...by a Moonlight Shadow...

“Shrink it? You…could do that? I’ve not heard of such magic before,” Nordian said, he again became silent a moment as he considered this possibility “I suppose that would solve some of the issues. It would greatly simplify the issues in manufacturing the armor.”

“But if you could shrink a suit of armor, why stop there? Why not myself, and a whole forge and blacksmith’s shop as well? That would help the measurements, as well as any weight bearing and balancing issues involved with flight we would have to work out as well. I would have to see how you would carry the weight while flying, to avoid stressing your back too much. It would still take a good deal of time, and some experimentation with flight, but it definitely could be done.”

“Not to mention it would be a unique experience being the size of a fairy.” Nordian added as an afterthought. “Provided it could be reversed. No offense, Mantis, but compared to some of the beings I’ve seen in my short time here, I’m small enough as it is."

Hearing this positive news, Mantis began pacing, nearly slipping on a wriggling worm before sidestepping it. Then, with the same air of expertise that echoed Nordian's blacksmith talk, Mantis began- "Normal Felaryan fairies do have the ability to change the size of things with their magic, at least for a limited time. And while both I and Silla are each part Felaryan fairy, neither of us can use fairy magic. At least, I know I don't." Mantis said, shrugging. "If I did, though, our sizes would probably be reversed.” he said with with a smirk. "I can tell you haven't been here for long if you didn't know that."

"Also, normal fairies aren't always my size. I'm sort of just stuck this way. A fairy's size is what it is, and that could be anything depending on its magic. I don't know about shrinking a lot of stuff like what you're talking about, but if we do speak to a size-changing magic user, I'm sure we could find out how to make that work."

Mantis then turned to Silla. "Maybe we should speak with this Lola then.” he said thoughtfully. He was quite curious to see this fairy that successfully bred with a neko...

"To the Fairy Pond then." Silla said, moving away from the group. "Come on you two, times a'wastin'!" Her voice was cheerful and preppy, as though excited at the idea of seeing her mother once more. "Some live, some die, some lie, some fight..." She mumbled to herself in a weird sing song voice, before tripping over a random root and picking herself back up. Silla continued to walk, occaisonally stopping to see if Nordian and Mantis followed. Finally deciding it would be rather hard for poor Nordian to make his way through the dense flora, Silla once again took out her weapon and began to cut down some of the plants, making sure not to cause too much damage to the trees around.

"The Fairy Pond was where I grew up mostly." She said cheerfully. "I had some friends there, and that's where my mother's brother made this for me." Silla lifted her sword up, allowing it to catch a glint from the sun peeking out from it's cloudy covers. "This sword is getting kinda chipped though." She observed. "Ah, ah, poor poor Butterfly." Silla said. "If only someone could fix you up!" Silla spoke to the blade as though it were a real person.

Nordian chuckled to himself at Silla’s statement. “Well, now, while my trade focused on armor, I am a competent bladesmith in my own right,” Nordian said. “Sharpening a dull edge and removing the notches would be an easy enough task. It seems that you two aim to make prompt use of my skill. But that’s alright. It will be a joy to wield a hammer and tongs rather than shield and flail. To create, rather than destroy.”

Despite his longing to work the metal once again, Nordian was beginning to feel downcast. These two fairy creatures were pleasant folk, but before long he would have to leave them. Maybe he’d have time to complete a set of armor, but he doubted it. They seemed intelligent, and before long would notice that he wasn’t simply a man as they assumed. Experience had quickly taught him it was best to be gone before then. But after a moment he shook off his dreary thoughts, that point was still a ways off. Besides, he was curious to see this Fairy Pond.

Mantis took wing with enthusiasm, but reserving his strength- flying slowly still meant flapping his wings just as much as if he were zipping through the forest at top speed. Walking was an option, but since it seemed as if the foliage was thick enough to slow those two down, for him it would be much more difficult on foot. It wouldn't be very long before he'd be hungry again- the rain had driven the starkala bugs to bunch up together on branches as protection from the rain earlier. Plucking a whole bunch off at once would be very easy then, but he still felt quite full.

