Where YOU, are the hunted.

“Not so much of a plan, but just a few general ideas,” Doug said. “But I’ve been here once before. And I had the good fortune to meet a couple predators that might help us. At the very least, wouldn’t kill us. Knowing that Ur Sagol is the favorite hunting grounds, we’ll need their help to get through. I think they’d be easier to convince than a powerful human or neko wizard or a convoy. The hard part is reaching them.”

“Something else, the last time I came here, it was with a bunch of other people from earth. I’m wondering if the same thing happened this time. When I first arrived, I didn’t take the time to look. You probably heard the crash my suburban made running into the car. But now we have a base to work from here in nekomura, I was thinking about looking around for them.”

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“Oooh! Lemme hear!” Aeille said, diving into the Ipod again, and bringing up some new music. She came out again and went back to her perch on Brent’s shoulder and grabbed the ear bud again. “Hey, you got another one of these big metal things! Was that other wrecked one yours too?” She flew off of the shoulder to look at Brent’s car from different angles. After a moment, she hovered back to Brent, looking thoughtful.

“You know, you’ve got all this neat stuff, and you don’t mind a fairy resting on your shoulder.” Aeille said, sitting down on the shoulder and leaning against Brent’s neck. “I don’t want any other fairies to eat you, you’re too cool for a meal. I wanna put a mark on you, so other fairies will know that you’re Aeille’s buddy. You won’t mind, will you?”

Brent blushed a little bit as a smile came onto his face, feeling flattered that the fairy already considered him her friend in such a short amount of time. "Oh, no, not at all! I'd be honored, Aeille." he said to her as he walked up beside his car, his smile quickly turning into a shocked glare, his backpack not being seen in the back where he always put it. He had assumed that Coda had stolen his backpack, but kept his self-control, not wanting to throw a fit in front of the fairy. Besides, it was only fair that he give the guy he was with the benefit of the doubt.

"Um...could you hang on for just a second?" he asked, pulling out his keys and walking to the back of the car. He put his car key in the keyhole and turned, an unlocking sound being heard as he opened up the hatch, opening up the trunk to see if Coda had placed it in there. "Ugh! It's not there either!" he exclaimed, slamming the hatch shut and taking the keys out, shoving them back in his pocket. "What the heck did he do to my...oh, there it is!" he said, noticing the backpack laying on the ground where Coda had placed it.

"Sorry about that, Aeille. Thought someone stole my backpack for a minute there." he apologized as he picked it up, hanging one of the straps from the shoulder adjacent to the one the fairy was sitting on. "Anyway, the other car isn't mine. I mean, I've got a perfectly good one right here, you know? I actually drove up here to make sure if the people who crashed there were okay, and...well, you know the rest." he said, opening the back door and placing his backpack on the opposite seat, sitting down in the seat beside it and closing the door. "So, where do want to put that mark? My hand, or...?" he asked, not exactly sure where the fairy wanted to place that mark.

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The fairy's eyes widened as Coda pulled out the knife, her lip moving upward into a gleeful smile. "Oooh, now we're talkin'!" With that, the red-haired fairy shrunk down to human size, pulling out her two daggers from their sheaths, juggling them nonchalantly as leaned up against the side of a tree. "So, you want me to use one dagger or two? I'm fine with either/or. I just don't want to be too hard on you, considering you only have one knife. Oooh, I've got an idea!" she said, sitting up as she caught the knifes she had been juggling. "How about I give you one of my daggers and I just fight with one while you fight with two?!"

Coda considered the idea of using two instead of one, but knew he had better skill working with one. he re sheathed the knife as he stood normally. "What if we each used a dagger, seeing as even one of them seems more than enough against my small knife..." he said trying to sound polite, looking over to Niklas. "... But seeing as you have me for a fight now, and whatever after seeing as I'm screwed for any escape, I think its only fair to let my friend leave." he continued looking back at the fairy holding the daggers in front of him, knowing Exactly who he was doomed to cross knifes with, and just how fucked he was for putting himself in this position.

"Actually no, I didn't hear your suburban, I walked along the length of the river. At first I thought I was still camping in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I've been working here for a few hours to make a little money...since mine is worthless..."

"well how would we meet those predators without getting caught by others first?"

