit over here." Mince grinned. "Next to me, I don't bite!" she pointed next to herself. "Come on, we saved you some ants."

"You brought your sister something to eat, right?" Cezra asked. "She's weak after all."

"Marlene's on it. My sister doesn't like ants much, but she'll eat them sooner or later."

"She doesn't like them? What does she like?"

"She's never been much for meat." Metzger replied, looking at Ezra. She was looking better and better by the minute- he thought he had put on a winning smile, but no, HERS was a winning smile.

"I'll say! I'd have eaten that woman myself." Cezra laughed.

"She was the only way to get to Rui, though."

"Rui, oh, I asked Temi about her. Poor girl." Mince chirped. "I'm glad you didn't hurt her, I don't have a sister, but I don't think I'd have restrained myself that much..."

"No, I didn't really restrain myself enough... she kept saying horrible things, and I..."

"Did you hurt her?" Cezra grinned.

"Might as well have."

Cezra tilted her head. Metzger realized she had managed to pry his eyes off Nifil. There was something about this woman, something unrestrained, selfish, and yet mature somehow.

"After what she did, though, she should be glad you let her live." Mince commented.

"Actually, to tell you the truth, Samantha stopped her, not me."

"Oh." Cezra sighed, suddenly sounding disinterested.

"But you helped, right?"

"I found her, called them, and told them about Rui so they didn't let her escape."

"See? That's important too." Mince replied. "Come on, no need to be so broken."

"If I hadn't, my sister wouldn't have been hurt."

"Hey, it was her choice to fight it out." Mince replied. "And now, your sister is fine, and the huntress is caught."

"Did you get her to reveal where Rui was?"

"Temi cut a deal with her."

"Cut a deal...?" he asked.

"Eh, I don't think we should let her go, if it helps." Mince said, sympathizing.

"Actually, I think we should."

Cezra blinked. Metzger scanned the room again- Nifil had been indifferent to everything that had been said, Cezra seemed to be listening actively, and Fane... well, the conversation had her full attention. He had Mince's full attention too.

"What do you mean let her go?" Cezra asked. "You can't let humans go. They're too delicious. After she tells us where Rui is, someone should eat her."

"I... I agree, but, I mean, if we ever need to make another deal like this, it's good that they know what our word is worth, I think." Metzger explained. "I mean, why is she even making this deal in the first place?"

"I think it's because she has no choice." Cezra hummed. "But your idea is interesting as well."

"Why Temi is making a deal, that's more interesting." Metzger replied. "That huntress has Rui, she has us."

"We could hypnotize her, or hurt her."

"Have you?" he asked. "If that works, fine, but..." he stopped.

"What is it?"

"We are cornered, not her... you said it, we don't have a choice."

"Neither does she, she'll die."

"The question is... is she more afraid that we kill her and forget about Rui, or are we more afraid we don't get to Rui in time?"

Cezra chuckled for a moment.

"You should leave that kind of conversation to Mince."

"Mince." he said, turning to his left, where the purple-haired fairy with round features looked back at him with a smile. "Ah, what do you think?"

She pursed her lips.

"Well, we're going to have to go along, at least for now." she hummed. "She took our word, so I don't think we need to prove anything more to anyone."

"I was taught that I had to keep my word in the long run..."

"Do you really want to let anyone go if they have someone to hurt?" Mince asked.

"I'm not thinking about the huntress, I'm thinking about Rui."

"Well, right now we have what we need, Metzger." Mince smiled. "Nice of you to think about the future, but we've got things to worry about right here and right now. And you know... no one would let that huntress go."

"... I understand that."

"So don't worry so much about those things." Cezra laughed. "She's going to get what's coming to her. Your friend will be okay."

"Uh, I hope so. Can Temi handle it?"

"No need to worry about that!" Mince grinned. "We'll all help her. Well, except Sabor, of course."

"The kid?"

"Someone has to watch over this station." Mince chirped. "Also, Ehloet and Tarusa are going to stay."

"Tarusa?"

"You might've seen her. She's the one with the dark skin, and the dark hair." Cezra replied. "She mainly uses finding spells."

"Finding?"

"She's good at finding things. Not the best, but she's something. Your friend couldn't be in better hands, Metzger. You have Temi herself on the case."

"Temi...?" Metzger began. "I think that sounds a little familiar, actually."

"Should be; she leads a whole tribe. Usually she keeps to her own pack, but just about any fairy you could meet answers to her." Mince grinned.

Metzger hummed.

"So... you're all going? You too?" his voice turned towards Cezra.

"Heh, yes." she grinned. "We're all going. It shouldn't be too difficult, if they're humans."

"You're not worried...?"

"The only thing that worries me is that there might not be enough for everyone." Cezra laughed, deeply. "From what you've told me, they've been going around in groups of three."

"Yes, so... why is everyone going, if they're just three?"

"We might find something to do on the way. It's no good to just sit around." the stepmother smiled.

"Besides, no way to eat one without being there." Mince chirped. "I mean... you know, if you wanted to eat a human every month... if they mature at the age of 20, you'd need a population of 240 humans to keep them renewed. And that's just for one fairy to eat one every month, assuming they don't die for any other reason. That's 240, and you'd need to multiply that by the number of fairies, and the number of humans per month. You could also use specimens exclusively for breeding; assuming one birth per breeder every 9 months, you'd need 9 to get one per month. But you'd need to keep them continuously impregnated and docile..."

"I... think I've heard enough."

"Queasy?" Mince giggled. "I know, it's a pretty disturbing thing to read about, when you think about it."

"Actually, it sounds like a good idea." Cezra smiled. "Did you think of it yourself?"

"I read it in a book, actually." Mince smiled. "Anyway, my point is, if you want humans, or nekos, you'll have to hunt them. No two ways about it."

"My sister kinda figured that out on her own."

"Oh, you're from Kortiki, right?" Mince asked. "Kinda forgot, sorry. This kind of talk doesn't bother you much, does it?"

"Just a bit."

"Pssh!" Cezra laughed. "Well, buck up. That's how we do things around here. I mean, they do eat humans in Kortiki, don't they?"

"Almost never, actually..." Metzger hesitated. "It's just... I know it happens, but it's never come to that with me. I'm just not used to it."

"Really? You have yet to eat a human?" Mince smiled.

"Eh, I don't know, do I have to?" he cracked. Cezra found it funny, apparently.

"Oh you will, sooner or later, don't worry."

"I think he doesn't want to." Fane suddenly broke her silence, behind her red bangs, her face showing no expression whatsoever. Cezra briefly glanced at her.

"But your sister did eat some, right?" Mince asked.

"I think my sister and Isa already love them." he chirped.

"You will too."

"Don't count on it, fish's working just fine for now."

"Why don't you want to?" Cezra grinned.

"Because I've been raised with them?"

"But you aren't the same as them. So what's wrong with eating them?"

"No one ever did anything to me."

Cezra let out another chuckle, picking herself off the ground.

"That huntress did." she grinned. "I'll see if Temi would let her make a predator of you."

"Uh, eh..." he blurted. "...thanks, but I'm fine as I, uh..." he stopped as she leaned forward.

"I'm not going to leave you be." Cezra grinned, coyly. "Buck up, this is just the beginning."

"That's... kind of what I'm..."

"Don't resist her." Fane broke her silence once more, with her expressionless face. "She knows what's best, and the best you can do is do as she says."

Looking at the redhead, words died in Metzger's mouth for a moment.

"I mean I don't want to..."

"Heh, you say that now. Let's change the subject." Mince began, quickly. "Keep an open mind, come on. So! A little fairy told me you liked reading..."

"The sun is in." Cezra smirked, turning to the entrance. This conversation had been so engaging they had kinda lost track of time. But it had stopped raining... "Well, it's a good moment to group up, and go save your friend, Metzger..." she grinned. "I'll be back afterwards so we can... talk some more. See you."

Sidling towards the entrance, Cezra turned to her companions.

"Nifil! Fane! It's time to group up."

Nifil stood up wordlessly, and approached her stepmother.

"I'll linger." Fane replied. "I won't be late."

"Your choice." Cezra sighed. The two of them hopped out and took flight.

"Hm..." Fane sat up. "Sorry about Cezra, Metzger. It's best not to fight her, you only strengthen her resolve."

"Uh. Why did she have to pick on me?" Metzger complained.

"She's picking you, not picking on you." Fane explained. "Innocent charm really gets her, and you're far too modest."

"Modest? I'm naked."

"But I can't even see your eyes." Mince replied.

"And your voice is so deep and smooth." Fane completed. "It makes me even more curious."

"Well..." Metzger blurted. "I'm flattered. One would think there'd be more guys around here, though..."

"There's plenty." Mince replied. "There's Nettu, Monge, Pleure..."

"And Sabor." Fane replied.

"Hey, he's too young!" Mince chirped. Fane rolled her eyes.

"Still, a lot more women."

"We're just passing by." Fane continued. "We don't count, neither does Temi, or your pack. We're not out of options."

"You really are sexy." Mince pointed.

"Well, thanks..."

"Anyway... we'll have to gather soon. Temi said you weren't on elori... want to join us?"

"No... I've had enough, I'll trust you, I believe you can do it."

She grinned.

"Okay... you won't regret it."

Fane picked herself up.

"We could spare a few more moments." she said, standing up. "I'll find a way to delay them."

"Yeah... I mean, it's Rui's time we're giving up, right?" Metzger said.

"Then just let me show you one more thing before we go, okay?" Mince grinned.

The Joy of Hunting Part 9 Bis: So About Those Guys

"So, I wanted to introduce you to everyone, Isa!" she chirped. "Anyway, I'm Agito!" the woman began, taking her hand into her two tan hands, her black hair almost waving behind her. She sounded really excited. "This kid over here is Sabor, he's my nephew." she pointed at a very young kid, his short, ginger, curly hair almost cherubic on his face, also tan. Those crimson eyes didn't look at all out of place on his face.

"My, you're so cute!" Isa grinned, bending down to give him a hug. He hugged her back for an instant, then stepped back.

"And that's Tarusa there!" Agito pointed at one of her companions, a dark skinned fairy who gave her another effusive greeting. This time, Isa remembered to grab both her hands instead of just one. Tarusa's eyes were green, and now that she realized, she had the biggest grin ever.

"Hello, hello!"

"Hello!"

"Monge!" a man said. He was tattooed like a microsudocrossword collection booklet, also tan like everyone else. "I'm Monge! Pleased to meet you, Isa!" he continued with the same two-handed greeting.

"Pleased to meet you too!"

"I'm Nettu!" another guy chirped. Kind of cute, actually, as he stepped forward, with the short brown hair and that softer tan. His brown eyes were dark, but warm. Holding both his hands in a four-handed fist, she shook them for an instant, nodding.

"Well, hello!" Isa laughed, taking a step forward, looking for the two remaining. "And you are?"

"I'm Ehloet!" a woman grinned. Isa noticed a strap of cloth around her thigh, holding a small leather pouch around her golden skin. She had black hair, and a few moles on one side of her face.

"I'm Pleure!" a man chirped. This one looked more characteristic, with his cyan hair and somewhat glistening skin on sharp features. "Hello, Isa!"

"Hello! And I already know you're Temi!"

The redhead fairy in a leaf bikini nodded, smiling.

"So, oof! That's everyone?" she smiled.

Agito suddenly stopped smiling. Then she looked away for a moment.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"You forgot one." Marlene pointed.

"Really, uh, you mean...?"

"The most important!" Agito cried. "Come on, you couldn't forget Ecco!"

"Ecco? Oh, you mean...!? Ah, my bad!" she turned towards the echydin, standing right next to the tree. "So, you're Ecco, right?" she took another look at Agito's face. She seemed to be half-smiling now.

"So, it's a nice-looking echydin, isn't it?" Isa tried.

"It's a nice-looking fairy." Agito told Marlene.

"Eh, thanks, I guess..." Isa mumbled.

"Isa, echydins are people too." Marlene chuckled.

"Ah, you mean...?" Isa laughed nervously. "Oh, my bad! I mean... yes, you rescued us, didn't you?"

Ecco tilted its head. She took another look at the critter...

At her current perspective, Ecco was a mountain. A mountain with slimy nostrils, coarse hair, two massive and penetrating orbs of black for eyes, and curves that rippled with power all over its hoofed, four-legged, colossal side. And a mountain that right now looked at her, while several people gave her almost no reassurance that it was fine.

"Uhm... you're cute..." she began, approaching it carefully. "So, you're called Ecco, right? Thanks for rescAAGHH!"

Ecco stood up, its snowy body pointing its eyes at her, closing in with massive strides. She couldn't help but cry and recoil at the sight of its long-toothed mouth, and its long, red, slimy tongue- she recoiled all the way into Agito's arms, trembling like a leaf.

"Isa, you're going to hurt her feelings."

"Ah..." she replied, picking herself up from her arms and taking a step back.

"There's no need to be scared." Agito said, taking a step forward- a step that all of a sudden was bigger than a house. She quickly stood next to the white hill, putting one arm around its long neck, as she grinned from the heights with an unconceivable bulk. "Come on, Isa, now you."

"Ah..."

"There's a problem with that." Marlene suddenly started.

"Marlene!" Isa gasped.

"Oh, right!" Ehloet said, suddenly walking up to her.

"Huh?" Isa's eyes widened. Had Marlene already told them?

"Hey, Isa!" Ehloet grinned. "Just close your eyes."

"Close my eyes?"

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath, it's okay."

"What are you going to do?" she asked, warily.

"Just do it, Isa!" Marlene chirped. "You'll be surprised."

Isa closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Suddenly she heard a crack.

There was a whiff-

She coughed. For an instant, she was a bit cooler, and then she felt warmer...

"What's...?" she opened her eyes, taking a look around.

It took her only an instant to realize that the world around her had shrunk- the half a dozen or so fairies not so far from her foot were clear and present proof of it. Which made her think about...

...turning to her side, she saw Ecco. She was still massive- but not longer a shape she'd see from the horizon. Right next to her, though, the colossal form of Agito peered down at her with a smile that was still bigger than she was.

"Okay, Isa, come closer. Ecco's not going to hurt you, I'm here." the fairy smiled, bending down, running a hand down the echydin's jaw, all the way to her mouth. Then she reached out to her, with a finger that seemed at first pointed at her chest, then at her chin...

Its long head followed the colossal finger. Steeling herself, Isa reached forward, and, reluctantly, touched it...

...its hide was soft, much to her surprise, though she could feel the mare's strong jawbone and muscles under its skin. Putting her arms around the creature's head, she felt it prod gently at her side with its nose. Opening her eyes, she looked into its peaceful, large black eyes. It blinked a little, its antennae (which she had failed to notice until then) twirling a bit. With a nod, Ecco creature raised its head from between her arms, and poked her cheek with its lips. Then it stuck out its tongue...

It kind of tickled on her cheek.

"There, see? Ecco likes you." Agito replied.

"Ah, I see..." Isa stepped back, her hands still on its head. "Sorry I was so surly, I'm just..."

"She doesn't hold it against you, don't worry." Agito smiled down from the heights.

"Oh, I see!" Isa giggled. "What's that thing you used, anyway?" she turned to her side, looking at Ehloet, right now around her chest height.

"Smelling salts!" Ehloet grinned.

"Really? Well, this is something awesome! How come I never heard of them? Where do I get more?" Isa grinned.

"They're made of things that eat fairies." Ehloet chirped. "And up to shortly ago, only fairy hunters had them. I've got one to make you bug-sized again if you want..."

"No hurry! No hurry." Isa smiled, turning to Ecco. "I'm really glad you showed up, you took a big chance there helping us."

"It's all in a day's work for Ecco." Agito replied. "She's glad to help. She doesn't talk, but..."

"Okay, we arrived." a fairy announced. She was pale, with intense blue hair almost concealing two diamond earrings; behind her, another fairy with blonde hair, tan skin and blue eyes simply stood.

"Where are Fane and Mince, Cezra?" Temi asked.

"They're lingering over there. Fane said she wouldn't be long." Cezra smiled. "They're talking with that town boy..."

"He keeping them?" Marlene asked, suddenly looking a lot less amused. "I'll take care of that, then."

======

In the meantime, Mince had shown her guest to their library, higher on the same tree. Metzger had asked why there were so many hollows in that tree. Mince then explained it was actually several trees fused together. Metzger had asked if there were hollows they hadn't checked. She had assured him that all of the rooms had been cleared, and all of the holes filled. And then Metzger had admitted he wasn't really interested in that thing, because he was still worried about Samantha. That's when Mince asked him to come down to a lower branch, and to explain himself. He complied.

"...and that's why I'm so mad about it." Metzger completed.

"I can understand that." Mince replied. "But you still did it wrong."

"Wrong? How?"

"You made it worse. I mean, if someone said that to me, I'd eat them."

"..."

"I mean, I'd be mad." Mince explained. "You can't blame her for what happened."

"But she acts like she wants it to happen again!"

"You know she doesn't want it."

"Still..."

"HEY!"

The branch the two of them had recently landed on suddenly shook violently. Metzger somehow managed to stay seated, but Mince got to the wing after bouncing off. And all of a sudden, there was a lot more shade over him.

As he turned, the first thing he saw was her sitting on the branch, at least twenty times his size, one leg on each side of it, and she was looking at him. Exactly at him. Her body, even obscured by that green mane she always had, was in clear view, her back upright as she looked down AT him. Though he was invisible.

"Mince, Temi's calling for you. Metzger, stop holding her." she hissed, looking down at him.

"I'm not..."

"It's alright, I'll go now, we'll meet again after I'm back." Mince grinned. Looking at her face, though, Metzger saw a brief flash of rage fly through her features as she escaped from Marlene, whose massive face somehow had the smuggest tone to it that he had ever seen as she watched Mince fly away.

"What a rude girl..." Marlene hissed. "She didn't even say goodbye."

"There was no need for that ent..."

"Shush!" she suddenly turned back to him. "I don't need you to tell me what to do and what not to do."

"What's going on?"

She made a pause, her hands gripping the branch as she leaned forward just a little.

"When you drink elori, you feel magic twice as much." she pointed at her antennae. "I could feel you from a mile away. But as for why I'm heeeeree..." she cooed. "Well, I wanted to make things clear." she grinned. "I know a lot more than you. So it doesn't matter how smart you THINK you are. Don't tell me what to do and what not to do. I know better."

"Look, I didn't mean any offense..."

One of her hands rolled over the other, covering a handful of branch. He took a step back.

"You're always getting mad, nagging, being a bother, and I'm sick of it." she replied.

"All I want is to keep you safe..."

Another handspan closer to him.

"I told you I know what's right, so shut up."

"It's not about...!"

Less than a handspan away from him. He quickly wondered if she was trying to squash him, pressure him- why was she twenty times bigger? He could get twenty times bigger than that- then he remembered she could get twenty times bigger than that in turn. Isa had mentioned that at some point. Was it too much for Marlene's brain to try to goad him into doing something that would make him look silly? Did she even KNOW he was there, did she care whether she crushed him or made him jump off?

Oh, fuck this.

He jumped off.

"That's a good boy."

"What...?"

"At this distance, I can feel you. You got out of my way- keep doing that." she smiled.

"Son of a..." he mumbled. "Marlene, think with your head. You can't go with them!"

"Temi explained it to me and Samantha." Marlene grinned. "They'll go, we'll take care of the house."

Metzger took a deep breath.

"Uh? Well, that's a relief..."

"You didn't convince us." she pointed at him. "Temi did. You better remember that."

Metzger's eyes narrowed.

"Fine!" he exclaimed. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't care who-"

"Great! Keep being a good boy!" she said, crossing one leg over the other, and hopping off. Her wings droned under her mane as she buzzed away noisily, leaving him dumbfounded and bewildered.

For a moment, he could've sworn she had blown him a kiss...

"Well, snap it." he grumbled. "I'm going to read something, that usually calms me down..." he shrugged, flitting into the hollow.

======

Hitting the ground with her feet, Marlene sped towards the other fairies with generous strides and a big grin on her face. Over fourteen fairies now, fifteen with her. Turning around a tree, she looked at the small, flying crowd. Four on a branch, next to the blonde Isa, the rest already up in the air, just a little higher than her head, a bit over arm's reach away from where she stopped. A bit farther, Ecco was standing ready, with its head held high, shaking its tail vigorously.

"Okay, farewell." Temi chirped, her dragonfly wings beating fast behind her. "Remember, stay here!"

"I remember." Samantha said, from the branch.

"And you in particular, Marlene!" Temi said, looking at her sternly.

"Okay, okay." Marlene sighed. "I'm going to stay here, Lady Temi."

"What about Metzger?"

"I told him we were staying, so he's staying too." Marlene replied.

"I thought he'd be harder to convince." Temi replied. "You're her sister." she looked at Samantha.

"He wanted to make sure we stayed here. He said he'd rather trust you." Samantha replied.

"Oh, how sweet." Temi smiled.

"Well, we shouldn't disappoint." Cezra nodded.

"That sounds good, don't disappoint me." Marlene replied, crossing her arms.

"Okay, we'll get your friend back." Temi chirped. "This shouldn't take too long!"

"See you!" Tarusa beamed. "We'll have dinner ready!"

With a last wave, the fairies in the air finally sped towards the steed just behind them. Distributing themselves evenly around its mane, one of them atop its head yelled out something that was too tiny to make out. The echydin trotted away, past the trees, leaving half a dozen fairies behind to hold the fort.

The moment Ecco's profile vanished from the horizon, it was Samantha that broke the silence.

"Okay, what do we do now?"

"Well, now we... where's your brother, Samantha?"

"He's over there." Marlene said, pointing over her shoulder with a thumb. "Sulking."

"Sulking? Why, what happened?" Sabor, the little boy, asked.

"I don't know." Marlene smiled.

"Anyway." Ehloet turned to Isa. "Someone's going to have to watch that woman."

"I can do it." Isa began.

"No, you should stay away from her." Sabor replied. "I'll watch her."

"Why?"

"Because if you get mad at her, you'll eat her." Sabor replied.

"And you won't?" Isa looked down, at the itsy-bitsy figure.

"She can't make me mad, because she doesn't know me." he said, matter-of-factily.

"Well, she doesn't know me either."

"She knows she hurt your friends."

"What, aren't we your friends too now?" Isa chuckled.

"It's not the same thing." he shrugged.

"That's enough, Sabor." Ehloet chirped. "You aren't doing it."

"Why?" he pouted.

"Because she's dangerous." Tarusa replied.

"Dangerous? Like Sareu Trosvil?" Sabor asked.

"Yeah, like Sareu Trosvil."

"Sareu Trosvil?" Isa asked.

"He's a bogeyman." Sabor replied.

"No he's not! Sareu Trosvil is real!" Ehloet laughed. The younger fairy next to her couldn't hold his laughter either.

"Who's this Sareu Trosvil, I'll be curious?" Isa asked.

"An old legend." Tarusa grinned. "A very big and nasty fairy hunter who has a very big and nasty sword!" she laughed. "When it's dark, he puts on a very big and nasty hat, and goes around looking for fairies while he hums a very big and nasty song."

"He sings a very big and nasty song?"

"A very nasty song, yes. And when a fairy hears his song... he grabs them by their legs and tosses them in a big burlap sack." Tarusa grinned.

"I didn't know that particular story."

"Did you have any tales in Kortiki?"

"I remember the tale of the Faulknermonster." Isa smiled.

"I don't." Marlene replied.

"Oh, the Faulknermonster! I like that one." Sabor grinned. "It gets funnier every time someone tells it!"

"What's the tale of the Faulknermonster?" Marlene asked.

"You don't know the tale of the Faulknermonster?" Samantha asked, surprised.

"No, I don't know the tale of the Falmo..." Marlene sighed. "Can you just tell it to me? I want to hear if it's as funny as they say."

The fairies around her looked at each other like they had an inside joke.

"Come on, tell me!"

"Okay..." Isa began, giggling. "The Faulknermonster goes like this. Once upon a time there was a monster, the Faulknermonster."

"What is the Faulknermonster?" Marlene asked.

"The Faulknermonster is... well, from what I've heard, he's a..." Isa started giggling. "Sorry, it's..."

"Come on, tell me!"

"He's a..." she tried. "He's a..." she bent over a little. Marlene couldn't help but start laughing a little herself too.

"What's so funny about that?"

"Sorry, I was just remembering the rest of the story..." Isa nodded. "Okay, I think I can keep a poker voice for now. Let's begin."

"Okay..."

"The Faulknermonster" Isa began "lived in the Forest of Whispers with his mother. She baked him cookies every morning and he ate them as he wandered around the forest, looking for something interesting. Well, one day, the Faulknermonster saw something interesting." she made a dramatic pause.

"Really? What?"

"The Faulknermonster met Nemyra, the fairy queen. You see, his mother's cookies were delicious, and she knew he had cookies. So she stole his cookies."

"Nemyra stole his cookies?"

"Yes. Nemyra stole his cookies." Isa explained. "And the Faulknermonster got mad, because his mother had made those cookies for him. He demanded she return the cookies. But as she didn't return his cookies, the Faulknermonster got mad. And when she ate his cookies, the Faulknermonster got so angry he spat fire at her."

"So the Faulknermonster is a dragon?"

"Hmm..." Isa began. "Nemyra knew he was going to do that, so she flew away. Angry, the Faulknermonster chased her, and he chased after her, leaving the Forest of Whispers. He chased her through the Fairy Kingdom. And knowing that the Faulknermonster wouldn't break off the chase, Nemyra decided to fly out into the sea."

"She flew into the sea?" Marlene asked.

"Yes, and the Faulknermonster tried to follow her, but he couldn't swim. Pirates can't swim."

"So he's a pirate?"

"Hmm..." she replied. "So the Faulknermonster tried to ride a dolphin, to better pursue Nemyra into the sea. The dolphin didn't like it at all, so it tossed him off into the coast; the Faulknermonster got even angrier. He couldn't swim, and he couldn't ride a dolphin. He tried instead to catch a fairy."

"Wait, the Faulknermonster became a fairy hunter?" Marlene asked, surprised.

"Yes. He used his ninja skills..."

"The Faulknermonster is a ninja?" she frowned.

"Hmm..." she replied, again. "The Faulknermonster thought that, taking a fairy's wings, he might be able to follow Nemyra into the sea. So he went, and day after day he tried to hunt fairies. One day, he finally caught one, and took her wings. He glued the wings to his own back, went to a lighthouse built by humans, and jumped down the tallest point, flapping his wings to fly."

"It didn't work." Marlene replied.

"Have you heard this story before?"

"No, but it can't work."

"That's right. The Faulknermonster fell into the sea. And the dolphin caught him and tossed him back in the shore, telling him to never return. He couldn't swim, he couldn't ride a dolphin, and he couldn't use a fairy's wings. The Faulknermonster, now thrice-denied, got really, really angry, and started yelling at the sea. He started yelling at Nemyra, he started yelling at fairies. Then, while yelling, he came up with a final plan."

"What is it, I dread ask?" Marlene asked, with something of a smile in her face.

"The Faulknermonster decided he'd catch several fairies this time, blow up a hot air balloon, and chase Nemyra across the sea in it. But being dumb as he is, the Faulknermonster yelled out his plan at the sea, at Nemyra, and at the fairies. And they all got mad and left him alone. Up to this day, the Faulknermonster keeps trying to catch fairies to pull his hot air balloon, where he plans to shoot down Nemyra with an elephant gun and then cut her open to take his cookies back."

"But she must've digested them by now." Marlene replied.

"Yes, but the Faulknermonster is really, really dumb." Isa grinned. "And there is a big flaw on his plan."

"Just one?"

"Many. But the biggest one is... that Nemyra knows what he's up to, so she's decided not to go anywhere near him."

Marlene looked at Isa blankly.

"That's the worst story I've ever heard."

"I know. I added a twist of my own in it." Isa grinned. "Want to hear it?"

"..."

"You came up with a new twist?" Ehloet asked. "I'd love to hear it!"

"Okay, then. I think the Faulknermonster realized what he did wrong..." Isa grinned. "...so he's now gathering fairy wings to make a time machine, in order to come back from the future and stop himself from chasing after Nemyra. Instead, he wants to become a nurse."

Ehloet gulped, looking amused, Sabor blankly looking at Isa next to her. Tarusa looked around, searching Samantha's expression for something... anything. Apparently, she had already heard this one.

Marlene hadn't.

"I take it back." she thought to herself.

"See? I told you it wasn't so bad!"

"I mean that last one must've been the dumbest..."

"HEY!" Samantha cried.

"Come on! It's a fire-breathing ninja pirate nurse from the future... sorry..." Marlene replied. "Where do you come up with ideas like this?"

"By reading." Isa replied.

"Reading what?" Marlene insisted.

"Poetry."

"WHAT kind of poetry?"

======

"Ah... ah... AH... ah... aaahhhh..."

Five pairs of eyes were locked on him. He could only imagine what his face looked like, with every muscle slack, feeling as though he was going to explode.

"aaahhhh... aaaAAAHhh... AAAhh..."

"What's wrong with you?" Lenna cried, looking at him, on all fours, barely able to keep his face away from the fresh mud.

"Ah! Ah, ah... ahh... oh let mm... me diah..." he mumbled, over his moaning and gasping. "Ahh.... ah..."

His slack hands twirled towards his face. He tried to find the strength to open them, but it was... just...

"AH CHOOO!"

At least he had managed to turn his face away from her. It took just a moment afterwards for him to stand up.

"My. How long was I like that?"

"The last five minutes." Lenna replied. "I thought you were going to die."

"I thought I was going to explode. I've never had a sneeze incoming for so long; I wonder what was wrong?" he sighed.

"What was all that about?"

"I was going to sneeze."

"I meant with the fairy." Lenna replied, their four freeloaders sitting over a root. The fairy had passed out shortly ago, in pain and exhaustion, which had given them the chance to take a short break.

"What with it?" he asked.

"You freaked out. You couldn't let me speak your name, you couldn't even accept me talking to her."

"Dangerous if wings whole." he rep(lied). "Hypnosis magic. Name, and worse." he improvised.

"Why haven't I heard of this?" Lenna asked, putting her hands to her hips.

"Don't know why; I have!" he replied after a pause.

