The afternoon sun beat heavily upon Kalo's glistening shoulders as he held his ground against his older brother with unreal fortitude. His muscles rippled against the force of another blow, pushing the backs of his heels deeper into the dried earth. Kalen, his elder brother, towered over him as he rammed the length of his own pole into Kalo's, attempting to break through his brother's guard with his power advantage alone. But his persistence only drained heavily on what little stamina he had left. Kalo shifted his pole a few degrees back and released his left hand moments after, allowing Kalen's to slide past harmlessly. With a single quick motion, the end of Kalo's pole drove into his brother's jaw and knocked him clean off his feet. The crowd surrounding them cheered happily, but he payed them little mind. As Kalen fell against the dirt, he rose his pole with pride and turned to his father, expecting some kind of acknowledgement. The traditions of his people were well under way.

The nomad leader looked upon his sons with little expression, and nodded, urging two men to tend to Kalen's condition with a quick flick of his wrist. "A fine fight," He bellowed from the depths of his mighty chest, "I acknowledge your strength as superior, Kalo."

"As expected!" Kalo roared, shaking his pole-arm and riling up the crowd. Cheers sounded left and right, but Kalo's father was not amused by his grandstanding. "Bask in my victory, friends! See the power of my family, focused to-"

"Enough, Kalo!" His father demanded. The burly man uncrossed his legs and stood from his seated position, wielding a pole that was decorated with several animal bones of different origins, accenting the length of his staff. He himself stood taller than the weapon he held, nearly 7 feet, his bronze body adorned with an extravagant headdress, and a pair of loose leather pants. He and his sons refrained from wearing any sort of tunic, as was customary during times of celebration for the male heads of the clan. But the men who were forced to dress their upper bodies often found it foolish, especially during the hotter times when sunlight could sear skin with ease. The darker pigmentation of most clan members made it bearable, though. Not that it mattered. Nobody was about to challenge their leader Fuso, or either of his sons, anytime soon. "Please, friends, allies, make haste for the dinner tables. I thank you for bearing witness to our 300th year of success, taming these lands and paying respect to the elements as required!" Fuso shouted, raising his staff towards a lovely banquet set up behind his family gathering. Tables were lined with meat and vegetables, and set up mere yards from the edge of a glorious crystal-like lake. Fuso took care to give his people the grandest treatment possible whenever occasions like this came to pass. Anniversaries tickled his fancy, perhaps more than anyone else. After all, 300 years of success for his nomadic clan was nothing to gawk at. His great great grandfather said it best, Find glory in time, as it surpasses all sorrow, and crushes all foes. Or... Something like that. Who even knew? People were confident that his ancestor's quote changed every ten years, anyways. There was no use memorizing it.

"Find glory in our time, for it conquers the evil, and stomps sorrow!" Fuso shouted. Ah, yes. That was this year's version. Kalo rolled his eyes and stomped towards the feast, feeling robbed of the glory that his father spoke of. He glanced at several villagers who passed him up, congratulating him on his performance, and victory, as well as several villagers who he'd seen as close friends. He glanced at Lystra as well with a confident smile, despite the fact that he had never approached her before. He's always found her peculiar skin tone exotic, as did many men within the clan. But his father made it blatantly clear that he was only aloud to marry within the clans inner circle, whatever the hell that meant. He didn't care, or remember. Besides, he always got what he wanted. It was only a matter of time.

Lystra's foster mother pulled her towards the food in a hurry. She was a larger woman, and despite stuffing her face earlier in the day, was particularly eager to have at the feast laid before them. "Lystra! Hurry your feet!" She ordered, tugging at the girl's wrist more and more aggressively.

Lystra could never say she was a fan of the heat. Maybe it was because she didn't have a darker complexion even after all these years, but she always made sure to avoid the scorching sun when possible. She tended to burn quite easily, and dealing with it was an annoying pain in the ass. Normally, she'd be off sitting in the shade somewhere taking a nap, but she had found this little duel to be interesting at least. She was sitting on the sidelines, legs crossed as she watched the boys fight their little practice duel or whatever it was they were having.

