From what short time he was in this forest Talan had learned much of its nature. This place was more than just a gathering of trees and other plant life. In truth that would be a rather dull understanding of it for in truth the forest seemed to be alive. A single massive organism reacting to outside stimulus, to survive here one had to be careful not to trigger a potentially fatal response from the forest.

After crafting his spear Talan went to river and collected a good amount of mud in his hands. Smearing it allover hisbody he intended to form a type of camouflage incase he would stumble upon unfriendly entities. "Food and shelter", were his only thoughts as he traveled further down the river. The entire time watching his peripheral vision incase he was being followed, it was not long before he stumbled upon a structure in the forest. It was unlike anything the tribe had back home but from a guess it appeared to be a housing unit. Talan was tempted for a moment to enter but was quickly reminded of the dangers of this forest. So far he had never known the wilds to produce illusions such as this but he was wary. Instead he decided to wait and see, if there was anything signalling danger he'd move on but until then he'd set up camp not too far but a safe distance away.

Looking around for resources was not an issue as the forest was quite dense in vegetation. The broken twigs and scattered stones were perfect for firemaking and after finding a spot near the river he placed his supplies in a heap. First was fire; it would keep him warm, cook food, and ward off predators. After setting up the rocks in a circular pattern he places the twigs and branches within the circle making sure they would not cause a fire the likes of the one he recently escaped. The fireplace was ready but the hard part was next, actually getting the fire. It took more than a few tries and a bit of cursing but Talan managed to get a small fire burning. Unsatisfied with the results he went and gathered larger twigs to add to the pile and eventually the small flame grew into a proper fire.

When it came to building shelter Talan came upon an obstacle. Should he build his shelter on the ground or in the nearby tree. The tree would offer him security from grounded predators but at the cost of being less comfortable. The ground, while being the more reliable source of a good night's sleep left him vulnerable if anything approached his campsite while he slept. Favoring security, Talan began to place large leaves on a particularly large branch of a tree nearby. With the future bed matted down he wove a string from the fibers of the various plants nearby to secure him to the tree while he slept.

The bed was made, the campfire set, and all that remained was a source of food. As he was unfamiliar with the berries in the area Talan opted fruits out of his diet as they could be poisonous. Perhaps there were fish in the river? He didn't see any at first but perhaps they were scared off and went further down river? If that was the case he'd have to leave the camp and travel a good distance downstream if that were the case. At the time it seemed his only real option was to hunt the area. After scouting the perimeter of the camp Talan was satisfied with its safety and headed out to hunt, but before doing so he memorized the area and key landmarks so he would not become lost while out hunting.

Anise jolted awake and cried out "Tyaelaem!" The princess looked around nervously. She could feel she was laying against something rough. When she touched it she found out it was a building of some sort. She used the wall to stand herself up. She then felt around to try and find her nightstick, but to no avail now that it was laying somewhere in these abominable woods. Her hands then went to the belt that held the sword around her waist, and she found that the sword was where it should be and relaxed a little bit.

Where was Tyaelaem? What knocked her out? How much time had gone by? Then a pain spiked in her stomach as she heard a loud growl come from it. Food. She needed food. She walked along the wall of the building and as she rounded the corner to face the front of the building she saw light from a lamp, but not like any of the special lamps like the one she saw when she first arrived, or from any of the others.

She walked along the wall until she made it to the front of the building and cautiously approached the door. She stopped at the door when she heard a voice that she hadn't heard before. A female voice. From what Anise could tell, the person talking was trying to get someone else to leave. She cracked the door open just enough so she could peek through and see if they were dangerous like the old man that told her there was no escape. She then saw the food on the table and burst through the door and rushed to the table. She stood in a position at the table so she could get out quickly and grabbed a chunk of bread and chomped right down on it. She grabbed a pitcher of water and took a deep drink right out of it. She glanced at the others in the room, they had been the first girls she had ever seen since she came to forest.

She glowered at them cautiously. They didn't seem like they had been in this forest for long, and this definitely wasn't their home. "So, who are you and what are your goals?" She wanted to know if they'd be dangerous or not.