"I don't believe you."

"Don't believe me then." he growled. "But you aren't talking to that fairy."

"That fairy in particular?" she grinned. "Do you know her? She seemed to know you."

"You need new eyes!" he snarled.

"You haven't told me you don't know her..."

"It's obvious, stupid." Faulkner croaked.

Lenna locked gazes with him. She seemed to be scanning his face, with that gaze he despised so much. Looking at him like a puzzle she could deconstruct- like she was holding his keys, whether he agreed with it or not. That arrogance- he wanted to rip her face off.

"I used to be a slaver. You don't need to worry about me getting sympathetic with catches, if that's what worries you." she grinned.

"If not?"

"I really don't think she'll hypnotize me with her voice."

"Lenna, don't talk to her and you'll live." he snarled.

Once more, that gaze.

"Okay..." she shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Wait a moment, that had been too easy. His ears suddenly caught a whispering...

He locked his eyes on the fairy. And right next to her... his heart skipped several beats, releasing the stored pressure in a single burst.

"YOU." he barked, bouncing quickly on the balls of his feet towards the tomthumb. "NO TALKING."

"What, are you worried she'll turn the snack on us now?" Lenna laughed.

"ME SERIOUS." Faulkner barked, approaching Miel, gazing into the fairy's frightened eyes. "STOP."

The fairy seemed to shrink into herself. Faulkner reminded himself she wasn't using magic- if she was, he'd know.

"Enough!" the fairy suddenly cried, looking angrily at him. "I'm tired of your attitude, are you too cool to talk to m...! Oooh..." she fainted, seeing the syringe put to her face again.

"Couldn't you just hurt her wings so that we can talk to her?" Miel asked. An instant later, she averted her eyes, as five fingers clutched the bark under her. Then she glared right back into his eye; he had sufficient precision to avoid touching her. But even then she was glaring right back.

-She's brave.- Faulkner thought to himself. -I can't afford to give her a choice in the matter.-

"Well, what are you going to do with me?" the little one asked. "You're not going to stop me with that." the tomthumb chirped, sounding dizzy. "You've got nothing to really threaten me with."

-Ever in her defiance.- he thought to himself. Just then he heard a voice close to his foot- and someone tapping on it.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" his eye locked on Flanne, her blood red hair and her round, fine features locked on him as she punched his shoes. He could see the fear in her- he withdrew his thoughts. Miel was just defiant- it was Flanne who was brave. Right behind her, he saw Gelta, her hands crossed one over the other, her palms gathering smoking, blue energy... how very brave. She looked a strange combination of frightened and angry. Strange, the two of them were scared, but Miel wasn't.

"Must I... threaten?" he asked her.

"You already did." she shrugged, in his hand. "So what's it going to be? Are you going to hurt me or not?"

"Leave her alone, you jerk!"

His eye ran her over for a moment... then he bent down, placing Miel right next to Flanne.

"See? A little magic does the trick." Gelta said, behind her. Faulkner hissed inwardly.

"IF YOU DON'T ALL SHUT UP..." he growled. "...I BROUGHT ENOUGH SYRINGE FOR EVERYONE!"

Hoisting the fairy up again, he kept moving.

"Hurry, or left behind." he quacked.

Lenna watched him leave, as if he really was going to leave them behind. He didn't slow down, even as he disappeared... whatever. Lenna ducked, turning to Miel.

"Anything juicy?"

"Yes. Her name was Izzelette..." she began. "...also, she told me that Faulkner reminded her of an old tale."

"An old tale?"

"Yes, like the one of Sareu Trosvil."

"Did she say Sareu Trosvil?" Lenna's eyes widened.

"Yes, she did. Why?"

"Because..." Lenna began. "I know Sareu Trosvil."

Miel's eyes widened in turn.

"How so?"

"I know him, because he... personally offered me this job."

======

"Well, the rain died down." the man sighed, lying on a root. "I'm tired of waiting, are you sure they'll come this way?"

"Completely." the elf sitting next to him replied, fiddling with his blindfold. "Even without magic I'd expect them to come down this way. I'll fill you in with more information as soon as I get it." he continued.

The man rubbed a little the beard around his mouth, his sunken, freezing blue eyes rolling in his skull.

"Sounds fair." he replied. "But they better arrive fast..."

"They'll arrive riding an echydin." the elf began. "Take up your sword."

The man reached behind his back, and pulled out a sword. Its smooth edge was inky black, in stark contrast to the plain and unremarkable grip.

"There's more. One of them is wielding a magical sword, it can hurt you."

"Do I disable it first, or do you?"

"I'll try to disable him. I'm confident I'll succeed, but I'd rather you were as careful as possible around him, in case I fail." the elf tilted his head. "Watch out for the one with a nurse cap, she's a healer. If she figures you out, you're in deep trouble."

"Anything else I should be watching out for?" the man grumbled.

"I think... one of them is an elemental mage, but I'm not sure which one." the elf replied. "Stay stalwart, and we should be fine, Sareu."

"Okay. And Misty?"

"You were there when she contacted us an hour ago. What happened to you?" he replied. "It's not like you not to be paying attention."

"Alright." the man grumbled, taking off his coat. "I hope she gets away. As for me, it's time we get back to hunting!" he laughed. "That's a joy... ah, I can feel them arriving. Hide, there was an echydin, right? Right, I can feel the echydin..." he shrugged. "It's time to get them."

The elf nodded. Without looking at anything, he walked behind a tree- while his partner simply stood there, out in the jungle, with his hairy pecs for the whole world to see, a large blade in hand, looking at a long path devoid of trees, framed by the thick canopy.

Soundlessly, a large white horse rode down the path. The man's icy blue eyes locked themselves in it- he felt, between his eyes, the lives of all the creatures riding the horse. There were at least nine, and they were all magical creatures. Fairies. Oh yeah.

"YOOOHOOOOOY!" he cried, raising his free hand. "HOW'S IT GOOOOOING!"

The mare trotted close to him, but stopped well over 80 feet away. It tilted its head away, to look at him with its eyes. He felt kinda funny!

"WASSUP BITCHES!?" he cried, in a mock-friendly voice, looking at the nine fairies on top of the horse.

One of the fey flitted out of the steed, and up to him. He could feel the others chat a little... no doubt regarding him.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Um..." he scratched his head. "Who are you first?"

-One by one will give too many a chance to run. You need to be decisive, do as much damage as possible early on, and leave the dangerous ones for last.- Ryuuzan relayed through the ring.

"Well, I'm Cezra." she replied. "I would ask how a fool of your caliber is alive here, but I can feel you- or more accurately, I can't feel you. So there's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there? For example, there is a wizard close by." she continued.

"So?" he grinned, feeling that several of the fairies were moving around him.

"So I'd say you, wizard, made a mistake. Your illusion is insufficient to fool me, tempting as it is."

"Oh-ho..." he said, smiling and nodding. "I don't get it."

"I figure." she sighed.

"Well... enough of this charade!" he growled. Readying his sword, he lunged at Cezra...

...she shrunk him, flying upwards...

...and he grew right back, reaching for her high in the air in a single movement.

"AH!" she cried. Too late- he had grabbed her. And then he turned to the fairies still on the horse. Their eyes betrayed their amazement- after all, they'd probably never seen a guy with a sword floating in midair before. Specially not holding a fairy in one hand.

"Boo!" he cried.

All of them scattered- and he grinned. He looked for an instant at the fairy he had been warned against first: the one with a nurse cap. She knew he couldn't get shrunken now- she was taking distance, he assumed that was in order to enlarge herself. Well, he had three more to catch, starting with...

An eldritch incantation betrayed one of them, currently at a size around his own, right now right behind him. Well, that one was easy, all he did was circle around the echydin, and take a swipe at another fairy while he was at it. She hadn't gotten too far- blonde, blue eyes, tan, so delightful-looking... his sword went right through her flesh, leaving not a wound, but making her drop to the ground either way. He felt the echydin wallop away, leaving him unprotected against the spell.

Well fuck it.

"LOOK WHAT I BROUGHT IN!" he said, grabbing the fairy around his size by her neck, and holding her over his chest. The spell that had been lunging for him suddenly vanished in midair, the fairy attacking him hesitating right there. Just then he realized that one of the fairies was getting away! No way he was going to let that happen...

Dropping the fairy he had caught, he dove into the ground, and without ever breaking it, he emerged right under the fairy, chasing after her. She turned around, her red hair, her apparently vacant expression looking at him for the instant his sword was diving for her heart.

Instead, he raised his other fist and punched her throat. His fist dived right into it- and she froze in midair, darkness welling up in her eyes as she let out a gasp. He lowered her to the ground- his fist left her throat like it was made of smoke. Her flesh was unharmed, other than the fact she was unconscious now, and looked paler. Once more, he drove right back to where he had been before, just in time for Ryuuzan to cry...

"HURRY UP!"

...while darting behind a tree to avoid a flurry of lightning bolts. Sareu took an instant to realize he couldn't see the two fairies he had stopped before. Had someone taken them away? Fuck! He could only be in one place at a time...! But he could feel four fresh fairies, two with disabled wings and one he had disabled completely...

"THAT GIANT DONKEY!" he barked, running off through the ground once more...

...until he burst in front of the donkey.

"YOU...!" he snarled, putting both fists together, flying right into the echydin. The creature tried to avert itself, but it was too late- he dived through the creature's chest, and emerged out of his flank, leaving not a wound behind. Then he went at the two fairies on top of it, and grabbed them, staying on the air as the donkey thing collapsed.

Lowering them to the ground, he once more dived right towards the battlefield where Ryuuzan was probably running out of luck...

"DAMMIT, I CAN'T DO THIS MUCH LONGER!" the blindfolded elf cried, parrying off a magical assault, just as a giant hand grabbed him from behind.

"I'll save you!" Sareu barked, looking up that hand- at the giant woman, at her dragonfly wings, at her red hair, at her nurse cap- my, how convenient! Just the person he was thinking of! He leapt towards her...

...and barely parried a slash coming from the side, which stopped him right there.

"Damn!" the hunter growled, barely managing to block the attack with his own sword. Another swing later, he had needed to descend a few feet just to keep up- which put him right on the spot where he got smacked by an intense fire bolt.

"FUCK! AAAaARARGHHH!" he growled, realizing the spell had made him catch on fire. Realizing quickly that it wasn't stopping the swordsman, he disappeared...

...leaving behind his burning silhouette, which crumbled down quickly.

-That's it. I'm mad now... and I better wrap this up quickly.- he thought.

"Looks like he left." Temi frowned, looking at the elf in her hands. He had his teeth grit, trying to struggle under his cloak, between her fingers. "What's next, now? Where is Rui?"

"I'm... not telling you anything." the elf snarled.

And so she swung him heavily for an instant, her face cold, invisibly to him.

"Yes, you will." she hissed into his face. "I don't think you understand this. I've come this way expecting to find Rui. I've even been willing to let your friend go. But now you ambush me, you hurt all my friends, and I want... to hurt you. I really, really want to hurt you. And I will, unless you give me a reason not to hurt you. I'm trying not to think of what your friend did..." she hissed, starting to squeeze. "...because if I do, even that might not stop me."

"Argh!" Ryuuzan gasped. "Rui... who is R- AaRGH!" he cried. "I can't breathe, you're hurting me..."

"Hurting you?" she stressed. "I've only begun hurting you..." she said, grabbing his arm with her other hand. "Now you're going to tell me where exactly she is."

-She will hurt me.- Ryuuzan realized, frowning under his blindfold. -I can see it happen. I'm running out of time. There's no way not to endure pain, I'll have to at least try to minimize it...-

"She's... [in a jar would get his arm broken all over] she's... [with Moirat and Navari would make her start hurting his arm in order to extract a confession] she's... she's from Kortiki righWAWARGH!" his arm let out a sickening crunch. He hadn't seen that one coming.

"Where... is she?"

"You... my arm..."

"It's easy, I just twisted. Pray I don't twist any further." Temi replied. "I'd add some crunierlon first. It only reaches skin-deep, but if I twist enough, your bones will come out through your skin..."

"I- I KNOW!" Ryuuzan barked. "STOP! STOP! She's... fuck, she's, she's north of herAAAAAH!"

"How do I know you're not lying? I've been lied to earlier today, by your partner."

"S-stop, stop, stop!" he cried, gritting his teeth, trying not to break completely. At least not yet. "I... can't proveAAAYIIIH!"

Now she had pulled on his hand. Everything twisted and broken inside his arm felt really warm for an instant, then he gasped...

-Dammit, dammit, dammit, this isn't good. This wasn't supposed to go this way!-

"Where is she?"

"NORTH! M... she'll..." he suddenly came up with an idea. "I'll I'LL PROVE IT! I'll have her brought hereAAAARRGHH!" he gasped.

"Why didn't your partner think of that?"

"Th-this is neutral ground, instead of... walking right towards y-AAAYYYYYY...!"

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" she demanded.

"I... I'm not Misty!" he cried. "I... I can't get out... you'd kill me if it were a trap..." he gasped. "You'd kill me if it isn't a trAAAHHH!"

"That..." she declared. "...is obvious. Had you Rui here, hadn't you tried to kill me, maybe you'd have walked away alive. But now... I think you'll end up a snack. I think your partner will end up a snack too, we still have her. You shouldn't have tried to ambush us."

"Temi, are you okay?" Agito cried, approaching her. Ryuuzan wasn't looking- it sounded like a she to him.

"Did you get the other guy? I think he escaped." a male voice said, approaching the massive fairy. The elf didn't know his name.

"He was fast as lightning..." she said.

"I don't think he's gotten too far." Temi replied, locking her eyes on the elf. "I'd say he's still here, watching you suffer..."

"AND YOU'D BE RIGHT, BITCH!"

Raising their gazes for an instant, they caught a glimpse of the strangest creature they had seen in some time.

Its form was violet, so dark it was almost black. Two glowing white slits marked the eyes in its skull-like face, twelve glowing spots marked the teeth in the mass of darkness behind its mouth. The creature shimmered and billowed, like haze, like smoke, its skeletal structure distorted- like a shadow cast on a wall by a light set on the ground, with two yards long claws and skeletal limbs.

Its reduced scale when compared to the giant fairy was almost meaningless.

It dove for Agito, who could barely even turn around, and then sank its yard-long claws into her chest. Only an instant later, its other hand gripped her body and tossed her right at Temi- uninjured- at least, externally.

Turning towards the swordsman, the shimmering creature let out a challenging, unearthly growl. He flinched for an instant, and steeled himself- Temi laid her hand at the creature, and in a flash of light the monster seemed to shimmer even harder for an instant, diving into the ground-

It took only a moment for it to disappear, and then reappear on a branch close to the sword-wielding fairy. It was shaken, yowling madly, trembling. Then it hopped off the branch, and drove right for the sword once more. Swinging its behemoth claws, one of its claws parried off the sword, and the other one grabbed it. Its head bolted off its neck, towards the sword-wielding fairy's neck- and just then, another flash of light came from Temi's hand.

The creature seemed transfixed for an instant, which it took to disappear.

"It's a ghost!" Temi cried. "No wonder almost nothing hurt it!"

"I'M YOUR SHADOW, BITCH!" a voice from behind her cried, as the creature suddenly drove into her back- she turned around, just quickly enough to feel something cold spreading from her chest. Her shoulders shook for an instant, and she dropped on her rear end, gasping-

Gripping her chest with all her might, there was a flash of white light, and then a shadow fled from behind her.

"THAT WAS CLOSE!" Sareu Trosvil snarled. "YOU ALMOST GOT ME!"

"I know your trick now!" she gasped. "I can get you!"

"BUT YOU DON'T KNOW HALF OF IT!" he quacked back. Just then, Temi sniffed something.

"IM..." she gasped. "This is...!" she grit her teeth.

"Yes it is!" the ghost growled. "You're screwed, bitch!"

She seemed to shake for a moment.

"I'm... I'm not going to give in...!" she mumbled, her head shrinking into her shoulders, her arms wrapping around her body...

"Lady Temi...?"

"Nettu, escape!"

"But...!"

"DON'T LISTEN TO HER!" a voice right behind him cried. He turned around just in time to slash at the creature's massive claws, severing entirely one of its limbs- which didn't matter. Its other limb took a full turn and sliced into his skin.

But for some reason, the pain was unbearable. It was like his very being had been ripped off his flesh- and there was something grabbing his throat too. Something slowing down his descent through his neck, until he felt the ground with his feet...

======

"Well, looks like you DIDN'T give in." the ghost grumbled. "Whodathunk?"

Temi's massive form stood up once more. Next to shapes like that, Sareu had to confess he did feel somewhat tiny at times.

But that was the fun part...

Suddenly she let out a squeak, and once more she seemed to hold her breath. Well, good for her.

"Glad you finally deigned yourself do something, Ryuuzan." the shadow monster laughed, looking at the form in her hand. "I thought this hunt was getting botched."

"Finish her off, dammit." Ryuuzan's limp form gagged.

"Uh-kay..." the shadow shrugged.

And in a single swift movement, it seemed to turn into a ray of darkness, propelling itself straight towards her heart.

She gasped again. And this time she coughed. Falling to her knees, then on her side, she seemed to shrink...

...and then she definitely was shrinking. When her hand got too small to hold the elf, he dropped to the ground... with a groan, as the shadow monster saw her shrink, and shrink, and shrink...

Finally she was smaller than him. Maybe smaller than the elf.

Recomposing itself on the ground, walking slowly towards her, the shadow evaporated, leaving behind a man. A big hairy muscleman... of doom.

"Chalk one point for the big hairy muscleman of doom. No, nine points." Sareu Trosvil grinned, looking at the fairy.

Temi's eyes raised themselves towards him.

"Wait a moment..." she hissed. "You're Sareu Trosvil."

"No, I'm the Faulknermonster." Sareu chirped. "Yep. Have you heard of me?"

Temi's face was a mask of pain as she looked at him. He put his hands on his hips, and waited for her to pass out.

"Damn, that got really long." Sareu sighed. "I'd say it's been like hunt and half, and I didn't even get serious!"

"Speak for yourself." Ryuuzan grimaced, still limp. "I think those were all my smelling salts..."

"You look hell. I thought you could see the future?"

"Yes."

"But you got your ass handed to you. Why didn't you just tell her what would get you hurt the least?"

"I did..." he mumbled. "...this is the least she would hurt me."

"She really had it in for you, huh?"

"Us." Ryuuzan mumbled. "Us."

"Well, this is nine fairies... Lenna has one, and Ichenso has one, I guess if we count the one from Kortiki, this makes twelve. I'll get the sack ready."

The Joy of Hunting Part 10- Samantha's Head

Elori still belongs to Silent_Eric.
Feyweed still belongs to Zoekin.

======


Ding, ding, ding, dara-ring-ring, ding-ding, dara-rang.

Ding dararingring, dingding dara rang.

Dingding dingding dingding dingding, da-ra-ra-rara, raaa, da-ra-ra-rara...

"That tune will drive me to madness."

"I'm just passing the time."

"Would you pass the time without that tune?"

"I could pass less time with this tune if you would just hurry it up."

"That's beyond my control." the elf frowned. "It's up to Misty's pets..." he licked his lips. "...birds, it's up to her birds now."

"I could pass less time with this tune if they would just hurry it up."

"We're not trying to attract them this time around." he looked around. "This is a situation that calls for stealth."

"Something makes me think I could blow a kazoo here and no fairy would be any wiser." the man in a jockey costume shrugged. "What do you think?"

The elf examined his eyes behind the visor for a moment. When he gave up on trying to find them, he just grimaced and shook his head.

"Don't blow a kazoo. Just stay put. Misty should be coming out any moment now. If we're lucky, we'll find out how she smuggled a hostage out of Kortiki."

"Kortiki, that's a nice name. Do you think we'll ever go there?"

"I don't think I'd want to. Even that bird lady lost the bucket of screws there."

"Bucket of screws, huh? Bird lady you say?" he giggled. "Well, when is the... hm... that worm-kissing, dirty old featherduster she can't stop fondling for her life, when is it going to drag its... sore, smelly butt in our direction?" the jockey asked playfully.

The elf cracked a smile.

"Good one, Ichenso."

"When?"

"I just told you I don't know!" he chuckled. "I'll let you know if I see something."


======


"Hrmm..."

"What is it?" Tarusa smiled.

"I don't like sitting here while someone else does all the work..." Samantha pursed her lips. "Rui needs help."

"Oh boy..." Tarusa sighed. "Well, I'm not Temi. I don't know what is it she told you to convince you to stay here, but you should remember it."

"I do, but..."

"Rui is in good hands, Samantha. Don't worry about her, and worry a little about yourself. In your condition, with the elori, if you met those hunters you'd be in trouble."

"Rui is in trouble." she grimaced.

Tarusa sighed, quickly, putting on her most comforting grin.

"I know what it's like. I'm sorry you can't help her-"

Just after those words left her mouth, Tarusa realized what she had just said.

"NO! I can help her, you just won't let me!" the younger, paler fairy cried.

-How does Temi do it?-

"Sorry. What I'm trying to say is that I know what it feels like, and I'm sorry about the way it's all turned out. It's alright you're worried, she's your friend after all. But you have to be sure that Temi will rescue her; you are doing nothing wrong by being here."

"I'm doing nothing."

Oh bother. Tarusa licked her lips for a moment, tossing her head back for a moment in frustration. She reminded herself to keep a stiff upper lip.

"Cheer up! She's going to be okay. Isn't that what matters?" she grinned, barely holding her annoyance in.

Samantha crossed her legs, sitting on a nearby branch. Much to Tarusa's unease.

"You shouldn't just sit there and be angry!"

"What should I do, then?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do? Other than going with Temi, that is."

"May I?"

"You promised her you'd stay here."

"Well, I shouldn't have!"

"Oh, for Nemyra's...!" Tarusa let out an annoyed grin. Quickly, Ehloet cut her off.

"Samantha, why don't you help me prepare things for when Rui comes back?"

"Prepare things? What things?"

"Well, when Rui comes here, she'll probably want a nice drink and a warm bed all to herself." Ehloet said. "We could do that for her."

"She could be hurt."

"When Temi finds her, she'll be okay."

"Well, I'll go with you." Isa finally spoke. "Want to come with Ehloet too, Samantha?"

"No."

"I know..." Sabor grinned. "I'll show you the view from the top of this tree. You'll be the first to know when they come back!"

"Okay, that sounds a little better." Samantha shrugged.

"A lot better. Just wait until you get a look at it yourself." Sabor chirped, flitting up. Samantha quickly followed him...

"Play nice!" Tarusa chirped. Ehloet and Isa left, wordlessly, leaving her alone with Marlene.

"I'm sorry you can't help her."

"Huh?"

"Smooth, woman. Real smooth." Marlene chuckled.

"Sorry, I didn't know what else to say. She really got on my nerves."

"Her friend got caught."

"A lot of people get caught." Tarusa lowered her gaze.

"I know, but this is the first time one of her friends gets caught." Marlene chirped back. "And she's young."

"I'm not old either, she could take it better. She seemed okay during the goodbye, what changed?"

"I think she's dwelling on it."

"Then I hope they come back tonight." Tarusa replied. "That way she'll be alright. What are you doing now?"

"I think I'll nap, now that I can." Marlene said, laying on her side. "It'd be a waste of warm breeze otherwise."

"You're not worried?"

"I believe you. Temi's good at what she does..." she shrugged. "...and the elori's making me sleepy."

"Well, see ya."

"And what are you going to do now?"

"Look around, maybe read something..."

"I think Metzger will be reading." Marlene's gaze intensified for a moment.

"I'll tell him you said hi."

"And tell him to come here too." she chirped.

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Yes. Tell him..." she suddenly smiled. "Tell him Marlene knows what he's reading." she winked.

A little disoriented, Tarusa just smiled back.

"Okay, I will..." she flitted away. "What a freak." she mumbled to herself.

======

Barely even regaining awareness, Misty looked out towards the light. This chamber was bottlenecked. The exit, once the entrance, was too small for her. She could barely fit her fist out. If she had the tools to open it up, she'd probably kill herself in the attempt. But wherever there was a will, there was a way. A way to fit her ship out of the bottleneck.

That, or she was going to die. Or both.

A shadow blocked the light. She couldn't see against it. It was...

"Piggy?"

"I don't think so." the shadow replied. With a mocking smile, she realized it was bipedal, with wings... the fairies hadn't wanted to honor their deal. Funny that.

"We have a deal." Misty sighed.

"I know..." the voice replied.

Nothing more. That was making her nervous. She had to hold out. Hold out until help came.

"She's not really there, is she?"

"She's..." Misty began. "I don't understand."

"Rui's not in the place you sent them to."

"So her name is Rui... interesting." Misty chirped.

"Is she or is she not?"

"I really doubt it."

The shadow stirred.

"Then you sent everyone into a trap."

"I did everything you asked. I asked where was it being held, I never warned anyone. Will you please keep your word now?" she seemed to plead for a moment, though her voice carried a hint of mockery that was almost inherent.

There was a pause.

"Are you going to hurt me?" Misty giggled. "You already tried to hurt me. You know, I don't think that's going to work now."

Her head hanging low, wobbling to the side, her eyes suddenly on the wall, she took a deep breath and let out an exaggeratedly loud sigh.

-I need... more time...- she thought.

"Just a little longer..." she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Ju's a'ttl'ongh..." she mumbled, her head wobbling. "Piggy where're you my Piggy bird Piggy bird Piggy bird..."

"I don't believe you're that delirious." the fairy spat, as harsh as she could. She just giggled in response. "You better"

"Coo!"

"about what you're doing next. If they can't find her, we'll"

"Sweet. My ride's here."

"goose for lunch."

"My ride is here." she insisted.

"What do you mean?"

"Cu. Coo!"


======


When she noticed the bird was too close for comfort, Tarusa's first reaction was to hop down from the hole, to the outside, and grow. But the bird went by too fast for it to be necessary; she followed it with her sight until it went around the trunk. But she could feel it was going all around the trunk, probably about to sweep towards her again.

Instead of that, the bird decided to fly off. But possessed by a sudden intuition, she decided to follow that red bird- up to the branch where it perched, looking away from her.

"Cu. Cu. Coo. Coo!"

"Strange bird..." Tarusa said, lying on the branch, right next to the bird. She held her wings behind herself, ready to grow if necessary...

...when the bird suddenly hopped towards her.

"Ack...!" she withdrew. The bird flapped its wings quickly- and then wrapped them around her, holding her bare breasts against the bird's muscular, feathered chest.

She recognized the essence only one instant after realizing why she really hadn't grown. And she gasped- that was her last mistake.

"Feyweed!" the essence in the bird's wings was already stealing both her magic and her mind. Wrapped around her body, it wafted from its feathers into her hair, and into her lungs... the animal's tough flesh, already wrapped around her, killed her every impulse, slowly consuming the panic and the light from the world. She caught one last peek from under its beak, inexpressive, as the scent itself left her to sleep.

That was all.


======


"Cu. Coo!"

"Excellent." Misty stood up, weakly, looking at the new figure on the entrance. She extended her hand towards it, her gaze blurring, her fingers twitching... "You, my dear Piggy, are pretty handy..."

Her twitching fingers, upon achieving contact with the animal's feathers, seemed to vibrate for a moment.

Then with a crunch, her fingers went right through the animal, melding into its flesh.

"Coo. Coo-oo."

The bird cooed, indifferent to the hand, as large as its body, that was right now melting into it.

"You're a good bird, aren't you a good bird..." Misty puckered her lips. Squelching softly, the flesh around her wrist swam into her fingers, and then into the bird- its body already bulging on the other side. A feathered growth flowed out from under its wing, close to its thigh, writhing sluggishly, pulsing, the feathers slowly parting around the outgrowth they couldn't part anymore.

"Cu."

As if this was natural somehow, the bird performed not a motion, even as her arm flowed into its body up to the wrist. She licked her lips, feeling herself flow to the other side of the bird. Her arm flowed, and flowed, up to the shoulder, into the bird, her neck starting to warp and distend.

"That's it, you do good..." she hissed, smiling. "Keep doing good for mommy..."

Her body, now melted around the shoulder, seemed to climb up to flow into the bird, her head and side thinning into the mass that kept scrambling into her accomplice. She let out a short chuckle when the strap around her chest fell down around her thinning torso, slowly joining into the bird, flowing onto the other side. By the time her hips collapsed into her flowing mass, her mouth was only an elongated feature around the mass that escaped her prison.

Like a tumorous mandrake, she imprinted herself in the almost featherless mass that dripped down from under the bird's wing. The red flesh suddenly grew red hair on its end, warping and splitting in two. The end with the least hair suddenly sloughed into ten tendrils that writhed irregularly, blue veins pulsing out into its thoroughly warted surface. With another, extended squelch, hard bulges started flowing down the mass, into both ends, the tendrils swelling with the hard objects. The warted mass paled, a face-shaped object bulging into the hairy mass. Another bulge suddenly exploded from under the bird's wing, flowing along the mass rather than into it...

Misty started flowing the other way around, the base starting to creep up along the cross-shaped, paling form. With a wet noise, the end with tendrils split in two, leaving five chunky structures on each end. One of each moved to the side, elbows and knuckles forming in the raw flesh. The face suddenly opened its mouth and gasped air in, as if knowing life for the first time, the blood-red hair on its end flowing into its position. The warts seemed to flow back into the still-paling mass, feathers in the bulge falling off, leaving a frightfully smooth, bare white surface beneath, cut off in its homogeneity by brown, chunky spots where feathers had once been. Taking another deep breath, her head seemed to form completely, her remaining end turning into a foot.

Releasing itself from the bird's wingpit, she caught a branch with her arms. In her snowy, bare structure, she felt the remaining organs recover their structure as the feathers that still clung to her thigh and neck came off. Reinvigorated by the fresh blood, she grinned, taking a deep, pleasant breath- and licking her lips, she felt her own bizarre flavor. Piggy had, indeed, gotten dirty before coming near.

"Well done, Piggy."

"Cu. Coo."

"I'll think about it..." she chuckled, crawling on top of the branch she was on. "Can you bring me my string?"