"Otherwise, where would we go? what would we do?"

Niklas got up and walked over next to Coda. "may i suggest a hand to hand fight?" He asked with a nervous smile. "that way, if you win" he said looking at the fairy. "you won't have a bloody meal" he then pointed at Coda with his thumb. "and if he wins, he won't have to deal with hurting such a cute girl as yourself" Niklas said with a smile, hoping that the sweet talking would have a little affect at least.

"Don't forget the higher chance of Breaking Bones!" Coda whispered over at Niklas giving a blank look. pulling out his knife and tossing it into the air while he still glared at Niklas. "Ive got this..." he continued alittle louder, catching the knife by the tip of the blade and putting it back in the sheath. "... I hope..."

Niklas grabbed Coda's shoulder, and pulled him closer. "hey, i've tried getting stabbed and breaking my bones... i would chose the broken bones without a second thought" He whispered with a very serious tone. "besides, she could have hundreds of years of practise with those. what do you have... 8?"

"around a month and a half maybe..." Coda said with a shrug. "...Haven't you read anything in the Forums?" He continued as he pointed a thumb at Cazaria. "...This is the same fairy I ran into last time, I'm guessing she doesn't remember me at the moment..." he continued. " You should use this time to get back to the other person I ran into, hes over that way and he has a working car, i suggest you get moving before we get an audience of hungry preds..." he finished, pointing in the direction he came from.

"i'm not just leaving you. especialy not considering that you are somewhat younger than me" Niklas whispered. "you're not gonna get yourself killed... even eaten for my sake" he then walked out in front of Coda. "hey fairy girl. how about a round of hand to hand with me?"

“And that’s the trouble. Until we find one of these friendly preds, we’re sitting ducks. But I figure we could start with Myrah. Her lair isn’t far from here, over on the other side of the ascarlin mountains. Our last parting was peaceful enough, save for her getting angry at one of the humans threatening to burn down her lair. But that wasn’t me, so we shouldn’t be bothered with it. If we bring a cookbook along as a present for her, that would keep us from being eaten, though expect a good taste testing. From there, we can meet one of her friends, maybe Lenarei or Narin, or Liena…those three I know are friendly.” Doug explained.

If we tag along with a convoy to the mines here, that’ll get us part of the way, but we’ll have to cross a section of the jungle on foot. You’ve got your sword, and I have a pistol on me, so we’re armed well enough, but stealth will be our greatest advantage. I think we can cross the distance in one night, while most preds are sleeping off their dinner. We should arrive just in time for breakfast at Myrah’s.”

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“Nah, I’ve got a better place for it,” Aeille said, flying off of Brent’s shoulder. She zipped to right behind him, and hovered just behind his back. She placed a hand between his shoulder blades. For a moment, she closed her eyes, and started mumbling words of an arcane nature. First her hand, then her whole body started to glow. After a second, there was a sudden sharp, electric pain, that covered his whole upper back.

As quickly as it came, the pain left, leaving Brent’s back feeling strange. “There, all done!” Aeille said, flying back to in front of Brent. “You might wanna take off your shirt, or it’s gonna get real uncomfortable!” Aeille said, giggling and darting around. Brent could feel something growing on his back. Slowly but surely, a set of fairy wings began sprouting and growing to full size.

"ok, I have several questions on that regard: first of all, a dridder, myrah or not makes me nervous. also its a long distance and just the two of us might not make it by ourselves anyway. just being the devil's advocate here. im sure we'd be fine, seeing as how I used to role play as "bael" often back on earth."

"your plan to stay with convoys does seem sound though, saftey in numbers i guess, or at least relatively."

with that Aaron went opened the door to the inn. "I should tell them that everything's all settled and go collect a small sum of money for the last few hours of work. I'm lucky I found out about that newcomers program."

"Wh...what in the world?!" Brent exclaimed, feeling the wings grow from his back as he took off his hoodie and shirt. He opened the car door and stepped out, his eyes going wide with shock as he watched the wings grow on his back from the side mirror of the front door. "You...turned me into a fairy?" he asked, now turning his direction towards Aeille. "N-not that I'm ungrateful, far from it. I had just expected you to put a brand on my back or something."

