The trees were all rustling quietly in the gentle breeze, every so often a stronger gust coming along and shaking the branches harder. John walked along through this forest alone, listening to the birds chirp as he continued towards his objective. He had seen smoke up in the sky some time ago, but it had long since disappeared. He began to wonder if he was still heading towards where the smoke came from, or if he even should. For all he knew that smoke could've been from bandits, or from a group of campers that could've already packed up and left...but, then again, maybe the fire was a signal for help? All the possibilities swirled around in John's mind and began to make him more and more anxius to find the source of the smoke.

Not too far away from him were the unlikely group of Solanne and Harley. It seemed that the mention of everyone's favorite dark mage had cowed the boy into silence seeing as their conversation was apparently at an end. Sadly, Solanne didn't have the time to taunt him about the subject before the familiar smell of smoke and flame reached her. The redhead merely sighed, shaking her head and slowly turning back in the direction of camp.

"Smells like your girlfriend," she said to Harley, commenting on the smoke.

She didn't need to voice the fact that they had to return to camp and she expected Harley to follow...eventually. Solanne thus made the long trek back to the source of fire, walking at her own leisurely pace. It was because of that pace that she spotted someone new for once, a man with dark clothing.

"Oi! What's up Leather Licker?" she called aloud, already making a nickname for the newbie.

Upon hearing the voice John stopped dead in his tracks, and upon hearing what he had just been called he reached for one of his revolvers with his right hand and a sickle with his left; but once he turned around, he stopped...again. 

"What did you call-?!" He started to say.

His eyes then widened in a nervous sort of way as he looked over the woman who startled him, not sure what to make of the situation other than that she was one beautiful lady. He slowly lowered his revolver and sickle as an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Y-You're...wow..." John sputtered out before realizing he needed to regain his composure...or what little he had.

Raising the gun and sickle back up slightly, he didn't want to threaten her but he wanted to be ready. He didn't know her, and though she was very pretty, he didn't need to trust her...not yet. So he tried to think of some questions to interrogate her with...but he didn't quite seem to have himself under control, much less the situation.

"W-Who are you? What are you doing here?" He asked, mentally slapping himself for that being all he could think of.

"Hey Leather Licker, my eyes are up here," Solanne said with crossed arms and an amused grin on her face. "What, you haven't heard of me? I'm one of the big trends in the Sky Kindgom, y'know. The Crimson Hound? Ring a bell for you?"

She didn't know if this man was one of the warriors found in their fighting band. It made sense since there were so many at this point that it wasn't unrealistic to think she had overlooked a couple. Then again, this guy probably wouldn't be wandering around in the forest if he was one of the warriors and would instead be back in camp.

"Say, you're new here, aren't you? Well if you're looking to join the forty-two, the camp's right this way, y'know. But if you're an enemy sent to spy on us, well..."

Solanne cracked her knuckles as the area around them instantly began to boil and heat up. She was unaffected by the steadily rising temperature of course and she wanted to see just how this new face would manage.

John's heartbeat certainly did rise when she spoke to him again, and just kept raising when he saw her crack her knuckles. He could feel the heat she was generating and instinctively responded by emitting a more chilly aura to balance out his own temperature. His emotions were quite confused, but he knew he had to stay calm and react accordingly...so he decided to point his revolver back at her. Perhaps not the brightest choice, he thought, but it probably wouldn't matter as much as his choice of words. And come to think of it, he might have heard that name around...

Solanne raised an eye as she felt the air return back to normal for brief instances. It took her a moment more to realize that no, it was only the air around this newcomer. Well that was intersting. Ice magic was it? That thought only made the Crimson Hound's grin all the more wide.

"Uhh...n-no...well...maybe...I left the Sky Kingdom several years ago...after my sister." He started saying. "But, yeah...wait! No...? Look...I'm not a spy."

Internally, John was screaming and hitting himself over how embarrassed he felt. How hard was it to answer a couple of questions without freaking out? All he had to do now was answer one more, he just hoped he could answer it without making a fool of himself.

"But, sure, I'll follow you anywhere." He said, wincing after he realized just what he had said.

To that, Solanne dropped her flames and the temperature was instantly reduced. A roll of her eyes was directed his way while she placed her hand on her hips before saying, "Aw jeez, another pervert. If you really wanted to kill me, I think you would have done it by now instead of eyeing my up Leather Licker. Well, whatever. That just adds one more walking army into our mix."

"A...a p-pervert? - No, no, no, I - just - you - ah..." John attempted to explain, but to no avail.

Sighing, she smiled in a more genuine fashion before offering out her hand.

"Name's Solanne by the way. Solanne Luxonne. Crimson Hound and resident ass kicker of course. Nice to meet you Mister....?"

John canceled out the chilling aura and put away his weapons, reaching out to shake Solanne's hand. "I'm John Reynolds..."

At that moment, the sound of screeches were heard. Like the fire, it was coming in the direction of the camp. Solanne turned in that direction before smirking at the newbie.

"Sounds like trouble. Say Leather Licker, you up for some skull crushing? Consider it a way to prove how much you wanna join our club. And how much you really want a date with me," she added with a wink.

John melted inside...and not cause he was ice and Solanne was fire...well, maybe. He just didn't know how to react or what to say, because almost everything he did he screwed up...at least, to him. What about to her, he wondered, how strange did he appear? No! There was danger, he needed to clear those thoughts out of his head and focus. Think! How should he respond? 

"S-Sure thing..." He replied simply, which he regarded as a great success in his mind.

"Right then. We won't be saving too many lives just standing around staring at each other like this," Solanne said, leading the way back towards the camp. What she saw the culprits of the unholy screeches, she had to a double take as she got a good glance of the horde of Velelu.

"Holy Atros, these things are ugly. They're supposed to be smart right? Yeah, I refuse to believe anything looking [i]that[/i] has even half a brain."

The Crimson Hound's smirk didn't falter regardless and she unsheathed the blade, Duster. At once, a scorching pillar of flame erupted from her sword just by the motion itself. It was enough to make several of the creatures turn their way, distracting them from two other warriors it had corned. The brunt of the pack leaped towards the two, drawn in by the light.

John looked from Solanne to the alerted Velulu, offerening only a nervous sigh as he charged electricity into his hands. The beasts were closing fast, but John figured that lightning would be faster...and it could arc between them if given the chance. But what if it doesn't, he thought, what if they're resistant? He tried his best to push the doubt out of his head, and unleashed several bolts of lighting from his hands at the incoming Velulu.