The bird disappeared into the hollow for a moment, returning with a string on its beak. She licked her lips, and pulled the string, making a quick knot on it to wrap around her wrist and hand. Wrapping a loop around the branch, she started adding knots around the surface. Just enough to push her fingers through them.

And then she rapelled down around the trunk, one handhold on the string at a time.

Hitting the ground, she cracked her neck, and spat on her hands. Painful as it had been, the escape had went through without a hitch- other than the fact she was naked now and her hands were raw red. But both of those things could be solved.

Following Piggy, she quickly crossed the treeline.



"Hello, Misty."

She turned around to see an elf, wearing a robe, and a metal cap- nothing else of note. Well, crimson eyes.

"Antares."

"Indeed."

"Don't forget about me. Wouldn't be fair after this sight you've just offered me." Antares' partner hummed, wrapped in loose neoprene, combat boots and a visored plastic helmet, close to a large metal contraption. "I don't see this much skin in a real woman all that often."

She shrugged.

"Thanks, Ichenso." she hissed. "Did you bring a spare change of clothes?"

"You can wear my clothes for all I care." Ichenso smirked. "Though I think his would fit you better."

She looked at Antares' cap.

"Metal doesn't suit me." she took a deep breath. "I'd like at least a blanket before riding that monster."

"My monster won't hurt you. Unless it really likes you."

"I know how hot those things get."

"You know it's for you."

Ichenso let out a chuckle, snapping his fingers.

"Enough teasing, Ichenso. Yes, we brought you some clothes..." he reached into the trunk of their hovering contraption, opening a plastic bag and tossing the contents over to her.

"Great." she said, quickly putting the panties on, and then the top. "They look sort of gaudy, though"

"It's all we could find on such short notice." Ichenso shrugged.

"Well, I guess it's good you could bring anything at all..."

"Yeah. And this guy here told me I shouldn't be buying women's underwear. What do you know?" Ichenso laughed. "It turned out to be useful."

Antares snapped his fingers again.

"I just don't think it's healthy, that's all."

"I'll tell you what isn't healthy. You pretending to be my mother." Ichenso shrugged. "You should at least try her pantyhose on first."

"Fun as this discussion is, I think we'd best move quickly." Antares pursed his lips. "Two fairies have been spying on us for some time."

"DAMN!" two voices cried in unison.


======


The three humanoids quickly leapt on the hoverbike. With a quick turn of the handholds, it sped into the distance...

"Follow that bike!" Samantha cried, buzzing behind it.

"No need to. They may run, but not hide." Marlene pointed at her antennae. "They have a wizard, and I'm feeling him. I'm feeling everything in this forest- and that includes the little bird that follows them right now." she chuckled.

"That woman caught us once! She could catch us again if you let her find more birds!" Samantha cried, flitting forward on her own.

"Ah!" she buzzed behind. "But if she could just grab birds, we'd have been in a lot more trouble." she grinned. "She's down to one bird. Don't let it touch you!"

"Okay!" she smiled. Buzzing on forward, the two of them started closing the gap between the hoverbike and them. Staying behind trees, making sure there was something between them -it couldn't affect their ability to follow, given the current state of their predator sense, but if they tried to shoot, they'd be in some trouble- they started gaining on the metal contraption. Speed obviously wasn't its strong suit- that, or the terrain was affecting negatively its ability to maintain top speed, or it was being driven by an old lady. Did it really matter?

The bird turned around in midflight, suddenly swooping towards Marlene, who closed her eyes. It stopped for an instant, flapping its wings madly to hover- and she dodged it.

Doing a barrel roll with her eyes closed, she opened them, and looked behind her, only to see the bird trying desperately to accellerate back towards her. Forward, she saw the metal contraption they were riding skid and halt before it crashed into a broad rocky outcropping.

Grinning, she swooped down into them, growing as she did. She felt the wizard gather his energies, and fire a bolt at her. A bolt she could've dodged with her eyes closed. But she didn't close her eyes. She just shifted to the side...

...and the lightning bolt banked in midair, driving right into her.

"AUUUGH!"

"Marlene!" Samantha gasped, hopping behind a tree as she felt the wizard gather his energy again. That... had been unexpected.

As her minute form found the ground, harmlessly, she stood up... right in time for a round transparent jar to descend around her. Something tossed her on her ankles and the world shifted around, a white plastic lid sealing the sun behind. Trying to summon her own magic, she found her power... bound away. Not reduced, but impossible to acceed. Completely. So much it hurt. So much it was difficult to even think it had ever existed. It was a disturbing sensation, a numbness of the spirit that one couldn't describe. It had more in common with a mood than a cramp, despite combining elements of both.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?"

"I caught y-!"

The quake that followed brought him to his knees, throwing his other companions to the ground. Ichenso took the worst of it, falling on his shoulder, Misty only fell on her rear. However related to birds she may have been, she wasn't all that agile. She stomped again, feeling the bird come up from behind her. She took a very deep breath, turned around, and blew out with all her might at the bird. It struggled in the wind, but despite its best efforts her breath carried it away into the distance.

For some reason, the wizard didn't seem to want to do anything to her now. Probably because her current size was inconvenient with or without magic. Licking her lips, she saw the woman grab the jar with Marlene on it and start running. But she had been faster before; at her current speed, she was nowhere near a challenge- she scooped her up with two fingers, and brought her to her mouth.

"Give me that jar."

Meeting her gaze, those golden eyes and that hard grimace explained her just how much had she won. Three. At least one would tell her what she needed to know. There was no need for the other two.

The woman's face froze. Her jaw fell slack, a satisfying tremble coming over her body, pleasant in her hand. She pried the jar off without much effort, and brought her to her mouth.

"NO! DON'T! I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHAAAAIEEEE!!"

She tried to curl up in her mouth. Didn't matter- her tongue pried her limbs off herself, feeling her almost creamy smoothness. There was a hint of something odd in her flavor, something exotic, but not unpleasant in the least. Something that almost melted in her mouth, a sweetness she had never felt before. A sweetness that had no match in all of nature, highlighting the smooth shoulders, and the soft breasts against her tongue. The sweetness, she reflected, letting out a pleased sigh, may have had more to do with revenge than with her flavor.

And before -beneath- her, these two could only watch powerlessly as she enjoyed their comrade. Her flesh was cold, with spicy sweat, but she became more and more sweet against her palate as the moisture in her mouth substituted the flavor of her fear, the exotic essence in her flesh, and the veritable delight to the situation as a whole. She couldn't help but hold her breath a little, the jar in her fingers suddenly not being as much of a worry as it used to be. She allowed herself to zone out, lose her focus somewhat, hold one hand to her throat.

No matter how many times she ran her tongue over her, she couldn't help herself, her consistency was divine, and she only wanted another taste. Her flavor was impressive. Every worry in the world was in front of her, somewhere she could control them, except for Rui, and she couldn't figure out why she didn't really care about her anymore. She couldn't understand why the sense of urgency was gone all of a sudden. She could only feel an ever-growing desire to taste her, a desire so strong it made her sit down, lightheaded.

It was so delicious she had to let go of a small moan, her vision blurring over, her heart rate quickening, her cheeks flush, a strange feeling rubbing over her whole body- it was almost as if she had been possessed by that flavor. Possessed, she reflected, suddenly realizing something was amiss. Possessed. The woman in her mouth was making her feel... possessed.

Something was wrong. Humans didn't taste like that.


She quickly spat her out- and the wizard sprang into action. She could feel him fire a barely gathered energy- out of impulse, she threw her foot towards him.

"AGH!"

Just then, she realized she had yet to feel him. Gathering herself on the ground, she realized her tongue burned. Turning to her side, she looked up at the huntress- roughly at her height, and moving up. Pursing her lips, she realized the feeling around her, that breeze, was the air around her when she shrank. The ground around her when she shrank. Her mouth burned lightly, her throat felt odd. The sensation seemed to quickly subside now that she felt it. It had only been an instant...

...behind her, the wizard hurled another bolt at her.

She didn't have the time to pick herself up, fly, or anything, by the time she noticed anything... there was just nothing she could do.


======


To be fair, this clearing was remarkable. He had seen his share of stone spires like this one in the Fairy Kingdom, but he'd never really paid them much mind. This one, on the other hand, had a chalk picture on it, one that made him wish he had studied magic in the first place. He could feel, through his antennae, that something about that picture, or maybe that rock, was magical. But in its presence, he could barely feel anything else with them. The stone seemed to pull him towards itself, much to his quiet horror, just as it seemed to dim and blur the feel of the rest of the world. A giant harpy could've snuck up on him, and his antennae wouldn't have been of any help.

Everything felt so ominous around that chalk-painted rock, as if he was at death's door itself. Pursing his lips, he felt the latest events flash before his eyes. From the moment he annoyed his sister by going to look for her again, just because his father couldn't find her. He wondered why he couldn't find her but he could always find him. He wondered why had it seemed like a good idea to go on a roadtrip. He wondered why he had skipped out on eating humans. He wondered why had they crossed into the Forest of Whispers through the Bridge of the Huntress, where everything changed, where he found Rui had been kidnapped. He wondered why had he told Samantha about Rui being kidnapped.

He wondered why had he let her out of his sight. He wondered why had he came to this place. He wondered what made him think he could save her. He wondered what would mom and dad say. His mind wandered in wonder, a thousand wonders, thinking of the huntress at the bridge... thinking of their fight, if it could've been called a fight, thinking of her as she had been caught, thinking of everything he did and regretted. Thinking of everything he regretted not doing. Thinking of all that could be lost, thinking of his sister.

He wondered what had been going on in Samantha's head.

And he figured something out. That he really didn't want to be here.

"I just figured something out."

"What is it?" Isa raised her eyebrows.

"I... couldn't figure out anything because my head felt like cotton, and then she hit me in the head. Repeatedly." he began. "But I should've thought of this, when I was chasing her, something happened, and I shrank back... she must've been using feyweed."

"Feyweed?"

"Yes. It was common around here, right?" he blurted. "That explains it. She... that bird, there was a bird, I think, I can't really remember... but I remember something that went up my nose. Maybe it had feyweed on it. That must've been why I shrank back, why I couldn't really think about it at first. I have to avoid that bird if it ever shows up again."

"But the problem with feyweed is nectar, not pollen. Birds can't fly with wet wings."

He made a pause.

"I wouldn't know... I never heard of anything like that. I'm not much of a bird fan." he replied. "Let's say this bird can fly with wet wings."

"Was Tarusa certain they were going to come this way...?" Isa grimaced.

"I don't know. DAMMIT!" he snarled. "Samantha was TOLD not to run off on her own, Marlene even lorded it over me that she was NOT going to run off, and then they went and did it anyway!"

"Don't think of that right now."

"But she KNEW she wasn't supposed to!"

She tapped her little finger over the black object she was holding.

"But Tarusa was knocked out. They had to do something."

"They could've told someone."

"It must've happened too fast."

"That's no excuse!"

"If it were by you, no one would've noticed anything!" she protested. "You'd still be reading if I hadn't showed up to tell you!"

He sighed between his teeth. Isa wondered if she hadn't crossed a line...

"But it's okay. You know, I wasn't expecting you to volunteer."

"She's my sister." Metzger sighed. "Tarusa was all woozy. I wasn't expecting YOU to come."

"Well, Sabor went to look for help, and Ehloet had to stay with Tarusa. She also let me borrow those..." she tapped a leather pack strapped to her thigh. "And they're my friends."

He made a pause.

"What we're doing is really stupid."

"Yes."

"Can you think of a better idea?"

"No. Why else would I be here?" she mumbled, raising the prismatics to her eyes. "I can't see them anywhere."

"I'm getting nervous..." he gulped. "What if Tarusa got it wrong, and they weren't going to move through here?"

"Just don't think of that right now." she replied.

"I can't think of anything else."

"Then don't think of anything at all." she raised her brows.

"Gee." he hummed.

"Hey!" she cried. "They're over there!"

Metzger shook, much to her surprise. He was on a branch, after all.

"Be careful. We want them to take us to Rui..."

"But right now I just want to save Samantha."

"But if you can make them take you to Rui, you can save Samantha too."

"I'm not going to play a daredevil here!" Metzger snarled. "She's in danger..."

"Okay, okay!" Isa cried. "But don't just stomp in there. If they know who we're here for, they can hurt them. Be subtle."

Metzger took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll be subtle, subtle, subtle." he mumbled.

"And stay calm!" she chided.

"Yes, I'll stay calm!" he whimpered, floating down to the ground. "It's simple. Walk in, shrink 'em, grab 'em. It's that simple." Metzger took a deep breath. "They can't see me coming, I'm invisible, I'm going to make no noise whatsoever, I'm barefoot." he whispered to himself, hearing the buzzing sound float closer. He touched the ground with his feet, very quietly, watching the three hunters arrive in their contraption. Wait a moment, four hunters?

The contraption's hum dimmed down as it slowed, stopping completely as they neared the spire. His sister was with them, wrapped in a tightly strapped white robe, only her wings showing behind her. An elf with crimson eyes carried her down by the shoulders, with the assistance of that woman with blood-red hair, the one that should be dead by now. A man, dressed in a loose neoprene jumpsuit, wearing a visored biker helmet, got off the bike, but held it up no matter what.

-That's it. Shrink 'em, grab 'em...- he licked his lips in concentration. -Just a little closer. Just... a little... closer...-

POOF!

Clenching his throat, he managed not to speak a word as he saw two more figures appear all of a sudden around the spire. Right in front of his targets, there were two more hunters now... and he had seen them before.

The man had short, pale red hair, and a face something between swarthy and tan, more swarthy than tan. Strong features, seen from this close, clad in a black cloak, holding the shoulders of the woman right in front of him, she was blonde, with blue eyes, and had the same black cloak...

"Moirat." the elf said.

"Ah, Antares." So his name was Antares.

"Misty?" the blonde woman squeaked. "You smell like fairy!"

Her name was Misty.

"Don't forget about me." the jockey said.

"Oh! Hi, Ichenso!" she beamed. "You caught two fairies?" he nodded at the fairies in the jar and straitjacket. "Can I have one?"

"Oh. Those two thought they were too smart." Ichenso shrugged. "They tried to follow Misty from a distance. And succeeded."

Misty looked away.

"Then they tried to follow my arcane friend here..." he pointed at the elf, Antares "...and he noticed."

"Magic detection." Antares smiled. "It allows me to detect fairies. Specially the ones that think themselves too smart..." he chuckled, glancing over to Metzger...

Metzger held his mouth, trying not to make any noise...

"...but for some reason took elori before facing a wizard. How smart is that?"

"I think they took that to heal themselves." Misty smirked. "Not to toot my own horn, but I had those three pay for every inch. I gave them the beating of their lives. I got greedy, though, that nearly cost me my life."

"Did it?"

"I tried to get the third fairy to shrink, and she got lucky while I lost a lot of time I didn't have." she shrugged. "Long story- let's just say there's no substitute for feyweed."

-Called it!- Metzger thought to himself, walking a little closer. He was almost there...

Misty took the jar, and dragged Samantha towards the spire. Antares walked back towards the contraption.

"Okay. I'll teleport now..."

Raising his fingers, the other wizard, the one they had named 'Moirat' started gathering energy. Judging from the way he gathered it, he had a split second before they teleported. He had lost too much time.

"OH NO YOU DON'T...!" Metzger cried, holding his hands forward-

...and everyone turned to him, just in time for Moirat to discharge his spell.

With a flash of light, everyone near the spire disappeared- except for him. And these two hunters. Ichenso, and Antares.

Before he could gather himself, Antares fired a ray of red lightning towards him. He gasped as it crackled, and tried to jump away. The lightning seemed like it would fly off into the distance, but then it made a sharp turn in midair, hitting him in the ear.

"AAarRGH!" he barked, withdrawing. Flapping his wings, he realized he'd hit the wizard with his shrinking magic, but the wizard had hit him with something. And that something kept him from flying. He gasped, wondering if he had become visible too, but looking down, he realized he still couldn't see himself.

Now he was alone with the jockey. Who had just drawn a switchblade.

"Hey buddy."

He had fizzled this stunt, and destroyed every hope they had.

"No..."

He was now powerless before that hunter.

"NO!"

Clenching his teeth, he thought of Samantha. She was gone. He'd never see her again. No one would.

"NO...!"

"Marco, polo, marco, polo, marco, polo..." the hunter said, walking towards him in his leisurely pace, turning the switchblade in his hands, his visor pointing straight at his eyes.

"NOOOO!"

"No to what?" he chortled. With one last instant of hesitation, Metzger turned around, and quickened his steps until they became noisy. He staggered, his soles sweaty with fear, the ground all of a sudden giving him a lot less purchase than he remembered. Muddy land.

"If I were an invisible guy I'd hide." Ichenso shrugged. "But hey, it's your life!"

And an instant later, he ran after him.

======

Gasping and stumbling around, clumsily bouncing across the forest, he muttered one curse after another, fearing for his life like never before. The hunter's low, sluggish, intermittent humming seemed to surround him, the echo in the Forest of Whispers assaulting him from every angle, turning his pursuer into an omnipresent force of nature.

Struggling over root after root, Metzger kept running, his legs starting to ache, his feet protesting against this rough treatment, rocks, roots, and grasses of all sorts bouncing against his soles in a blink. His knees and shins were in pain, his lungs started to burn, and the hunter behind him was still following him, still humming that maddening tune. The thought of every wild animal, of every venomous vermin, of every dangerous plant he could meet served only to squeeze his throat and clench his heart, thumping madly in its attempt to release itself from the claws of fear gripping it.

If they didn't let go soon, they'd burst it.

He thought to himself that this kind of magic couldn't last forever. Sooner or later he'd break free of this spell, and then he would, he would... he would get the hell away from here. What was lost was lost. There was a way to keep on living, people died everyday. As long as it wasn't him.

Please, don't let it be him.

"Hmm... hmhmhm.... h-h-h-hmmm..."

He could barely breathe anymore. He had to stop running, and hide somewhere- he settled for crawling behind a tree, panting as quietly as possible, trying to give himself and his wings some breathing room. The spell had to come off. Please, let it come off.

"Metzger!"

Barely he held in the need to gasp and scream, looking up at the minute, floating figure with curly blonde hair talking to him right now.

"Isa." he whispered.

She looked around.

"What happened?"

"No magic." the invisible fairy whispered. "Can't fly."

Isa peeked around the trunk, watching their humming stalker spend his time looking around a nearby bush, almost too relaxedly to be possible. How could this man have reached them so quickly without magic? Yes, without magic. Her sense for those things wasn't the best, but zero was zero.

"You're still invisible." she whispered. "Maybe if youACK!"

"AAARGH!"

"Gotcha."

Frightening as the sudden strike had been for Isa, Metzger had undeniably gotten the worst of it. The hunter hummed a little in his visored helmet, the switchblade suddenly stained red, dripping around a figure that was crouched over a root. With a soft crunch, the body shimmered and fell forward, holding itself up on all fours.

"Nemyra!" Isa cried, quickly covering her mouth, as the man raised his gaze towards her. Below the man, now on all fours, a glamer fell apart, showing the pale body of a man with six dragonfly wings- one of them bent around a gash, stained with the blood that had dripped out of a wound on his back.

He wore nothing. Despite a fit, healthy physique, he looked far too eerie- two antennae on his forehead, which she wouldn't mind, but the rest of his face was hidden behind a mass of thick, messy white hair, covering his eyes, his mouth, the back of his head, his shoulders, even his neck.

"Hehehehe..." the hunter watched him withdraw, turn around, shove a few locks of hair off his eyes. They were brown, nothing special.

Just above him, he saw another fairy. Looking down, he chose to ignore her for now.

"Stay still, boy..." he chuckled, turning his switchblade. "Stay very still..."

======

Holding himself against the bike, Antares put on his helmet. Noisy steps on the treeline had his eyes follow them, just in time to see a man in a loose plastic jumper, with a large, black visored helmet and thick boots. The familiar sight was marred, however, by the sinister red on its hands.

"Ichenso?"

"Got you a fairy. Heh." the man replied, showing him a small jar. Inside, he saw a fairy- blonde curls and brown eyes on her butterfly-winged, milky form. She looked horrified, cupping her thigh tightly.

"What happened? Where is the other one?"

"Other one?" he asked, innocently.

The fairy suddenly covered her face, her tiny figure slumping inside the jar, too small for her sobbing form to make a noise. The elf's eyes looked her over for an instant.

"Ah. Well, it's unfortunate, but..." he continued. "...I kind of killed him."

======

Raising his gaze, he followed the spire up along the trunk of a tree, the chalk design on its side ever so complex and beautiful. He thought he'd never see it again, never again bask in its majestic forbiddingness. But it was a feeling he was used to. He risked life and limb practically everyday... now he had something to show for it.

It rode right behind him in the vehicle Lenna was driving.

Turning his head slightly, he looked at the small cottage next to the spire. Well, small was a comparative term. There were two levels on that wooden cabin, and its slated roof had room for another. Its openness was a testimony to their resourcefulness- or maybe to their luck? This cabin was a trap. Or, more exactly, Sareu turned it into a trap by his sole presence.

But it wasn't a trap for him.

"Lenna." he sighed.

The neko glanced at him for a second.

"This is the place?"

"Yes." he coughed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." he snarled.

"Why are you coughing and snarling then?"

He hummed.

"Weary." he growled.

She looked at him funny, parking the device close to the cabin, leaving him to hoist up the bound fairy on his shoulders, knocking on the door with his boot. The door swung open, slowly- unable to wait, he pushed it forward with his boot, and turned on his side to bring the fairy in, lowering her unconscious body on a chair by the entrance. Then he let his weary arms drop, cracking his shoulders, and pulling a chair to slump on himself, letting out a loud sigh. His head hung backward on the chair.

"You should get a wheelbarrow already."

He let out a wordless snarl in response, standing back up. A small crew showed up from a side door.

Now without his cloak, Moirat wore a sleeveless, tight jumper, highlighting his bony stature, his sucked-in swarthy flesh. Navari, whom he swore he had seen before, even before meeting her, with gold locks, fair skin and teal eyes, wore a nice dress, pink- he remembered not to go within five feet. At least, according to Moirat, that wasn't advisable. And behind them, Misty. Red hair, thick yellow top over milky skin, and curvy smooth shoulders he knew better than to let himself get carried away about. He owed that woman at least that much respect.

Glancing at them, he smiled.

"So you got here, Faulkner." Misty smiled.

"Hm." he nodded.

"WE caught one." Lenna smiled.

"I caught two." Misty smiled. "And by the way, I'm Misty Cano."

"Lenna Faramis..." Lenna stood up, politely exchanging a smile with the redhead.

"I'm Navari!"

"And I'm Moirat Lupossen. Great job, both of you." Moirat smiled. "Sareu will be glad. He caught nine, you caught one, Misty caught two, Ichenso and Antares caught one... ah, dammit!" he slapped himself. "I forgot to go back for mine after rescuing Misty and Ichenso. With that one, it makes fourteen fairies."

"Fourteen fairies?"

"They will be, once I get the one I forgot. Geez, I can't believe I forgot her..."

"One over twelve now." Faulkner smiled. "No need to worry."

Moirat clicked his tongue.

"It doesn't seem right to leave someone in a jar in the wild."

Faulkner took a deep breath.

"You just catch them." he sighed.

"We make a living like this." Lenna grinned. "You should bring her in."

Moirat rolled his eyes for a moment.

"I think I'll go with what she said, Faulkner. No offense." he said, walking out of the room. "I'll be back in a flash, don't break anything while I'm gone."

Just then, something peeked out of Lenna's breast pocket. Miel's honey-colored form...

"Is this the place?" she asked, excited.

"Aye." Faulkner mumbled.

"Ohhhh that looks tasty!" Navari licked her chops... Lenna took a step back.

"Please don't."

"Uh, okay..." Navari shrugged and looked away.

"Right, I was supposed to take them to see a wizard." the neko said, her tail curling on itself.

"Moirat just left, but Ryuuzan is upstairs."

"That's good!" the tiny in Lenna's pocket grinned. Immediately, she was joined by another one right next to her.

"They're two!" Navari's eyes widened. "Can't I just have one?"

"They're four." Lenna added. "And no, you can't have any. I'll go see Ryuuzan, the sooner the better..."

Shrugging, Faulkner stood up, grabbing the bound fairy again (once denied, Navari was best not left alone with anything or anyone even remotely edible), and carrying her through one door, two doors, three doors and a hallway, towards a double metal door. Holding his ring towards a seal in that door, it split open.



And behind the door, the holding room. Its white was deceiving- it was the white of a padded cell. Next to him, there was a small, fenced shelf- roughly half a dozen jars on it. Fair folk, in their multiple and whimsical combinations of hair, skin, and eye color, occupied those jars. Some may have been trying to talk- he ignored them. There was nothing he wanted with them. There was nothing they wanted with him- there was nothing they wanted. Fey hearts couldn't be described in the same word as anyone else's. These monsters were never meant to talk to him, understanding was not meant to happen, and they would understand that soon enough.

If they hadn't already.

On the opposite wall, there was a series of glass panes. It was ironic that they had caught all those fairies at human size... he reminded himself not to diss the smelling salts ever again. Behind every of those nine cells, there was a fairy, some of them wrapped in straitjackets. He wondered if they had had as much trouble bringing them there as he had. He had needed to ask Ryuuzan for a hovercarpet- he'd have to ask Ichenso and Moirat why they hadn't been available.

In any case, he glanced at the fairies behind the glass, His fist shook- even caught, they were maddening. Their sole presence, their existence, was offensive. One of them, naked, had tan skin and black, straight, long hair, that even in their magic-proof cases, seemed to wave around. The next was a man, with just brown everything over a soft tan. It was best not to look too deeply into their features. The next one was a chocolate-skinned woman, with iridescent wings, wrapped in a straitjacket. Brown hair, bright green eyes. He reminded himself that even in their variation, they were all the same.

Permutations. Mere permutations.

He skipped the sight of one of the fairies behind the glass, seeing only her feet and her straitjacket. It was almost too cruel, he thought to himself, if there was a heart to be cruel to. Next comparment held another fairy, a man...

Okay, that was enough. He went up to the terminal, inputting the code to open one of the glass boxes.

Taking a glance at the fairies behind the glass, he wondered if he could leave the glass open. Probably not a good idea, he reminded himself, his eyes drawn to their mouths for some reason.

Some reason...

Sealing the fairy behind the glass, he returned to the terminal, inputting the code that would completely close this hunting season, as far as he was concerned. And as it confirmed, the glass pane turned to seal the fairy.

He walked up to the glass as it turned, until a time when the fairy was required. She opened her eyes with the sound of the pane, opening her eyes to meet his gaze... he averted his eyes.

And that was a mistake.

======

Lying before him in the next glass compartment, there was a mouth that made his left hand twitch and clench painfully. So red, so full, those lips, those green eyes above- he loathed those eyes. Her brown hair felt like a personal affront. His heart started thumping harder- his throat clenched. There was something about that fairy that was making him hate her to death... hate her so much... so much... why did he hate her so much...?

No.

No way.

No way in hell.

No way in fucking hell.

No way, Nemyra, no fucking way.

His sight blurred to red in sight of her lips. His ears thumped in long-festering hate.

She noticed his gaze- he steeled himself, centering himself, looking at her. All the while telling himself it was impossible. She started talking- he realized someone had closed the glass case quite sloppily, his fingers drifted towards the loose lid, starting to shake at the sight of her. If... it was her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"..." Faulkner tried not to breathe too hard. Not to show weakness. Couldn't be her. Couldn't possibly be her. Not her.

"Umm... while we're at it, could you please...?"

"..." It couldn't be that bitch.

"Please let me go and... my friends too?"

"..."

"Also... are you a ninja pirate from the future?"

He let out a short chuckle.

"Or... are you a fire-breathing ninja pirate nurse from the future?"

He grinned. Rich. So rich.

"Are you the Faulknermonster?"

"Yes." he quickly barked. "I'm the Faulknermonster. Scary!"

"Well, not really. It's not a very scary story, it's very silly."

"Gee!" he gagged, almost choking on the hate going up and down his throat. "I guess I'm pretty silly after all!"

She suddenly smirked.

"You sound familiar..."

"Oh, I get that a lot!" he smiled.

"You don't sound like most humans. You sound like a fairy!"

"Gee, really? I wonder why!" he grinned, his arm twitching. They were one over the requisite. Why not kill her? Maim her?

"It must be the way you talk. You sound like a fairy."

"Oh! You noticed!" he mouthed. "I have to hurt my throat a lot just to hide my accent, you know? It's really hard to think of what to say too, I work very hard! Pays off, though..." he hissed. His voice suddenly took on a raspy, hissing quality.

Her eyes searched him for a moment. Then she... grimaced. She was slowly realizing it too. Yes, it was her. Couldn't be, but it was.

"It can't be you..." she shook.

"Can't be who?"

"You're supposed to be in Negav, but instead you're playing pranks in the forest?" she cri-

"Pranks in the forest." he chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "So I'm a prankster now!?" he snarled.

"Okay." she sighed. "You and your friends had their fun, but it's time you cut it out! People got hurt, and you got a lot of people worried, cookie!" she chided.

"ROOKS." he snarled.

"Okay, rookie-cookie..."

"ROOKS, Samantha." he snarled. "My name is Rooks."

She shrugged.

"Okay, Rooks. Game's over. I hope you had your fun, because..."

"This isn't a game." he half-snarled, half-cackled.

She clicked her tongue.

"Pf, sure. You don't like me, but..."

"I don't like you?" he grinned. "You know, I've always wondered what is wrong with you."

"Nothing's wrong with me. But what you did, it's really awful!"

"Awful..." he winced, taking a deep breath. "Do you really think I'm awful?"

"Of course you are! I'm mad at you now!"

"Really?" he smirked.

Just then, Samantha realized she had just missed something. Something that might've been important.

His smirk... was shifting, twitching. And his other eye was tense to no end. In general she didn't care- Rooks had always been the high-strung type that got mad over nothing. But right now... his shoulders were twitching, his face was turning red like a tomato, and he even seemed to be drooling a little. He had a talent where it came to looking silly, even the arteries on his flushed neck were swollen. She could swear he was thumping.

He looked like he was about to cry.

"Are you mad?" she asked, innocently.