Kalo and Kalen. Sons of the chief. She had noting against them, really, but she didn't exactly know either of them all that well. She had never really been one to get caught up with happenings of the clans higher ups - too much work involved. That said, she was always curious about them. Knowing about what they usually got up to in their spare time would have been interesting to find out at least. Wouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Honestly, she didn't understand the point of the duel. Something about the determining the strongest or something? Honor? Or just a celebration? Honestly, it looked pretty tiring and made her glad she was not a guy so she'd never have to do it. Granted, learning how to fight seemed like it could be fun, but not during the hot seasons. So she'd content herself for now merely watching. Wouldn't be the first time watching a duel or a fight between people. Sometimes, such a thing was the only interesting thing going on around here.

When the duel was over, with Kalo as the victor, Lystra joined in and gave a friendly cheer. It was quickly silenced by his father, though. Spoilsport. No harm in a little boasting as long as he didn't go around shoving the victory in Kalen's face. Well, not like she was going to argue that much. Wasn't her place, and would only get her into a lot of trouble. So she merely returned Kalos' confident smile with a friendly wave, a grin, and a small giggle of her own before her foster mother grabbed her by the wrist and promptly pulled her to her feet.

"Alright alright, mom!" She replied hastily with a small giggle. "It's food! You don't have to hurry me up...there will still be enough for you when you get there! I'm certainly not going to eat all of it." A small playful insult towards her foster mother. Nothing new there, really. The woman was...well, she didn't quite think of her as 'mom' but she was someone she cared about even if she didn't entirely show it all that often. After her mother died two years ago, this woman saw to it that she still had a place to stay and was taken care of. She had to at least be grateful for that.

She followed after her mother to the feast as quickly as she could while still allowing herself to be dragged. The feast was always delicious, and she was quite looking forward to it and to possibly hang out with a few other people her age. It smelled absolutely delicious as she was practically dragged over by her mother. If there was one thing she was glad these little events and duels brought, it was the possible feast afterwards.

Men and woman stampeded towards the seemingly limitless selection of food, taking what they wanted and grouping up near the lake's edge, usually with their families. Lystra's mother chuckled at the girl's response and let go of her wrist. She'd gotten just a little carried away by the festivities, regardless of how boorish they were. "Sorry Lys, sorry! You know how I get around this time of year," she pleaded, slowing her pace to stay by Lystra's side. Gremma was a little quick to lose herself in the silliest things, but the woman always tried her best to keep her head from falling too far into the abyss of the feast. "I'm going to put together a plate for myself, find me by the lake when you're ready," Gremma conceded, leaving Lystra to her own devices. Sometimes Gremma forgot that her new daughter wasn't just a fledgling, not that she knew what it was like to take care of a real child. The fates weren't kind to Gremma, or her late husband.

"Lystra!" A familiar voice rang out from behind, "Lystra did you see? Kalo's technique was crazy!" Almost like a typhoon of ecstatic laughter, Emilia barreled into Lystra and clutched her with both arms, no doubt with a unique perspective on the match that she was dying to share. "He was so damn precise! Like a hawk, or, or... A boar? No, boars aren't precise. Like a bird of some kind, probably, definitely a hawk!" Emilia rambled on, having trouble organizing her thoughts. She was always the excitable type, but the girl was smart, like a professor who could never shut up. "The angle of his pole at that last second, he aimed to rattle Kalen's entire jaw without seriously hurting him! His strikes were poised to show respect, strength, and love- It was amazing!"

Trailing a few steps behind Emilia, was her younger brother. A small boy, no more than ten years old, and silent as a rock. He looked around nervously at the people still headed for the food, and stood close to his sister's leg. Emilia didn't notice him, still holding onto Lystra for dear life.

Meanwhile, Kalo and his father had found their place by the lakeside. The two were speaking about something, quietly enough that nobody else could hear. But to catch a glimpse of their faces might've been an unfortunate turn of luck. Kalo's face was empty, almost like he'd been robbed of his energy. His father looked upon him sternly and nodded, but the boy sat there silently, with no response, verbal or physical.

See her by the late later? Huh, did something happen? She had half a mind not to go - it was probably just more work for her or something Gremma wanted. That, or scolding her for shirking work or something again perhaps...eh, maybe she should just go. Putting forth some effort every now and then wouldn't be too bad, right? Before she could think much more on it though, she was almost tackled to the ground by Emilia. She couldn't help but to give a small giggle at the other girls infectious excitement. She wasn't all that into it really, but Emilia's laughter was infectious at least.

