[center][h2]Kochiya Sanae[/h2][h3]Aventon — Forest Outskirts[/h3][/center]
With crossed arms and a look of concern rather evident on her face, Sanae glanced around where the group had stopped and shook her head. Up on the peak of Youkai Mountain, beasts rampaging around was an occasional occurrence, but seldom had she seen anything to this extent. More often than not, the tengu or kappa would take it upon themselves to clean matters up before Kanako could even thing of sending her out (or cause bigger problems that [i]would[/i] call for her presence to resolve the matter), which meant that her experience on this front was rather limited at best.

Luckily enough, there were those present who did have the skills for just such an occasion, which would inevitably mean that she wouldn't have to make a fool of herself by chasing the wrong trail.

Not that there would really 'be' any wrong trail, though; Remilia (and anyone else with a keen eye for these things) would notice that there were indeed multiple creatures that had passed through the area—and a few minor clashes to boot, if the rare patch of blood or torn fur was any indication of anything.

"Uh... A youkai?" Derek would ask in response to Youmu's inquiry, scratching his head in confusion. "I haven't the foggiest what you might mean by that. Is that a monster of some sort? Because if we're talking monsters and magical creatures... Well, there are probably more than a few deeper into the forest, but they usually don't tend to get close enough for us to have to worry."

[@VitaVitaAR][@Izurich][@Lugubrious][@EchoWolff]
[hr][center][h3]The Skies Above Aventon[/h3][/center]
With the sky as clear and as blue as it could ever be, Rayne would find no issues flying higher and higher into the sky. Ascending into the heavens above, the halfling would soon be met with a beautiful late-morning vista over the horizon—and a nearly uninterrupted view of the land below.

Aventon itself seemed to be somewhat damaged from the chaos of yesterday, but most of the damage could be repaired in time; there was nothing so devastating so as to force the residents to have to abandon their home outright. Sure, the wounds of battle and the loss of life marred what would otherwise be a picturesque little town, but that much couldn't be helped.

There would be little of note to be seen to the north, where the Heralds had retreated towards; there scarcely seemed to be a road of any sort that way, though the ground seemed level enough to not warrant a need for any. A gaping hole in the northern wall, though, would explain [i]how[/i] the Heralds had been able to access Aventon's inner workings. Maybe that was an issue to be handled later in time.

Looking east would provide much of the same visuals, though [i]these[/i] lands seemed at least somewhat developed. Fields of grain had only started to grow, it seemed, and by some miracle or another the Heralds had left the area mostly untouched. There was evidence of some robbery of whatever was near the town, but beyond that everything seemed intact [i]enough[/i]. Further still would be a river, and one large enough to provide for the needs of the town's food supply.

To the town's south, a long, winding road would stretch out into the distance. This one, though scarcely anything more than worn dirt, would at least indicate the presence of travel to and from the humble frontier town. There wasn't any clear destination from where they were now, which at the very least meant that wherever that road led to was too far away to see even from the skies above.

That ultimately left the west the last, and it was there that the expanse of the forests made itself rather apparent. Trees blanketed the area and only really stopped right where Aventon had situated itself—a strategic choice of [i]some[/i] sort, no doubt—but seemed to extend far off into the distance, at which point they seemed to bleed into the ground below a somewhat moderately-sized mountain.

The clearing where the church was positioned—in other words, where the group had all come from—was visible from where Rayne was in the sky, as were a few scattered ruins that she had seen yesterday. They weren't convenient trips by any means, but their distance from the town would at least make return visits doable within reason.

[@DracoLunaris]