That's when Silla began slicing the plants down, and Mantis saw winged morsels lazily flying in all directions, disturbed by the slashing. As one drifted by, Mantis gave it a sideways glance- but couldn't resist, grabbing it and stuffing it into his mouth and swallowing, only to regret it a moment later, his arm wrapped around his stomach. One too many, apparently...

"Hmm... The Fairy Pond... Enchanted to shrink all humans and nekos that touch the water. Your father ever have trouble from that?" Mantis asked. He also wondered if Silla herself was fairy enough to overcome the Pond's neko-targeting spell. Something else she'd said amused him- the weapon she wielded she had referred to as "Butterfly". Her fairy wings might have been such, traded in for a different weapon. For her fairy magic, a sword? he mused. For him the trade was magic for ki, and he still wasn't especially proficient in that...

"Ugh- cramp." he groaned, as his gluttony had caught up with him. Mantis began buzzing slowly over to Nordian, and without warning, plopped down on his armored helm. "Alright if I ride for a bit?" he asked, "Looks like it's gonna take you two awhile to get through here." Mantis unnecessarily tapped a few times on the surface below just to hear the clinging of metal on his fist, as it was a rather rare material to feel. He also tried to imagine what it was like wearing armor all over like that and how heavy it would feel- he could lift a lot, but wasn't so sure about a bunch of metal.

"Thank you!" Silla said gratefully to Nordian, before kissing her sword. "See, Butterfly? I told you someone in this world loves you almost as much as me!" She said excitedly, before promptly slicing down a few large ferns. She pouted, seeing many more ferns and vines, as well as plenty of bushes, ahead that would make using normal strikes meaningless. "Fairy Pond magic?" She looked at Mantis briefly, before turning back to the foliage before her. "It never affected me. It did affect my dad, so whenever my mommy was upset she'd push him into the pond and pretend to almost eat him. It was pretty funny." Silla giggled, before spreading her legs out and crouching down a little.

"Now, to cut down some of these pesky plants." She said, gripping the hilt of her sword. "Normally, this would be used upon people, but I find it way too dangerous and lethal, you know. That's cruel." Suddenly, her hand was in the air, with her sword drawn. There was a silence for a brief second, then a sudden blast of wind, tearing apart a small path through about thirty feet of foliage, the effect lessening it grew further. Rubbing her shoulder that was connected to the arm which held the sword. The effect of the odd attack was only clear when she sheathed her weapon. She had created a sort of airless space, a vacuum or vortex, between where she drew her sword and the sheath it self, and the airless path cut through where the sword would have been cut. When she stopped her sword, the air came rushing in to reclaim the lost space, pushing the space outward and therefore tearing up the plants.

"Wow, it's never gone that far before." Silla mumbled to herself, walking through the path. "I haven't used it in two years either." Laughing, Silla smiled. "I doubt it would work on a Naga though."

“If you wish, Mantis,” Nordian said, as the fairy plopped down onto his helmet. “Keep hold of the crest to steady yourself, just take care not to damage it.” Nordian didn’t even feel the miniscule weight of the fairy, though his taps on top of the helmet echoed slightly. It was dark enough inside the helmet that if the fairy found a hole to peek in, he wouldn’t be able to see anything. “Thanks for warning me of the enchanted water, I would do well to avoid the pond,” Nordian added, though he wasn’t certain if it would affect him. He was more a being of magic now, rather than a man.

When Silla stopped, Nordian paused as well. When she held her sword aloft, Nordian faintly felt the power building, and prudently decided to back up a few paces. Though he was behind Silla, the sudden wind still pulled at him and caused the crest of feathers on his helmet to whip around. Nordian hope it didn’t dislodge Mantis.

“A most impressive bit of magic, Silla,” Nordian said, surveying the path of destruction that she wrought with her blade and the wind. “I daresay it wont take us quite as long as you thought to reach the pond, Mantis.”

Mantis was just getting into a semi-comfortable position on the metallic helm, gripping the crest as Nordian advised, when a sudden gale rushed by, tugging at his tiny body and nearly carrying him along with it. Luckily he had a strong grip, and the wind diminished quickly. He looked on wide-eyed as he saw that the path of destruction, a path carved in that instant, spanned from where Silla's sword had sliced.

That was certainly one powerful attack he hadn't accounted for- she must have been a wind magic user, he guessed. A blade of pure wind... It it could do the same to opponents, then there was little need for fairy magic.