"Hey Emilia!" She replied, returning the embrace with a giggle. "You think he looked that good out there? Looked like a bunch of guys getting sweaty for no reason to me." She continued. Combat never made any sense to her. Just needless exhaustion when one could be doing something else. Granted, if they didn't have people who knew how to hunt or fight they'd starve so she guessed it was a necessary sacrifice someone other than her would have to make. She'd just find a nice patch of grass to take a nap in. "You're right though, he ended it pretty quickly when he wanted too."

Lystra released the other girl, noticing her younger brother hanging onto her looking more than a little uncomfortable with everyone else present. She didn't have much experience with him, but he always seemed to be hanging around Emilia whenever he was around. She gave him a friendly smile, stretching her arms and inhaling the delicious smell of the feast for the hundredth time.

"You know," She continued. "If you love him so much, maybe you should see if you can marry him." Lys teased with a serious expression, making it difficult to tell if she was just teasing, or being somewhat serious about the suggestion. "I mean, you could have it pretty easy if you did probably...come to think of it, if I did...I'd be set for life."

"Love him?" Emilia parroted, sounding awfully offended, "No, no way! He's a good fighter and all, but that guy's got some serious insecurity issues! You ever actually talk to him? It's like walking into a seminar on Kalo, the wise and powerful!" Emilia deepened her voice at the end of her sentence and rose her hands up. "Besides, it's pretty obvious that he's got his eyes set on you. Not sure why though, I've never seen you guys talk, let alone get along!" Emilia's little brother smiled back at Lystra shyly. "You should talk to him- If you're interested, that is. I think the guy's kind of a tool."

Kalen lumbered his way past the two girls as they spoke, clutching his jaw. He was aided by one of the two who'd tended to him after the fight, but seemed no worse for wear. He smiled and nodded at Emilia and Lystra before heading towards his father and brother in a hurry. "Kalen on the other hand, haha.." Emilia cut herself short and patted Lystra's shoulder before tugging her brother into the midst of the feast. "Gotta run, Dad's waiting!" She shouted of a chorous of chatter, "Come find me after the feast! I've gotta show you something!" Emilia was always excited about something. But not many would humor her ramblings, except Lystra, anyways. She'd been happy to have a friend who wasn't so quick to shove her off, but was pretty difficult to pin down for more than a minute herself!

Chief Fuso reached out to Kalo as Kalen walked up to their conversation, but the boy stomped away from his father in a bit of rage. Something had happened, but anyone who got in Kalo's way found themselves shoved aside, or at the receiving end of his loud mouth. "Move!" Kalo huffed, "Get out of my way!" Fuso looked onto his son in disappointment, but did not chase after him. Kalen attempted to follow, but his father's hand grasped onto one of his massive legs. Fuso shook his head, and Kalen sat down with a defeated expression on his face.

All the while, the rest of Fuso's clan enjoyed themselves in groups of three to ten. Families and friends, from the hunters, to the farmers, to the elders, and so on. There were so many rings of men and women, and each was just as energetic as the last. It was a rightful party indeed, all that was left was for Lystra enjoy herself. That, or wander off as she often seemed to do.



Kalo ran past a nearby outcrop of stones near the edge of the lake, far from where the festivities were taking place, and opposite to where the campsite was located. The young man huffed and puffed, fuming with jealousy and anger. As soon as he was out of sight, Kalo dropped to the ground, and sat with his back firmly planted against the side of a giant jutting spear of stone, opposite to the lake. As he sat there and thought over what his father had said, something watched him from behind another nearby rock formation, gazing upon the boy with curious emerald eyes. Neither said a word, though. The wind buffeted Kalo's long black hair as he sat there in silence, feeling the energy in his body leave him, depressed by the reality that he'd faced.

"Pfft, well I can't help it I'm that good looking." She joked with a chuckle, watching as Kalen walked by. She mostly ignored him, though couldn't help but to wince slightly. Looked like he at least was hurt a bit, and rubbed her own jaw lightly as she sighed and turned back to Emilia. Truthfully, she wasn't interested in ever getting all that intimate with anyone. She was too...flighty to ever even consider it. At least, nothing permanent anyways. A small fling might be fun, heh.

Lystra simply waved to Emilia as she left. Found something interesting? Well, now that was always interesting. She was a bit curious of things herself - especially anything that wasn't typically found where the tribe normally visited. Even if her discoveries never really turned out to be anything, they were always a fun little adventure to have. Not to mention, thinking about the possibilities about what it could be was always entertaining. Perhaps it was just childish curiosity in the end, but she didn't think much of it. For now, there was the feast! And if her rumbling stomach was anything to go by, she was definitely a bit hungry.