Simon had no clue where he was going and now that it was dark outside he had found it even more difficult to find his way around without having the full benefits of sight since he was without his glasses. He was hoping that he would fair out better in the morning with the 'sun' full overhead. Given the amount of messed up things that happened and he had been told he wasn't completely sure it was a sun, maybe it was just a giant flashlight. Who honestly knew. He hadn't had much time to look around before the 'sun' had set since when he came to the 'sun' was pretty much set however he did manage to find a cave inside of a giant stone wall. Probably the one the wall that the waterfall that he could just make out since he assumed it was a little bit further down the wall.

For the night he was content since he had a place to sleep that was semi-enclosed which was a small bonus. As he was laying on the cold, hard ground he would hear his stomach growl extremely loudly. Being in a cave didn't help any since it only amplified the sound even more. The moment after his stomach growled the frog that he picked up and had taken with him had made noise since he had acquired him. *Croak, Croak* The frog was right in front of him, staring right at Simon, not breaking contact with him. Simon crawled towards the frog and looked it in the face and made a single croak noise back to the frog. Simon had fallen asleep shortly afterwards.

The night proved to be Talan's biggest adversary. Hunting at night was no easy task and even with the moonlight softly illuminating the sky the forest ground was still pitch black. This was what Talan feared most, not being able to see what could possibly be right next to him. His memories of the blood rats scurrying out from the underbrush caused him to check his feet often for fear of having them be bitten by something venomous. "This forest is trying my patience!", he thought as he stalked the woods. At one point the idea of putting on the wolf mask came to the forefront of his thoughts but Talan pushed it back. He didn't want to use the mask until it was absolutely necessary.

It took some time and more effort on Talan's part to tread the forest silently but eventually he managed to catch a rabbit. He tied the legs together with the plant fibers and slung the carcass over his shoulder before continuing on. That was when he stumbled upon the cave. "Most likely a predatory animal dwells there. Don't want to intrude if it's awake", Talan was just about to retreat when he heard a stomach growl. The sound was loud and most likely belonged to a large animal, perhaps a jaguar? "It's hungry!, Talan knew that a hungry animal would go out to hunt if that was the case it was too late for him to run as it was probably going to leave the cave any second now. To the hunter's surprise nothing exited the dwelling. Talan stood up slightly puzzled but slowly crouched his way closer to the cave mouth. "If it's asleep I can sneak up on it and kill it. That would mean food, and a potential threat removed from my territory", it didn't take long for Talan to decide and he slowly inched his way closer and closer into the cave until he was a few feet away from the creature. When he was ready Talan sprung up and aimed his spear down towards the beast but instead of striking the body he stopped himself. "It's....human?", Talan was somewhat relieved that he wasn't going to have to fight a jaguar but the fact still remained that he didnt know who this was. He pressed his spear point to the individual's neck and spoke, "Move and you die".

Simon was having an amazing dream, he was eating a giant piece of pit roasted animal he couldn't really make out what kind it was but whatever it was tasted phenomenal. He had never eaten such amazing food in all of his life. While he was eating he felt a random sharp pain in the back of his neck, when he brought up his free hand to rub the back of his back there was nothing there. Just pain. When he was about to continue to eat he looked down to see what he had left and when he was bringing it to his mouth the piece of meat formed a mouth saying the following words; "Move and you die". What a weird thing for a piece of meat to say, well I guess anything it said would have been weird since cooked meat well ... shouldn't talk.

Simon woke up from his dream and since he had an amazing dream of succulent meat his stomach let out a loud, very audible growl. After he could take his mind off of his stomach he felt the same pain in the same spot of his neck. Since the pain was the same he feared that soon he would hear a voice calling out the same phrase that the meat spoke to him but nothing came. He strained his ears to see if he could hear a voice momentarily but instead he thought he heard what he thought was breathing however he couldn't be sure since he was drawing in breath also. Simon for a brief moment held his breath to see if he could hear any besides his own, and he could very slow controlled breathing right behind him. Simons heart started racing, he wasn't going to hear someone say repeat what the venison had said. The person behind him was the one that spoke it during his dream.

Simon decided that he didn't want to die in a unfamiliar cave lying on the ground, in the dark with no glasses on unable to see his predator. Given this cray forest who knows what could be behind him, it could be a miniature sized person with a rapier or a syringe. Anything was possible at the moment since he didn't hear the voice of his captor. He figured that he would obey the order and not move but speak instead. "Please don't kill me, I got lost after it became dark. I will leave your land upon first days light.