He mouthed something quietly. Yep, he was going to cry.

"Why would I be mad?" he smiled. "It's just the natural order of things." he shrugged.

"Yeah..."

"Which was a good enough reason for no one to give a damn." he snarled. "Done out of spite, but it's natural so it's okay!?"

"I spat you out!"

"Yes, you had told me." he snarled. "I woke up and I SAW YOU! Speaking to me." he shook a little more. "You told me you had spat me out and THAT'S SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT OKAY!?"

"So you're going to cry now? It's been years."

"You took away my skin. You took away my eyes." he twitched.

She wouldn't answer.

"And you know what? It was okay." he pursed his lips. "Or so have I been told..."

"Look, I spat you out, so..."

"NOT BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO!" he snarled. "I know how long you had me marinate in acid..."

"...and it was a long time ago. You shouldn't be mad about that anymore."

Rooks looked away for an instant.

"Yeah! I shouldn't." he hissed. "So, what made you leave town?"

"I needed to get away from my parents."

"Hey, I wanted to get away too! How are you liking the forest?"

"..."

"Of course." he took a deep breath. "You've done everything you wanted to do, haven't you? No one to tell you what to do around here. Here, no one would've forced you to spit me out."

"So, you want me to eat you?"

"..."

He churned his tongue for a moment.

"You still don't get it. No one would force you to spit me out here, but no one can save you here either: no one cares, that's why you can do anything. It wouldn't surprise me to know you've been hunting humans... you're from Kortiki, but I know you'd have thrown all the rules out the window if you wanted to." He raised one hand to the eye behind his patch. "And I know very well you did."

"I still don't..."

"I DESPISE YOU." he snarled. "YOU DISGUST ME. You, and everyone else who acted as if it was natural to lose my skin, my eyes... over a whim. What did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve that? What gave you the right? But in the end, what mattered was that I had to move on. Everyone told me that. To buck up, shut it..." he grimaced. "Well, I did. Now it doesn't matter anymore... no one has to give a damn ever again. And no one has to ask me to give a damn ever again. This, Samantha, is what I have chosen now."

He leaned in closer.

"To your credit, it was for you. More precisely..."

Close, so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

"For want... of your head." he hissed.

Maybe it was just the blows to the head. Maybe it was the drugs. Maybe she just wasn't too smart. But there was only one thing she could draw clean from all he said... well, nothing. She couldn't understand anything.

But damn, if it helped, she was going to pretend she did...

"Um, you're going to cry?"








Before he even realized what he was doing, his hand zoomed into her throat, and pulled her out, lifting her into the air. His throat let out a guttural, primeval snarl, the sound it knew best by now, shoving her against the wall. He choked her, like the rage choked him, his other hand ramming itself stiff against her belly, too clumsy in its frenzy to close his fist, let alone clench it. Every muscle along his waist and back bucked and ached sharply as he punched her, again, and again, and again, and again...

She cried in pain, and he was angry. She hurt, and he was angry. She would die, and he would still be angry. She... he was angry. She had made him angry. He'd never get away from the anger. She'd locked him with the anger and ate the key. He was angry. She was the anger. She had locked the two of them together in the cell, forever. The cell was anger. She was anger.

She was the cell.

"STO-!"

Thoughts died, killing anger squeeze red choking spite cosmic dispassion avatar heart craving fingers justice bruised identity consume violent fire scoured eyes war cry passion demanding indifferent evisceration. Savage mechanism beating struggle blindness electrocution materialized frenzy sensation excruciating victim hateful cramp persistence aggressive twitch. Flourished grievance escaping throat, rolling tongue immaterial.

"SHUT UP, YOU SICK FUCK! DO YOU THINK THIS HURTS, BITCH!? I'LL SAND OFF EVERY INCH OF YOUR FLESH, I'LL G-GOUGE OUrFFT-T yoUR FUCK-K-K-ING I-s HHHRRR- I'LL T-T-TEAR OUT-TEE-TAAAAAARGH...! FFFFFURGGHHH... NNNNN...!"

The closest he could do to thinking was realizing his tongue was too cramped to speak. All he had in the world was her and death. There had to be death. Nature of man and fey demanded it, and he had materialized the struggle. They couldn't both be. He knew that. It was one, or the other. Not as long as someone was going to consider both of them people.

That would be wrong.

In a flash of ironic and unexplainable calm, something revolted him now beyond measure. It was sickening. He was nauseated. His throat was limp and his tongue was rolling on itself. He couldn't see, he couldn't feel, he couldn't hear, he couldn't know what he was doing, all he knew was that he had overfed himself and needed to throw up. His tongue tickled, his head hurt and spun in the darkness, his eyes were going to pop out, his ears were thumping in perfect silence and he was about to explode. The inchoate, unconnected sea of sensations had him nauseated to no end, there was hate and it was not something else, there was a choice and a distant past...

He was fairly confused.

Somehow he caught sight of Samantha. She was lying in silence against the edge of the wall, hurt. By whom... him? Maybe, he didn't know, he wanted to hurt her. His head thumped. Thumped like it was about to split in two. He was lightheaded. He was nauseated. The ground was uneven, and the world spun around him. Dizzy, too dizzy. He managed to turn around, the movement was too fast, he almost slipped, trembling, seeing the door somewhere.

And there was a man with a visor... he was an old friend... but he kept secrets from his friends and maybe he was upset. He had a loose jumper, and a biker helmet, with a visor.

He was coming this way, running. That jumper was an eyesore, it made his right eye hurt. It made his jaw hurt and his neck hurt too.

Then he blacked out.

Mhh lot of things happening in this chapter and some big developments here about the Faulknermonster
I didn't see that one coming ^^
The moment where Misty evade was really striking as well ! I could imagine that in a movie ^^
I was just a little confused in some places.. the narration does flows well but I sometimes lost track of which character is talked about when there is a back and forth ^^;

Hmmm, yes...the plot thickens

I've caught up over the last couple days, I really like this story, you doing a great job stabs. It's not every story one finds themselves cheering for both sides.

Thank you both for your kind words.

This should be the last confusing episode, Karbo.

The Joy of Hunting Part 11- Rooks' Heart

======

Ichenso's visor was an eyesore.

It was also a jawsore, cheeksore, necksore, from closer on. He thought of how he'd savaged Samantha moments ago. Oh, the rage. She wouldn't mock him anymore. She'd stay away. She'd die, like all of those fairies; someone was going to take them away for not good reasons.

Ichenso's foot was a chestsore and he twitched. For a moment, Faulkner -or was it Rooks? No one had called him Rooks in some time. - wondered what was happening. This was too much pain for nothing to be happening, he thought, as he rolled over, and someone kicked him in the-

Kicked him. Someone kicked him; he was in the room with Ichenso. Ichenso had kicked him- the blood-red haze of hateful scorn lifted from his head, he twitched on the ground, asking himself what the hell had just happened.

"What the hell...!?" Faulkner snarled, trying to pick himself up. Trying- he realized the shouldersore was too strong. His whole body was sore, in fact- damn, the pain! Throbbing throughout his chest, the pangs seemed to be trying to return the blows to someone's foot through his skin. He gasped.

"Hell think you doing?" he managed to gasp, slumping against a wall, looking at his fellow hunter. The anger, once all-permeating, all-encompassing, was no longer capable of blotting out the pain. There was an exhilarated calm throughout his joints that pain and rage couldn't break through again this fast. All that rage, hate, cathartically bursting through his dam and manifesting that violent frenzy, had left him in a state of unspeakable mellowness. Every word that came out felt like it belonged to someone else. He knew he'd regret every word, but right now all he wanted was to curl up and never wake up again.

"YOU- save it." someone growled. The pain muffled his voice- but he thought he recognized it from somewhere, somehow, from a more innocent time when he hadn't tried to punch someone to death... "Fuck's... girl, you've really been fucked up all over. Well, nothing a night can't cure, I would say..."

"Hell... doing?"

Ichenso laid down her head softly. But he could spot the tension in his shoulders...

"SHUT UP, YOU WASTE OF FLESH!" he roared, turning to him.

"Ichenso." Not Ichenso's voice.

He turned his head towards the entrance. Ichenso's partner. Elf, wizard... something. Who cared.

"What's going on?"

"Huh, you ask me what's going on?" the helmeted man growled. "I found this little shit roughing up the merchandise, Antares." he said, pointing at him- with a finger. "That's what happened."

Antares turned to him. Faulkner's stunned eyes glared back.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"Haven't I just told you? He was roughing her up." the jockey answered. Whatever saved him the trouble of answering by himself was fine by him...

"Is there an explanation for this?" Antares asked, looking at him.

He tilted his head away.

"Sicko taunted me." he grumbled.

"He's lying..." she sobbed. "He's lying! I didn't do anything wrong! He hates me!" she coughed, between sobs.

"Fucking fiece of fff- GRR-!" Faulkner growled, turning towards...

...a boot to the head.

"Grah!"

"Back off, you got it!? I've got half a mind to stomping on you until you're dead already!"

"Enough, I don't care who started it." Antares let out a snarl.

"Fine by me, Ant dude. I'll take the fairy in, you drag that bitch out. Can't have her run around free."

"She's tied down."

"I meant that useless bitch."

Antares nodded, extending one arm towards him- a familiar expression of disdain on his face. Looking at him- like THEY were right to break his arms and tie him down. Denied. Denied for whose sake!? Denied for WHAT!?

Rein it in, he told himself, rein it in. He tried to treat himself to fantasizing the pain she'd know. Pain, which, he realized now, like he realized after every catch, didn't do squat to fulfill him. His hand twitched, tantalized by the knowledge she'd still live on, that her pain would end, that there was no way to let her know how much pain he meant her. He could write the word hate a million times on every square inch of her skin, it still wouldn't do anything to let her know how much he hated her. He could carve his hate upon the world, and she still would never get a word. He could punch her until she was crying, lash her into unconsciousness, hurt her until she begged for death and she still... would not give him the satisfaction he wanted.

Because, he realized, she had no such thing to give.

Because there was no such thing for him to get.

There was only hate, only anger, only bile. And nothing, nothing would make it right.

Stupid him. He had already realized that long ago...

He slapped Antares' hand off, standing up on his own, looking at him, hate almost bursting out of the corner of his eyes...

"Did she make you cry?" the elf asked, his eyes narrowed accusingly.

"Garrgh!" he bounced out of the room.

"What's wrong with him, Ichenso?" he overhead Antares ask.

"Beats me. Go keep tabs on him, I don't want him to break anything else..."

The sound of those words- someone wanted to control him!?

His pace quickened, his fists struggling to clench as he waddled angrily down the hall- just in time to see Moirat walk by him with a jar.

"Yo."

"Hrrr-!"

"Hey!"

He hadn't realized how aggressive a gesture he'd actually made. And without his hands, either. He was about to let out a gasp, but then his gaze drifted down, towards the fairy in the jar.

"What's the matter?"

"Huh...?"

"What a freak." Moirat muttered, turning back towards the storage area after what felt like negative two seconds, leaving Faulkner looking at him blankly.

Because for an instant he wished he had been blind. The instant later, he'd have killed himself for that wish. But all control had fled from him. So he ran a little, it was good for his heart.

If he didn't run, it would just run away without him.

======

Looking out the storage room door, the man in a jockey suit grinned to himself under his helmet. Then he turned to the shelf on the wall, and removed the lid to the flask he'd carried into the room. Inside, a blonde fairy held her frightened face in her hands, curled up into a ball...

"We're in."

The blonde fairy's frightened grimace suddenly disappeared, replaced by an impish smile as she floated up.

"Awesome!" she grinned. "Now we just have to rescue everyone..."

"This'll only take a few moments." 'Ichenso' said, taking one of the jars, where a dark-skinned fairy with an ankle-length mane of green hair lay. "Marlene?"

"How do you know my name, asshole?!" she cried back.

"Because I've spent long enough around you three crazy girls?" he protested. "Anyway, just use your magic and let's get outta here..."

"It's impossible." she frowned, after the instant it took her to recognize his voice. "That elf, he..."

"He suppressed your magic?"

She winced.

"Ordinarily twenty of him wouldn't put a dent on me, but..."

"The elori?" Metzger grinned.

She looked down.

"He got lucky, I just underestimated him!"

"Okay, then..." he took the jar under his arm. "Let's open it."

"Yay! Do it!" Marlene grinned. "I want to get out of this place!"

And so, he twisted the lid... and twisted, and twisted...

...and the lid stayed on, despite his best efforts.

"It's screwed on too tight, did he glue it, or anything...?"

"No." Marlene replied. "He placed the lid with his bare hands."

"He must've been some sort of Jarcules..." Metzger gasped. "Well, he couldn't have closed all the jars himself, right...?" he turned to another jar, with a redheaded fairy, wearing a nurse cap and leaf clothes sat. "Lady Temi! Please brace yourself!"

"Wait, Metzger...!" she cried, as he took the jar, holding it under his arm as his other arm gripped the lid tightly, trying to turn it...

"Try twisting the other way around!" Isa cried. His struggle was ambidextrously fruitless.

"Damn!" Metzger cried, sitting on the ground, holding the jar between his legs, grabbing the lid with both hands. "Why are we all in such a pickle!?" he protested, twisting as hard as he could.

"It's no use, I was hit with something too!" Temi cried. "The big guy, the one with a beard, has a sword that rends asunder the very being of its victims."

"Rends asunder the very being?"

"Yes! It rends asunder the very being!"

"I... don't get it." Metzger replied. "What does it mean to have your very being rent asunder?"

"It screws up with everything!"

"How... much does everything encompass?"

"If she doesn't get back in the jar you're about to find out!" Temi cried, turning towards the entrance. Metzger gasped, putting Temi's jar back in the shelf, quickly lifting Isa's -she got in on her own- and placing the lid softly on top. Then he turned to Samantha, asking himself for a moment if he really wanted to put her back in...

"What the fuck happened there with Faulkner!?" someone demanded. He turned around to see a man, quite tall, with a black sweatshirt, wiry limbs, and a pale red flat top. That man's name was, he recalled, Moirat.

"Ah! Hello, Moirat..." he said, as thinly as he could, looking down at the flask he had in hands, looking at the fairy he held. She was... fly wings, blue eyes, pale- yup, now he was sure she was Rui.

"Can you tell me what the fuck happened with Faulkner? That guy was acting freakier than usual."

"Is he always like that?"

"From what I've heard!" Moirat replied. "They say he's actually an evil fire-breathing ninja pirate nurse that hates fairies because Nemyra stole his cookies and now he's out for revenge. The stupid things some people say... but something must've made him freak out completely. No one could be this high-strung all the time."

And that's when Rui noticed them. Well, not him- he was still disguised.

"Samantha?" he saw her mouth from inside her jar. The rest was incomprehensible, but his sister reacted.

"Rui...?"

"The two of them know each other..." Moirat sneered. "Aren't those little coincidences just really entertaining, Ichenso?" he asked, placing her on the shelf.

"It's no coincidence, they're both from Kortiki."

"That... how do YOU know that?" Moirat cried, frowning.

"Eh..." the jockey twitched. "She told me, duh. What were you thinking?"

"Ah, talking to them? Were you talking to one, was that what made him freak out?"

"Nah, he was crazy like that when I got there." he explained, truthfully- a part of him wanted to lie his pants off instead. Telling this guy even a single truth felt like starting off on the wrong foot.

"Well, let's close up." he said, placing the jar on the shelf to the side.

"I'll help you."

"No, no need!" the jockey shrugged, raising his hands. "I'll finish by myself here."

"Well, leg it. I want to play darts with you." Moirat smiled.

God, he had never been so creeped out on his life.

"I might take a bit..."

"All you have to do is grab her in her straitjacket, place her in, then punch in the code."

"W-well, I'm in no hurry!"

"Is anything wrong?"

Ichenso seemed to shake for a moment.

"Eh, the thing is, man, my hand got hurt, can't play darts- and this may take a while too."

"Well, what are friends for?" Moirat beamed. "I'll grab her shoulders, you grab her legs, and we can toss her right in."

"Okay, but I think I forgot the codes..."

"Just grab her legs already."

"Eh, okay..." he hesitated, grabbing her legs. "Hoist 'er up..."

Moirat grabbed her shoulders, and lifted her slowly. Then the two of them placed her inside the chamber- she seemed to put up way too little resistance.

"Rui...?" Samantha mumbled, as Ichenso turned to the console. Right then, he realized it was now or never- once the damn thing closed, he wouldn't be able to open it again. Almost unable to think, he quickly grabbed Marlene's jar, and lifted it above his head...

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"Eek!"

Moirat turned around- too fast: the opening was gone. He saw his partner holding a jar, at chest level- with a fairy in it, looking quite pissed off.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" the fairy cried, in her thin voice, through the glass. "You could hurt me doing that!"

"Old habits die hard, eh, Ichenso?" Moirat grinned.

"Uhh..."

"Never change, bro." Moirat winked, heartily. "Now put that back in its place, find a woman the right size for you."

Trembling, Ichenso quickly replaced the jar- just in time to hop in fright as he heard someone behind him.

"I saw what you did there!"

"Eh!?"

The first thing he noticed was that there was a small, very small woman, with blonde hair and tannish skin, on the door. The second thing he noticed was that he had just hopped into Moirat's arms.

"Do you mind if I borrow him for a while?" she asked, turning to... Moirat.

"Sure, there you go." Moirat said, dropping him on the ground. He scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off...

"What do you think she wants?" the wizard asked. His "friend" shrugged.

"I'll go see..." he mumbled behind his visor, walking up to the small figure.

"Hello there." she smiled. His fingers twitched- he wasn't voracious by nature, but anything seemed better than talking right now. She was wrapped in a white napkin, for Nemyra's sake!

"What is it?" he demanded.

"It's kind of long." she smiled. "We should probably make ourselves comfortable first..."

"Look, I'm in kind of a hurry right now."

"I noticed. Come on."

"No, I'm really in a hurry..."

"I know! I can help you."

He looked away from her, around for a moment.

"I really don't have time..."

"I'll scream if you don't!" she frowned.

He gulped.

"Look, buddy, when a woman says she'll scream if you don't... in my experience, you should do what she says." he turned around to see Moirat winking at him. "Come on! You've always wanted to do this."

Looking back down at the small woman, he gulped again...

"Pick me up."

Nervously, he reached down for her- she was way too eager to jump on his palm.

"Okay, now start walking."

He hesitated, looking back at Moirat, who was giving him two thumbs up, a broad grin, and a big wink.

"Let him finish up around here. There's nothing more you can do." she pointed.

A bit stunned, he walked out of the room- and then down the hallway.

"Let's start by the beginning- you're a fairy, I know that."

"Uh... how?"

"I saw you trying to bonk him over the head. Are your wings broken?" she asked, looking at his gloved hand.

He gulped.

"Well, maybe they are and maybe they aren't."

She giggled a little.

"You're kind of cute, playing tough like that. I already know they're broken!" she smiled. "If they weren't you surely broke them squeezing into that suit."

"Uh... yeah." he mumbled. "It's uncomfortable..."

"That's fine. I don't need your wings..." she sighed. "All I need is a little help, and right now you're the only one who can help me. So maybe we can help each other?"

He stopped walking.

"What... do you need?"

She grinned once more.

"Well, I need help from your other friends- me and my sisters were transformed into this. I came in with one of those hunters, but they can't help me any further... so I want to help you escape now, so you'll help me later."

"Uh-huh..." he mumbled. "What do we do now?" he looked back. Moirat was just closing the door. "He... closed the door..."

"Forget about him. Keep walking!" she demanded.

Once more, Metzger stumbled moving the boots one after the other without looking where he was going.

"What do we do?"

"First of all..." she began. "...there's something I want to ask you."

"Huh?"

"I couldn't help but overhear a bit about Samantha and Faulkner... well, Rooks." she smiled. "What's their game?"

"Well, she's my sister..."

"Neat!"

"... and he's... well, he used to a jerk." he continued.

"A jerk?"

"He was, uh..." he stopped for a moment. "...impatient, selfish, very bossy, pedantic, and rude. One day, he said something he shouldn't, and Samantha ate him."

"How did he survive?"

"Well, some guys in town had Samantha spit him out."

"Why, if he was so bad?"

"Because..." Metzger hesitated. "...well, he wasn't really bad. It's just he and Samantha never really got along."

"And why did she spit him?"

"They had a friend in common. Samantha didn't want to make her sad." Metzger began, hesitatingly. "It's... really odd to gossip about him at a time like this."

"A friend in common?"

"She's called Rui- I just saw her."

"Were Rui and Faulk... Rooks, were they close?"

"I... think they were, yes. Rui and Rooks were really close. She actually cried when he got eaten." he said. Then he noticed her form, twirling one of her locks, her gaze lost in thought.

He had a bad feeling about this.

"Go up those stairs..." she pointed. "I have to see woman who has to see a man about his town sweetheart!"

About her.

"It'll be okay." she winked at him. "Just leave it all to me. Take me to Lenna, and your friends will be out before you know it."

And despite that bad feeling, this was the first time he felt like proposing marriage.

======

Despite the evident lack of exertion, his heart was still no longer thumping, but flailing around behind his ribs. Before, it had been full of rage- now it seemed to be fumbling around in the darkness for a way out of him. Not that he could blame it- the rest of him wasn't willing to follow.

Shaky legs carried him to his chambers, where he hesitatingly sat on the bed. A hand rose to fiddle with his eyepatch, almost by its own volition. He remembered not to fiddle too much with that patch- he could see normally in this room. If he let the light see his eye, he'd need a new eye. He could dim the lights until he was comfortable- but right now if he dimmed the lights, he felt he'd fall in some sort of anti-sleep.

And that was simply not acceptable. Not when something was about to go down only fifty feet away from him- arm's reach to someone else. Arm's reach to several people to whom it was going to happen. Most of them he felt no qualm with anything happening to them, but he was still getting lightheaded. His heart was cornered; his mind could only oppose the feeblest of objections.

Nemyra's heart, he didn't want to be here!

No, that wasn't the problem. He couldn't just run away either, he realized with a gasp. He couldn't stop it either. He couldn't make his peace with it. He... couldn't exist in a world where that had happened. And yet it was going to happen. All over again.

His teeth chattered even in the relative warmth, even wrapped in that serviceable suit he always wore, the skintight, dark fabric clinging to his skin. His shoulders trembled. He felt a headache incoming as his throat clenched tight. His tongue felt dry.

-I have to do something...- he thought to himself. -I can't let this happen!-

"Yoo!"

"Argh!" he spat, as someone opened the door. Raising his gaze, he saw his partner, Lenna. Nemyra knows she had the talent of chance! "What is it!?" he barked, trembling.

Lenna's eyes looked him up and down.

"You look hell." she declared.

"If you've got nothing to do just go away!" he cried, before seeing the woman in her hand. He gulped again, his chest feeling as if it was collapsing into itself. He couldn't count the number of seconds his heart simply froze. "You t-too...!? W-what's th-the meaning of this, damn!?"

Lenna blinked.

"There's no need to freak out, I'm not going to try to kill you or anything. You're still the same guy I worked with, I know that, I was just curious..."

"I told you this first, I'm not for your amusement! I'm not a toy, idiot!" he stood up, taking a dangerous stride towards her.

"Rooks!"

He froze at the sound of that voice, coming from somewhere around waist-high. Looking down, his jaw chattered for a moment at the sight of that blonde hair, and that brown skin, now speaking aloud the forsaken word.

"Where... did you hear that...?" he hissed.

"I talked to the fairies a little." In her napkin dress, her tan skin, and those yellow tones... Miel. She had never been much for the first rule of freeloading.

"I should've let Lenna eat you."

"Too late for that." Lenna shrugged, with a grin. "Anyway, I wanted to know more..."

"Save it. Save..."

"Lenna, please, don't torment him."

He raised his eyebrows, stifling a gasp. Somebody was on his side? He stepped back, looking down. Miel.

"Have you stopped to consider what was it like for him? Is it no surprise that he doesn't want to talk about it? He's been suffering alone all along, that much is obvious."

Lenna raised her eyebrows.

"I don't need your compassion..." he grumbled.

"Well, I'm here to listen. And you heard Faulkner, or Rooks, or whatever he's called..." she stifled a little snort. "He doesn't need your compassion."

"Lenna, can you please leave us alone?" Miel asked.

"Look, just go away. Go away. I'm not going to talk. I don't want to talk. To anyone. Miel, Lenna. Just. Go. Away." he grumbled.

"I don't think it'd be very healthy to leave you alone right now." Lenna replied. "I've got eyes. Ears. A nose. A neko nose, and you smell self-des..."

"BUZZ OFF!"

He looked a little slumped, somewhat frantic, trembling, gasping for breath- and yet only now had he ever seemed dangerous to Lenna. She had to hand it to him, the more she saw, the more she understood why he had been such a hedgehog at first. She remembered he had a knife in his pocket.

"Have it your way then." she replied, her smile finally fading. "We're leaving, then."

"No, wait!" Miel protested. "Leave me to talk to him!"

Lenna looked down at Miel. Then back at her partner.

"What do you say, Rooks... Faulkner?"

"I TOLD YOU I don't want to talk to anyone." he huffed.

"But you have to. Look at yourself." Miel insisted.

"I don't care." he answered. "I don't care one bit."

"Look, Faulkner... should I call you Rooks, or...?"

He let out a snarl.

"Get. Out."

Miel gasped quietly.

"But I want to help. You've been so kind to me. I can tell you're hurting inside."

His hand twitched, but he didn't react.

"Rooks... it's actually a beautiful name." she smiled. "Why won't you talk to me? I just want to help. Let me do this one thing for you, please. You owe me that much."

Lenna let out a derisive snort.

"Hold it!"

Lenna gasped. Miel grinned briefly.

That was Faulkner's voice.

"I... would talk. To her." he said, pointing at Miel.

"You should leave the room." Miel relayed, looking up at Lenna. The neko winced for a moment.

"Okay, fine." she said, dropping her small passenger on the table next to the bed he was sitting on. He stirred dangerously when she wandered close- she left the room quickly.

======

His left eye was locked on her. His right eye stayed under that patch, ineffable.

And his mouth stayed closed.

"Rooks."

Faulkner blinked.

"It's been a while since anyone's called me like that." he grimaced, looking away.

"Why?" she insisted. "Why are you a fairy hunter?"

"Because we're not all people." he grumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that..." he sighed. "Not sure explaining. Why insist asking? Don't know answer anymore."

"I won't hold anything against you, I promise." she assured. "Just tell me."

His gaze nervously shifted back and forth between her and the ground.

"How... do I know I can trust you? Why are you doing this?" he gasped. "Why do you care at all?"

"Because... you matter to me." she replied. "You... were always nice."

"Spat you out on her own. On your own. I had nothing to do with it."

"But you're sorry, aren't you?"

"Sorry doesn't make it right. Nothing makes it right."

"I'm not that mad! You just have to tell me, and I won't hold it against you anymore."

He let out a snort.

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I trust you." she tried. "And I want to know you trust me too."

"And why do you trust me?"

"Because I know you. You... come off as kind of a jerk, well, almost all the time. But I know deep down you care."

He blinked.

"What?"

"That... came out wrong..." she said. "I mean, you're a jerk. You always act like talking will kill you, and you don't want to make friends. But you're not a bad person."

"What?"

"I'm not sure either." she sighed. "I guess I just like you, the way you are. I know you could've hurt me, but you never did."

"What?" he asked, his eye locked quizzically on her.

"And when you try to scare me it's actually pretty funny!"

"WHAT!?"he asked, quizzical gaze now chilling glare.

"Like right now. It looks like you're trying to scare me. But you wouldn't hurt me, would you?" she grinned.

The glare wouldn't let down. Faulkner's eye started to twitch- she observed it was red and puffy. He had been crying. His shoulders shook. Boy, he looked so cute right now...

"Would you?"

Nope. The glare didn't let down. His fist clenched... she gulped...

"Wouldn't." Faulkner said, his gaze resting down. "Shouldn't be hurt just for jerk, amusing or not." he said, before mumbling something unintelligible.

"I'm sorry, didn't quite catch that, what?" she asked.

He sighed.

"Nine years ago..." he gulped. "I'll... try to be clear. Not speak half the words. I... want to talk." he shook his head. "Stupid to keep in."

"How about you just tell me?"

It took just an instant for her to regret those words. There was a flash of suspicion over his features- nothing good.

"Sorry... I just want you to be comfortable." Miel lied. "Please, say it."

He gulped again. His lips hung down for a moment- then he looked at her again, changed.

She knew that people's faces could change a lot, depending on their expression, but this was the first time she saw it up close. Where Faulkner's face was just a smooth mask of tension, now there was a gentle face full of little but sorrow and concern.

"Nine years ago..." he began. Without rasping, hissing, eating half the words before he said them, without his constant growling and snarling, without a display of fearful distrust every other sentence and pointless secrecy on just about everything, Rooks sounded like a completely different person. She dispelled the thought, in favor of thinking that Rooks actually sounded like a person when he was actually talking. And he was quite lovely-sounding as well. There was something gentle and musical about his pronunciation, something she was starting to wonder how he had actually hid it...

Much to her own horror, she realized she was beginning to actually enjoy listening to him.

"Nine years ago, I lived in Kortiki Town. You might've heard of it- or not. It's a little, remote piece of heaven deep in the heart of the fabled Fairy Kingdom, a beautiful land of wonderful forests and lovely blue mists, where there's always a soothing song to listen to and a wonderful sight to grace the eyes. As a people, we from Kortiki are close to nature- at least, I would say we are. There just isn't need for much else. Not when the land is just so lovely and breathtaking that it's hard to conceive of any desire that doesn't relate to it. I spent most of my youth running around, climbing trees, and sometimes, with a net- catching bugs, or fish."

His dreamy eyes drifted towards the window.

"This forest is beautiful too, of course, vibrant in its greens and full of the songs of nature. But it's not the same thing- there's one main difference in Kortiki. You could say we are... protected." he narrowed his eyes for a moment. "Felarya is as dangerous as it is beautiful. I'm sure you've seen it." his eyes drifted back towards her. "I'm sure you've seen that many of its inhabitants combine both attributes in equal proportions. Beauty and deadliness- fairies come to mind. In Kortiki, the fairies would sooner protect than devour us- we are, more often than not, safe, and we spend our days together, not often taking notice of who is what." his lips twitched. "But we are not the same thing- difficult as it may feel to be reminded of that." he grimaced.