"Wow... Nice one." he managed to say at last, very slightly envious of this show of skill. "So you actually do use combat magic then, huh?" he asked, leaning forwards over the helm's rim and flapping for stability as Nordian walked.

"It's not magic as you would think." Silla said. "I only have the power of healing, and then there are little trinkets and the like afforded by my mark and blood." She picked up one of the branches that laid on it's side, cut cleanly from it's parent plant. "From the speed of the draw, a vacuum was made, and I think you could figure the rest out." She then began chewing on the branch. "Minty."

Silla walked a couple more steps and began to push down plants, since her little trick had cleared most of the more annoying foliage. Every now and then she would have a stubborn fern smack back into her face, but she didn't make any sounds from it. "So, Mantis." She asked, looking over at the demi-fairy. "What was your childhood like? Did you go to fun plac-" Another sapling to the face. "-es... and I want to know about that blue glow you can make? Is it like a light?"

From above, the sounds of birds deciding it was safe to open their feathers echoed, some taking flight and others just roosting.

“My apologies then,” Nordian said. “Still, it is notheless impressive, if not more so. Such speed of the blade is incredible.” As Nordian walked, he ignored the occasional thin branch or sapling that brushed against his armor. Occasionally, he held up a gauntleted hand to push aside a branch that threatened to dislodge Mantis from his perch on top of his helmet.

As he walked, he began to notice something, Nordian couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It was more than the scenery, beautiful though it was. The trees and the flowers reminded him of his village that he lived in long ago, and the sound of the distant waterfall was soothing. But there was something else. As they neared the pond, there was something in the air that felt…vaguely refreshing. Something that seeped through his armor and bones and into the intangible spells holding his bones together and binding his spirit to this form. It made him feel more energetic, more spirited, more alive.

As Mantis suspected that some of the passing branches would hit him, but Nordian blocked them, he began to think that he was quite capable of flying- the pace they were traveling at was adequate- he wouldn't waste much energy. He thought about Silla's wind-blade-thing. Sounded like magic to him.

He then leaned back on the metallic surface for just one more moment, thoughtfully stroking his chin at Silla's question. "Well, I've already told you that I'm half mausu- that's from my father, Hercules. Cynthia, my mother, almost ate him for breakfast one day. Somehow he stopped her. Never told me exactly how, though... Anyways, I grew up in the Garden, a really colorful place. Lots of tasty food. Since Cynthia is the top predator in the area, there was never any real danger for me or my father. Things were normal, I guess, although intruders tended to... Disappear." (Mantis didn't mention that these 'intruders' were actually humans and nekos that the Garden was created to lure) "-I couldn't always fly, you know. Small wings." he said, turning a bit to show his stilled mantid wings, pointing straight down from his shoulders to his ankles. Standing on the very top of Nordian's helm he went on. "Since I could walk, my father trained me in the ways of combat. Taught me to create strength out of spirit and will. That's ki." Mantis said just before jumping up and taking flight once more.

He then flew to just beside Silla and hovered, pointing to a bent sapling her attack had only partially felled. "Watch this." he said, bringing his arms to his side in some sort of stance, all the while beating his wings at a steady pitch. Within seconds the same blue glow that had emanated from his body before began again; a small concentrated ball of bluish-white energy forming between his two palms as he focused his inner ki, letting it flow through and out of his tiny frame. He appeared to be struggling with something, wavering from side to side in midair, just before thrusting his arms out before him- and one marble-sized projectile sped from the tiny towards his target while Mantis sped backwards a few feet before his wings stabilized him. In an instant the sapling's trunk was hit by the ki ball- the impact shattered what remained of it, dispersing a sizeable flash upon impact. Mantis took a few deep breaths and then looked up to Silla. "That's ki."

"It's not that impressive, I'm not as good as my father." Silla said, shaking her head. "Hiroto was such a cool dad." She fell silent, listening to Mantis's story. As she listened, there were small snapping and sucking noises as her flesh began to shift and change, defining muscle and pulling skin. "Disappear huh? Sounds like what happens to Humans swimming in the Fairy Pond." Silla chuckled in a noticably deeper voice.