She sat hunched over, chewing slowly with her eyes trained on the wooden table. Robin paid little attention as MC burst in the room and urged her to leave; the food was too warm, the drink was too soothing, and her mind was too full to react quickly.

She reached for the loaf of bread to her right, as MC stood behind her, tense and ready to flee. As her fingers brushed the crust of the bread, it disappeared. Robin blinked and snapped back to attention, watching the young girl who she had seen at the clearing scarf down the loaf and take a swig of the pitcher. Crumbs flew and hit Robin in the face as she watched incredulously, regaining lucidity. How could she have been so inattentive?

Robin leapt to her feet and put a hand on MC’s shoulder, nodding gratefully.

"So, who are you and what are your goals?"

Unsettled by her lack of attention, Robin wanted to leave the copy of her home as quickly as possible. As she looked at the girl, she knew that she would be no threat and patted MC on the shoulder before heading out of the building. Any longer in the place so similar to home, Robin would have become nauseous.

She stood outside and walked back to the riverbank, where she could observe the building and decided to wait briefly for MC, and thought about her next plan of action.

The first syllable that escaped Simon's mouth put Talan on edge causing him to push the spear forward a little. However after hearing what the individual had to say he relaxed a bit and pulled back his spear. "That voice...I've heard it before", Talan brought his face closer to try and make out who he was speaking with. It took only a moment for Talan's eyes to begin to make out the features of Simon's face and when he finally recognised him he spoke again, "Simon? Come with me". Talan didn't waste time with pleasantries, he turned away from Simon and towards the forest again to make sure there was nothing approaching the cave. When he was sure they weren't being stalked Talan began to walk back to the campsite.

He wouldn't admit it but Talan was relieved to find someone he was familiar with out here. After everything that had occurred since his arrival here he came to the conclusion that there was safety in numbers. But the problem he been facing until now was the possibility that he was the only survivor of the waterfall. With that problem solved all that was left to do was to find out if the house he saw earlier was a physical thing and not a trap.

Anise blinked dumbfounded as the girl just up and walked away from her. She just walked away and patted her partner on the shoulder before leaving. She stood up from the table, gracelessly knocking the chair she sat in over. "Wait! Don't just walk away from me!" She had never been so insulted before. She was a princess and even with the circumstances being what they were she expected to be answered when she had a question.

She stomped her foot frustrated and she winced slightly as it was one she had injured previously, but her anger didn't stop what she had to say next. "I am Princess Anise Sinclair of the Kingdom of Riverforde! Don't just walk away without answering me!" Even in this forest, when she had spoken people had listened and responded, but this girl was the first to openly walk away from her without saying a thing. The girl had already left the building by the time she had said anything, but she yelled loudly enough that anyone just outside of the building could hear.

Only if there was someone else she knew nearby. If she had Tyaelaem with her then maybe, just maybe she could get them to respond. She was all alone, with two strangers. She didn't feel safe at all. Randold and Hania were gone. She never truly felt like a part of the other group she joined with Simon and Talan after she had been separated from her first group. She fell to her knees tears starting to flow freely from her eyes. "Randold, Hania, Tyaelaem... What do I do? I'm all alone." Her shoulders felt very heavy. She shoved her hands into her face and let out a few loud sobs. If it weren't for them, she may very well have not survived for as long as she had in this awful place. Right now, armed or not, she felt very vulnerable indeed.

As soon as the words started to come out of Simons mouth he could feel the object press harder against the back of his neck, if whatever it was pressed with all of their might he was pretty sure they could sever his spinal cord. By the time the last words came out of his mouth he could feel that the object had broken his skin enough for a small trickle of blood to start making its way down his uncovered back. As he lay there thinking his last words, thanking his parents for all they have done and saying a small prayer in case this was his last moment the pressure stopped. Simons assailant had removed the sharp object from the back of his neck.

"That voice...I've heard it before"

He was about to move but Simon could feel the figure getting a lot closer to his face, if it hadn't been night time Simon was positive that he could figure it out who it was if Simon had seen them before. He may have known the person but however anything in this forest could have heard his voice and been tracking him down, he did survive a giant forest fire and a trip down the waterfall so he might have caught the attention of the locals.