"I used to..." his grimace tightened, a bit too much. "...I used to..." his hands mimed claws for a moment. "I..." he let out a snarl.

"If it's not okay with you..."

"It's fine!" he growled. Then he shook his head. "I used to think of them as kindred spirits..." he continued, back on his narrator voice. "And I would probably still think that... except for what happened on that day."

And then his eyes locked right on hers.

She was still struggling with the implications of this last gesture as his story continued, feeling almost like it drew her into the past, breaking the gates of time to transport her to a more innocent moment of everyone's lives...

======

Late afternoon sunlight came in through the wood-framed window, a pleasant breeze waving the thin curtains. Rising slightly over the homely mess of toys and cloth objects, a small cloth-covered surface housed a large picture book, several plates, and three figures on the cloth. A young lad with smooth features, violet hair and blue eyes, a strikingly pale young woman with pink hair, and a young girl with white, fluffy hair and two rough, almost sticklike bug wings sticking out. All of them were in overalls.

"So, about that painting!" he beamed, almost gushing, in his green overall. "We should draw a picture of the moon."

"But we should draw something she'll like: she can see the moon every night." the fairy sitting next to him said. She was white-haired, and had a blue overall.

"Not like they show it in this book!" he smiled, pointing at the book next to him; at his current scale, he was only twice as tall as its side.

With a little struggle, he lifted the cover, and opened the book on top of the mantle that covered the table. The afternoon light pouring in through the window shifted through the pages as he frantically ran them, almost comically- well, not almost, to the fairy sitting next to him. She started giggling a little, seeing him labor so hard to flip the pages- he seemed to notice, as he cast a gaze over his shoulder, giggling with her.

"There it is!" he smiled. "A picture of the moon from close up!" he exclaimed, hopping up on the book. The other fairy, in her yellow overall, just flit up, as he pointed downwards into the picture.

"It looks like it's covered with flour!" the fairy beamed. "And it has tiny bowls everywhere! But why did they take the picture by night?"

"It's the sand, Risa, it's really, really thin- and those are craters. They're made when something hits the sand." he corrected, looking at the picture next to that page. "And that's the day, because the sky isn't blue. It's got stars all the time."

"Do you think it would it be nice if the sky had stars all the time?" the fairy in blue asked.

"I think it's nice to have a night sky and a day sky." he replied. "And sometimes we see stars during the day, too, Rui." he smiled.

They said nothing for a moment, leaving him to his own devices. For an instant, he seemed to doze off, then he got off the book, and started running the pages, until he found a different picture.

"But I still like this one better, you know?" he grinned. This new picture had tall, crisscrossing, rectangular spires of crystal and the smoothest white, with dozens and dozens of small, barely distinct dots all over the air.

"It looks kinda crowded." Rui remarked.

"But look at all that stuff." he smiled. "It's amazing, I mean, those things are made of metal and fly, and those buildings are supposed to be SO big..." his eyes drifted to the text beside the picture. Somehow, he always found himself coveting this picture, and the others like it. They weren't just pretty- his father had told him their ancestors used to build them. That was before they 'd settled in Kortiki, though, away from all that. Those buildings and stuff were a relic of the past, something long, long gone by now. He always liked to hear stories about cities like this one. They filled him with an almost impersonal nostalgia.

But from recent events, they filled him with very personal nostalgia. And the fairy next to him could tell.

"You really shouldn't let your mood swing like that." Rui said.

He looked at her.

"I'm not..."

"I'm looking at your face, Rooks." she said, not smiling. "You know this was bound to happen."

"I know, I'm eighteen already, I can't keep asking him for stories forever." he looked down. "But you know, now I feel I should've asked him for more stories..." he sighed.

And then he heard Risa laughing. With laughter like that, he couldn't help but laugh a bit himself too.

"You? More stories? You couldn't!" she laughed. "No one could ask for more stories than you have!"

"I know, but..." Rooks chuckled. "...I don't know. It just doesn't seem like enough..." he turned back to the book. "Have you ever wondered what would it be like to live in a place like that?"

"No, I like it here." Rui smiled. "It'd take someone like you to want to go there. Your father's always saying it's noisy, and that there's bad people there."

"I can take care of myself, you know! I'm not afraid of anything!" he grinned, spreading his fingers.

"But you don't have any magic." Risa pointed.

"I don't need magic to take care of myself." he shrugged.

"You're human..."

"So is everyone in there." Rooks pointed at the picture.

"Ah..." Rissa nodded. "It'd be a very different place, I think." she rolled her eyes.

"I still don't like how crowded it'd be." Rui sighed.

"Well, yeah, they're plenty. I heard they're so many, sometimes they get warped into this place." Rissa grinned. "We could always eat some of them!"

Rooks gave her an odd look.

"Okay, I'm joking." she sighed. "Where are Samantha and Metzger? They were going to help us..."

"I don't know, they're always late, for some reason..." Rooks shrugged. "I'd like it if they'd at least try and get here in time! I spent all morning and some of the afternoon getting the yummies ready..." he sighed, pointing at the large plates on the table.

"Are you sure I can't start? I'm kinda hungry." Risa pouted.

"I'm here!"

He was already facing the door as someone flit in, wearing a red overall; at her present size, she seemed to nearly fill up the door. But they all knew better than to be impressed by that kind of thing- they all could just look into her shoulder-length brown hair, her sharp features and her green eyes. The telltale traces of Samantha.

"Hi!"

"Hey."

"Hello!"

"How's everyone?" she asked, floating up to them, sitting at the low surface that held them.

"Where is Metzger? We haven't seen him all day." Risa chirped.

"Dad needed him to run an errand." Samantha replied, looking at the plates, pouting.

"What is it?" Rooks asked, quickly.

"Nothing." she said.

"Metzger isn't coming? We can start digging in right away, then!" Risa said, quickly flying away from the table. Next thing they knew, she was sitting right next to Samantha, looking at the plates.

"Okay..." Rooks replied.

"Rooks brought the meal today, Samantha." Risa grinned. "You ought to try it!"

She quickly looked at the food he'd served. Her hand hesitated over the table for a moment- then it went back to her side.

He had brought a lot of treats. Fish, shrimps, ants, a few eggs, he'd even managed to catch a few crickets. All of them were very much alive, served in clean bowls, and fresh from the morning. But she... didn't seem to be interested in any of them.

"What's in the sandwiches?" she asked. He could already tell she wasn't going to like the answer.

"It's got... heart of palm, cream cheese, fried bacon, tomato and mayonnaise." Rooks replied.

Suddenly she scrunched. He realized he'd made a mistake...



"Oh, right!" he cried. "You didn't like heart of palm."

"No, I don't." she said, as he quickly hopped up to the sandwiches. "What are you doing?"

"I'll clear up a sandwich then..." he replied.

"No, don't, it's okay." she grimaced.

"It's no problem."

"Don't put your dirty overalls over my sandwich!"

With a few clicking noises, he took off his overall, leaving himself in thick cloth pants and a white shirt, his hands digging into the sandwich quickly, pulling a slice off it.

"How about we do a flower motif for the wall?" she began, sighing between her teeth.

"Flowers are nice."

"It's redundant: there's already flowers all about town." Rooks said. "We have to draw something else."

"We could draw her." Risa pointed. "I know Denade likes to see herself..."

"No. We're drawing the moon's surface."

"Hey!"

"It has to be something worth drawing." Rooks pointed. "Something she can't see otherwise."

"No. A thing is a thing, and its picture is another thing." Rui cut in. "A flower and the picture of a flower aren't the same thing, Rooks."

"And that makes it a good idea?" Rooks spat, taking another.

"It's not about flowers!" Samantha blurted, wincing. "It's about how we draw them... could you please leave that sandwich alone?"

"No. Guys, we're drawing the moon's surface, okay?" Rooks insisted. "Maybe that way we'll have something new for a change." he picked off the rest of the heart of palm from the sandwich.

"Look, Rooks, maybe you could try not to be so much of a bossy jerk?" Risa began.

"Say whatever you want, but that's what we're painting on the wall." he said, wiping the sweat off his brow with a mayonnaised arm. "Wow, I got pretty dirty in there..."

"But you can't just walk in there and tell us what to do!" Samantha cried.

"It was my idea we painted the wall. I get to pick the design."

"But it was my turn to decide what we were going to do!"

"So what? We should be doing it right, walls don't grow on trees!"

"And why is it YOU know what's right?"

"I ALREADY told you, it's not my fault you're not listening. Wait- I missed a spot..." he added, back inside the sandwich. "Hmm, I was wrong. That was all the heart of palm, I th-UK!" suddenly, the sandwich constricted around him. "What's wrong!?"



Despite his struggles, someone was holding him inside the sandwich- the next thing he knew was that someone was pushing him well into the sandwich, with something wet, even through his pants. A tongue!? This was very inappropriate!

"Hey, don't do that!" he cried. A moment later, he felt two things -very smooth, very very soft- clamping around his pants... they creeped up his lower back...

"Samantha, this isn't funny! Cut it o-!"

Next thing he knew, he found himself slurped right out of the bread. His ears popped in the pressure difference, harmlessly, he assured himself, as that rough something crawled from his pants to his back, to his arms- then right back over him, smearing him with mayonnaise.

"What the hell do you th-...!" he cried, spitting out a glob of saliva not his own. She tasted pretty sweet, but he just didn't really care for this kind of thing. Well, it might've been that she was upset, but putting him in her mouth was a really low blow! Now he was covered in mayonnaise, and who knew what else!

He tried to crawl for her teeth, as her jaw was slack, but wherever he tried to go, her slimy tongue was there to toss him back in the center for another round.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM- ARRGH!!" he spat, kicking away. Suddenly, he felt something pulling on his hair- he twitched, realizing her teeth were holding his hairs. "THAT H-"

Then it stopped. He let out a winded gasp of moist, hot breath in breath, covering his face. Her mouth looked slack all over now. But for some reason her lips weren't parted, he realized, gasping in those suffocating mouthfuls of air...

"Hey-! what's your-! No you don't-!" he growled, catapulted down her throat. He couldn't see anything, but he could feel he landed into a heap down somewhere fleshy- somewhere there wasn't a tongue nor teeth.

"No you didn't..." he growled. "You couldn't...!" he gasped. "Come the hell on!" he cried.

Some part of him recalled that struggling was (supposedly) the single worst thing he could do. He wondered if that was actually true, or just some old fairytale meant only to strike terror in the hearts of badly behaved girls, who should be warned their godmothers would eat them, and if they got violent, they were going to lose. More importantly, did fairies in the wild really do this to people? All of a sudden all those stories about the wild got a lot scarier. Any of those fairies out there could eat him, and if he tried to fight, he'd lose. And then they'd digest him.

Oh come the hell on, he thought, it's not like she's got much of a taste for meat anyway, her stomach is probably pretty weak, that must have been why she ate so little meat...

He quickly struggled to get to his feet. It didn't work. Scrambling for anywhere high didn't work either. A pungent smell filled his nose for an instant- he gagged a little, realizing there was something liquid in there with him. It wasn't pooling, but he didn't have time to thank anything for that: he banged his head against a soft wall of flesh. Like every time that happened, he smelled something else for an instant- something like pain.

He gasped an instant, trying to recompose himself. He'd head-butted the wall, and nothing bad had happened. Maybe if he focused he'd...

The stomach wall suddenly came right at him, like it was punching him in the face, the ground shifting and throwing him on his side. His neck felt like it was going to snap for a moment, and he crumbled to the floor, curled up. This place was too cramped, too hot, too moist, too acid- it was acid, he remembered, and almost in response to the thought the skin on his back itched and burned. He tried to convince himself it was nothing but his imagination, his fists clenching, as the ground suddenly twitched into the wall, trying to get his face down...

He flailed with the strongest kick he could muster into the gastric wall as it came close. Much as he thought he'd stopped it, it came at him again- and he kicked again, trying not to let down. Maybe if he kicked it hard enough she'd throw up, she never liked meat anyway! Or maybe if he laid still she'd forget about the whole business and spit him out, but in the middle of the decision-making process he realized he was panicking. He was kicking and elbowing at any wall within reach, trying desperately not to believe his skin was burning off, sucking in mouthfuls of suffocating foul air, crying for help...

...and wondering why it didn't smell like acid anymore. Had his nose saturated?

======

The next thing he knew, he jolted up in pain. His whole body burned...

"AAAAAIIEEE!"

A pair of gentle, strong hands quickly held his shoulders- he relaxed and softened, though still gasping, as he looked around. He felt uncomfortably hot, itching all over- and stiff.

"Easy there, cookie!" the voice said. "You're lucky to be alive."

Still trembling, he tried to bring his hand to scratch his chest. But then he realized something was tight around his elbow...

"I said take it easy. Don't move, cookie." the voice continued.

He took a few last gasps, then looked at the arms around his shoulders. They were fair-skinned, and led up to the shoulders of a fair-skinned woman with a pretty smug look in her green eyes. Her hair was blonde, short, with two long antennae.

"Miss Denade?"

"Yes, cookie." she smiled. He smiled back. That 'cookie' moniker, though, was new. The next thing he realized was that he was in a white bed, with white sheets, in a white room, with a white window looking out into a blue sky. And there was a fairy in the room. And smiling hurt.

"What...?"

"You've been bad." she sentenced.

He blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"One of your friends ate you." she smiled. "What did you do to upset her so much?" she asked, interested.

"One of my... friends?"

"Samantha, I think that's her name. She's got brown hair, and green eyes, like mine. Maybe you were playing a naughty game that got out of hand?" she winked.

He shook his head. All of a sudden, the skin around his neck felt like it was tightening.

"I wouldn't move much if I were you."

"Neck..."

"Don't worry, it's just skin." Denade grinned, her hands suddenly leaving his shoulders, one of them staying on his biceps.

"Just... skin?" he blinked.

"Close your eyes, cookie..." she cooed. He, unable to think, unable to comprehend anything, just closed his eyes. "...I'll explain it all. I'll answer all your questions, Just lie down, and get some rest. I'm right here."

"What do you mean by just skin?" he asked, slowly.

"Your skin is gone." she said. "Most of it, at any rate."

"Wh... what?"

"Don't worry." she said. He felt her fingers stroke his hair- his first impulse was to recoil, his body tensing up. He managed to refrain from recoiling, but even then, he was greeted by a ripping pain around one of his wrists.

"So was some of your body." she suddenly said, disapprovingly. "You need to relax, just relax, okay? It's just flesh. I made you another one."

"Another flesh?"

"Yes. If you stop moving, it should settle in in an hour or so."

"Settle... in?" he asked, utterly clueless.

"Yes, I baked you a new skin." she replied.

"..." Suddenly he had a feeling he didn't want to know what she meant anymore.

"That's good, keep quiet, and I'll keep telling you..." she ignored him clearing his throat. "I know the recipe to make humans- it's your lucky day, because I was on nursery duty today. Your right arm was burned too, so I baked you a new arm." he pursed his lips, a feeble tearing pain around his mouth reminding him not to. "And your right eye was burned, so I baked you a new eye."

"...ahem..."

"I thought it would've been faster if I just let her finish you off and then baked a whole new you, but your friends didn't want that." she said, stroking his hair. "But I'm calling you cookie anyway."

"...bake?" he managed to mouth off.

"I just told you I know a recipe." she said. "So I baked you a new skin, a new arm, a new eye, a new side. As soon as your new skin cools down, you'll be as good as new. Well..." she giggled. "not exactly as good as new, maybe if I had baked a whole new you. But I made a few improvements while I was at it."

He dreaded to ask. But at the same time, he really, really had to know. His eyes suddenly bolted open- and he realized he was seeing only out of one eye.

"...! Th..." her hand slid down from his hair, around his ear, her touch gossamer as it went around the burning rip on his neck, painlessly, following his collarbone, leaving only a cool feeling as it floated over his newly baked skin.

"...what...?"

Her hand continued to slide down. He began fearing how personal her tampering could've gotten. Then her hand slid mercifully to the right- to his kidney area, much to his relief.

Wait, having his kidney rather than his softer tissues tampered with was supposed to be a relief?

"To make sure you're extra careful not to make anyone mad, cookie, I baked you with a really delicious skin. Now..." she smiled, and he realized the dread rising in his blood. "...you taste like cookies."

"What?"

"You taste like cookies."

"...what?"

"You taste like cookies, what's so hard to understand about it?" she asked. "Now, you'll forevermore taste like creamy filling."

"...what!?"

"Okay..." she giggled. "Like creamy filling and fruit salad sauce with honey! That'll teach you not to be a jerk with your friends. Now you don't have an excuse to think they won't eat you!" she winked.

She... winked.

"...WHAT!?"

"Hush, hush, don't get too excited. Let your skin cool down, then you can freak out all you want, okay?" she said, leaning down towards him. He couldn't help but get winded- and not for the right reasons.

"...what!?"

"Hmm... I think you're still groggy." she hummed, sitting on his bed. "Look, it's not as bad as you think, okay? This skin graft only means you don't have to make yourself look delicious."

His mouth opened, almost out of its own volition, trying to find the words to explain what his feelings were.

"Your bedside manner is lacking!" he mumbled. She squinted a little.

"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about." Denade smiled. "That wasn't nice. And that's bad. It's terrible, cookie." she grinned. "It's why you have so many grafts right now..." she stood up from the bed, and went somewhere behind him. Softly, she raised his head- he took a look at the rest of his body, still covered with white bandages, a few red spots here and there. The bed creaked slightly as she sat down, then she placed his head on her lap.

His ear was pressed somewhere...

"Remember that sound?" she asked. He didn't. He couldn't tell what she was up to. He hadn't been exactly listening in the stomach. He had been flailing, crying, kicking, punching. Certainly not listening to anything. Not to a soft gurgle in particular, not to a sound that made his fingers clench painfully, quickened his heart, dropped his jaw slack and had his chest shiver, not to any sound that made him want to cry...

"I see you do..." he looked straight up, into her smiling face as she licked her lips, sending a tremor down his shoulders. His fingers twitched. "If you don't want to go back in there, you should be nice." she leaned a little lower, closer to his face, favoring him with a grin. "You should take better care of yourself, you're so handsome. It'd be awful if you did anything stupid, that's why I want so badly to be sure you don't. I'm sure you can manage, okay?" she added, with... a smile of genuine kindness.

His eyes fluttered closed. She stroked his hair a little longer, then lowered his head on its pillow, and left quietly, leaving him to wait until the new flesh settled around him...

...doubting, eyes closed, just how genuine the kindness in her smile was. Could she have just threatened him with a slow death? Again? Right now? Was it normal, natural, for him to be KILLED-out-of-sheer-spite? Was it like this in the wild, now? Was this how it happened? Was this how it all started out there?

======

"So, no sex?" Miel asked.

"Wh-why would there be sex?" Rooks blurted.

"I just thought it'd go well... you know, she was nursing you, she mentioned 'improvements'..." she said. "I thought she was planning on testing you out."

"That's- what the- hey! You think I NEED 'improvement'!?"

"Maybe not now, but back then?" she grinned.

"Get your mind off the gutter! Not even back home they were that crazy!"

"But I don't follow, I don't get it- I don't beli-" she was cut off.

"THEN DON'T ASK!" Faulkner's hiss returned.

"I don't mean it that way. I mean... it's WAY out there."

"It's exactly what happened!" he grunted. "And I'm not done."

The Joy of Hunting Part 11b- Sugar on Top

Credits to Slimetoad for help deciding what to wear on this one.

======

Obviously, to have taken that alone as a sign of the true order in the world would've been jumping to conclusions. Rooks knew he had been eaten by a friend of a friend on a scornful whim- and that a near-complete stranger had put him back together, only that now he tasted like creamy cookie filling- and fruit salad sauce. He had been saved, but he had been transformed into a dessert as punishment for his crimes. That didn't have to mean all fairies were crazy, though. It only meant there were one or two crazy people in Kortiki, and he had to meet them all.

He was half-right. They weren't one or two... but he had to meet them all.

* * * * * *

It was a quick relief to go back to his house. His parents were out of town right now- he had to hold the fort. Unsupervised, someone could walk in, but that wasn't the problem. He was used to people with very little respect for boundaries or private property. The problem was that they didn't know where things were- that was a good way to make a mess. And his father's workshop needed to be kept in tip-top shape if he was going to make anything in it.

His first impulse was to walk into his room, crash on his bed early in the day. It was already well into the afternoon, and frankly, everything still hurt. It would be good to get a little more rest. But as he approached his bed, he saw something tossing and rumbling under the covers.

"Who's there?" he cried.

Immediately, a couple faces peeked out from under the covers. A man, and a woman, both with features he loathed at the moment- they reminded him too much of someone.

"Oh! Hello, Rooks." the woman said, shamelessly.

"We thought you were going to stay out all night." the man added.

"No, Denade already discharged me." he shook his head.

"Well, she shouldn't have..." the woman added. "Her bedside manner is atrocious, someone should still look after you."

"Valeria, it's not appropriate to talk behind her back."

"Otto." she turned for a moment. "Rooks, you should still have someone to look after you."

"We can take care of you while we're here."

"Look, I appreciate the thought, but... I'm fine, really!" he said, with a short giggle.

"Our daughter almost digested you, Rookie. You can't be fine." Valeria replied. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine, really, I am." Rooks replied, quietly, beginning to stare.

"What's with the stare, do you want your bed back?" Otto asked.

"Nah, it's okay, keep it."

"I detect a hint of sarcasm." Valeria frowned.

"I mean keep it tonight, I'll just wash it tomorrow first thing in the morning..." Rooks sighed. "It's no big deal, really."

"I can wash it for you, if you want." Otto offered.

"No thanks." Rooks replied. "I'll be over there."

"Holler if you need anything!" Otto grinned.

Rolling his eyes, Rooks turned back to his bedroom door- wondering what to do next. Obviously, he wouldn't be able to crash into his bed anytime soon- Otto and Valeria hadn't conceived a child by lack of trying. Well, two. But he'd never seen the other one. He was kind of curious as to what would Samantha's older sibling would be like. She'd probably be just like her little sister, but more reserved -and, he thought to himself- probably more beautiful. Yeah, that sounded just about right.

Right now, though, it seemed like a good moment to crash into the couch on the living room. Thankfully, his room opened right into the living room, so he was just one door away from the couch.






He opened the door.






A booming rhythm almost knocked him off his feet as he shielded himself from a flash of strobing light, clenching his teeth. On reflex, he walked forward and closed the door, spreading his fingers just enough to see through them.

Stroboscopic colored lights flashed around a mirrored ball in the ceiling. While at first he thought nothing would surprise him anymore, the appearance of that mirror ball was something he couldn't just ignore- not even in the face of all the people dancing in his house, seemingly having arrived the instant he reopened the door.

He felt his hand clench angrily- he needed rest. They denied it to him in a manner most infuriating...

"HEEEY!" he yelled. "HEEEEY!"

The music was way too loud.

"HEEEY!" he insisted. "I SAID HEEEY!"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" a woman yelled into his ear. In this environment, all he could tell was that she was probably around as tall as him. She was whatever color hit the mirror ball last, all over.

"WHAT!?"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"WHAT!?"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"OKAY!"

"WHAT!?"

"OKAY!"

"WHAT!?"






That wasn't going to work.






Quickly turning his head, he tried to synch the aching pain in his ears. The boom box had to be somewhere- he just had to unplug it and send everyone home!

Ignoring the person yelling into his ears, he quickly realized the direction of maximum pain- It was the front door. But if he went through the front door, he'd have a migraine the next day. He'd have, he realized, to go around the house. And so he avoided all the people dancing, making his way towards a different door. The door to the kitchen, actually, where he stumbled, aside from its usual population, upon a few fairies, several of them guys -and a few humans, too- watching intently a ball that bounced itself. He gave it a fair berth, but wound up tripping on something he didn't see...

"Argh! You okay?" someone's voice- he couldn't exactly tell who, replied.

"WHAT!?" he cried back, standing up quickly and striding out of the back door, hoping the party would be rained on.






It was a starry night.






Cursing his luck, he went around the house, pausing for a minute on the dining room's window. He saw, on the dining room table, so many mugs of beer of all shapes and sizes- and all of them were full. Strange, he didn't know there was that much beer anywhere. He didn't want to stop and look at the people drinking that beer- he could wind up remembering their faces later. Well, he could think of a way around that- he'd just have to drink himself into a coma, and presto- he wouldn't remember anything.

He wouldn't remember how infuriating was it that they threw a party at his place the moment they heard he'd be out cold for the night. Yeah, good moment for his parents to leave the house- with some luck, there might even still be a house standing when they came back.






Hopefully, not be because he rebuilt it.






He sluggishly made his way to the front of the house, where, as expected, he saw the boom box. Unexpectedly, though, this particular boom box had buttons bigger than his head, and played a cassette the size of a door inserted in a slot at his height from the ground.

"Damn fairies..." he whined, carefully going around the boom box and trying to ride it from behind. The stop button was at the top... fifteen feet off the ground. And the back was... smooth. There wasn't even a screw hole to grab on to.

He stepped back, letting out a short breath, straightening his hands. Speeding towards the back of the boom box, the plastic seemed to approach at a frightening pace as he took a quick, powerful hop, and ran up along the curve of the device, swinging a hand to catch the edge. He pulled himself up with a grin. Approaching the off button, he gulped, and pushed down.






The button resisted his efforts.






Clenching his teeth again, he punched the button as hard as he could- to no avail. Taking an instant to nurse his fist, he joined both hands together, and kneeled for a two-handed slam on the button. His fists bounced off the smooth plastic, a grunt escaping his lips as he stood up, wondering if tinies had this kind of problem with noise. Raising his shoe, he brought it down on the button, with a little hesitation, knowing his balance was on the line.

Somewhat desperate to get rid of the noise, he threw all caution to the wind, and jumped with both feet on the button, wondering for an instant if he'd meant to accomplish more that way, or if it was just his pride going into panic; an instant of adrenaline followed as he nearly fell over the speaker, where he'd be lucky to keep his innards healthy with all that noise booming right into him. Gathering himself a little, he grabbed the handle with both hands, and pried it off its slot, lifting it over his head, straight up.

Holding it up, he walked sideward, the cool wind running him over with every step, letting him know his shirt had gotten untucked from under his pants. He gulped, the cold growing a lot stronger around him as he placed his foot on the button, his hands holding up the handle as if he were offering it to the fingers of a passing giant.






Then the cold snatched him like the fingers of a passing giant.






The noise slowly faded away as he was lifted farther and farther from the stereo speakers, until he found himself eye to eye with a cute nose ruined only by perspective, belonging to a being whose skin was as pale as moonlight and as cold as snow. Her doubtful eyes showed a shade of concern, though her lips showed nothing in particular.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "That looks like you could've slipped and fell to your death."

"What?"

His lexicon still halted, he took a moment to fully realize the face before him, her snow-white hair and the shades of green infiltrated amongst them. Her features seemed just so preternatural- but she had no antennae. Not a fairy. He couldn't see her wings, and she was freezing him. He was shivering in her grasp, mercilessly sucking the warmth out of him. She watched him with a pair of eyes- and then two, as another face, with brown eyes, peeked from over her shoulder, two hands wrapping themselves around the human form that held him right now.

"Hey, Rooks!" she grinned behind her golden, waving hair. "I heard you were going to be at the hospital."

"Ah... ah... ah..." he began, shivering.

"Give him here, you're freezing him." she whispered into the moonlight-colored giantess' ear. Taken from those freezing hands, he found himself slumping into the new pair of hands, his sense of balance shaking for an instant. "So, already throwing a party?"

He sat up, looking into the blonde's eyes. He thought he knew her- but right now, he couldn't quite place who was this one. She seemed familiar- maybe one of the fairies living just around Kortiki- he'd seen her somewhere before. Damn, it was really embarrassing when he forgot someone's name...

"It... I didn't throw the party..."

"That explains why you were trying to turn off the music."

He shook a little harder, letting out a gasp, stifling a sneeze. "Can you turn it off? I'd like to slee-!"

"Hey!" she shook him. "Be a little more considerate, are you just going to slam shut the party in everyone's faces?"

"Well... you're not... in the party..."

"Yeah, but..." she leaned in, conspiratorially. "You know, can you leave the music up really loud so that no one can hear the two of us?" she grinned, leering at her companion. "C'mon, be a pal."

"What?"

"Trust me, you can sleep through this." she winked. "Okay?"

"What!?"

"I knew you'd be a pal." she added, suddenly giving him a peck, much to his terror. He assured himself for an instant it was just a peck- it didn't mean she'd tasted him- Then he saw her tongue snaking across her lips, frightening in its mellowness.

"My..." she hummed. "Wow... you..." she giggled. "You're really delicious, I'd watch myself if I were you!" she laughed. "Take care!" she added, bringing him back down to the ground, dropping him a bit recklessly, and then hurrying off with the elemental, the tremors barely muffled by the sound of the stereo.

"WHAT!?" he barked. That one word seemed to sum up his feelings too well lately.

But either way, Denade's words, no matter how stunned he had been to properly reply, sounded in his head. He really couldn't afford to piss anyone off right now. Maybe he really could sleep through the whole thing.






Only one way to tell...






Retracing his steps around the house, aiming for the same entrance as before, he saw one of the windows already open, a beer bottle on the ground. Frowning, he went up to the litter, bending down to pick it up.

"They're freaking hermit crabs..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

He stood up just in time to dodge a swung bottle, held by a large pincer- belonging to a relatively small woman with extremely long antennae. Her beady, tired eyes were glistening, her lips twisted in anguish, cheeks flush red. What really caught his attention was the large spiral structure her body seemed to be coming out of. He'd never seen anything like this before.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY! I HEARD YOU!" she cried. Rooks recoiled- he'd never seen one of those things. "You said freakish hermit crabs didn't you! I'm going to teach you a lesson!"

"No, I didn't!"

"So now you're callin' me a liar too!?" she snarled.

"Look, you had one drink too many..."