Falling back into silence, Silla nodded at learning about ki. "That makes you a very powerful user I bet." Turning, Silla watched Mantis's demonstration, wide eyed. "Whoa... that's... so... COOL!" Silla clapped, before looking around. The ears upon Silla's head twitched. "Of course... insects." A tone of distaste twisted the words. "We should be careful, insects are very dangerous here, Nordian."

“An impressive demonstration, Mantis,” Nordian said. “I wonder, could anyone with sufficient spirit and will learn to use Ki?” Even as he asked this, Nordian found it amusing, though he didn’t show it. Spirit and will was about all there was to him. “You both seem to be formidable fighters. It speaks well of you that you fought off the bandits without using such means and spared their lives instead.”

“As for the insects, I’ve heard a rumor or two about them,” Nordian said, turning his attention to Silla. “I’ve heard men say that they cannot be harmed by magical means, but must be…Silla? Are you well?” Nordian said, looking at her. It was faint, but it seemed to Nordian that her skin was moving as if it had a will of it’s own.

"Well, it's rare for any tiny to be able to use ki. In that sense, I'm sort of an expert, I'd say. Yeah. Of course, there's more humans and other races that are true masters of it. It takes years of training, but I think that with enough time and will, just about anybody can. I owe my life to being able to use my own ki for protection." he explained. Then he thought for a second- he really didn't know what race Nordian was, but he seemed to like it there inside that armor a lot. He hadn't seen that helmet come off once, or even his face... Oh well, he thought. Some people just liked being mysterious, he supposed.

Then, Mantis began noticing an odd change in the sound of Silla's voice as she spoke to him- it was getting deeper for some reason. As he looked up expecting to see the female neko-fairy, he instead saw a male figure, broader in frame and deeper in voice. Alarmed, he flew backwards suddenly, carelessly bumping into Nordian's armor. But he didn't even look up at the armored man- he was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that this woman had been replaced with what was, most definitely, a man.

She/ he /it / potato was saying something about the dangers of insects, but the voice itself had Mantis completely confused; the words themselves went right by him.

"Uh, I know I've asked you this before but." he asked in an unsure voice, pointing at Silla accusingly, "What... Are you?!"

((IT'S A MAN, BABY! *Austin Powers*))

"Oh, I'm fine. I just think my mom would better recognize me a male." Silla said, acting as though nothing big had happened. "I can't change size, but I can change gender for some reason, a birth defect I guess." He chuckled. Stepping over a large rock, Silla smiled. "Anyway, I look dead sexy in a mini-skirt either way!" He struck a pose, right as a fly flew into his mouth. "Kaakk!" He pounded his chest, coughing the fly back up. "It's a wonder how I survive." He sighed, before moving again. "Come on. It's best we do not tarry."

Silla began running, smashing through the foliage to provide some path for the others to follow. The idea of letting a insect eat him was not a pleasant one. Who knew what could be lurking in the branches above or the ground below? "Come on! Let's go!" He called. His hand snapped out, cracking another branch. Magic was beginning to touch his veins and seep in. "MOTHER!" He instinctivly shouted, before covering his mouth.

“Peace, Mantis,” Nordian said, catching the fairy in one hand after he had struck his armor. He took great care not to pinch Mantis’ delicate wings or limbs in the plates of his gauntlet “I have seen far stranger things wrought by magic in my old world. The body might change, but I don’t doubt that the mind and spirit is still Silla.”

When Silla began running forward, Nordian put Mantis up on top of his helmet again and began running as well. Silla was native to this region and if she, or rather he now, deemed it prudent to pass quickly through this area, Nordian thought it wise to do so as well. Despite the weight of the armor, Nordian was able to move with a surprising amount of agility and quickness, though not as quickly as Silla. As Nordian ran, there was an odd, muffled clinking from various points from within his armor. Nordian readied his flail for combat, should any of these insects appear. They were resistant to magic, but there was nothing magical about a huge spiked iron mass crashing into their exoskeleton.

"...We've got company." Mantis warned as he heard the buzzing of wings that were not his own; he pushed the fact that Silla had just shifted into a different form- a different gender- from his mind the best he could. Stopping his own wings’ buzzing, he listened intently as well as probed about with his senses. The quieter you become, the more you can hear, after all.