Deciding to get into the festivities, Lystra walked over to the various circles of people. She'd wonder off later. For now, she'd enjoy the festivities for just a bit. So she ate, danced a bit, and talked about the past year with a few of her peers. Joked around and teased a few more people her age, and for the most part had a fun time. The food was as delicious as it smelled, and the people just as friendly as always. After only what seemed to barely be an hour though, the festivities were wearing thin. By no means was she an introvert - unless it was sleeping, doing the same thing for extended periods was just not something she was ever particularly good at. Sitting on the ground, eating a last small piece of deliciously cooked deer she thought about what she was going to be doing next. Could find a nice patch of grass some distance away and take a nap and do some cloud watching. It wasn't that late yet, so she could do that for a bit. Gremma also wanted to see her...and Emilia said she had something she wanted to show her.

Well, there was no reason not to see. She could talk to Gremma later. Besides, it wouldn't be like her to not at least be a little fashionably late for something. She sat up, brushing some dirt off of her tunic deciding to go see what amazing discovery Emilia made this time. It probably wouldn't be anything serious, but she was still curious as to what had gotten her so worked up. With a stretch, she set off to find Emilia.

The party was thinning out by the time Lystra had set out to find her friend, but Emilia couldn't have gotten far. It was likely that she was still with her family, or mucking about the lakeside outcropping. Hell, she might've been in the lake! The girl had an affinity with the water, after all. Sure enough, merely minutes of Lystra's search, Emilia made her presence known with a righteous splash. Water cascaded towards Lystra from the edge of the lake, where she would see Emilia's long, dark hair floating on the surface, around where her eyes were just barely peering above its reflective surface, looking utterly victorious. Emilia blew bubbles and began moving around like a miniature motorboat, almost beckoning Lystra to jump in after her. Well, that was exactly what she was doing. But before Lystra had a chance to ask why she was acting like a total buffoon, Emilia rose and called out to her, "Come on! It's in the water!" Emilia whispered, rather loudly. It was less of a whisper really, and more of a hushed shout. There weren't many people around to hear her though. Even her brother had run off with Emilia's father. They were two of the few people left, alone with the chief himself, Kalen, and a few other families that stuck around to enjoy the eventual sunset that would come to pass in only a few hours.

It thankfully didn't take her long to find Emilia. Her family or near the lake, so she decided to check the lake first. She knew her friend well and she knew how much she liked water. There was only so far she would probably go from the party unless she dragged her somewhere, as rare as an occasion as that was. Within minutes, she had found Emilia. Well, more like Emilia had found her. A small shout of surprise left her lips as she was covered in cool water from the lake.

"Damn it, Emilia!" She laughed, not actually angry. Indeed she was rather amused by Emilia's energy as always. She just couldn't not find her entertaining in some manner. It was in the water then? What had she found some sort of ancient civilization or something? Not that there would have been many, could there have been? She didn't remember anything in the histories about such things, but eh. She wasn't a scholar, she just like exploring places.

"Alright, alright. Give me a second." She continued, kicking off her sandals near the waters edge. She took off her belt, letting it clatter to the ground, but not before retrieving her hunting knife. She was pretty sure the water was safe. They were around it almost every other day or so, and nothing had happened yet but it was better safe than sorry. She had gotten into a situation or two before when she was out alone, and it at least had proved somewhat useful. She tucked the knife into her leather pants and...dove into the water right next to Emilia, likely splashing her more than a little herself. She remained underwater for a few seconds before surfacing next to the other girl with a lazy smile.

"Lead the way then! I want to see what the amazing Emilia has discovered today." She teased.

Emilia watched as Lystra's form crashed against the sparkling surface, and was pushed back slightly by the impact in the water. When her friend was set to go, Emilia smiled and rose one hand above the surface, pointing towards the center of the lake before diving and swimming off at her top speed.

Underwater, they couldn't talk, but Emilia looked back to make sure her friend wasn't lagging behind, completely used to the feeling of the fresh water against her open eyes. Occasionally she would slow down, but Lystra wasn't exactly a child. She seemed to keep up rather well despite Emilia's obsession with the lake. The girl dove deeper and deeper, but didn't head towards the darkest recesses of the lake. The sunlight didn't quite reach that deep anyways, there was no telling what lurked down there.