"You think I'm an alcoholic now!? 'cause of this one booze!? THIS IS NOTHING!" she protested. "I drink things like you all the time! And who the fuck are you anyway!?" she barked. "What are you doing here!?"

"I live here."

"Wha'? Really?" she blurted. "So this is your house and stuff? Is this your booze too?"

"N-"

"Well then I don't give a damn! Get lost!" she slurred, lifting the bottle to her lips. Rooks took the moment to discreetly slip away from her field of vision, letting a short slur on his way- but apparently, the random encounters would not let down anytime tonight. Three people were right by the door.






Right now it felt like two was a crowd...







"Ah! Hey, Rooks!" one young woman said. He recognized her- her red hair, her alluring build, and her green eyes- but right now, the only person he wanted to see was the sandman. Not her, not even in that nice outfit- right now, he was still too damn stunned for her stunning beauty to have any effect. Then there were two more people, a guy, and a girl... all human... none of them was a bed...

"Hello, Teefa, Salah, Darwin." he grinned. "Who the hell threw a party in my house?"

"That's what we wanted to know. Everyone we asked just said you weren't using it." Salah replied. "What happened? We heard you got eaten..."

"Yeah. Why didn't you show up at the infirmary?"

"Well, we'd all have gone, but..." Darwin rubbed the blonde knot of hay he had for hair. "...you know, the resident nurse today was the creepy one, Denade..."

"Don't say her name!" Teefa cried. "She didn't do anything to you, did she?"

God was he tired.

"Sooner... not talk. Gift horse, mouth... I'm alive." Rooks bit his lip.

"What did she do to you?" Salah asked. "I showed up, she just said you'd be annoying people again before we even knew it and that no one should worry, she seemed in such a rush to get me to walk out... was it something hot?" she suddenly smiled.

"Yeah, right, hot."

"WHOOOA!" Salah grinned. "What do you mean by hot?"

"Stale in a week." he spat. "Explain tomorrow..."

"Rooks, are you drugged?"

"Maybe, don't care." he spat. "Need sleep."

"Okay..." Darwin replied, shrugging. "See you tomorrow, I guess."

Letting out a short grunt for a goodbye, Rooks went back into his house, his ears somehow tuning in to the voices of his neighbors...

"That didn't sound like Rooks."

"He was so upset. Do you think she forced him to do something?"

"Oh! Sorry. There was this delicious smell..."

Rolling his eyes, Rooks navigated the sea of people, tuning off any inquiries as to what had happened, to why he wasn't in the infirmary- refraining from telling people what he thought of anyone partying in his house. Then he found the cellar. Sweet, sweet cellar... mostly full of abandoned stuff, its air dusty, cold, moldy and stale. There was no way anyone'd try partying in here. Removing the cloth off one long object, he found an old couch lying there. Grinning to himself, he lay on the couch and took a deep breath.







Finally, some peace and quiet.







Or at least, that's what he wanted to think. The relative peace was transitory... he could hear the cellar door creak open behind him, and someone wander in. They were flitting- not stepping, still talking inside once the door closed. He could tell they were at least five... and that they were playing some sort of game.

"I think there's someone in there..."

One of them wandered too close to his face. Well, if he pretended to be asleep, they'd probably leave him to sleep. The light spell she used didn't help, but...

"Oh! It's Rooks!"

"The kid of the two guys who own this house?"

"Yeah! That Rooks. I heard Samantha ate him, and he was in the infirmary now..."

"But he's here. That's weird..."

"Hmm... maybe we can play with him too!"

"But he's asleep."

"Then he won't notice! If you do it really softly, I mean."

Rooks really wasn't enthusiastic about this game. As long as it meant he didn't notice, though, he was pretty much game for anything.

"I don't know... we're really tiny right now, if we startle him, it could be dangerous..."

"Then get to his size and give him a kiss!"

"No, don't!" he snarled, suddenly lifting his head.

"Hey!" the fairy in front of him said. He recognized her- she was younger than him by a fair bit, though right now her name eluded him. "You were playing with us!"

"No one's kissing anyone here! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Umm... no!" she smirked. "You played with me, so I'm playing with you!"

"NOOOOOOOO-"

He jerked his head to the side. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he became aware of every little twitch in her face- as her lips contorted out of the sheer absurdity of the situation. Had she had one too many to drink? His neck wasn't fast enough, he pushed himself off with his arm, and her head found the way to put these lips to his jaw.

"OoooOOoooOO..." he growled, feeling a draft reveal a wet spot on his jaw.






Her tongue'd brushed him.

* * * * * *

He woke up with his head pounding and spinning from the night before, somehow having managed to crash in the couch on the living room. He remembered the day before had been vaguely traumatic, but the specifics eluded him. And upon sighting the amount of litter on the floor, he realized two things: the bad thing was that someone had thrown a party in his house. The good thing was that it was over.

The sluggish realization he'd have to clean up tilted the panoramic view back to bad. He stood up, going towards the computer on the study, its flashing light beckoning to him suspiciously, being careful to avoid any pile of litter large enough to hold a tiny. He wasn't sure he was the only person to wake up in the house.

"I turned this thing on?" he mumbled, pressing any key. The sight on the screen...

...well, it made him question for a moment whether his dad had accidentally set the screensaver to random images again. Then as his wits came back, he realized no one kept pictures that explicit in their computer. They must've gotten there sometime during last night...

"Ah! Hey, Rooks!" a blue-haired fairy cried from the picture, as she suddenly broke her embrace with her partner. "Sorry to popup like this, we thought you were going to stay at the infirmary- and you'd forgotten to set a screensaver. It's good for your monitor, you know?"

"She discharged me yesterday."

"Yeah, sorry about that. We kinda spread the word you wouldn't be home, to the entire town." she said, sheepishly. "It's just your place's great for a party!"

"What..."

"I mean it, everyone said your place was awesome! Didn't they, Rexi?" the fairy asked the other key component of the naughty screensaver.

"What?"

"I made a post about it. I think just about everyone favorited it." the other picture replied.

"What!?"

"And we learned about your new flavor. I made a post about it too." she added, winking.

Rooks contemplated for a moment the ramifications of what his screensaver had told him. Then he got it.

"WHAT!?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone you were that tasty?" Rexi asked. "Aria wants to taste you later."

"WHAT...!?" he looked at the other one.

"Because I don't know what you taste like." Aria giggled. "Anyway, you were told beforehand, so you can't complain later!"

The precious little remains of his lexicon up and left when exposed to that audacity. He stood up, quietly, and backed away from his computer.

"You can run if you want but we'll find you!" a high-pitched voice laughed from the screen. Then, all of a sudden, the two of them disappeared- probably out to pollute someone else's computer.

-Why me...?- he sighed inwards, quietly, going up to his room. There were sheets that needed cleaning... or burning.

* * * * * *

It was a good morning for cleaning: the sky was shaping up for a sunny afternoon, the kind that was crowned with windy nights where warm, clean covers are the best of treats. The chore also eased the mind somewhat, helping Rookie not dwell on the fact that now he was a cookie. But as he rubbed the wet, soapy cloth against the washboard and soaked it again in the washbasin, he'd soon realize he hadn't really met all of the inhabitants of his backyard. And as it turns out, some of them had suddenly become very interested in him.

They were crawling up his leg. Thanks to the stinging sensation in his leg, it took him only one guess as to why.

"Damn ants!" he barked, sweeping them off his leg. As he did, he realized, horrified, that a broad swath of ground around him was now full of ants. Pursing his lips, he tilted the washbasin- the ground around him pooled up. He rushed the washing of those threads, hoping to return to the house quickly and close the door on the ants.

He rushed the washing so much that he only got away with it because those were his sheets to sleep on; whatever had been done in them had went from something disgusting and unconceivable to simply a petty whim in the face of the red army now intent on devouring his leg. Hanging the sheets, he ran back into his house and closed the door. Rummaging for a moment, he picked a medium wooden box, and started gathering the larger pieces of litter on the floor- small wooden pieces, a set of playing cards, a Rubik cube, someone's undergarments (on closer inspection, it was HIS undergarments), a jacket, and something quite threatening and eye-catching.

He held the object at arm's reach, aware of its sharp angles. It was a large, spent syringe, which he averted his eyes from as he hesitated to even throw it with the rest of the litter. He really wanted to blame that one on a dimensional disturbance.

Done with the litter, he started making some tea, leaving it in the stove while he swept the floor for any dust that might've accumulated during the festivities the day earlier. By the time he returned, ready for breakfast, he realized the sugar had probably run out last night. Grumbling to himself, he wondered if anything else had run out or piled up. Damn, he really wanted sugar with his tea.

He tested the water with his pinky, finding it hot, but no longer scalding. And he took a sip, finding it sweet somehow- somehow like fruit salad sauce and creamy filling.

Staring at his pinky for a minute, Rooks sighed, cupping his face on his palm.

"DING-DONG!"

The bell ringing at his doorstep kept him from dwelling on it too long; he quickly went up to answer the door.

"Hello!" Salah grinned.

"Hm." Rooks hummed.

"Can I come in?" she asked. He shrugged, leading her back to the kitchen...

"I was just having breakf-" he was cut off by the sound of someone else having his breakfast.

"Mm, this is good! What's in this tea?" the fairy beamed.

"I..."

"You?"

"Explain later." Rooks growled; "Who was who" seemed to grow ever more irrelevant every second: he remembered she was a friend of Salah's. He felt himself go cross-eyed.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask what had happened. No one gave me any details, and Samantha's parents have her grounded." Salah explained. "So..."

"DING-DONG!"

"What?"

"Oh, that's our new friend!" the fairy cried. Now he remembered her name- Mélange? No, Magenta. Magenta, right.

"Your friend..." Rooks quickly advanced towards the door.

"Yeah!" she added. "I think you'll like him. Kinda harmless- I was told about what happened, but watch out, because it devours cookies on sight!"

Too late. He'd already opened the door.

A stocky, fuzzy monster, standing nine feet tall on its hind, clawed paws, somehow had managed to ring the bell.

"You... said he ate cookies on sight?"

"Unless you have fruits!"

His eyes went very wide. The creature had already pushed its muzzle through the door- so he'd already turned around and bolted for the bathroom, before the amazed eyes of the two women in his house.

"DAMMIT!"

"Rooks, are you alright?" Salah asked.

"Get that bear out of my house!"

"Jerk! You didn't tell me he was scared of bears! Why'd you put me up to this!?"

"Hey- I didn't- Rooks! Tell her I didn't!"

"I'm not scared of bears, I'll exp-!"

Something on the corner of his eye caught his attention in the mirror. The corner of his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes... and moved closer. There was an inscription there, just barely visible under the collar of his shirt. He pulled at it, and his eyes widened...

BEST BEFORE 2062 AU

======

"Fate was beyond ludicrous to me, and for a time I clung to the hope that it'd all get better." he sighed. "When it didn't- I went to Negav."

"There's one thing I don't get, though." the tiny woman replied, fiddling with her hair.

"As long as you're not calling me a liar, I'm willing to explain anything."

"No, I mean, why'd you go into all that detail about all that boring stuff and then when the interesting part started, you just say you went to Negav and became a fairy hunter." Miel shrugged. "Why didn't you summarize the first part and novelize the last?"

"Because that's not the part that matters. I told you why I became Faulkner, not what was it like."

"Yeah, but it'd have been interesting..."

"It wasn't." Rooks frowned. "The city was full of jerks, I didn't judge them, I got roughed up once or twice because everyone thought I was an idiot faking my accent just to sound special, I was called a cookie a lot and it really pissed me off... nothing special. But I've never been eaten for being a jerk since then."

"And has it been worth it?"

"Worth it? What do you mean by that?"

"Well..." she winced. "All in all, I think you might've... kind of..."

"Yes?"

"...you might've overreacted?"

"Me? Overreact?" Rooks blinked. "Pardon my prudent, polite, perfectly poised person."

"AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!"

He smiled, watching her double over in laughter. It was nice to have that effect once in a while.

"Do you like alliteration? It's quite popular where I'm from."

"Alli-what-what?" she cackled, trying really hard not to fall over.

"It's a play on words, where all words in the sentence start with the same sound." he nodded.

"That, that's supposed to be funny?" she grinned.

"Yes. I'm glad you-"

"NO!" she snorted, still laughing. "I'm laughing because that's SO not true!"

Rooks recoiled a little, blinking.

"Excuse me? What have I done to deserve that attitude?"

She raised her eyes for a moment. Just a moment- after which, she burst into laughter again, her hands drifting to her midsection, her legs kicking randomly as she fell on her side.

"Hoo boy, you're serious!" she laughed. "That's... that's..."

"I do not overreact." Rooks claimed, straight-faced. She couldn't do anything but drop on her back, starting to seriously fear for her life. If the laughter didn't do her in, that guy would once the nice guy act was over.

"Miel, cut it out! I don't deserve this!"

"Puh!" she gasped. "Don't kill me, boy" she wheezed, slowly, trying to find strength in her limbs. Just as her neck managed to turn her gaze in his direction, the look on his face was all that she needed to double over even lying down- and laugh herself stiff again. Now he was angry on top of everything!

======

A sluggish hiss escaped his slowly souring throat, his forehead building a new frown. Every time he told the story, the same thing happened- someone laughed. He asked himself how much they'd be laughing if they had cookie grafts themselves, but as he quickly reminded himself that was an extremely sadistic thing to ponder. It was bad enough to feel the way he did without having to feel guilty if it ever happened to someone else.

He wondered for a moment if he'd eat her. Quickly, he discarded the notion- Miel was still property of Lenna, for one, and the rest of the reasons...

She giggled. He wondered for a moment when was the last time a giggle didn't scare him to death.

"Don't kill me..."

"I'll shut up now."

"I mean don't kill me for laughing!" she giggled. "Please don't!"

"You're a jerk." he grunted. "Nothing to kill over."

She shook quickly, still laughing.

"You've got a strange mind." she grinned. "If someone laughed at me like that, I'd... I'd make them suffer and despair, I'd have them die slowly." she added.

"Good for you I'm not you."

"Yeah. Isn't that ironic... Now, why is it you saw that fairy and suddenly you freak out?"

"Samantha?"

"No, the other one."

"Rui?"

"Yeah. Why act like that?"

Rooks took a deep breath.

"It would probably get too long if I told you the important part." he pursed his lips. "Suffices to say I found little or no support when word came out. Everyone thought I was just being a big wuss about it, that I had come out completely unharmed, that it wasn't such a big deal to taste like cookies, that I should just learn to be nicer, just like Denade said." Rooks frowned. "Even I believed it for a while, or rather, I still believe it. However, none of them knew what I had really been through. What did they know? I could've died in there. If I was such a monster..." his eye twitched. "I should've died in there. But I'm not. I just got... turned into Rookie Cookie. And she got... I don't think she even got anything." he bared his teeth. "I'm not going to say Rui was on my side, because she wasn't. But she at least... made an effort to understand me. She didn't say it was okay. She supported me even if she didn't fully agree with me. And now, look at how I've paid for her support. What am I going to say? That it's just business?" he grimaced. "Rui of all people has never hurt a soul. Now just look at what happened."

"And what are you going to do, Rooks?"

He stood up.

"I'm going to save her."

======

"Faulkner's agreed to help." Miel beamed from his hand. Faulkner looked at his fellow hunter warily up and down as he closed the door behind himself.

"That's good!" Ichenso said.

"Ichenso!?" Rooks exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"I'll show you what's going on." Ichenso said, suddenly taking both gloved hands to his helmet. With a soft pop, he revealed his face.

He was quite handsome, with round features, and a pair of big, somewhat clueless eyes, one of them blackened, to go with what tried to be a smug smile but barely concealed the difficulty of the situation. A mane of white hair and a white lock beard completed the image.

Then there were a couple antennae that made Rooks jump back.

"A fae...!" he squeaked.

"Just "A fairy"? You don't recognize me?" the male fairy exclaimed, puzzled.

Rooks looked at him up and down.

"I've never seen you in my life."

Metzger sighed.

"I guess that's true. Anyway, things went like this..." he began.

======

As the switchblade stabbed through his wing into his back, his eyes still locked on Isa before him, there was a creeping realization- now it was no longer a matter of time until he regained his magic. Now it was a matter of whether he would live long enough for that to happen in the first place.

Trying to get away he stumbled forward, under her hovering form, trying to get away from what was behind him- but the next thing he knew was that he'd been tossed forward with a swift kick.

"GaaaH!"

"That's a swift kick in the ass. So you know your place a bit better." the voice mocked behind him. "And you girl?" it laughed. "You gonna do something? I think it's getting cramped in here."

The last thing his sense for magic told him was that she was flitting upwards, out of a range that seemed to recede away quickly. He rolled on his back, watching the plastic-wrapped man twirl the knife in his hand.

"Eh..." he shrugged. "She's not your true love, right?" he laughed. "Well, not anymore, at any rate! The moment you stop struggling, we can wrap up over here."

He changed his grip on the knife. Then he took a step forward, over the fairy that now seemed unwilling to drag his already broken wings over the ground, his hand reaching for his neck, his other hand still grabbing a knife.

Metzger tried to struggle, but that only hurried the man up, and he kneeled over his torso, grabbing his neck- exerting a force he'd never thought he'd have to feel. He tried to scream, but his windpipe was shut tight- he panicked, grabbing the arm with both hands, thrashing and flailing, watching the man's other arm rise above his head, the blade about to descend on his eyes.

"I'm gunna have to rip out your eyes..." the hunter giggled. "Can't have you seeing what I'm doing! I don't know what I'll do 'bout your girlfriend though, if only she were here, don't you think she could save you from li'l old me?" he asked. "But she's not here right now... I guess I'm just gonna rip your eyes out..." he continued, almost singing.

The knife came down. He had no choice but to take one arm off the task of prying him off, and bring it up to catch the fist- much to his own surprise, he managed to oppose enough resistance for the knife not to come down.

"One Mississippi," the man sang. "two Mississippi." he giggled. "Two and a half Mississippi, two and three quarters Mississippi, two and five sixths Mississippi..."

Then it hit him. If he hadn't ripped his eyes out, it wasn't because he was too strong for the man- he was holding back, toying with him. He was just tormenting him, taunting him so that Isa would come back... otherwise, having him choke and fall unconscious suited him perfectly.

"Gh... GH...! GhhHGHHhhhh..."

This wasn't working. His eyes started rolling into the back of his head, the taste of his own throat rising to greet him, unconsciousness looming, that man still straddling his body. His fear, frustration, fury flared, forcing a fit of fighting up...

"FFFFFFFF!"

Releasing the hand that was trying to choke him, he buckled with all his might, then reached down and squeezed his tormentor's family jewels with all his sadistic desperation.

"AuuugHH!"

In one last fit of thrashing, he managed to throw his foe off and roll away, gasping a breath of fresh air through his neglected, white beard, while the hunter took a moment to clutch his family jewels.

"A curse upon your lineage, human!" Metzger coughed, standing up, aching all over.

The man, still straddling the ground, suddenly turned his helmeted head towards him as he stood up. Metzger gulped.

"You there." he clenched his fist. "Have my BABIES!" the hunter cried, jumping him clumsily, hesitating around the waist. He was obviously tough, but that HAD hurt!

-Too slow.- Metzger thought, clenching his fist, twisting his back. "TAKE THIS!"

The man drove towards Metzger, who clutched his arm with his free hand- and then swung his fist awkwardly into the man's face, clearly too blinded by adrenaline to remember the thick plastic helmet he was wearing.

"OUCH!"

"That was just stupid." the man sighed.

One movement later, Metzger found himself staggering back from an elbow smash in the belly that took the air out of him.

"KUH-!"

Behind his helmet, the man seemed to weigh his options slowly.

"I figure your girlfriend's not going to show up..." he mumbled. "Well, this is awkward, I was hoping to get two. Meh, nevermind..." he clenched his fists, advancing...

He recovered in time to see Isa descend upon the hunter, entwining her arms with his'.

"Hey! Not fair!"

"Quickly! Knock him out!"

"Hehehe... in your dreams." the hunter giggled, starting to squirm, to backpedal, taking Isa with him. He could see he planned to fall on top of her and crush her wings- he had to act quickly!

Taking a leap of faith, Metzger brought his fist straight forward again. The man struggled to block the blow... with his helmet.

"ARGH!"

"Oh-ho!" the man grabbed her arms, twisted around- and tossed her away. She only managed to stabilize herself by flitting up... and Metzger realized she'd taken the hunter's helmet.

"Gah! Give that back, you...!" he was interrupted by Metzger suddenly tackling him. Despite the hundred-fifty pounds of hairy fairy, the man budged barely an inch.

"You're useless at this..." he grinned. Metzger looked up at his face, and gasped- he had a blue eye, a glass eye, a head full of short, red hair, and teeth both gold and yellow in that scarred, greasy face. He aimed a punch- that man would surely be nothing without his helmet!

The man caught his fist in midair, and twisted, bringing the already pained fairy to his knees. His other hand held his face down around his crotch- Metzger saw the knee starting to stir, probably aimed at his face...

...and then buckle, the man dropping to the ground with a grunt. He looked up to see Isa, holding the man's helmet.

"It's ironic. The key to his victory became his undoing in the end..." Isa pointed, looking at her murder weapon.

"Just like in old tales." Metzger sighed.

"You okay?"

"I've got some bruises here and there, but nothing too serious. You?"

"Are you kidding? I beat that guy up so fast he didn't even have time to say his prayers!" Isa boasted.

"Yeah, right..." Metzger pursed his lips.

"Hey, you're visible."

"Yeah, he... cut through one of my wings."

"That's not a bruise..."

"It's beside the point." Metzger sighed, grabbing his hair and pushing it to the back of his head .

"What do we do now?" Isa looked down at the downed man.

"What did Tarusa say we should do?"

"Umm..." Isa began. "That pheromone hit her pretty hard, I don't know if I'd listen to her advice."

Metzger pursed his lips, looking at her.

"But if you really want to know..." Isa shrugged. "It went more or less like this..."

======

Isa and Sabor were kneeling before Tarusa as her daughter sat her up, trying to get her to wake up.

"Mom, wake up! What happened!?" she cried, fanning her for air with her hand.

"Uh, a bird came and rescued the bird lady, so Sammy and Marley went after her..." she giggled.

"Those two..." Metzger slapped his face. "They'll be fine, right?"

"No!" she smiled, sticking her tongue out. "They've been caught."

"What?"

"It was a trap so that they could rescue the bird lady." the elder grinned. "It's obvious now."

Isa looked around, as if she was hoping to catch Metzger's gaze.

"What should we do?" Metzger.

"We? Metzger, I'm not sure we can do anything..."

"Sure you can! Just pass for humans. That gets 'em every time!" Tarusa giggled.

Isa bit her lip.

"Fine, I'll do it." Metzger growled. "Are you coming with me?"

"Sorry! Too sleepy." Tarusa stuck out her tongue.

"I have to stay with my mother..."

"I have to go look for help." Sabor replied.

"Isa?" Metzger growled.

Pursing her lips, Isa weighed her options for a moment.

That's all it took for her to say yes.

"Yes, but... if we get caught... what do we do?"

"Oh! If you think you're going to get caught, flirt! It always works!" the convalescent fairy cut in. "Put that valley girl charm of yours to good use!"

"Don't listen to her too much." Ehloet chirped. "Anyway, you might need this." she took the strap from her thigh to which the bag was attached. "The red ones to grow, the blue ones to shrink, just crack them under your nose if you can't concentrate."

Isa hesitatingly reached forward, taking the pouch. Strapping it to her own thigh, she looked at Metzger.

"Oh! I'm sure they went that way..." Tarusa giggled. "Because they're going to go in a circle towards that place..." she pointed away. "They think we don't know it's there, but we do, and if you get there first you might just catch up, I'm sure..."

======

"Are you sure you want to follow her advice?" Isa asked.

"It's my sister." Metzger growled. "Now, how do I go about passing for a hunter..."

"Borrow his clothes." Isa pointed.

"What about his face? Will I borrow that too?"

"They won't be able to see it." she smiled.

"But I'm not invisi- ah, I get it." he said, looking at her helmet. "Was he driving? I can't drive."

"Pretend your hand was hurt in the fight."

"Won't it be suspicious if I get back there empty-handed? I mean, he's probably expecting me to either come back with the fairy, or not come back at all..."

Isa reached into her pouch, pulling a small blue brick.

"That's an easy one, you just bring a fairy."

"You'd really...?"

"Just don't screw the jar too tight, and let me out the first moment you can, okay?" Isa asked.

======

"And that's what happened? Seriously?" Rooks asked, pursing his lips.

"Yeah. I did some dumb things, but in the end I came on top. Fairy luck." Metzger grinned. "Ah, I left out the part where I shaved my beard to give myself this badass lock..." he pointed at his beard, now only a goatee and two contours around his mouth.

"You need my help releasing the fairies." Rooks nodded.

"Yeah. My sister's with them..."

His eyes narrowed.

"Samantha." Rooks grunted.

"Yeah. You should let her out, and maybe we'll give you long enough to run away." Metzger added, smug. "I haven't forgotten what you just did to her, you sick fuck."

Rooks suddenly grew very quiet- shaking for an instant. But then he smiled.

"Long enough to run away, you say...?" he smirked. "Well, you just be sure Rui stays alive."

"You don't have to ask. We're not like you."

"Heh! No, I suppose you aren't." Rooks grinned. "So, what are we waiting for? We have to save your sibling!"

Metzger put his helmet back on.

"Follow me. This won't be hard." Rooks beamed. "Like, at all. Go in, pick her up, go out! It's 1-2-3! It's A-B-C!" he giggled, giving Metzger a thumbs up.

"Rooks?" Miel blurted.

"Yesss?" he hissed.

"You're clenching too tight..."

"So-rry!" he giggled. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength!" he quickly pocketed her, hurrying over to the storage room, Metzger following him.

He quickly unlocked the door, pulling a couple small vials from his pocket, which he draught quickly while Metzger was still lagging behind. Then he took a look at the jars on the shelf that lay on the left wall, counting them mentally. His eyes rolled into the back of his head for a moment, thinking of something that lay behind the bottom case to the right- he turned around, giving Metzger a brief smile.

"Okay, unlock them." the fairy said. His smile twitched for a moment...

"Hey, I want you to take a look at this over there." he pointed at the console. Metzger came closer... and just then, Faulkner pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

"What?!"

Grabbing his arm quickly, Faulkner cuffed him to the shelf where the jars were. That speed... Metzger had only seen such speed in the huntress before...

"What- what are you doing!?"

"Give myself enough to run away." the hunter growled.

"But- but them...!"

"Don't care! Threaten me!? ON YOUR OWN, SHITHEAD!" he snarled, snatching a jar from the shelf, a small figure suddenly emerging from his pocket...



"No, ROOKS! THIS ISN'T WHAT I WANTED!" Miel yelled out.

"Too bad!" Faulkner snapped.

"Wait... don't do this! They... they can help me!" she insisted.

He winced, grinning.

"No one can help you!" he chirped. "You know why I cared about you, why say anything!?"

She just glared at him.

"Do you know where I know your taste from?" he giggled, before her finally impressed eyes. "Myself! A cookie too, Miel!" his eye twitched. "Not an elf- never. Hope was..." he hissed. "Just couldn't take it away."

Shaking her head, she gasped for a second.

"I- I don't understand... are you calling me a cookie?" she blurted, frightened.

"Yeah." he shrugged. "Sooner not tell, but- they can't help you, and..."

"What do you think you know!?" she snarled. "I AM AN ELF! If you're so dense you think just because I taste the same as you I'm like you, YOU are a dough-brained cretin, not me!"

"Say whatever; figured it out already. Deep down, sure you too." he shrugged.

"No. I'm NOT a cookie, Rooks, I'm NOT a tomthumb, I'm AN ELF..."

"They CAN'T help you!" he growled.

"So that's what this is about!?" she snarled. "You just don't want to let them out!?"

"Sareu Trosvil." Faulkner spat. "No use letting them out right now, he'll just get them back..."

"Have a little hope! Have a little faith, for once in your life!" she protested. "Just let them out!"

"No time to argue. Miel, I'm going. Tag along or drop out."

She frowned.

"Leave me here."

"Fine."

He suddenly forced her into the empty vial. Replacing its lid, he ran out of the room, hid her behind a pile of litter, and then dived through a window.

====== ======

"WHAT!?" Sareu yelled, jumping out of his chair. "WE HAVE A WHAT?"

"Faulkner escaped!" Lenna cried. "I found Miel hidden in the garbage. I thought the fairy had come in through the broken window, but something actually left through that window... Miel told me it was Faulkner!"

"THROUGH THE GLASS?!"

"He was probably under the effects of a potion!" Ryuuzan quickly explained, raising a hand to his temple. "I have a terrible feeling about this. Sareu- you have to take care of him yourself! He's capable of doing... much more harm!"

"What?" the gorilla growled.

"Catch him!" Ryuuzan spat. "He's got... no, the future..." he clenched his teeth. "We might have to pull up stakes, it's suddenly become much more dangerous."

Sareu pursed his lips.

"So that freak's going to be the death of everyone?" he asked.

"Yes. We should probably forget about tonight's deal..."

"Over my cold, dead body." Sareu growled. "We're not forgetting about tonight. No more than I'm forgetting about that night."

"What night?" Lenna asked.

"When I arrived in Felarya it was a dark, and stormy night..." Sareu started, his face tight with concentration.

======

In a faraway galaxy, the planet Kii is the scenario of a relentless struggle between the forces of light and darkness, chaos and order, good and evil, right and wrong. The hearts of its battlers burn with unmatched passion as they bring their full power to bear once and again for the sake of being the greatest warrior. This planet is the cradle of the game of Frungy, the honorable embodiment of this conflict. But there are those who would use the power of Frungy to control the world. The only one that stands between them and their nefarious plans is Sareu Trosvil, the most powerful Frungy player in history, and the one who must pursue the quest to bring peace to the land.

This quest is almost to an end...

* * * * * *

With a metallic screech, the platform rose level to the stadium. The light was so intense that all matter beyond its scope seemed to be reduced to mere shapes in the dark, meaningless in comparison to the lines of the game zone.