To his discouragement he indeed sensed movement all around them- insects were prevalent throughout the forest, but he could deal with a bug one-on-one without much difficulty. The problem was that, as the buzzing grew even stronger- it was a swarm. It seemed as if the starkala bugs weren’t the only ones to be disturbed by Silla’s path-slicing vacuum. They’d invaded this hive’s territory, even this close to the Pond.

From their right came the first of them- giant wasps, each several times larger than himself. They charged randomly from the woodwork at the trio, their wicked stingers in the position to deliver a lethal dose of venom to the first thing they could sting. Well, Mantis thought as he jumped off of Nordian’s helm to latch tightly onto the abdomen of one as it rocketed past, it was a very good thing that he didn’t rely on magic.

((Cue theme song))

The giant wasp flew haphazardly as it tried to dislodge the smaller fairy, its deadly stinger pointed up in an effort to impale him. With one hand he held the tip at bay before getting a better grip, flapped his wings and pulled himself up so that he was straddling the wasp. It bucked and made sharp turns, nearly flying into its brethren as Mantis grasped the joint that held its head to the thorax. While they had natural armor, like any armor, the weak spots were in the connections. At least he knew this much about armor. Mantis squeezed with both hands, as hard as he could, causing the insect's mandibles to snap at the air wildly, all the while trying to dislodge him. But Mantis merely stabilized the insect's flight with his own wings and squeezed harder still- until finally, the head dislocated from the thorax with a pop. Mantis released the fatally wounded bug to plow into the ground, into which the stinger pumped its venom uselessly. The swarm was all around them now, making charges at Silla and Nordian. Mantis rushed in to deal with another, landing on top and knocking it off course from its intended target, Silla, before barely deflecting another from himself with a somersaulting midair kick, sending him tumbling backwards. This was going to be more difficult than he'd thought. The demi-fairy zipped around, striking quickly at as many exoskeletons as he could, a bluish blur with a green core.

"Ooooh Nemyra." Silla sighed, seeing a few insects heading his way. Twitching his hands, small but still very sharp claws came from his fingers. "Well, it's easier to move without the breasts in the way." He commented, before looking at Mantis and watching him take down one of the bugs. "Nordian, be careful with yourself! They might get into your armor!" Silla warned, before striking one of the bugs away from himself, then turning to another one, moving his hand downward in a chopping motion, managing to squeeze into the uncovered spot and slice the bug in half.

"There's too many for us to handle." Silla said, poking another one off. "And hand to hand is not my expertise. Mantis, I don't know how long your Ki powers will work and I don't want you to exhaust yourself, we need to clear a path and run through that, we can reach the pond or even the Dojo and be safe there!"

“Silla, clear a path with the wind from your blade! I can hold off these mindless beasts!” Nordian said, holding his shield aloft and letting the spiked head of his flail swing freely. He listened carefully at the torrent of buzzing surrounding him. He could pick out the higher pitched sound of Mantis’ wings easily. He could also hear the deeper drone of the giant wasps diving at him. One came at him from ahead, extending it’s stinger to impale Nordian. Swiftly, Nordian brought up his shield and held it at an angle, causing the huge stinger to glance off to the side. Nordian spun and swung his flail in a wide arc. The spiked head crashed into the thick exoskeleton of another wasp, sending fragments of chitin scattering around and splashing ichor from the wound. The stricken wasp fluttered to the ground, buzzing and twitching feebly in it’s death throes.

Nordian turned to deflect another stinger, and swung his flail to strike down the wasp as it recovered from the near miss. Nordian didn’t fear their sting or poison, their venom was useless against him. But what Nordian did fear was discovery. Should he be wounded, yet did not bleed, his secret would be out. This lent a speed to his shield and strength to his flail. He fought defensively, determined to not let a single blow go unblocked, and counterattacked when the opportunity presented itself.