"Simon? Come with me"

The last vowel had barely left their mouth before they had taken off towards the mouth of the cave. It took Simon a few moments to recognize the voice of his assailant, was that ... was that Talan? "Talan, TALAN is that you!? Simon had to start raising his voice since by the sound of the footsteps Talan had already taken off out of the cave. TALAN! TALAN WAIT I DON'T HAVE MY GLASSES AND CAN'T SEE! Normally Simon wouldn't be that desperate to follow someone especially someone as ... well aggressive as Talan, but Simon was at a serious disadvantage without his glasses since he couldn't even make out the back of his stretched out hand properly. Simon grabbed the mask in one hand and tried to find the frog with the other. Thankfully he managed the grab the frog in a few seconds and he was able to try and follow Talan as best as he could in the dark. Luckily since he was without his glasses his hearing had perked up a little bit to compensate for his lack of vision and he was able to make out the sounds of footsteps, hopefully they were still Talans.

From here, Simon and Talan could hear the distant waterfall, where the remains of the pirates' bridge lay mangled in the foamy dark. The campfire glowed between the trees, as did the smaller glimmer of the inn's beckoning lamp. The green lantern appeared in the inn's doorway, moving in slow gestures, held by a tall brown woman. Everywhere else, the woods were quiet and full of shadows: leaves of every shape and color trembled in imperceptible breezes. The birds were sleeping.

Above, the thin canopy revealed a star-crusted sky, deep-black and violet and blue.

A voice rose up out of the inn, barely audible from this distance: "I am Princess Anise Sinclair of the Kingdom of Riverforde! Don't just walk away without answering me!"

The woods went quiet again: nothing but the soft rumble of water whispered through the woods.

For the moment, nothing intended to kill them.

But as Talan and Simon returned to the campsite, they would find they had a guest.

Tyaelaem sat cross-legged beside the fire that Talan had made, roasting a wild potato on a stick in the flames. The boy was just as clean and undamaged as Anise had first found him: a youth in a white rabbit mask, barefoot, with scraggled brown hair and thin gray garments. He still had the canteen strapped across his shoulder, and a pouch at his waist glowed slightly yellow from inside. The campfire cast an orange flickering glow on his mask. He lifted his head and smiled.

"The Fox and the Wolf," he addressed them. He spied the rabbit over Talan's shoulder. His smile twitched, but his expression was hidden. "Come on then, come come, this is safe to eat." He gestured with the steaming potato that they both should sit down, as if this had been his own campfire all along.

Rhea woke up in the mud, aching and trembling; her hair dripped and her soaked robes clung to her. She crawled, sloshing through shallow water, out from under the twisted wreckage of the bridge. There was no sign of Talan in the dark of the woods. She'd lost her grip on him sometime between the fall and the landing.

But there was an inn.

It took Rhea a very long time to convince herself it wasn't a hallucination. She approached the back of the inn cautiously, her water-filled boots squelching with each step; she touched the stone wall as if it might disappear, peeked through a window, and saw a fire in the hearth and people moving and talking inside. A Lantern sat on the table, as if it were nothing more than a source of light.

While Anise knelt sobbing on the floor, Rhea slipped in through the kitchen door. The pirate stepped quietly around the back of the room, moving around tables and chairs, slowly closer to the ragged princess. Even though Anise clearly wasn't a Kith, it was unclear what powers she might possess.

"What you can do right now," Rhea said in a commanding voice, "is stand up, and bring me the Lantern."

Rhea was Anise's height, dark-skinned with thick black hair that hung heavy and dripping. She wore crude leather armor under soaked, clinging dark robes. She had no weapons, but dark, sprawling tattoos on her skin mimicked the symbols on the lantern's iron casing. Anise might vaguely recognize her as one of the figures walking alongside the captured and unconscious Randold, seen from afar long ago.

Rhea extended her hand in threat toward Anise: an eye was tattooed on her palm, the same as the knight Anise had killed. She caught sight of the scabbard at the princess' hip, and her eyes widened in recognition.

Outside the inn, something big was moving.

A pair of bright yellow eyes stared down at Robin and MC from the quiet shadows; it was unclear how long the great black wolf had been watching. A breeze brought the pungent smell of its hot breath, like rotting flesh.

"What you can do right now," Rhea said in a commanding voice, "is stand up, and bring me the Lantern."