But this particular stadium was different from all others. The ancient reliefs in the cyclopean walls, the strange, almost gemlike sources of light, or the open sky showing several strange stars visible through the whirlwind of rainbow-like, thundering storm clouds. Untimely weather- perfectly suited for the end times.

"Hopper!" the man in the platform barked. "I've come for you! Your demise is afoot!" he growled. "Now come here, it's time to pit your Frungy against mine- for destiny!"

There seemed to be no response for a while. Then a light shone in a balcony straight ahead... showing the face of all evil.

The man stepped into the light, a red mail cup hanging by a string wrapped around his thin waist. Tall, red boots ended just under the knees of his bronze body, a pair of red gloves covering his hands as he clapped. His beautiful, tan countenance eschewed red in favor of gold, except in his glowing eyes.

"Bwahahaha!" he laughed. "Sareu, I knew you'd come, but it's already too late! No one can stop this now!"

"Hopper, I'll stop you!" Sareu bellowed.

"You ignorant little man..." the red-haired man grinned, arrogantly. "Do you even know what you're going up against? How are you going to stop me?"

"With Frungy!" Sareu boasted. "You may have bested me before, but this time, I shall best you! My Frungy is the best in the world!"

"Hah!" he replied, looking away. "Even if your Frungy was the best- and it is not- it doesn't matter what you do."

"Huh?"

"Answer me now, carefully: why do you Frungy?"

"Because Frungy makes us better." he replied. "Frungy teaches us cooperation! It teaches us to never give up! Frungy is friendship!" he exclaimed, before his opponent's amused eyes. "But you... you're nothing but a ring tosser. You might be faster, or more precise- but your Frungy is nothing compared to ours! Our Frungy is the best!"

"Heh." he grinned. "You're wrong."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you even know what Frungy is? All you know is that your father taught it to you. Why did he teach it to you? Why was it taught to him?" Hopper grinned. "Why do we have Frungy and not something else?"

Sareu just stayed silent. He had no answer for that.

"I'll tell you what the matter is. Frungy is an instrument of subjugation. The purpose of Frungy is to enslave the world!" Hopper chuckled.

"You're insane!"

"Am I? Do you even know where you're standing!?" Hopper laughed. "I discovered those ruins almost a decade ago, after I was bested at Frungy by a tribe of desert nomads. I was a lot like you back then- I was naïve, I was weak, I still didn't know the essence of the game. But after my defeat, I cursed my weakness- and this place beckoned to me." he shrugged, grinning. "These ruins are part of an ancient ritual- and once I deciphered the inscriptions, I learned the truth about Frungy. It's not a game- it's a ritual! This... you, me, we've all been fools for too long, Sareu. We're not sportsmen- we're cultists. We've taken this blasphemy, we've cherished it, we've learned and taught it, we've augmented it into an art form!" he cackled. "Weren't you ever suspicious of why the referees were wearing long robes!?"

Unable to form a proper comeback, he just let him keep talking.

"The instructions for the ritual were incomplete." Hopper explained. "But it became a game- and the game tried new rules once and again. We've come ever closer to the true ritual, Sareu. But now, we have hit a snag... for you've beaten too many of my players. Now it's time for you to face me..." the man exclaimed, hopping out of his balcony, landing a good fifty feet below.

"Bring it on!" he yelled, raising a hand. "SHAKE THE FRUNGY!"

The rings around his hand exploded outwards, forming large hoops around his body. He wiggled inside them, like a hula monster, clenching his fists dangerously.

"MY FRUNGY IS BETTER!" the man replied, raising his hand. Now wrapped around hula hoops too, he put on a confident smirk.

What followed was too fast for the human eye to follow. Frungy was not a sport to play with the eyes, but the heart- and suffices to say that when Sareu opened his eyes, he had only half of his rings around himself.

"Bwahahahaha!"

He turned around, seeing Hopper now hidden behind an almost impenetrable wall of hula hoops.

"Seems you're in a tight spot, Sareu." the hula thing replied.

"This isn't over until it's over!" Sareu exclaimed. "I shall defeat you!"

The two warriors clashed together again. Once, twice, three times... then Sareu stopped for a moment. He had only one measly ring to hula with now.

"It's not working, Sareu." the man hiding inside the hula laughed. "How about you forfeit and try to at least keep your dignity?"

"I'll never give up!" Sareu roared. "Even if it takes all I've got, I'm going to defeat you!"

"You'll never defeat me!" Hopper laughed. "You're too weak!"

"RAAAAH!!"

The two clashed again, three times.

"Do you still have rings?"

"I've got two, in fact!"

"Two!?" Hopper growled. "You took one?"

"Don't worry." Sareu spat. "I'll get the rest soon enough!"

"NO YOU WILL NOT GET MY RINGS!" Hopper growled.

Clash. Clash, clash, clash.

"What...?! How did you...!?" Hopper mouthed, watching his ring collection diminish as Sareu spun more and more hoops around his body.

"I told you I wouldn't lose!"

"DAMN IT!" Hopper cried. He started accelerating forward...

...but it was too late. Sareu had already come past him.

Hopper kept undulating in the spot for a moment- then he realized there was nothing around him. No rings at all. He turned around slowly, seeing Sareu spin the rings around himself...

"Impossible..."

"Hopper has run out of rings and has been eliminated." the referee explained, causing the man to collapse to all fours.

Hopper seemed on the verge of tears for a moment. Then he steadied himself, running a finger through one of the locks of his red hair.

"It doesn't matter, Sareu!" he taunted, laughing. "This is just one round... and you haven't scored a point."

"I'll score a lot of points."

"Ha!" Hopper laughed. "Don't flatter yourself. No one has ever managed to carry all the rings towards the goal! It's too many rings for a human to Frungy."

"Never say never!" Sareu roared. "I'll show you the meaning of impossible!"

Hopper grinned, watching his naïve opponent attempt the impossible. All those rings... no one could spin them all around their body and carry them to the goal! But incredibly, the mass of rings around Sareu seemed to remain level as he sluggishly made his undulating way to the goal...

"Incredible..." Hopper growled. "He's actually going to do it!? No, it's impossible... HOW!? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?" he cried, looking up and down...

...up and down...

...the walls of the room seemed to be swimming. The planets were perfectly aligned. Sareu... Sareu was covered in this strange energy... it was the power of Frungy...

"Sareu, stop! You don't know what you're doing!"

"I do! I will show you the true power of Frungy!"

"But...!" the court suddenly started filling up with wind. "Sareu, you'll destroy everything!"

"No! You never understood. Frungy was always just a tool for you. But this will change everything! This will show you what Frungy is really about!"

"Frungy is about great the Elder Eternal gods, Sareu! They're manipulating you! They're going to make you destroy the world!"

"You don't get it, do you... we'll never know until we try!"

"What the fuck did you just...!" Hopper cried. Then he saw his foot crossing the line.

* * * * * *

In a perfect symphony of unworldly meaninglessness, the resonance of the rings' position came to a rest in the shadows, before the restless gaze of all the aligned planets. The spheres quit their rest, the walls cracking and sinking around the sportsmen, beams of light bursting through the new cracks. The whirling storm gave essence to both light and darkness, for once the same thing in the eyes of those who once believed one not to exist along the other.

Bleaching the world of all coherence came a primeval scream, a voice that had waited through countless eons for a life, human or not, to perform the rite to perfection, to its contentment, to its satisfaction. It opened eyes- eyes without number, without mass, without essence. It opened ears, no more meaningful than its eyes, and felt that which defined itself as real for want of evidence to the contrary.

It was in its way. And Sareu, a part of it as well as the rest of the world, heard that last scream.

"FRUNGY!"

======

-Awaken...-

Shaking his head softly, Sareu let out a gasp.

-Awaken, destroyer...-

Looking around, all he could see was... stone. He was inside a large, smooth stone room- dimensions irrelevant. Shifting his back, he felt the ground below him was cracked tile, full of pebbles; he sat up.

"Who's there?"

"MEEE!"

Blinking, he turned towards the light. The entrance. What had just happened...?

There was a woman's face. No, it was too large- and for some reason, all the strangeness seemed irrelevant now, like it was just all obvious and self-explanatory.

"Come out so I can eat you!"

"Uhh..." he looked towards the light.

-Destroyer, turn around. Don't go towards the light.-

One of the voices was in his head, its silky murmur blotting out the other voice. He turned around, seeing something even darker sitting in a dark corner...

"Who... are you?" he mumbled. "Why do you call me Destroyer?"

-For you have been the bane of your world.- the voice hissed in his head. -You have single-handedly damned it to destruction.-

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" he cried.

-Ha ha ha... and yet it has happened.- its laughter was so hollow, blank, pointless. -Aren't you Sareu Trosvil... the man who performed the ultimate Frungy?-

"But Frungy is a sport!"

-You have seen what you have seen and yet you cling to that lie. Frungy is not a sport.- the voice said. -You and your race have been used.-

"We... we've been used. To destroy the world... with Frungy." he repeated, sounding slowly more and more convinced.

-That is true. And now, Destroyer, I offer you a choice. You may either abandon the path of darkness, walk into the light... and be devoured. Or you may take up the darkness and serve me.-

-And... serve you?-

The darkness suddenly grew thicker. And beyond it, he saw something... a blade.

-This is the cursed sword of Y'Althilagekk.- the voice explained. -Take up the sword, and defeat the giant monster that awaits you in the light. Then you shall be my dark minion for as long as you live. With this sword I bestow upon you, you will be unstoppable.-

Sareu looked down.

"But... I'm just a Frungy..."

-Ha ha ha...- the voice continued. -That's the beauty of it. If you regret what you've done with Frungy, you need only take up this sword and I shall swipe your fate from the Elder Eternal Gods. You will become a warrior of darkness, and nothing else.-

"Then..." he advanced towards the sword, hesitatingly. "I shall never Frungy again..."

-Swear it.-

He grabbed the sword.

"I SWEAR I SHALL NEVER FRUNGY AGAIN!" he roared, lifting the sword.

-Swear by Y'Althilagekk.-

"BY THE POWER OF Y'ALTHILAGEKK..." he yelled, lifting the dark sword. He felt its power... loud as thunder and swift as lightning, the darkness filled him, scouring him of the last traces of Frungy. "I HAVE THE POWER!"

-And you shall unfailingly serve your new mistress, Iridan, for the rest of your life.-

======

"And why are you telling me this?" Lenna winced.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Sareu shrugged. "Anyway, I'm going to catch him. Back in a flash!"

That was a powerful chapter ^^
I really loved the sense of nostalgia when Rooks tell his story, until that fated day. And you conveyed his helplessness and the horror of his situation very well. It really makes the reader have a second look at him. I was just a little lost at the end with that frungy thing though. What was that ? XD

Karbo wrote:

That was a powerful chapter ^^
I really loved the sense of nostalgia when Rooks tell his story, until that fated day. And you conveyed his helplessness and the horror of his situation very well. It really makes the reader have a second look at him. I was just a little lost at the end with that frungy thing though. What was that ? XD

Frungy is a reference to the videogame Star Control 2, basically a sport no one ever details but that aliens think it's the best thing ever XD

oh ok I see XP

Thanks for having stayed with me so far. Lights, camera, ACTION!

Part 12- Countdown



======

The world, wrapped in darkness, sped around him, the land zooming like the wind as he dodged tree after tree. The relentless panic had blanked his mind during the sprint, but right now he couldn't feel even that. It was as if the potion he'd draught had flushed even the adrenaline from his system- all he knew was that he was running, his mind's eye blind, probably out of inertia- running like the Adversary had come to collect on his soul.

The metaphor felt so very well chosen. Under his arm, he carried someone very dear, to him and others. Behind him, there were others, both others who held it very dear and others who did not, none of which he felt like returning to. He'd never look back. Not like this.







Before him, there was nothing but forest.







There was no real direction in his sprint- only that mindless inertia that fear had given way to. He could doubt that he'd bought himself some time, that he hadn't taken anything too valuable, that maybe running was pointless, that maybe they wouldnt' come after him, that they were still trying to find their own asses. But he didn't doubt. He just ran like he was chased by a fairy.

Breathing quickly the cold air, he refused to do anything but run- if he stopped, he'd have to face the woman he'd intended to save. He'd have to face the fact he'd chosen to save his own skin over that of her other friends- he'd have to face that he was no longer the man she had once known.

He wanted to reassure himself he had done the right thing, that there was nothing he could've done if he wanted to, that life was inherently unfair, that these fey had risked their lives willingly, that they had it coming, that they'd made their choice. For a moment, he felt he might've been running away from the possibility he was wrong.







He pushed himself faster at the thought of that.







The silence weighed down on him like a block of stone. It deafened him, it was grinding his ears out like sandpaper would, the sound of his steps being his only company in this maddened dash through this forest he knew as incredibly dangerous. He tried to remember his task- he couldn't. His plan had only come this far, all he could do now was stay on the move and hope it didn't get him caught...

Caught, that was it. His next task was to find a fairy, surrender the jar, then run away. He had plenty of money, it'd surely do to go back to Negav, and never think of it again- he could always just cut the knot in his throat with a knife if that didn't work out.

Weariness was catching up to him, all sorts of negative thoughts starting to catch up on him. He couldn't run forever. He'd have to stop sooner or later, and the thought of it just tired him out faster. He couldn't detect any fairies, he could only see the forms of trees in the darkness, he could only hear the silence of hundreds of stalking monsters, and his steps guiding them towards him- it's just he was too fast for them to follow right now.







Then he heard one of them follow him right now.







He pushed himself faster- but it did nothing. The monster was faster, it was so much faster- the magic did nothing. His strength did nothing. His ears could follow the pace of that monster- it was bipedal, around 250 pounds, and was calling him out in a roaring, boastful voice.

"HEY DON'T RUN!" the monster exploded. "YOU'LL ONLY DIE TIRED!"

He made the mistake of looking back. The monster was only a few paces away- his snapping, massive, hair-covered jaw was so close he felt it could bite him, and he saw it even without light. One of his eyes saw in the dark, all the better to avoid the dark dwellers- and to stalk the light dwellers.







The monster was gaining on him.







In a desperate move, he searched for a high root. With a quick hop, he turned towards the root, and ran up its slope until he was running at the trunk, where he hopped off. The monster ran on upwards along the trunk, unconcerned with issues of gravity, while he landed on his feet, planting one arm on the ground. He looked up, watching the man having seemingly faded into the light of a crescent moon- that light felt like it burned his eyes.

He lowered his gaze, closed his eyes, shook his head- the moonlight had left his eye with a nasty case of glare. He shouldn't have looked.

Just then he realized he'd pulled off that stunt without any concern for his passenger- who was in a glass jar. He narrowed his eye for darkness, holding the glass before himself...







"Miss Rui, are you okay?"







He despaired, beads of sweat running down his body, the glare having raised a blind spot smack in the center of his sight. He couldn't see if she was moving, or breathing, or...

She sat up, and he stood up. He couldn't hear her. But he could see her cradle her arm, caress her knee. He'd bruised her limbs. Had it been the head, he could've killed her.

But how had that monster found him? He was fast, but he wasn't supposed to have caught up. He'd given himself sufficient room, made the chase complicated, how had he found him?

Suddenly, an almost skull-like, strong, scruffy face swept into his view, too close for comfort. Every strong feature in there was screaming bloody murder- for giggles.

"WHOOHOO! I'm here!" the voice roared, on his face.

Sareu was a talker. That was an advantage he was willing to accept...

He turned around, and took a slow step forward, the man behind drawing a sword. The Cursed Sword of Y'Althilagekk, if the rumors were right, one that had dispatched a hundred foes, all of them more than just overgrown freaks.

Clenching his fist, he wondered if he deserved the denomination, the dubious honor of being more than just an overgrown freak. He knew he'd look like one to a tomthumb. But that was beside the point- the touch of that sword was going to suck out his very soul. It seemed almost like a fitting fate right now.

"Sareu Trosvil."

"Rookie Cookie!" Sareu replied. "Ya fooled me, you know? I think it was pretty obvious all things considered on whose side ya were for real, y'always overacted it!" he chuckled. "Got to admire what a heartless bastard you actually were, though! How'd you live with all the fairies you hunted, anyway? Were they BAD fairies? Had they NOT eaten humans?" he laughed.

"Don't call me that." He raised his arm to his chest, grabbing a grenade, wondering how to make Sareu look that way while he was a safe distance away.

"Holding your heart now? Don't bother. You're a traitor, Cookie, and we don't like traitors around here."

"I told you not to call me that." he spat, fiddling with his chest. He took a grenade in hand, looking for something to make it stick on Sareu's face.

"But you ARE a traitor, you know that, I know that, the fairy in that jar knows it, cookie, everyone knows you're a traitor." he laughed.

"Don't... call me that." he stalled. Defiance, he told himself, amuse and stall him with defiance. Like Miel did.

"Traitor?" Sareu beamed.

"Cookie!" he spat, dropping the grenade, and kicking it towards Sareu's smirking face. He spun, out to cover his eyes...

He caught a glimpse of Sareu tilting his head back, and- something butted him in the kidney, tossing him into the ground. He turned around, and realized it wasn't Sareu's head (that gorilla hadn't moved an inch), but the grenade he'd kicked- and the guy had headbutted right back at him!?

"Damn...!"

"Anything you can do, I can do better." Sareu grinned. "Now I'm going to kill you."

"You always toy first..." he said, from the ground, holding the jar to his chest as he picked himself up.

"I already toyed with y-" Sareu's form blurred for an instant, but Rooks had already learned his lesson. That gorilla was too fucking fast. Even with both elori and acelleration, he couldn't follow a single movement. This was a far superior foe, overpowering him in every conceivable way. He covered his eyes, preparing for the worst, placing his thumb over his...

...third knuckle.

"BANG!"

Turning around, he dashed madly away. He wouldn't be able to hear anything for a while- hopefully, Sareu's perfect darkvision would be a disadvantage when faced with a flashbang. Maybe he'd be able to escape now...

======

"This isn't good..."

Looking down at Miel, who was sitting on the table, Metzger (still disguised as Ichenso) trembled slightly.

"Hey, thanks for the save back there. You could've left this place, but..."

"I needed it." Miel grimaced. "Rooks, or Faulkner, or whatever he calls himself now, he can't help me. But you can."

"I'm not really all that good with magic..."

"At least one of your companions has to be, I'm sure. If they aren't, I'm sure they know someone, at least."

"And the hunters don't?"

Miel shook violently.

"I don't want to talk about it." she replied. "We need to get outta here, fast..."

"Well, Sareu's out of the way, right? So, we caught ourselves a break, we should think it through and..." Metzger tried. His own words sounded hollow in his ears- he couldn't help but feel rushed to save Samantha.

"Only as long as the TOOL keeps him busy." Miel grimaced. "Can't be long enough. We've got to get out before Sareu's back, and we've got an even bigger problem on our end. Ryuuzan Nazuuyr."

"Who?"

"You don't know him?" Miel frowned. "Nazuuyr led the intelligence unit for King Tohno, right up until he went missing shortly before the final coup. I guess we found him... he was renowned for knowing things no one else could. Whether it was precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance, spirit channeling, or all of those things together, only he knows."

"And how do you know this?"

"I kind of enjoy the subject, I've read all there is to read about it." Miel winced. "That, and... when Lenna brought him to me, I could feel him prying into my mind. He can do that. They're all wearing rings..." she stopped. "Did you take the man's ring when you took his clothes?"

"Of course I did. One huntress we caught told us what the ring is for."

"Really? What does it do?"

"They're paired, the rings keep track of each other and impart this knowledge to the wearer. Also, they make it easier for the leader to contact the wearers with magic..."

"Ah-" Miel seemed a little lost for a momnet. "Rings that make you easier to contact also make it easier to pry into your mind, he could any moment now figure it all out, if he hasn't already..."

"Should've said that sooner!" Metzger cried, turning away. His arms rose to his chest, looking around, his ankle twitching. Miel let out a sigh.

"In this room, he can't pry into your mind." she added, disappointed.

"What- are you sure!?" Metzger asked, facing her quickly.

"It's meant for holding YOU in it, the elf's powers don't stand a chance."

"Uh... okay, what do we do?" he mumbled.

"I've got no idea, I'm at my wit's end already." Miel replied. "But if you come out wearing that ring, he'll pry into your mind at the earliest opportunity."

"And if I leave the ring here, my partner will know it isn't me..." Metzger nodded. "So, I can't leave this room!?"

"They'll figure out something's wrong eventually." Miel grimaced. "You're going to have to leave."

"Then I leave, and take the ring with me, just without wearing it." Metzger replied.

"That gives you one minute, at most, before he pries into your mind. The first thing he's going to find out, bar nothing, is that you're not... the person he expects."

"Shouldn't he have found out through Faulkner's mind already?" he asked.

"If he had, we'd know already. Either he can't pry into Faulkner, or something about that tool's mind is way too distracting to notice there's two of us, smack in the middle of his operation."

"Two of us? You're a...?"

"I'm out to free you, that's all!" she cried. "I'm AN ELF, if that's what you mean. Don't forget it!"

"Okay, I leave, with the ring, but not wearing it on my finger... that gives me... a minute, what do I do in that minute?"

"Err..." Miel shrugged. "I don't know, find a stick and tear apart the antimagic field in this room? Only Sareu could take on all the fairies in this room at once."

"There's not enough room to swing a stick in here!"

"Then you're going to have to either disable it yourself without leaving, or find and force someone to disable it."

"Right..." Metzger looked down. "What do I force them with!?"

"Check these clothes you're wearing, don't you have a revolver or something in there!?"

"I don't know how to use a gun!" Metzger whimpered.

"How about a knife? Do you know how to use a knife!?"

"... more or less."

"Damn fairies..." Miel sighed. "Here's a refresh course: find someone you want doing everything you tell them to, hold the pointy end to them, and tell them if they don't do everything you tell them to, you'll put the pointy end in them! That's how it usually works!"

"Do we have the time for you to take that attitude?"

"NO!" she barked. "We don't have ANY time! It's NOW or NEVER! Quit wasting time and get a move on, do SOMETHING!"

"You haven't had any convincing ideas..."

"At least I'm DOING SOMETHING!" Miel cried. Then she took a deep breath. "I don't have to remind you, it's YOUR sister in trouble here..."

"That's right, you DON'T have to remind me!" he growled.

"Well, think fast or quit complaining!"

"I'd think faster if I weren't in the suffocation suit!"

"Well, you ARE!" she growled. "And if you can't think, then you better do something..."

"You're damn right I'm going to do something!" Metzger growled. "I'm just going to take a chance, look at this..."

Turning to the jars, he spat out his newest plan.

"I just have to take your jars outside this room, that way you can enlarge the lid, take it out, and we'll escape this place before Sareu gets back. How's that for thinking fast, woman!?" he snarled over his shoulder at the tiny figure next to him.

"Just hurry up and do it!" Marlene barked, from the inside of her jar.

"Okay. Isa, hang on tight. We've checkmated them." he boasted, carefully plucking the jar, and heading out through the door...

...recoiling quickly back through the threshold at the sight of his new best friend walking down the hall. That man with pale red hair and strong facial features, the same one from before, Moirat, was approaching him quickly.

"What are you still in there for, man!?" Moirat's voice boomed. Metzger quickly removed his ring.

-Damn, damn, damn, DAMN! Just a little longer... why can't it be just a little longer!?- he wondered.

"Shit, shit, shit..."

"KNIFE!" Miel cried. "USE THE KNIFE!"

Trembling, Ichenso let out a snarl, clutching the switchblade, struggling to open it. His grip on the tool wouldn't remain firm, not when thinking of what he was about to do. Grab that man, hold a knife to his face, tell him to release the fairies... put a very well-trained man in mortal danger, hold a knife to him, blow his cover... he told himself it was for his sister, that there was no other way, but he wasn't prepared. There just wasn't a fiber of his being that had ever been prepared to do something like this.

Step by step, the man approached down the hall- and as he missed a pace, his heart nearly escaped his chest. Tachycardia ensued as his pace quickened, going around the door...

"You okay...?" he looked at the knife that the man held with both hands, at the height of his belly.

"Heh." the man beneath the helmet laughed, nervously.

"Ich... Ichenso, what's wrong?" he frowned.

"Good ol' bitch stole a fairy- was asking them bugs if they knew anything."

"You sound like you'd seen a ghost..."

"A GHOST!?" he cackled. "Look at you, cracking me up at a time like this..." he said, taking a few steps forward, still gripping the knife tightly...

"What's so funny?" Moirat asked, taking a step backwards.

"Ghosts, that's what's funny..." he grumbled. "If those who died hunting fairies became ghosts... have you seen any?" he advanced a little too close.

"What's the knife for?" Moirat's eyes steeled.

"Checking your pulse, pal. Dem traitors never work alone, 'course I'm a little on edge." he added, folding his knife and putting it away. "I'm keeping an eye on you... 'cause if they make a ghost of me, it's not like you're gonna look my way."

"Are you implying I'm a traitor too?"

"Told ya I was on edge. Trying to think here..." Ichenso laughed. "No, you're not. But fuck, if you're not scared..."

"If I'm not scared, what?" Moirat barked.

"If you're not scared, you're not getting it, man. You're just not getting it. Someone out there could have it in for us... can't help but wonder who that bastard may be."

Moirat gulped. Then something in his eyes changed...

"Well, I'm sure Ryuuzan's on it..." he tilted his head slowly. "He's able to monitor more about us than you'd know through those rings we wear..."

"Unless we're in this room, right?"

"Right... how did you know?"

Metzger walked towards the door.

"I was told that by a little bird."

Suddenly, Metzger wondered how did the little bird know that.

"Anyway, let's get out."

"Yeah, let's get out..." Metzger laughed, walking right out of the door, followed by Moirat, thwarted for the second time- now by an enemy whose suspicions he'd aroused. Closing the door behind himself, he turned around to look at him... and figured the game was up.

"You figured it out already, didn't you?"

"It was point-blank obvious." Moirat frowned.

"Well, don't let anyone know. Take off your ring- right now."

"Or else?" he tilted his head. Metzger took off his helmet.

The redheaded man frowned at the sight. Before him lay a man- or so he thought. He had a curvy face, sort of, which had been shaved recently... and with little experience, leaving a small lock-shaped beard around the mouth. His long hair had been wrapped up in a lousy ponytail, but some of it still managed to fall over his large, narrowed eyes.

"I see..."

"Don't even think of teleporting away. Don't even think of Ryuuzan's name. Don't call your partner. Don't scream. Take it off- right now."

Licking his lips, Moirat took off the ring.

"Put it down on the ground- slowly."

Moirat took a deep breath, and slowly crouched, placing the ring down on the ground.

"You're the boss." Moirat said, with an arrogant sneer.

"Good. Yes, I am." Metzger nodded. "Okay, now... teleport away from Ryuuzan's range."

Moirat raised an eyebrow.

"But of course. Of course." he said. "That's quite clever of you, actually, I think I'll do that..." he started whispering. "...and then laugh my guts out..."

"Now!"

"Of course. Of course." he added, whispering something under his breath, and quickly vanishing.

-Shit. He DID sound the alarm, that must be why he was laughing under his breath...- Metzger gasped. -Well, guess there's no longer any use for this...- he thought to himself, throwing the helmet away.- If I could just find the password to crack the antimagic field, it'd be wonderful, but I'd... I'd have to ask a hunter, and the only one who would even tell me is...

Uh oh.

-Is... that the only way...?- he thought to himself, gritting his teeth. -Can't stay here. Need... Faulkner's partner is... uh... my, err... Ichenso's partner is the elf, this Moirat guy has that weird chick, that girl with the stick lost her partner, and- STUPID ME! It's the neko. The one with a rifle. How am I going to take that ring from her?-

Looking around, he scratched the back of his head.

"I... need a bigger gun, or something..."

======

He lay on the armchair with his head tilted back. All of this was just unthinkable... Sareu gone to punish their traitor, and now there was an intruder. Was there any chance both events were connected? More importantly, he felt somewhat... disturbed by the fact he hadn't been able to foresee this event. It had been driven by passion... those were always the ones that gave him the least time to predict them, if at all. But on the bright side, now he had a direct line into the intruder's mind. He'd taken off the ring, as if that'd help- it was just so obvious that he'd been the intruder all along. The violence against Faulkner, or Rooks, the excessive time he spent in the vault, all of that laid him plainly as their prime suspect.

Moirat hadn't even needed to sound the alarm. These earlier factors had been enough for him to pry into the suspect the instant they left the vault. In any case, he'd ordered the wizard to go look for Ichenso, the one that the fairy had managed to subdue, whose clothes he'd stolen to sneak into their base... at the only cost of putting his friend in a jar. The irony of it was lost on the intruder, who drowned in his own insipid despair as he frantically fumbled in his mind for a way to get Lenna's ring. There was just... nothing more of interest in his mind.

Ryuuzan sighed, his eyes opening under his blindfold. As he brought his left hand over his right, he felt for his ring- and the darkness before his eyes suddenly grew deeper, until he could almost see something beyond it. Six forms that surrounded him... those of Lenna, Antares, Misty, Navari, Sareu Trosvil, and... there was another form, but it was blurry, and warped. The next time he summoned them, that form would not be there.

-I would inform you...- he began. -that a fairy, currently dewinged and dressed as Ichenso, has snuck into our cabin, intending to rescue the others. It has run out of ideas, but it's probably going to still be dangerous.-

-Huh? Someone snuck up on MY watch?- Sareu growled back through the darkness.

-He snuck up on all of us.- Ryuuzan explained. -Dewinged, there wasn't much magic in him. He also had Ichenso's suit, which may have made it more difficult for you to detect it, Antares.-

-I see...- the elf's silhouette nodded.

-I knew I smelled a fairy!- Navari screeched. -But he told me it was because he'd been wrestling with one.-

-Effectively, Ichenso wrestled with one. And then he got knocked out... I sent Moirat to get him to safety.- Ryuuzan explained.

-Ok, I'll get back there and knock that screwball out cold as soon as I'm done with Rookie Cookie. Shouldn't take long, just a few seconds...-

-In the meantime, we should probably keep him from doing any damage...- Ryuuzan sighed. -As long as he can't open the door, he'll... oh, no.- Ryuuzan grimaced.