As the others attempted to pull out from the angry mass of beating wings and swooping stingers, Mantis followed, flying in a zigzag pattern to try to outmaneuver as many of the cursed insects as possible, striking with a glowing palm or foot whenever necessary. Most of the time all his attacks would do was to momentarily stun them- it indeed seemed like running for fairy territory would be their best bet, as the wasps had sheer numbers on their side. That was why they still posed a problem to fairies- no matter how many you killed, they kept on coming. "Quaz!" Mantis cursed as a sharp mandible closed painfully on his ankle; in sudden pain he released an unrestrained burst of bright blue light from his palm into the insect's compound eyes, causing it to release him and most likely injuring it. His leg was free but the damage was done, his training gi clearly stained with red. He didn't think he could stand on it, let alone fight, so there was no choice now but to push on.

Mantis' wings beat faster now and he flew in a straight line, trying to stay as far ahead of the swarm as possible, silently urging on Silla and Nordian, impatiently pausing every now and then to let them catch up. The further they got away from the hive the swarm had been defending, the less likely they'd be to follow them much closer to fairy territory, so as long as the group kept moving they would probably be alright. Mantis knew that they were lucky- the insects they'd fought were comparatively minuscule to many of the others in Felarya. Tonorions in particular came to mind.

Switching the position of his sword, Silla once more crouched down, grasping the hilt with his left hand. Seeing Mantis zoom ahead, Silla turned just slightly, so that Mantis would not be caught in the vacuum. "Out of the way." He mumbled towards the insects, despite knowing they were mindless little creatures. Silla's hand was up with the sword drawn, and there was a sickening twisting sound from the left shoulder. The speed of the draw far surpassed what Silla expected, the vacuum extending deep into the foliage. Then, a howling wind rushed past Silla, tearing off the small cloth strip which held his hair back.

The insects who were in the way found themselves either split in half or crushed against the force of the wind. "Come on, Nordian!" He called, his left arm falling limp. Picking his sword from the ground with his right hand and putting it back into his sheath, Silla quickly caught up with Mantis. He noticed that the insects were starting to rapidly thin... which meant they were getting very close to either the Fairy Pond, or the Dojo. He noticed the wound on Mantis's ankle. "Mantis! Your ankle!" He pointed out, gasping.

Both Mantis and Silla had run (or flew) on ahead through the path that Silla tore through the foliage. Nordian decided it was time to part company. Turning from the battle, he barreled down the path, the wasps buzzing angrily behind his back. Nordian used his shield to swat away a wasp that had decided to fly into his path. His heavy boots crushed leaves and snapped branches as he pounded along the open way. His armor clanked rhythmically. making a large racket as he ran.

The insects were beginning to thin in number, as more and more turned back to wherever they came from. Nordian saw the trees also thinning up ahead, they must be getting close to the pond.

One last wasp came zooming in from above, landing upon his back and head. It bared its stinger and stabbed at his back, but the stout iron caused the stinger to glance off to the side. Before the wasp could sting again, Nordian dropped his flail and shield and grasped the wasp’s body with a hand and tore it from his back and flung it to the ground. The wasps legs flailed wildly as they tried to find some grip on Nordian.

One of the wasp’s feet caught the faceplate on Nordian’s greathelm, tearing it off. Nordian reacted instantly, clapping one hand over the gap in his helmet, so his skeletal face could not be seen. With a booted foot, he stomped down on the wasp’s body, crushing it’s exoskeleton. With the wasp dead, Nordian, still covering his face, knelt and picked up the faceplate, turned away from Mantis and Silla, and reattached it to his greathelm. His identity was concealed once more. He picked up his shield and flail, and listened for a moment, but no more buzzing could be heard. He resumed running towards the pond, though at a more relaxed pace.

At last, the trees came to an end, and Nordian looked over the Fairy Pond. Nordian thought it grossly misnamed. What fairies and mermaids would call a pond, he called a lake. It was beautiful nonetheless. The plants around the pond were blooming with blossoms of fantastic colors. The ground was covered in a thick layer of blue green grass that wavered in the breeze. Around the trees, Nordian could see the faint glows of fairies as they playfully frolicked too and fro. Among the trees, Nordian thought he saw the figure of a beautiful, green skin and leafy haired giant woman. There was the rumble of a waterfall not too far away, creating a pleasant ambience.

“Beautiful…” Nordian murmured, looking about himself. “One could live in peace here for ages…” A couple of the fairies flew up to Nordian, zipping around him in seemingly random patterns. However, something seemed to unsettle them and they flew off.