He looked behind at his new wings, fluttering them for a moment before looking at his new fairy friend. "I gotta say...it was really nice of you to give me these wings. Thanks! Anyway..." he said, going back into the car and opening his backpack, pulling out his DS Lite, which had a Kingdom Hearts game in it's DS slot and a Metroid game in the GBA slot, his PSP, which contained a Megaman X game in the disk slot, a few Batman and Spider-Man comic books, and a game holder which held his other GBA and DS games, then pulling out a knife. "I'm gonna put a few holes in my shirt and hoodie so I can fit my new wings in 'em. Feel free to help yourself to my stuff here, and if you need any help figuring anything out, just let me know."

With that, he stepped outside and started cutting holes into the back, leaving the fairy to help herself to the electronics and comic books he left out.

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The fairy whistled patiently as Coda and Niklas argued amongst themselves, juggling her daggers as they did so. Once Niklas started talking, she put her daggers in their sheaths, stating, "I don't care who I fight with, or how exactly we fight. I just want a good match, is all. Although..." She then started walking towards the humans, continuing to speak. "I never said I'd eat either of you. I just said I wanted something yummy to suck on. Thing is, I think you humans are much better if you're still alive. That way, I can enjoy your flavor over and over and over! I'm a reasonable fairy, though, so I'll cut you both a deal. If you beat me in a fight, I'll let you both go without so much as a drop of my saliva on your bodies. But if I win, I get to keep you as my personal pets and sucky treats!"

She licked her lips as she finished her sentence, then focusing back on the two humans. "I'm telling you both right now, though. I'm not fighting either of you until you both figure out who's fighting and what you're fighting with. And whoever's not fighting gets tucked in my cheek. Like I said, I'm a reasonable fairy, so if you two need time to think about it, I'll let you stay with me for the night. Of course, that'll mean you'll both be my sucky treats for the day, so if you don't wanna be soaked in fairy spit, you might wanna make your decision now."

“Don’t be silly. I cant make you into a fairy. I just gave you the wings,” Aeille chided playfully, using a bit of static electricity to make Brent’s hair stand up again. “But they will let you fly, you humans are so slow when walking. Lemme know when you’re done with that hood thingie,” She giggled. She took a moment to fly around Brent, looking over his new wings, before zipping down into the DS lite. It turned on spontaneously, starting a game of Metroid, except that Aeille took the place of Samus in it.

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“Don’t worry, I know this dridder. That cookbook will be our meal ticket with her. She’s always looking to get new recipes, whether they involve humans or not. If your nervous, think up a couple more recipes on the way. And the way I see it, I’d rather take the chance. I’ve got a life back on earth, and I’d rather risk it to return to it, than serve as a barkeep in an inn here. Speaking of which, will your wages be enough to buy the book? I was worried I’d have to pawn off something.” Doug said, getting up as Aaron left for the inn.

"in all likeliness? probably not. I was indending on getting a meal, and going over the O.A.D.D. to get ready for my new life." Aaron sighs heavily. He likes felarya for what it is, at least from the forum, but it's rather frightening in real life. However, he doesn't just wanna leave, maybe see some of his friend's characters who he's role-played with. if they even exist.

"well, why not...myrah does..." he realizes he was thinking out loud, and replies again "anyway, if we can get there, sure. where's our first stop then? you seem to have been here already so i'll follow you."

"I apologize for my friend's continuous delays..." Coda said as he pulled the slightly taller Niklas back to his side. "You trying to put her in a bad mood? Have you ever checked the forums? That's Cazaria, and right now your making things worse." he then walked past Niklas towards Cazaria. "Shall we get this over with?" he asked as he pulled out his knife and held it upside down.

Niklas shruged his shoulders and sighed. "i guess i'm gonna be her sucky candy" he muttered to hiself and sighed again.

(is there some issues going on? the RP got real quiet...)

(i think we're waiting for Joker...)

(Rep's right. My bad, everyone.)

"Can do." Brent replied, feeling a bit embarrased that he thought he had been turned into a fairy. Brushing the incident off, he looked for a moment as the fairy went inside his DS, then glanced at his iPod and changing it up a bit before settling on some smooth jazz, putting the other earbud in his ear as he continued to cut the holes in the back of his shirt and hoodie.