That statement brought Anise out of her despair. Who was this person to tell Anise what to do? She looked at the girl and immediately noted the similarity in tattoos to the old man. She then recognized that she was one of the people walking along with Randold. Then she saw that eye tattoo and stood up as quickly as she could.

She jabbed a finger at the girl with a menacing expression. "You! You were one of the people carrying Randold! Where is he? What did you do with him?" She was immediately on guard against this girl.

Then one word echoed in her head: "Lantern". That was right! The Lantern was the key for her getting home. She looked at the one on the table. Tyaelaem had told her to break them all free of their cages and then she'd be able to get home. She drew her sword and positioned herself between the Lantern and this new girl. "You can't have it! The Lantern is my way home." The only way back. She couldn't let anything get in the way of that! She needed to get back to the blue Lantern where she started, but it had been taken by that strange boy and changed. Her mind was blank except for one thing: get home alive at all costs.

She considered briefly threatening the girl if she attempted to take it, but decided that if she did anything of the sort it meant that she was an enemy just like that old man.

On the way back to camp Talan heard the calls of Simon who apparently lost his vision, he stopped to wait for the boy only to have him bump right into his back. The nomad grabbed Simon by his shirt and pulled him along towards camp. Once Talan arrived at camp he had found someone sitting by the fire, his instinctual response was to aim his spear towards the intruder but he soon lowered it once realizing he had seen that face, or at least the mask covering it, before. Still he was cautious as he approached the camp. "I won't let this go to waste", he said as he gestured towards his rabbit. Skinning it was somewhat harder due to him not having a proper blade but eventually the task was complete and a rabbit soon spun on a spit over the fire. "But I won't refuse food either", Talan didn't hesitate to break off a piece of the potatoe. As he ate he couldnt help but look off towards the building he saw when he first set up camp. He was suddenly overcome by a rather familiar scent. The smell of wet dog, earthy and musty, like the wolves his clan kept or the ones he encountered with his father. If there was a wolf here he was not to worried as he had been taught how to keep them at bay. As for the building he still was not convinced whether or not he should approach it. Turning to Tyaelaem he asked, "What do you know of that place?.

Talan had grabbed Simon by the arm _{Since he isn't wearing a shirt} and it was sort of nice to not worry about running into trees but instead he was always tripping over the roots since Talan never really gave any notice of foreign objects. Still slightly faster but slightly annoying. Simon was careful to keep the mask in his hands balanced perfectly since he had the frog placed inside of it while getting drug through the woods. Once Talan stopped moving Simon again slammed into the back of Talan since he wasn't sure when he was going to stop his forward sprint through these woods.

Simon heard a voice that he prayed that he would never hear again but when the voice penetrated his ears it sent an absolute shiver down his whole spine.

"The Fox and the Wolf"
"Come on then, come come, this is safe to eat"

If it was light out his face would have been beet red, he was absolutely angry to hear that voice.This was because Simon had prayed so hard that this f'ing rabbit would have gotten caught in the fire and would have perished but instead he is sitting beside the warmth of this glowing fire that Talan must have built since he seemed to institutionally know how to get there. Simon was so angry that almost before he knew it he was going to launch his little cyan friend at Tyaelaem but when he heard him ribbit he knew that he didn't want to do that in the least. So Simon stood where Talan had left him with the frog cradled in his hands while he looked on as Talan had sat down next to the rabbit like he was his absolute best friend accepting the potato as if it was his own.
Simon might have regretted not taking food from the rabbit but he absolutely hated this rabbit so much that he was going to refuse even though he was pretty sure that anyone within a 500 foot radius would have heard it growl. Simon was so angry with the rabbit sitting there non-chalant that when he walked by he kicked a piece of flaming wood towards the rabbit as he sat there.

---

Randold? Rhea's expression twisted in confusion. Surely she meant Talan? And then she remembered the big bearded guy who had refused to speak a word, who had dropped into a sinkhole of the Sparrow King's making. The pirate was about to say as much when she was interrupted:

"You can't have it! The Lantern is my way home."

The violet lantern on the table pulsed twice, then brightened rapidly, growing brighter and brighter until Anise and Rhea were forced to shut their eyes.