It only took about 20 seconds for Lystra to realized where Emilia was taking them. Several feet below the surface, and rested against a flattened wall of rock against the Lake's edge, was an opening that all-too-accurately resembled a man-made door. The closer they got, the more obvious it became that this wasn't a naturally occurring cave. The wall was laden with small grooves that resembled bricks, similar to the type of strange walls Lystra had seen above ground in the past. They were crude, and large, but Emilia didn't hesitate to dive right in.

Within the ruins, Emilia lead Lystra through a curved pathway that seemed to go on forever. She held her breath firm though, and continued through the darkened tunnel, until there was almost no light left. Rocks jutted out of the destroyed walls of the tunnel, but Emilia was careful to avoid cutting herself. Her agility underwater knew no limits, but it was still a treacherous swim. Then, a splash of relief, as her head surfaced in a lit cave underneath the lake. She's lead Lystra to an ancient ruin of unknown origin.

There was no way that this place was man-made. Hell, it looked practically brand-new from the inside despite the fact that the tunnel leading here was torn asunder and littered with jagged rocks. The walls seemed turned at an odd angle though, as if the entire room was ripped from its foundation and flipped around. The ceiling was over 60 feet off the ground! How the hell was a place like this tucked away so neatly under the lake? How new or, old, was it? Emilia turned and waited for Lystra to make her way through the tunnel, ready to jump back into the water at a moment's notice if her friend wasn't able to make it on her own.

Unlike Emilia, Lystra had a bit of trouble with the water. While she wasn't a terrible swimmer, she definitely wasn't the best. Plus, trying to keep her eyes open while under? That was something she hadn't tried before, and the water stung as she fumbled a few moments but managed well enough to keep her eyes on her friend and stay moving. What she saw barely a minute later, completely changed her attitude about what she was doing. Normally she'd just pass off Emilia's nonsensical discovers as just that, even if she liked to think they might be something different, but this?

Lystra's eyes opened wide against the cold, stinging water as she saw what was obviously a man made door. She had seen similar structures in ruins above ground on occasion...but why was it here underwater? That was her first question. Did whoever build it have to swim here to get in? Or perhaps the lake wasn't always here or something? She pushed the questions out of her head for now. She had no way to know, and her lungs were starting to strain so she picked up the pace, following after Emilia the best she could.

The curved tunnel prove to be somewhat difficult to traverse for her. While not completely unathletic, she had never swam that much. She had to be careful of the rocks on the wall, trying her best to mimic the motions of Emilia as they swam. It was...easy enough, if one could count tearing her tunic on a small outcropping as little trouble. More importantly, where the hell was Emilia taking them? She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold her breath.

The surface came suddenly, with Lystra breaking the surface of the cave with gasping breaths of air next to Emilia.

"Next time," She coughed through gasping mouthfuls of air. "Warn me I need to turn into a fish to get somewhere..." After a few seconds, she was able to get a good look at the room...and she was absolutely amazed. "By the Elements though...this place...what is it?" Lystra swam a little ways from Emilia. It was absolutely amazing. She had always been fascinated by places like this - there was something about old ruins and walls that was just...alluring to her. She looked around for perhaps somewhere they could get out of the water...was there any more to this ruin, perhaps?

"Sorry, sorry!" Emilia whimpered, pulling herself over the pools edge and extending a hand to Help Lystra up as well, "I don't know where we are, but this isn't what I wanted to show you! Quick, up there!" Emilia whispered, pointing her free hand up at the wall- or the sideways flooring as it were, where a second door sat, with a dull light pouring out of it. It was the only light in the underground room at all, and barely highlighted the ornate features of the area. Emilia moved her finger along the room, pointing out a torn up section of wall where the rock face seemed climbable. "It's in that room, you know how to rock climb, right?" Emilia asked, wanting to avoid pushing her friend even further than she already had. Emilia was practically a prodigy when it came to this sort of stuff; Swimming, climbing, running, so much so that she was ignorant of Lystra's capabilities. Her air-headed nature fit her well, though. Modesty was a nice trait on the talented, after all.



Above the water's surface, everyone had already begun to leave. The sun was only a couple of hours away from setting, and the night held dangers on occasion that nobody was eager to face. Nobody except Kalo, anyways, who'd still found himself within the rocky outcropping at the lake's edge. Kalo punched the face of a boulder repeatedly, until his knuckles began to bleed, grunting with each strike. He stopped for a moment, and turned towards the opposite end of the rocky field.

