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[b][u]The Cellar : (Niran and Toby)[/b][/u]

"It could be," Ise mumbled, "but to be honest, it doesn't sound that like an experiment, and if it's a fight, we can't just leave whoever's up there alone." The girl let out a sigh, "both of you aren't exactly fighters." The first time she had met them, they had been running away from a clock creature, and those things weren't even that tough. A witch, well, she'd be able to kill them with a flick of her wrists. "I don't want any of you two to get hurt." She didn't want to go against it either, and having both Toby and Ran's cheer would help, but it was just too dangerous.

The girl's eyes flitted to the dragons that were chained to the wall. 

Cobalt, the black dragon and her faithful partner gave the trio a determined stare. Awhile ago, he had been restless, but after Ran hummed a little tune, he calmed down and instead of tugging at his bindings in vain, he curled up beside the younger cloud dragon, in an attempt to comfort it. Ise couldn't help but feel proud of Cobalt. She nodded her head in his direction and mustered a small smile.

"Okay, okay, we can do this. Say, if we live through this...I'll take you both to a buffet in the city, kay? It'll be my treat."

To be honest, she was thankful for their company. Oddly, their ignorance to the danger they were all in soothed her frayed nerves. Had she been caught with her fellow riders, they would have worked more efficiently, but the atmosphere would have been ten times more grim. At least if they died...they'd be ignorant and happy till the end. "Hey, hold still you two."

Ran told them to focus on the present and she couldn't help but agree. They continued moving the knife up and down in a cutting sort of motion, but the room shook harder than it ever had before and they were enveloped in complete darkness.

"I have the knife, don't worry." Her fingers wrapped around the cool metal handle. "Okay, I think we'll be able to snap it. You two, at the count of three, tug on the rope." Ise quickened the sawing motion. "One, two, three!" The knife clattered to the ground as they all pulled and the rope finally snapped. "Good job you two! Maybe you have what it takes to be a rider after all." Encouraging them and joking around, it was all Ise could do to stop herself from worrying. "Toby, Ran, you two oka--whoa!" The entire room shook as pieces of the roof began caving in. "Ran go kick down the door!" Instantly, the girl's kind tone of voice shifted into a more commanding one, it was the tone she used during training drills. "Toby, help me free the dragons."

Ise rushed towards the walls and felt for the chains. "Cellery," she cursed, "we don't have the keys." 

The room continued to shake and the lone light bulb fell to the ground and shattered. The room would cave in soon and if they didn't leave, they would die. Ise screwed her eyes shut, trying to remember the things the room had to offer. There had been an axe by one of the of the barrels. "Toby pull off their muzzles," she rushed towards the cluster of barrels, practically slamming into several before she managed to reach for the axe's handle. "Okay! Cobalt, Cloudy, pull on your chains." With a grunt she lifted the axe over her head and managed to break the dragon's chains. However, as soon as they freed the dragons, dust filled the room and the roof above both Ise and Toby caved in.

The girl let out a yelp, but for some reason they remained unharmed. She looked up to see a blue-ish glow, it was keeping them safe.

"C-Cobalt?" She asked hesitantly, but the black dragon shook his head and flicked his tail in the cloud dragon's direction. So...it was a force dragon too? "Thanks for the save cloudy," Ise pushed Toby forward, "run up the stairs." The baby cloud dragon looked tired and he seemed to be rather inexperienced as well. If the rest of the room cave in, there was doubt about it, they would be buried alive.

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[b][u]Forest of the Ancients: Stone of Sacrifice[/b][/u]

If someone told them Hakuren had been a statue from the begin, she would have believed them.

The only sign of life, were the bloodstains over where his heart should have been, but even his heart had been turned to stone. They couldn't save Leon or him and the thought made Riley grit her teeth in anger. No, no, this couldn't be real.

Her eyes flitted to where Leila had been held captive and what she saw next made her heart leap into her throat. Ace was rushing towards the scene, but there was no sign of Leila and it became obvious that the earth had swallowed her whole. Riley fell to her knees but stuck out her hands to soften her fall. Her legs felt like jelly and her thoughts were nothing but an incomprehensible mess. 

Was it really going to end here? Would their existence really be erased? Would their lives amount to nothing?

The despair was paralyzing and in the end it was Lesley's voice that knocked her out of her stupor. No! No! They already lost Vince, she wouldn't lose Lesley too...they had entered Nowhere together and they were leaving it together too. Slowly, she turned her head to face him. Lesley was fine, but cradled in his arms was Harper. His shirt was soaked in red and he was so pale. 

Riley wondered if he was dead. It looked like he was.

She wanted to say something to Lesley, to cheer the others on, but she had nothing to say. The girl pushed herself to her feet, everything was hurting, but she was alive and she could still help those who needed it. "We're not dying here, Les." Riley was fighting back tears and failing and it was all she managed to say before Ace appeared with Leila. Her friend was safe...

"Forest fire..." She placed a hand on Ace's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "That doesn't sound half bad." Her voice was shaking, but she forced a determined look onto her face. "Inadi, help us start a fire?" 

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"To be honest," a young man piped in, "that sounds like a really stupid idea." he grinned from ear to ear while the girl who stood beside him stared blankly at everything that was happening. "It'd spread really quickly and the smoke would kill us." Luke continued to stare at Ace, "hey, C? Is it just me or do some of them look really familiar." He narrowed his eyes at Ace. "I think I know you, are you one of our neighbors? Hey, hey, are you here for the picnic too?"

He gestured to the picnic basket that rested atop Rainbowzilla's head.

"Oi, C? Are you listening." Luke frowned then turned to look at Sacha, Numair, and Gary. 

"It's a witch..." ??? announced and suddenly the thought of a nice picnic flew out of her head. They had done this all before. The list. The witch. The death. She clenched her hands into fists, but Rainbowzilla didn't mind and instead waddled up to the witch, the picnic basket swaying from side to side on his flat head.

Luke stared in curiosity before suddenly the witch kicked Rainbowzilla away. The basket tumbled to the ground, the contents spilling out. Rainbowzilla let out a startled squeak then scampered away. "Oh...witch, I remember." The boy bounced in place and recited something someone important had told him long, long ago. "Gouge out their eyes for they might capture you with a glance, hack off their limbs so they can't fight back and--"

??? interrupted him, "and rip out their hearts for it is evil beyond repair..."

He spun around then gave Ace, Riley, and Inadi the biggest grin he could muster. "Hey, would you mind distracting her for us. We need to get to a picnic real soon and we can't do that if witchy wants to kill us all."

"If you don't help us," she scowled, "we'll all die."