-What's the matter?- Navari squeaked.

-He just thought of something that might work.- Ryuuzan explained, mentally. -My arm's broken. I'm going to need the three of you to keep him busy for as long as possible. Kill him if necessary.-

-YAY!- Navari grinned.

-Fine.- Lenna snorted. -I'll just shoot him.-

-That's a good enough plan.- Ryuuzan nodded.

-By the way...- Antares asked. -What did he think of?-

======

Gritting his teeth, he lifted the hatchet from the floor. It was a lot heavier than he thought it'd be... but hopefully, it'd be better than nothing. It was single-bladed, about foot and a half long, and just so dang heavy... he'd never really appreciated how convenient having a subjective size was. He reminded himself to appreciate it more often, then wondered if this thing could chop through control panels as well as it could chop through wood.

Taking a deep breath, he looked around the side room, at the bookcase by the window, at the door by the fireplace. These hunters should have started to give him trouble a bit ago; what had they been doing all this time?

He was quickly answered as the window suddenly shattered with a bang. It took him a moment to process what had happened- but as he saw the shatter marks on it, and felt something smack itself on his helmet, he realized just how lucky he was to be alive.

Running towards the door, he frantically tried to open it- finding someone helping him on the other side. That someone had blonde hair, teal eyes, and a large white grin that seemed to get way too close for comfort. Instinctively, he started pushing against the door... and grimaced, realizing he was still within the firing range of the window. If he tried to move to the other wall, he'd be caught by one huntress- if he tried to keep blocking the door, he'd be shot.

Well, a hatchet couldn't help him against being shot, so... he chose the evil he may be able to fight.

Jumping away from the door, he ducked under the window, scrambling for the far corner of the room, turning around in time to see this new target almost bursting through the door- and go straight for him. Unarmed, strangely, but at this point he wasn't physically capable of underestimating anything. If he thought she was anything other than fatally dangerous, he'd have gladly fainted in her arms instead.

Before he could react she'd leapt on top of him, showing him a broad grin, her hands on his neck, pulling him towards her. Whatever the point of the hatchet had been, it clearly wasn't meant to hack someone's back open from the front.

Maniacally swinging him around, he barely managed to notice she opened her mouth- more than a human had the right to. Panicking, he tried to swing the axe upwards into the back of her head- somehow, he got away from her. Ducking under the window's line of fire, he made his way to the door, and she pounced on him once more...

She impacted on the door, and the next thing he knew was that the door had slammed on his head. He thanked his lucky stars for the fact he was still wearing that entire spacesuit, or whatever it was Ichenso had gotten himself, as he shut the door, sliding the bolt next to the doorknob to keep it closed.

What followed was the angriest slam he'd heard on the door so far- followed by another even angrier- followed by a third that threatened to rip the door right out of its hinges- followed by the sound of the window shattering. He didn't have time to figure this out, he needed to get to Lenna now, without being eaten by that freak (where did they come up with those things!?) nor turned into swiss cheese by the sniper.

The next thing he noticed was the elf to his right- and not much more: he hadn't pait attention to the architecture before and he wouldn't do so now. That elf was now wielding a small sword... he raised his hatch-

...the hatchet was gone. There was only one thing to do.

Turning around, he bolted around the corridors, looking for the nearest door. He should be able to lock himself up for a minute there, away from the homicidal elf, the circus freak, and the sniper.

Barely managing to close the door on the elf's nose, he quickly looked around- finding a shelf that he could use to block the door from the inside. The bolt was outside. Then he realized the room was lighted- and there was a sniper outside. With whatever sense he could manage, he quickly pushed the shelf into place, picked up the longest blunt object he could find, and swung it at the electric fixture on the ceiling, sending the room into darkness- and something crashing down onto the ground, right on time for the door to be sliced in half and the window to shatter from something diving inside.

"Gotcha!" a voice suddenly cried. He let out a scream...

"Don't need to see you, can smell you...!" it sang. He charged, tears in his eyes, swinging the aforementioned blunt object downwards...

...hearing something that sizzled and sparked...

...and running out of the window himself with whatever time he'd been bought while the electric fixtures malfunctioned. Thank Nemyra for the stupidity of humanity- one could live just fine without electricity!

A glint of moonlight in the bushes- and he tripped.

BOOM!

The explosion, the ensuing heat wave (why had there been an explosion? Electrical fire, and then what!?) had been behind him- he didn't have time to do anything but scramble towards the glint, with any luck, that'd be Lenna, whose ring he needed!

As his eyes adapted to the lack of light, he realized he'd rushed right into her. He was just about to get past her rifle; reaching forward with his hands, she dropped the weapon, and-

...and threw him, upside-down into a tree. Couldn't give up. Everything hurt, but there had to be a way. He struggled to right himself, just in time for a kick to fly into his side-

"AARGH!"

Coughing up something into his helmet, he limply clung to the offending limb. He couldn't have any time to think about what he had grabbed, she held a thin-bladed knife, his ears were buzzing, he had nothing to do here anymore...

"NO!" he gasped, lunging for her arm. She brought the weapon down on his eye, and he felt the tip of something on his cheek, grabbing her limb, trying to block it as he pushed himself back. Wait, her knife had pierced his visor-!

"No. NO. NO!" he cried, trying with all his might not to let her knife drive into his eye- just as her other arm blocked off his neck. He could live... he could live, but first he had to be sure she wouldn't cut off his eye. Then he could worry about being choked...

He flailed, gasping, as she kneed him in the groin, managing to rid himself of her grasp in time to fall to the side, struggling to breathe, and roll on his back...

======


Dashing without sense or direction, he scrambled on forward out of sheer inertia, empty of all feelings, barely even aware anymore of what he was supposed to do. Everything was over- it was about time to accept it, there was no longer any meaning to anything. Only the jar under his shoulder reminded him to keep running- running as far and as fast as he could. As far as his legs were going to carry him. That man was going to catch up sooner or later. It was a matter of seconds, like it had been a minute ago- why hadn't he came after him? Had what he dreaded the most happened? Had he decided not to chase him any further? He donned the ring, just in case. Maybe they needed a clue?

His answer was rammed into his midsection so fast, that he tasted his own blood even before the cracking noise reached his ears- there was no pain. That display of sheer power had awed the sensation into silence. The jar he clutched with both arms came loose- right into the hands of that man staring at his hunched form that dared not collapse, lest what was left of his ribs finally crush his innards. Sareu had the jar- this was going to be, without a doubt, the most painful experience of his life. Hopefully, it'd be one of the last. He would never know what to feel now.





This was something he didn't want to see.





But look he did. Look into Sareu's eyes. And he saw him disinterested, clutching the jar with one hand by its base, his mouth drawn in disgust, looking at him like a worm in an apple he'd just tossed away- fitting, for this worm was even more nauseated enough to vomit his own lungs. And out of spite, he wanted to do just that- vomit his own lungs right at that man looking at him with disgust. Spew his blood at the man who took it away. Hope the hate was enough to make the bile in his throat deadly.

But he knew life didn't work that way. So he did the one thing he knew he should do- raise his hands to his face, blocking his view of the man. Try not to look. Criscross his fingers... and click his fourth knuckle.





"AAAAAAARGH!"





Elated as he was over having outsmarted the gigantic man, there was no time to gloat. He drew the vial from his pocket with his last gasp of life, and somehow managed to swallow it. As he dropped to his knees, the pain that had been awed away before now returned in full force- tossing him to the ground, shaken, but whole. He could've died a moment ago, now he was alive. One had to thank their lucky stars for the existence of this potion.

Sareu had no such luck, however, and he was still stumbling in the darkness, vigorously trying to rub the light out of his eyes, swearing profanities he'd never heard before- and hopefully would never hear again. His attacker, once ready to rip his head off (literally) was now helpless before him: now was the time to seal the deal- for real.

He hesitated- he'd never killed another human being. Well... Sareu probably wasn't human, but he was still- he still had all the qualities why one would hesitate to kill another being. Sure he was trying to kill him, but he knew why. For Rui.





And reminding himself of that, the rest was easy.





His left hand dove into his knapsack, and pulled out a handful of dust. He tossed it on the killer before him, while with his right hand he helped himself to a mouthful of a special mixture- no more potions after this drink. The elori, the acelleration, that last healing, it was a miracle so far that they hadn't interacted in a deadly manner, and with this new concoction in his mouth, the fourth potion would not work. He had to keep that in mind.

Shifting his patch back over his eye for darkness, he put the lighter to his mouth. He didn't need to see- whatever was the most flammable would be set alight by his breath. He spat the excess liquid on the ground, and then blew towards his former employer.

A fiery jet flew out from right in front of his mouth, the forest glowing red as it touched the powder atop his enemy. Explosively, the dust set itself alight around Sareu Trosvil, who hurried to take off his overcoat as it burned to ashes, struggling to wipe the dust off his arms, off his face, shrieking wildly in overwhelming rage.





But he was not going to survive.





Holding his fist over his mouth, Faulkner cut off the jet of burning vapor. Then he took something from his belt. He learned from his mistakes- now he was ready for the bears. Holding the weapon with both hands, he leveled the revolver towards the struggling man before him. And he pulled the trigger, over, and over, and over, and over again, unloading each bullet with a new bang. Let everything hear it, let the whole forest converge on him, or on Sareu, Rui was not worth any less than that. With every bullet, he saw a new hole draw itself in the burning flesh, he heard another gasp burst from his foe's throat.

But the body didn't hit the floor. On fire, he took all five shots to the chest, and he was still angrily flailing, and howling, and... regaining his senses. First he slowed down, holding his knees, then he raised his face, his freezing eyes finding his own as he rose again back to his full height, taking a deep breath, the flames still wrapped around his flesh, his fingers curling and uncurling into fists. The monster licked his lips, maintaining that bone-chilling stare.





"You're not human!"





"See, that's what I like about you, Cookie" his voice began as mocking as always, but slowly became a growl ", nothing gets BY Y-"

Quickly he managed to sidestep the monster, barely keeping his footing- Sareu was still heinously fast, but now it was angry, wreathed in flames, and very visible even for his normal eye. Its body language, while still swearing vengeance with boundless fury through every pore, was giving its plans away with every twitch of its foot, of its fist, of its eyelids. The problem had changed- he knew he couldn't escape. He knew nothing would get him spared at this point. This one-on-one with Sareu Trosvil was a fight to the death, and Sareu was invincible.

-I have set him on fire and shot him five times in the chest; that has barely even fazed him. He won't fall for another flash grenade, and all I've got is a knife now. I have no weapons that can hurt him; all I can do is keep him pissed off so he doesn't rip my head off right away... maybe... I need his sword! That's what I need!-

Just then, Sareu raised his sword.

"By the power of Y'Althilagekk..." he exclaimed. "I... HAVE THE POWER!"

In a flash of darkness, the ape's form exploded, swelling into the night as he thinned, almost bramble-like, turning into a large-clawed, borderline featureless shadow with frantic, glowing eyes and white teeth. Each of the five-foot long claws at the end of its arms seemed like the blade of Y'Althilagekk itself.

And with another howl, it charged at him...

======

He was on his back, gasping, she held her knife high, gasping...

...and then she coughed.

"Wha'gh!?" she spat, starting to swat at her own skin. "AaarGH!"

Seeing his opportunity, he stuck his foot out, and tripped her in her struggle. The thick suit he was wearing, with all its mass, suddenly became an advantage as he tried to wrestle her ring off.

"Leave me alone- LEAVE ME ALONE!" she snarled, flailing every bit as ferociously as he had before. He struggled to keep her still, aggressively- and before he knew it, she had slowed down. He found that moment good enough to pry open her fist and remove the damn ring.

It took him an instant to realize she'd stopped fighting just because he'd headbutted her; he was somewhat dizzy, and his head was spinning, helmet or no helmet. Donning the ring, he stood up and dashed right back at the house while he still could. Tonight was just way too cold, and he was starting to lose his balance.

He struggled to open the door, and quickly hobbled inside. The wooden room he came into saw him quickly set upon by several crows, pecking through the suit with their long beaks- so he did what any reasonable person would have done, and stepped back through the door, shutting it as hard as possible. Guided by his desperation, he ran towards the nearest window, and smashed the glass with his helmet, making haste to remove enough to enter properly...

The crows quickly flew out through the broken glass, and he needed a quick getaway from those animals. So he ran back towards the door, opened it, walked it, and shut the crows outside. Running across the room, he found another door, and opened it quickly... to find himself face-to-face with Misty again.

"NO!"

His first impulse was to shut the door again with all his weight, but she was way too quick. Not as quick as last time, though, so he figured she had neither drank a potion nor made a full recovery. As she shoved herself through the doorway, he tried to stab her- and she caught his hand.

"AAARGH!"

Struggling again, he pulled his hand out of his glove, turned tails, and ran off towards the next door. He realized, feeling the breeze on his hand, that the night wasn't so cold- it was his chest that felt cold. That... wasn't supposed to happen. Something was wrong.

He managed to shut a door between the two of them. Gasping, he saw that, while he was now back in the corridor that led to the vault, there was now someone between him and that vault. Someone he hadn't seen before. And considering everyone else in this base, that could only be Ryuuzan Nazuuyr.

Which was an odd name if he'd heard one before. Kinda like Wolfgang Gangwolf, or Dudley Dursley, or... well, it was probably an alias.

The infamous Nazuuyr, the mind-reader, the master of intrigue, the seer, was a tall elf with rounded features, a short ponytail, a blindfold, and a cast on his arm. That... was unexpected.

"It's the end of the line, Metzger." the elf began, with a whisper. "Your luck will run out soon."

"Can't talk..." Metzger blurted, blocking the door with his body. "Holding door!"

"That's futile. She'll take a detour, and bring the crows too." he continued. "You never wanted to be a hero. All you wanted was to get away."

"Doesn't matter..."

"Because your sister's in there." the elf hissed. Metzger's heart skipped a beat. "You can't get away, Metzger. I offer you a chance to surrender in peace now."

Infuriating as the offer was, Metzger didn't answer. He just kept holding the door.

"Unless you surrender, I foresee your death."

"Ha, because you can see the future!?" Metzger roared.

"No, because of the glass shards piercing your chest."

Looking down, he lost his breath for a moment. That's why he was feeling a bit cold. His whole body had been numb, with pain and adrenaline, but now that he paid attention, he had pieces of glass, probably from the window he'd escaped the house through, stabbed throughout his chest.

"These wounds were not fatal when you got them, but your struggles have made the slivers dig and tear through your flesh. The glass is still plugging your wounds in some spots, but at the moment, you are losing blood at a steady rate. You have but two minutes of consciosuness remaining, and a quarter hour to live- being generous."

Metzger shook his head. Better not say anything, he had to hurry. There was no time to feel...

"I can tell what you feel." the man continued. "Though you wouldn't admit it to me, she means more to you than life. She doesn't deserve this, does she? Your life for her freedom- for theirs, it seems like a good enough trade. But you can't offer them their freedom. I can, however, offer you your life. Hers is forfeit- don't worry about answering for this choice to anyone. Wasn't it her choice to go somewhere she would never have to answer for anything she chose? Did you not accompany her? Did you not warn her?"

"That's none of your business!"

"What I'm telling you is that this isn't your responsibility, Metzger. You cannot contest her choice anymore, and if you try, you'll just..."

A shadow started to form right ahead of Metzger. It was blurry, but he could make out the rough outline of Rooks, pulling stunts of all sorts just to avoid an invisible enemy...

-Rooks!- Metzger conveyed.

The shape turned in midair, positioning its eyes right towards him.

-Metzger!?- Rooks conveyed, incredulous.

-Rooks, don't try to get rid of me again. They're on to me- I've got this elf straight ahead of me, and I need to get past him...-

The elf laughed.

"I can see into both your minds. There's no point in pretending I'm not here."

-Ryuuzan?- Rooks conveyed.- Blindfolded? Can see what you're planning, how it'll turn out. Lure him into antimagic room, shuts his cogs off; pass is 1368.-

-But he's cutting me off the antimagic room!-

-Can't help!- Rooks conveyed, with a snarl. -Try releasing fairies!-

-Releasing fairies?-

-Make it too many to get past, make it impossible!- Rooks cried.

"You don't have all the individual passwords, unfortunately." Ryuuzan smirked.

And only a moment later, his smirk was wiped off.

-Hard restart console: plug off, plug on. Hold down REX key during boot sequence. Set passcodes to...-

"That's enough of him helping you!" Ryuuzan snarled, caressing one of the rings in his hands. "Take him away, boys."

Turning to the other end of the hallway, Metzger took a moment to look at the small crowd inching ever closer. Three women and another elf. Turning back to his objective, he saw one elf... and a tiny girl peeking out from under the hem on his cloak.

"Fairy! Charge!"

"What? Who...?" That was the chance Metzger needed.

And so, he plowed right into the elf. The hunter prepared his stance to gently respond- but he had just enough time to realize someone had tied his shoelaces together, and tied one of his shoelaces to a garbage can right behind him.

Needless to say, it didn't help him take the shove well at all. He was shoved out of the way, into the wall, and barely managed to keep from falling face-flat into the ground.

He did, however, hear how Metzger managed to get the door open- and then closed it.

"Ryuuzan!" Antares snarled, running right towards him.

"I'm fine, get him! NOW!"

"Will do!" Antares snarled, punching in the numbers...

...something was wrong. Every time he tried to insert a number, a 7 seemed to sneak in after that. A loud buzzing sound rang in his ears with every failed password...

"There's another panel on the inside. He must be punching in random numbers." Ryuuzan quickly reasoned. "The power. We have to kill the power before he opens the glass. Turn the generator off..." he snarled "RIGHT NOW!"

Then he put his fingers over one of his rings.

"Sareu!" he exclaimed. "We have a potential mass escape situation!"

"Oh, I was just about to finish him off..."

"Don't bother! GET HERE NOW!"

======

"Thanks again for the save." the plastic-wrapped fairy bumbled as he stumbled into the room.

"Metzger, meet my..." Miel began, from the shelf, as he crumbled against the door, holding somehow to the panel, managing to stick one finger on one button.

"Hey!" Flanne gasped, from the ground. He'd almost crushed her. "What was THAT for!?"

"Flanne, he's...!" Miel cried. The plastic hadn't helped the fairy too much; his body was full of glass slivers that had pierced the jumpsuit. And he was bleeding.

"REX..."

"What?"

With tremendous effort, he pointed at the computer with his free hand.

"REX..." he gasped. "Hold down REX, set passcodes to..."

Gulping, Miel took a deep breath.

"What did you do, Flanne?"

"Tied up that man's shoelaces. He didn't see THAT coming." Flanne grinned.

Miel gasped.

"Flanne, if you've done that..." she pursed her lips. No way that man was going to accept an apology for that.

"Did you just put all those hunters against us!?" Gelta cried. Flanne recoiled.

"Now's not the time for that, Gelta!" Miel snarled. "She's still our sister! Flanne, you did great. Don't let Gelta get under your skin, it's tough for her too."

"Don't act like she did nothing wrong! At least before...!"

The backhand took her seriously by surprise. Her green eyes tightened as she clenched her fists...

"Now is SO not the time for that. Get in line, or die!"

Gelta clenched her teeth, and ran across the shelf towards the console.

"REX, right?"

"REX." Metzger insisted, propping himself up against the shelf, still holding down the lucky 7. "I'm going to hard reset this now, so hold down REX."

"I hold down REX." Gelta said, sitting on the REX. "And then what?"

"Set passcodes to..." Metzger gurgled, stumbling up to the plug. He quickly unplugged it, and then, with shaky fingers, managed to plug it back, within the time window that an ACCESS DENIED chime gave him. "Hold down REX, and..." he stumbled back to the panel. "Set passcodes to... I don't know more than that." he grumbled, tapping the panel as hard as he could, trying to keep the magic numbers away from the panel display.

His stiff hand swung back and forth, blindly slapping the wrong numbers while those outside kept punching in the right ones. Wheezing, he was slowly lulled into a stupor by the buzzing chime he kept summoning. Everything would be alright as long as he could hear the noise that came with every swing at the panel. And he slapped it again, and again, until he was too cold to feel, too tired to see, and he couldn't hear it anymore.

He couldn't tell what came first- if it was the silence, the darkness, or the numbness.







Then the door clicked open.








======

"It" scurried across the night, breathlessly. Hundreds of lives scurried away from its path, all of the lesser beings in this land being repulsed and frightened by its unnaturality. Felarya rejected it by its very nature- and for the first time in centuries, it had the distinct impression that Felarya might just get the last laugh.

It arrived at the cabin, feeling more than a bit thoroughly annoyed. Ryuuzan had called it off, didn't even give him the chance to finish off the damn traitor. Now that it got there, the house was awfully quiet. This whole thing had to be a bad joke... and it was feeling disturbed for the first time in centuries.

The feelings were wrong. It was supposed to be what caused a feeling of wrongness in everything else- nothing was supposed to give him this feeling of wrongness. Not those light dwellers, not that elf and his precognition, none of those worthless fools calling themselves hunters, not these monsters that called themselves fairies. None of those were supposed to scare him.






But the absence of all of them was conspicuous in the extreme. Disturbing, even.







Wasting no time, it crossed through the wall, and floated all the way to the antimagic storage room's door in a split second. It found the door open, with a pool of blood on the ground, and for the first time in a long time it felt... concern. Not for whoever this blood was, but for whatever may have happened.

Wiggling its claws, it peeked into the antimagic room. Its head scanned the room for but an instant, letting out a howl of frustration- all of those he had caught, that they had all caught, had escaped. All of the chambers were open, all of the glass jars were empty.

Ryuuzan wasn't answering his ring. It could feel... life outside the cabin, but nothing inside. Not even in this room, the only place where they could hide. It wasn't even alive- couldn't feel itself. And outside, there was no elf, no human, no fairy, nothing. There were just the usual vermin that this jungle was teeming with.

But it knew that it was faster than the wind. If those monsters had went anywhere, it would catch them!

Like a puff of smoke caught in a strong wind, it sailed off throught the walls, rising to the top of the house, trying to get a look around, its ghastly, piercing teeth clenched in a frightful expression. Those fairies would NOT escape him. Nothing got by Sareu Trosvil.

Hadn't it been for that cookie, diverting his attention, getting him to run miles away from the house, all for NOTHING, he'd have been there to deal with this. Those fairies wouldn't have gotten ANYWHERE!

They had to have gone somewhere. Unless they teleported. No, no way they teleported... they had to have gone somewhere. It wasn't the direction he'd approached the house from, or else he'd have caught up with them. It had to have been... flying. He knew what he'd done to many of them. At least one of them had to have grown herself to carry all of the others, and she would be up above the trees, flying downwind to boost her speed...

The shadow sailed up to the top of the tallest tree, scanning the moonlit horizon- finding its only silent inhabitant, the Giant Tree, as always. With a guttural growl, it looked around again...

"YOU LITTLE SHITS! I'LL GET YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" Sareu snarled, thinking quickly. Maybe they weren't up there trying to catch the downwind. Maybe they were in the upwind... or maybe they were in the downwind, but at ground level, or they were hiding away in the silhouette of the Giant Tree. Only one thing to do- search all of those positions.

Sailing across the air as it wont to do, the shadow sped through the night, breathlessly cursing in a muffled voice, trying to feel those predators with its reaper sense, which unlike their predator sense, could be foiled by nothing... short of distance. They couldn't have put that much distance. Sareu Trosvil was faster than the wind. He was faster than them. Much faster. They had only a small time advantage. There couldn't have been that much time.

But as it went in circles around the forest, cursing at every lifeform it came across without the time to kill them, it realized its time was starting to run out. The moon was full, and high in the sky- no time for this. It had to hurry. It could still catch them...




Bingo!




Something alive caught his attention. And it was MASSIVE. Just the right size... a fairy, a fairy grown to massive size, that is. Couldn't be anything else- but it was TWO! No, THREE! FOUR! Yes, yes, yes! They thought they'd get AWAY?!

It left tree after tree behind, laughing with mad abandon as it neared them. Another feeling of wrongness crept up, but it ignored the feeling...

...just to howl again in frustration as it found the subjects. Three... wolves. Thirty feet tall at the shoulder, and who knew how long!? No, those were FOUR wolves. And at the sight of the comparatively small figure, they stood up, and recoiled.

"SHOO!" it snarled. "YOU'RE MESSING UP MY HUNT!"

The kenshas recoiled slowly, taking short breaths. But it could still feel them. All four of them. Having them here when it was looking for something else felt just so wrong, so offensive... it should just... KILL... them...

...and then what it was dreading happened at last.



Another lifeform appeared behind him. A massive lifeform. Only that it radiated a sense of wrongness as well. It wasn't natural- neither was this new life. And he could recognize her.

"Sareu... Trosvil." her voice began. "What are you doing? You were supposed to have a dozen fairies for me this night."

Even without turning around, it could already feel her glare piercing into the back of its neck. The two aberrations were enough for the kenshas to take a cue, and they started running off- all of a sudden, their presence was more than welcome to it. Nothing could be worse than being left alone with her.

"There was a problem."

"A problem!?" she snarled. "Another one!?"

"I'm afraid so..." it hissed. "They were here fifteen minutes ago, but they got away. Just give me fifteen minutes, and I'll have them."

"You'll have them?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Turn around. Look at me."

Fear was just fear to it. There was no heart to miss a beat, no blood to freeze, no throat to clench. There was only fear... and there was nothing worse.

"Look at me. This is an order, Sareu."

"I only need..."

"Are you afraid of looking at me?" the giant bitch asked, changing her tone at the end. "Am I that hard on your poor little eyes?" she asked, with... he'd say it was mock bashfulness. But he couldn't be sure it was mock, she was a really good actress when she wanted to be.

However, that wasn't the reason why he was scared. He turned around, and raised his gaze to those amethyst eyes... feeling a strange ache as they bore into him. Pain was supposed to be a thing of the past, there'd be only rage now, but just looking into her put the fear of death back into him. A fear he wished he'd forgotten.

"Why so scared?" she asked, innocently. "Is it because you lost the fairies?"

"I just need..."

"You've had a full month!" she growled. "I'm tired of your incompetence, Sareu! I gave you that sword, and I gave you power beyond your wildest dreams... I thought you had what it took. Your Frungy destroyed your world, but I guess you just suck at other sports. Like hunting."

"Give me fifteen minutes and..."

"And what about ALL THE OTHER TIMES BEFORE THAT?!" she growled. "There's always something wrong, and I've had enough of excuses, of those fifteen minutes, again, and again, and again!" she yelled.

"Be patient..."

"I HAVE been patient. I've been more patient than you think, Sareu. I've been more patient with you than I've been with anyone else! And I mean ANYONE!"

"Miss Iridan..."

"Don't 'miss' me, Sareu." she giggled. "I'm not going to 'miss' you!"

"What?"

"I just had a silly idea." she beamed, reaching down for him...

"You... this is... you're not thinking...!" Sareu recoiled a few yards. She stopped.

"Okay, I just lied..." she threw her hands up. "I've had this idea for a while already, I just feel like it now! I realized I've eaten a few fairies, but I've never eaten a Frungy player..." she grinned. "In fact, I don't know anyone who has."

"What!? Ridiculous! I... I... CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, BITCH!" it roared, turning around, and darting like the wind, across the forest, past several trees, running like a mile...

...before finding itself right back where it started, looking at her milky white body under the moonlight, at her amethyst eyes glowing mischievously.

"You're also the last of your kind, aren't you?"

"AAARGH!" he growled, turning around, and darting for a mile. He stopped at an empty clearing, where under the moonlight lay the prints of several gigantic wolves... and a milky white-skinned woman, almost a hundred feet tall, with an impish smile in her face, two large bat wings, and two ram horns.

"I'm going to eat you, and then I get to brag to everyone about it. No one else has even tried a Frungy player, and I eat the last one!"

"WAIT! I CAN STILL BE USEFUL..." Sareu roared... but he already knew what was going to happen if he stayed. He darted towards another opening in the clearing...

...and came out right in front of Iridan's again, finding himself looking up at her glowing, amethyst eyes.

"I could still use a snack." she grinned. And that was it.

"THEN EAT THIS!"

It lunged upwards, ethereal as the darkness, bringing its broad claws to bear on her grinning face. It was still fast, impossibly s-

"AARGH!" he shouted, as he was flicked down into the soil. His skin tore open against the ground as he rolled, jarring his bones and the contents of his skull.

Skin. Bones. Muscle and viscera.

Trying to float up, he barely managed to wriggle a little. He had turned back into a man- against his will- and so fast his head was spinning. With some effort, he got up, looking at her nude body under the moonlight. Or at least, as much as he could see now; the darkness was as unapproachable as it had once been, and the sight of these two glowing eyes looking down at him in it lent the night an oppressive and horrifying tone.

He knew whose eyes that was.

"D... don't!" he shouted. "This... this isn't fa-!"

Half a word still unsaid, she grabbed him, and lifted him against the moonlight. He gasped, and cried in terror as the glow of her eyes was extinguished, the white light now coming to illuminate something just as slimy under them, an opening in her silvery skin laced with gray, voluptuous lips. Closing his eyes, he screamed as he was quickly lowered into that opening, somewhat marveling at the irony of the situation.

After all, that feeling of immortality, that emptiness in his heart, that so-called power of darkness, that sword... who was to say it was real at all? For all he knew, he'd died during that game of Frungy. This might as well have been all just some sort of hallucination. A dream, his mind's death throes. Somehow, he wound up in a meaningless, extreme struggle between wild and civil, where he found a chance to explore the joys of a life other than his own, in whose name he commited unthinkable, impossible atrocities himself. He clung to that thought- that none of this was real. That it wasn't, as some might have suggested, a test either. That it was all as meaningless as anything he'd ever done.






So why be afraid?






Why, because a 100-foot demon was about to eat him, obviously.

"AAaaAARAaaAARGH!"

======

"Mmm!" Iridan finally swallowed. Her face, even under that meager moonlight, made it clear that she was delighted beyond her expectations. Raising her hand to her throat, she let out another hum of delight, to her own surprise- and another as something passed into her stomach. She felt the need to improvise a few words.

"I think more people should play Frungy."


Elori still belongs to Silent_Eric.