After he was done, he put both of them back on one at a time, the task taking a while as he struggled to get his wings through the holes. After awhile, he had finished, moving his wings around a bit to test their mobility, nodding in approval seeing that they moved just fine. He then paused the iPod and sat back in the car, keeping the door opened as he picked up the DS, looking to see Aeille inside the Metroid game. "So, you enjoying the game?" he asked her.

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"Hm...tell ya what..." the red-headed fairy offered, turning back around to look at Niklas. "Just don't run away, and I won't shrink ya or anything like that. Besides, if I tucked you in my cheek, I'd be breaking my promise not to get my spit on ya." Giving the human a quick wink, she turned back around to Coda, saying, "And you can go ahead and put that knife away. That's not gonna do much against a dagger." The fairy then took one of her daggers and tossed it in the air, catching it by it's blade and offering the handle to Coda.

Coda put his knife away and accepted the dagger, noting it was fairly heavier than his knife. he gave it a few test flips and after he felt comfortable he stepped back signaling he was ready with a small hand gesture.

Niklas walked away and slumbed down with his back down against a tree, where he let out a loud sigh. "I guess i don't really have a choice in the matter here" He said and slumbed down even further and closing his eyes. "wake me when it's over... or if she wins... don't"

In the DS screen, Brent could see Aeille in the process of dive bombing space pirates while bombarding them with lightning. Her belly flashed occasionally, as the pirates within tried to shoot their way out to no avail. She waved when she saw Brent looking. “Hiya! I love this game! These guys are so fun to play around with!” Aeille said. She burped softly, and spat out something that looked like a metroid talon. “And tasty too,” She added, flying out of the game. The moment she did so, her full belly was back to normal. “Hope you don’t mind, I added a couple fun new modes to the game. That armored chick looks good as a fairy. So, you try using your wings yet? Wanna try flying? I can show you the ropes, and teach you a few tricks.”

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“Well, darn. Ah well, I guess I could trade my jacket for one. Anyway, let’s see what the local bookstores have.” Doug said, heading for the market place. “Aaron, try and buy what food you can for the road. We don’t need much, just enough for a day or two.” Doug went to one of the shops in the area, and started speaking with the owner. A little later, he left, without a jacket but with a book on Negav cuisine.

His next stop was at a group of wagons, at the shop owner’s recommendation. There was another man there, obviously a warrior, wearing armor and with a large axe on his back. Doug spoke with him for a while, with the other man’s face ranging from mild annoyance, curiosity, a little amusement, before returning to neutral again. Doug went back to Aaron.

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” Doug said, out of earshot of the warrior. “See that tough guy there? Name’s Durun. Good news is he agreed to let us tag along with his caravan as far as the mines. Bad news is, if we do, I think we’re going to be the designated naga bait if any predators show up. Though going with them is still safer than going alone. What do you think?”

"alright doug." Aaron replied, and waited for him to go to the man and return.

"well I guess we could. If things go bad we could always try and ditch. stay near the back or something...although im not sure which direction a naga would attack from. more or less luck, but in felaryan jungle that's mostly our lot."

"Also, I dont see much point in getting the food until he leaves. what about the cookbook? wanna come and help look?"

Aaron wondered if tagging along with a caravan really is safer. if they avoid being caught during an attack chances are they could escape just from their predator getting full.

"Sure, flying sounds fun! I can always play my video games later. I might have to put my car in a good hiding place if you know a good place to put it." Brent said, flexing out his wings again. "So, where do I start? Any specific flying procedures I should be aware of?"

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The fairy grinned as Coda gave her the 'come hither' gesture, immediately leaping upon him and attacking with extremely quick jabs at his throat. She could've easily been quick enough to kill the human, but she wasn't trying to hurt him. She was trying to have a bit of sport, and this one was giving her a splendid time.

Coda managed to block the first few jabs and dodged the rest, managing to get a better stance. he kept blocking and dodging at her jabs until he found a good time to throw in a swing, the dagger colliding into the handle of the dagger she was holding knocking it free from her hand. both the daggers falling to the ground.

"Ummm... who won?" he asked, standing and breathing hard infront of the fairy, taking a glance at Niklas behind him.