The truth of the violet Lantern was this: it alone had the ability to create in the real world whatever the bearer desired -- but it could only bring to life one thought at a time. The Inn had been built by the violet Lantern because Robin had required warmth and food. Now, it recognized Anise as its bearer, and saw that she required something very different.

And so, the inn disappeared.

When the bright violet light faded, Anise and Rhea stood in the dark woods, surrounded by rocks and trees with the starry sky above. The inn had completely vanished, without even a broken twig to mark its passing, as if it had never been there at all.

A cool breeze swirled by them, carrying with it the sound of the waterfall. Not too far along the creek was the orange glow of a campfire. In the grass nearby was the violet Lantern, and the green Lantern rested on a boulder at the edge of the clearing.

A blue light glowed in the woods, not far in the distance. It might be familiar to Anise as the same blue glow that she had woken under so long ago.

But the most curious thing -- more curious than the sudden disappearance of a fully furnished house -- was that a man was now lying at Anise's feet. He was unconscious, at least for the moment, but very much alive.

---

Tyaelaem grinned enigmatically -- and because his eyes were hidden in the hollows of his mask, it was unclear where he was looking or what he was seeing. It was likely that he took pleasure in Simon's enormous hatred, and was eager to see if the older boy would finally snap.

He gestured to Talan that he had no problem with the skinning and cooking of the rabbit -- the beasts of the forest eat one another, after all -- but would not partake, himself.

"The right question," he said after Talan had asked about the inn, "is what is it not? The Pirates didn't make it, the Kith didn't make it, and it wasn't there before your bridge-boat crashed in the creek. So the only conclusion is that this big house doesn't belong." In other words, he had no idea what that thing was in the woods. He'd never seen anything like it -- the most advanced structures he'd seen were the ruins of the far gully, and they didn't compare to the strong warmth of the inn.

And then, suddenly, a violet light flashed brilliantly through the windows of the inn, lighting up the surrounding trees like a small sun -- and then, in a blink, the entire inn vanished. All that was left were the woods and the grass, the green and the violet Lanterns, and two figures standing silhouetted in their light. The inn itself was completely gone, as if it had never been there.

"Ah, see!" Tyaelaem said triumphantly. "Never belonged, left as quick as it came." He looked between Talan and Simon again, as if disappearing houses was a commonplace occurrence. "So, the Princess tells me she wants to go home to Riverforde. Do you want the same?" He leaned forward on his knees eagerly, still with that knowing grin.

---

Adam awoke with a headache, after having blacked out suddenly -- it was unclear how much time had passed.

He was lying face-down in the grass, illuminated softly by a blue glow. It was night, and the leaves above rustled in the cool breeze. Occasionally he could hear the distant sound of voices carried on the wind.

As he oriented himself, he would find that the source of the blue glow was an old iron lantern with odd symbols etched into the metal. At its heart was a glass orb, inside which was something that appeared to be an egg, which was glowing as bright as a strong blue flame.

Attached to the lantern was a hand, curled around its handle. The hand belonged to a corpse: a young man lay dead, crumpled as if he had been struck down suddenly, though there were no wounds. His gold-colored eyes stared emptily. This was all that was left of Arin.

Not too far away, in a clearing visible through the trees, was a green and a violet light. This was where the voices were coming from.

This dream was cold. So cold. Too cold. Why cold?! The sudden chill had interrupted a rather pleasant reverie of sunshine and warmth and turned it into a freezing nightmarish void. As if stabbed back to consciousness, the dreamer’s crusty eyes pried themselves open onto a blurry image of the world. Gradually vision became more clean revealing what appeared to be the towering statue of a young goddess. ...a goddess?

Have I died?

A low groan vibrated the man’s large chest, but as he commanded himself to move, his body remained still and unchanging--stuck in a heavy paralysis. Hm, so death was cruel. At least the sweet goddess above was there to guard and guide his soul into the next realm. With a comforted sigh and smile, his eyes shifted sideways to catch the glimpse of a second looming statue not too far off. Straining under sheer willpower created the slightest alteration in his positioning to gain a better view. The new scene was unsettling and immediately awoke the warrior sense inside his gut as he knew he needed his body back.