Mantis swooped up and out of range just before Silla unleashed the crushing wind upon the insects, smiting a huge swath in the remaining swarm- and then some. Then just afterwards Mantis found himself tumbling backwards for a few feet, surprised again by the powerful vacuum. Luckily he seemed to have caught the edge of the vacuum; he continued on, however, flying as quickly as he could, wincing a bit at the gash in his leg. He ignored it- pain was distracting and distraction was lethal. The wound was not.

Mantis glanced back for a moment as Silla pointed out his injury. "Nothing but a flesh would. It'll heal in a day or so..." he answered. As he heard the familiar clanking of Nordian's armor behind- and apparently uninjured- he thought about how he'd be less vulnerable if he had some of his own.

At last they came to the Fairy Pond, a vast stretch of water to him. To a fairy giant-sized, it would certainly look like a pond. To a human, maybe a lake. But to Mantis, it more resembled a sea. The air here helped put him at ease- it felt much like the Kingdom here, even in so close proximity to the insects they'd just encountered. He saw several other fairies flying about, each about his own size- but that was just to have more room to fly around. They could become much, much larger, or even shrink humans. For a moment Mantis was unsure if they'd give Nordian any trouble, but as he flew over to greet them, they just flew away. That seemed a bit rude, but at least he wouldn't have to explain that Nordian wasn't food.

"So, Silla. You actually grew up around here, huh?" he asked.

Silla looked on at the Fairy Pond, a soft smile coming over his lips. "Yes, I grew up here." His eyes caught the looming form of the Dojo very close by, only blocked from view by a few trees. How many memories came back to him! So many years ago he had left this area, and now he was back. The air made him feel calm, and for some reason, he had the slight feeling that at any moment his father would pounce on him. He shook his head, he knew where his father was. He was underneath a flower covered mound of dirt with his cracked and chipped sword being used as a grave marker, right beside the Dojo.

Two fairies, who were just lazily floating near pond, looked up noticing the strange trio. One of them, with light blue hair, poked her auburn haired sister. "Hey, Maple, doesn't that look like that weird fairy crossbreed we heard about?" She asked, pointing at Mantis. "You know, when we were on the trip to the Kingdom?"

Maple zipped straight over towards them, before coming right up to Mantis. Her four inches of height made her shorter then Mantis. "Hmm, well, I'd say it's pretty close!" She shouted back to her blue haired sister who was flying over then. "But I don't know, Carmen... he doesn't even float!"

Carmen floated around Nordian for a brief moment, before deciding she'd rather not deal with the trouble of eating him. He didn't seem tasty anyways. There was something off about him that she just didn't really like. She then turned to Silla, floating around him. Then, she stopped and floated back, as though getting in a full view. "Hmm... hey! It's Silla! Silla has long hair!" She chirped, fluttering back up close to Silla, her bejeweled looking wings glittering slightly. Reaching out she tugged on a lock. "Silla's got a boyfriend, Silla's got a boyfriend!" She suddenly started chanting, giggling insanly. "She's got TWO boyfriends, in fact! Two!" Carmen then buzzed off, laughing. "I'M TELLING LOLA!"

Silla just stood in his spot, looking confused. "She still can't tell the difference." He mumbled. "Oh yeah, my arm." Silla remembered, poking the limp left limb. "I wonder how bad the damage is?"

Nordian watched as the two fairies darted about merrily. He had heard stories of travelers meeting untimely ends at their hands, but seeing their small size and their playful antics, Nordian had a very hard time believing it. He laughed softly to himself at Carmen’s proclamation about Silla’s boyfriend, but stopped when she mentioned two boyfriends. He laughed all the louder when he realized the little fairy was referring to him. The fairy’s good cheer seemed infectious. “Acquaintance would be nearer to the mark. But they are a mirthful folk, to be sure,” Nordian commented at Carmen’s antics. “I would think that they would have not a care in the world, had I not encountered those giant insects not a stone’s throw away. Those two remind me of children.”

He heard Silla’s comment about his arm, causing Nordian to cease laughing. He looked over at Silla and inspected his arm. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can help you. I know very little about the arts of healing, except maybe the setting and splinting of bones. Is anything broken?” Nordian asked.