"Why are you watching me?" He asked, irritably. A figure shifted from behind a nearby collection of rocks, but didn't reveal itself. "Come out!" Kalo demanded. What he saw afterwards made him cock back one of his eyebrows and take an aggressive stance.

"For one so skilled, you retain a deafening amount of pride."

"Rock climb?" Lystra questioned, taking Emilia's help and pulling herself onto the rocky floor...or would it be better to call it a wall? Eh, details. She followed her friends gaze towards the rocky wall, and her eyes went wide with curiosity. The dull light emanating from within the doorway was the only source of light in the room, the dull luminescence barely able to illuminate the area. This was...well, really cool. There was no way she wasn't about to not just go up there, even if she would have been bad at climbing. "Pfft, I may not be part fish but I can climb." It was true. While she was no expert, she was confident in her abilities to climb. Trees, some ancient stone walls, some large rocks - she actually rather enjoyed being up high somewhere. There was something calming and relaxing about being up somewhere, be it a tree or a ledge. It was really the only physical activity she did on a regular basis, besides walking everywhere.

Without waiting for Emilia, she approached the torn wall, curiosity driving her. She easily found a hand hold on part of the wall and started pulling herself up towards the door way. It was easy enough; Find her footing, find a handhold and pull herself up. She was used to branches of a tree, but it wasn't much of a big difference. As she pulled herself up into the second door, she didn't wait for Emilia. Perhaps a bit rude, but she was too curious to wait on her friend. The idea that something was down here, was simply too exciting for her to even think about passing up on, and walked further into the room beyond the door.

Emilia blinked, and before she knew it, Lystra was upon the wall, and moments away from the lighted opening. Emilia followed after her in a hurry, "Wait!" She hissed, clutching the rock wall and pulling herself after Lystra. She climbed and climbed, eventually reaching the opening behind her friend, and gaze open the shrine within. Well, she'd seen it before, obviously, but it was still amazing to behold. Though, as expected, the base of the shrine was attached to the left-most wall, or the floor, as it were.

It was made of a dark bronze colored stone, and had three layers two it, easily distinguishable by the groves between them despite a large chunk of missing stone on one side of the mini pyramid shaped shrine. But the light wasn't coming from that. The light emanated from a small circular chunk of steel, half-buried in rubble near the center of the room. It rested immobile against the floor, and glowed even brighter as the two entered the room. "That's what I wanted to show you!" Emilia shrieked, grabbing her friend's shoulders and bouncing up and down excitedly. "Though, I don't remember it doing that. "The light began to pulsate brighter and faster when Emilia pushed Lystra towards the metal circle, prompting her to let go immediately and back away. "Geez, it's a good thing I didn't try picking it up last time.."

Lystra laid eyes upon the shrine, completely in awe. It was something she had never seen before! Not in any small ruins she had seen in the forests at all! This was, well, completely exciting even if she did share Emilia's outward exuberance. She wanted to examine the pyramid, but there was something else that was much more...shiny that was grabbing her attention. The circular piece of metal was...well, obviously special in some manner. She had no idea what it was for or how, but it definitely wasn't something that was normal, and she wasn't about to let the opportunity to take a look at it, pass up.

"Pick it up, huh?" Lystra said, brushing Emilia's obvious hesitation aside. "Well, we're not gonna learn what it is by staring at it." Before Emilia would be able to stop her, Lystra walked towards the metal circle. Curiosity drove her, seemingly undeterred by the pulsing light that was in front of her. She had to know what it was! It was something different, something new, something she had never seen before! Emilia might like looking for stuff, but if she wasn't even going take a look at anything she found, then what was the point of even looking?

When she was finally within touching distance she knelt next to it and touched it, intending on running her hand over the smooth seeming surface of the steel. Something in the back of her head told her this might be a bad idea, but she cared not.

With each step, the steel's shine grew brighter, but to Lystra's eyes it was not overbearing. Emilia on the other hand, winced and shielded her face from the blinding light. "Uh, Lystra!" She warbled, inching closer towards the curious girl. But it seemed that there was no stopping her. When Lystra made up her mind, getting between her and whatever the hell she wanted to do, or touch, would only be delaying the inevitable. Emilia knew that. Even if she dragged Lystra back by her hair, she'd probably just find her way back here, even with a tedious swim dissuading her. "Lystra!" As Lystra's hand made contact with the metal, the shine disappeared. Emilia glanced back and forth, in utter confusion. "Huh?" To Emilia, it was like Lystra had just hit the artifact's off switch. But from Lystra's perspective?