Trembling at first try, the second attempt was fruitful and Fyair roared to action in a mixture of adrenaline and pain. He rose up like a titan, easily surpassing the height of the presumed gods and barely missed the edge of the nearly invisible sharp blade he was unaware he had been lying beneath. With a mighty inhale, the giant stretched his arms above his head to loosen his stiff, achy muscles before releasing a greater exhale and dropping his hands against his chest. For a moment he glanced left and right, left and right, left and right, until his groggy brain could build its own story to the struggle he stood betwixt and between.

Fyair reacted on impulse as he lit up and gave himself to fighting habit as he seized the small girl nearest him and the saber she held in one fluid movement. Facing her forward, the tiny miss fit without trouble under his mountainous arm while his free hand managed to fumble with the sword until it pointed straight ahead on the opposing deity. In comparison, the weapon looked more like a feeble stick in the man’s massive hand, but he held it stern and strong regardless.

”Little goddess, tell me what we’re fighting for. Can you explain this?”

The warrior’s focus never left the other woman even as his head tilted down to speak to the girl within his clutch. At the same time, his right foot slid backwards and he took a defensive stance against his opponent. The motion alerted him to the rocks and grasses beneath his boots, forcing his instinct to take a quick combatant's survey of his surrounds. The woods. Unknown woods. Clearly not the old shack he had fallen asleep in maybe an hour before or did time still exist? Furrowing his brow, he shook the notion from his mind and concentrated again on the task standing ahead. Waiting for an order from his fragile goddess.

@drewccapp

Anise cried out in surprise when the inn around her shifted into nothingness due to the violet lantern's blinking. She saw the green lantern and hope soared within her heart. She then saw the blue light. That familiar light. That first light. Then an orange light from a campfire, but from this distance she couldn't make out the people there. She focused so hard on the new surroundings, that she didn't notice the man that rose up and grabbed her until it was too late to do anything. In an instant he disarmed her, removing the one safety she had left after all else abandoned her.

She barely heard the words he uttered:

”Little goddess, tell me what we’re fighting for. Can you explain this?”

She struggled to break free of his grasp. "Let me go! Give me back my sword! I need the lanterns to get home and she's going to take them from me! I must return to my kingdom!" She would not be stopped, not even by this giant of a man. She would free the eggs from their cages and then she would go home and marry her fiance and be freed from this awful place.

As the adrenaline started to ebb, the fighter noticed his vision darkening and began to understand it was indeed nighttime where this dream had spawned his sleeping body. What seemed peculiar was the strange casting of purple light, which appeared to be his only real source of luminosity and more curiously it was coming from behind him. He needed answers.

Glancing down at the now squirming girl, he grew less confident in the situation at hand and frowned in frustration before heaving a hesitant sigh to gather his thoughts. The words ‘my kingdom’ peaked his interest as he corrected his original interpretation of the lass as a goddess and settled on the assumption he was holding a highborn lady. It was a knight’s code to serve and protect a person of nobility, despite the small woman’s obvious disdain for the capture. Perhaps a new course of action.

”Very well, m’lady. I shall return you home because I shant leave you here. Now. Kindly, be my lance.”

His tone was mellow and smooth as the knight then replaced the sword into the miss’ hands and offered a rigid bow of farewell to his opponent before turning on heel to run in the opposite direction. To his surprise there was a purple lantern in his path, scooping it up in need of a torch as well as heeding the girl’s previous mention of the object, he made his way forward. Currently, his only mission was to grow the distance between them and the tattooed stranger as he dashed into the unknown--noting other odd lights in the background, but choosing to avoid those areas for the moment.

The giant; however, did not take into account that coming back from the dead had left his body weak. Convinced they had widened the gap from possible attack range, Fyair gradually slowed his pace like a horse coming out for a full gallop into a trot before finally easing into a complete stop. He then set the girl on her feet and collapsed against a tree not far from where he had begun to regain his breath and energy while he adjusted to offbeat energies around him.

”Forgive me, madam, for sitting in your presences. I am Sir Fyair Ducare and apologize for handling you the way I did, but I sensed you were in danger. Per the Knight’s Order, I am under oath to pledge myself to you if you’ll have me.”

With a hand over his heart and the other extended to take the lady’s hand for an etiquette kiss, the loyal knight smiled warmly and formally bowed his head.

@drewccapp

Anise blinked a few times after she had been released. She hadn't expected it to happen so quickly. After all the dangers she had gone through and the rude individuals she had to deal with, the fact that she finally met someone with actual etiquette seemed strange to her. She blushed lightly as he introduced himself although it may be hard to notice considering the dirt on her skin. Her dress after all this trouble had been heavily damaged as well.

”Forgive me, madam, for sitting in your presences. I am Sir Fyair Ducare and apologize for handling you the way I did, but I sensed you were in danger. Per the Knight’s Order, I am under oath to pledge myself to you if you’ll have me.”

With a hand over his heart and the other extended to take the lady’s hand for an etiquette kiss, the loyal knight smiled warmly and formally bowed his head.

She responded to his gesture accepting his hand for the kiss. "I am Princess Anise Sinclair of the Kingdom of Riverforde. Excuse my appearance as this forest has not been kind to me." She had her cuts on her legs and feet from running without shoes for some time now. A partly healed wound from the spear thrown into her before she met Simon and Talan. The aching had become such a familiar feeling that she hardly payed attention at this point.

After the kiss on the hand she paced directly for the green lantern nearby and turned to face her knight in shining armor and the tattooed woman that as Tyaelaem would say was a pirate. Her eyes settled on Rhea with a wary glare. "I intend to gather all of the lanterns and free the eggs from their cages, so we can leave this awful place. Are you going to try and stop me or will you help?"

Once she could go back home she intended to keep her promise with Tyaelaem and return to Riverforde with the boy. With a little bit of work tearing the bottom of her dress she cut enough length of it to use to tie the green lantern to her belt. She then yelled out. "Tyaelaem! Where are you?!" She wanted to find him before she had all the lanterns. He was her second knight after Randold and the only one that had stayed by her side for a long period of time.

She kept her gaze on Rhea as soon as she finished her work on attaching the lantern to her belt. She wanted to see the girl's response.

Fyair’s attention was drawn to the young girl’s poor physical state and wondered just how long she had been surviving the forest--seemingly alone aside from an adversary. What kind of forest was this? Where ladies fought against each other in the dark. He found himself unintentionally staring at the lantern in his hand, feeling slightly suspicious of the object for reasons unclear to him--a quiet voice in the uncertainty telling him to keep it near. As the girl moved, so did he as he pushed himself into stand and watched her tentatively, his gaze narrowing at the sight of yet another colorful lantern.

Tracing the princess’ glare over his shoulder, the knight grew more puzzled, but slowly his questions were building a hypothesis of the world he had been dropped into as well as the complexity of it. The young mistress spoke out. Fyair’s grip tightened over the handle of his violent lantern, but found it hard to imagine that the thing was a magical item, let alone held an egg. Too much information at once. For now he would trust his new magistrate had a plan of attack and obviously understood how to avoid most of the dangers in the woods having come thus far.

Obediently, the mountainous man placed himself at Anise’s side, looking in all directions when she called out a name unknown to him. Not surprising. Another strange thing. He assumed the name belonged to an ally. He hoped and stood ready for anything.

Talan sat at the campfire as he looked at the location of the once existent house. His mouth slightly agape in confusion and annoyance at the strangeness of this forest. The fact that Tyaelaem spoke in such a casual tone made him wonder if he was in danger of a house appearing over his head at any minute. It was only when Tyaelaem asked him if he wished to return home did he break from his trance. "There is nothing for me back home...still I'd prefer to be somewhere familiar", Talan grabbed his spear and looked back towards where the home used to be. Instead of a home he saw a few people standing in place of the home. Various lights created silhouettes of the individuals and so he found it hard to make out any of their facial features. "I'm going to them", he said softly to Tyaelaem so as to not alert the outsiders to his intentions, however that was merely paranoia as he was unsure if they could even here him from this distance.

Talan backed away from the campfire and shrouded himself in darkness once more. With his spear in hand he crouched through the foliage and towards the silhouettes. His father had taught him well as he stepped ever so carefully towards them but with enough speed so as to not take an eternity getting there. His heart began to race as he approached, he hid in the bushes nearby but he still could not see them clear enough. This was when Talan realized the severity of his situation. He could attack and risk being killed or he could return to camp and risk being killed. Either way he had a good chance of dying but with the former option he had the element of surprise to his advantage. "Wait, the mask!", he thought to himself before putting on the wolf mask. Hopefully it would help him see who these people were, maybe provide some aid when he dealt with them.