A warm light flooded her body, flowing up her wrist and digging at the very core of her being. From within the disc of metal, something resonated with her soul, but just as quickly as it'd come, the power vanished, and Lystra found herself caressing the cool steel of a moderately sized shield. There were no etchings or designs across its smooth, rounded surface, but if she were to turn it over, she would find a pair of straps, used for wielding the strange steel disk.

"Lystra! Are you ok?" Emilia practically shouted, dashing to her friend's side. "What the heck was that?!"



Kalo panted with heavier breaths than ever before, clutching a wound near his lower right abdomen as it bled profusely through his coarse fingers. The boy glared up at a man donning a Green robe, who wore no shoes, and had no face. Rather, he face was obscured by a feature-hugging black mask, revealing only a pair of emerald green eyes that glinted as if they were on fire, each dotted with a darker flame that mimicked a human's pupil.

"Even now, you respond to my kindness with violent intent. Why? I've merely stated what is true," The trespasser said, sternly and with a hint of contempt clinging to his raspy voice. It was the voice of a heavy smoker, laden with tar, but he spoke as clearly as he could.

"You keep talking to me like I'm trash! You claim my family to be comparable to rabbits!"

"I had hopes for you, boy. Such grandiose hopes. You've disappointed me. It's true after all, as he's said. Just like the rest, you're no different." The man gave Kalo no leeway to speak, ignoring his objections and stepping closer to the boy as he backed up against a nearby boulder. The green-clad man shifted his limbs and tensed his body, raising his left hand forwards, and pulling his right arm back, with both feet planted firmly in the ground.

"Why? How long have you been..." Kalo paused and choked on his own words at his attacker thrusted his right palm into his skull, and smashed his body against the stone behind him.



The entire foundation of Emilia's hidden cave began to shake and crumble a minute later. Chunks of stone began to slide out of their place above them, falling towards Emilia and Lystra in chunks large enough to crush them both in an instant. Likewise, their exit began to fall apart, albeit at a far slower pace. "Lystra!" Emilia shouted, unsure of how to react. The girl froze up in the heat of the moment as a series of horrendous events ran through her mind. They had to escape before it was too late.

Well, whatever it was, it did something. Lystra couldn't help but to recoil slightly, even as warmth filled her being. It definitely wasn't hostile, but whatever it was...it was powerful. Something from her very soul seemed to resonate with whatever this was, but it was only for a fleeting moment. When it was over, only a the cold steel of a shield lay on the ground, gently running her hand over the smooth flawless surface. She lifted it, finding it not all that heavy at all and turned it over. The straps were likely to be used to carry it so she did just that. Putting her left arm around the straps, feeling oddly at home carrying the item, whatever it was. In all, it was strange, and Lystra couldn't help but to try and think of the infinite number of possibilities that it might be until Emilia's voice brought her back to reality.

"I dunno...it was something?" Great observation, really, but she had no idea. If she knew, she would be more than happy to tell, but before she could get another word out in reply the ruin began to shake as if an earthquake had beset the area. She glanced up, just as a large chunk of the ceiling fell and slammed into the ground right next to them. "W-well this is bad." Lystra's own voice faltered at bit, but they had to get out of here. She didn't like putting herself in dangerous situations like these, but there was no way she was going to be dying here. She just needed to keep her cool. Cool now, freak out later.

"Uhm, you know...maybe run? Running sounds like a good idea." She said, in a decidedly not cool manner. Well, she'd give herself points for trying at least. Before waiting for a reply, she bolted back down the corridor they came down, stopping at the edge of the drop off into the pool. She really hoped this thing was light enough to swim with. Before jumping in, she took a quick look back to see if Emilia was running - no way was she leaving her down here if she could help it.

Emilia didn't move when Lystra spoke, but as a second stone fell, the collision snapped her out of her stupor, and she turned to Lystra, eyes wide open. The girl chased after her, jumping straight into the pool below, and landing with a surprising amount of grace. The underground chamber continued to crumble as Emilia swamp to safety, adamant to make her way back to the lake's edge, through the tunnel and to the water's surface. Emilia knew Lystra wouldn't freeze up like she did, but had completely forgotten that her swimming capability was less than optimal in her sudden panic, instead focusing on getting herself out of the cavern as quickly as she could.

Emilia ran past her without a word, diving into the depths below. Reasonable really. She couldn't blame Emilia for wanting to get herself out of there. It would have been nice if she would have helped her, but there wasn't much time to think. Lystra dove in after Emilia rather ungracefully. She was hesitant to swim through the tunnel again, but she had little choice in the matter. It was either that, or stay here and get buried alive and she very much liked being able to breathe.

The shield didn't weigh her down much, but it was awkward to swim with. Combined with her only mediocre at best swimming abilities, this was not a good situation but she didn't think much of it. She'd get out of here - she had no intention of dying. The tunnel continued to cave in on her as she swam, a large block sliding into the ground in front of her. She had to sim through a small gap between it and the wall to get through, wasting precious air and time.

Kicking off the fallen pillar, she used the momentum to try and make up for it, but her lungs burned with the need for air. A few more seconds, she finally swam out of the ruined door as the passage collapsed behind her. Did Emilia make it out? She wanted to at least turn her head and take a look, but she couldn't. She needed air desperately, but her limbs felt heavy, somewhat numb as her heart pounded in her ears. Just a little further was all she needed, Damn it, if Emilia hadn't sped off....

Emilia reached the surface, huffing as she pulled herself desperately to the shore, past a collection of small boulders that sunk into the sand. They seemed fragmented, and sharp like knives, but she didn't notice, or care. She felt her body, from top to bottom, ecstatic that she was still in one piece. "Lystra!" She shouted, "Lystra we made-" Emilia paused and spun to the water in a panic, grappling a nearby stone and pushing herself onto her feet. There was no sign of Lystra yet. Emilia froze up again, but her hand stung something fierce. She looked down and noticed she'd slit her palm on one of the nearby stones, spinning around to observe her surroundings. They were all sharp, every last rock around her, and they were covered in blood. Was it her blood? No, there was too much of it. What could it have been?

Then she saw it, the remains of a nearby boulder, absolutely doused in crimson liquid. Emilia gasped and inched towards it, slowly making her way around the stumped rock. What she found almost made her toss the remnants of the feast onto the sandy ground. It was a headless body, positively limp. She looked it over, unable to turn away, and identified the features in mere moments. This was Kalo's corpse. Emilia spun towards the direction of the campsite in terror, and noticed a short figure making their way across the lakeside to where the tents sat. Emilia didn't recognize them, but their clothing was foreign. A green robe, and no shoes. Not only that, but their hair held a distinct coloration, and was slicked back like a knife. Green hair, and a green robe... Emilia backed away from Kalo's corpse and scanned the lake's surface for any sign of Lystra, but saw nothing.



The situation looked bad, worse than Emilia had anticipated, for sure. But Lystra's final moments were far off. A power began to emanate from deep within the shield once again, pulsing through her body and restoring her stamina and physical abilities, far beyond what she'd been used to. It felt like a surge of adrenaline, strengthening her ability to move and pushing her to continue despite the odds. This time the feeling of warmth persisted, despite the shield losing its shine within a few seconds. Was it the shield? No, it couldn't be. The shield was just a tool, after all.

It was coming from within Lystra herself.

Whatever the power was, Lystra was going to take it. She didn't think about where it was coming from or what it was for now. It was helping her, and that was all she cared about. As the newfound strength and warmth surged through her body, she found herself able to swim the last remaining distance to the lake shore. She broke the surface of the water seconds later, but despite the strength that she had been granted with, she still felt exhausted. She crawled from the water, coughing and sputtering slightly as water was coughed up. She fell over onto the ground, rolling over onto her back and breathing heavily as she looked up at the setting sky, seeing Emilia in the corner of her vision, but for the moment oblivious to what was happening near the tents.

"Whew...Emilia? Remind next time to not touch shiny things in some ruin." The laugh that came out turned into a quiet groan. "Too close to dying for my comfort." A few seconds later after finally catching her breath a bit she sat up, shield still attached to her arm. Before she could utter another word, her eyes saw what Emilia had seen not seconds earlier. "...what happened to him?" Her voice seemed to lack any distinct sadness or concern, merely a bit of inquisitiveness. "He ask you out or something while I was almost drowning?" It was more of a joke - an attempt to lighten the mood just a bit. She coughed again, spitting out some water and shakily standing up as she flashed her friend another one of her best attempts at a reassuring smile.