[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/RQaJfun.png[/img][h1][b][color=B22222]C L A R A[/color][/b][/h1][hr][b][color=gray]IFRISE FOREST — SOVEREIGNTY OF DRYADALIS[/color][/b][/center][hr]
From behind, Clara could hear the faint clinking of metal.

[b]"Hello there, nice day, isn't it."[/b]

Clara tensed, realising it was the blonde woman she had spoken to earlier. Her face had become more beaten and dirty since the first time she had seen her, and the unsettling glare in the woman's eyes told enough about her current condition. If Clara could recall, the woman had left for the top deck just minutes before the birds attacked. She would have offered words of sympathy in that moment, but her previous suspicions forced her mouth shut.

An ominous screech rang from within the darkness of Ifrise Forest, and Clara felt every single bone in her body shiver. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as a massive shadow flew overhead, she was too afraid to gaze up at whatever had just passed over group. It was at this point that Clara knew she had ventured way too far to turn back now. Whatever lay ahead had to be dealt with if she wanted to escape.

With an actual group forming it seemed Clara's survival chances were looking a little better. But with her absence of magic and the people this current group consisted of — a girl who looked to be barely in her mid teens, two careless boys who could jump through trees better than they could think rationally, and a mysterious swordswoman that, though looking as if she had actual combat experience, had her fighting chances incapacitated from her injuries — she could only worry. The gunshots that resounded in the distance did little to calm her concerns. Clara could only mutter a small prayer to the Gods to ease them.

Then the reckless blond boy from earlier decided to sprint ahead of the group, shouting the most foolish thing he could have come possibly up with. Clara gasped as she saw his fair hair fade into the shadows, into the direction that wretched, bone chilling shriek had come from. She shot a panicked look at the swordswoman as if she could somehow stop the boy from running into certain death, until she realised the woman's leg was starting to bleed through hastily improvised bandages.

Clara felt her heart swell up in that second of panic, something she hadn't felt in years. In front of her very eyes, a child had made themselves vulnerable to a danger beyond their control, exposed to a force they alone couldn't possibly fight against.

It all felt dangerously familiar to Clara.

Her steps quickened, zipping past the blonde swordswoman. For a moment, Clara pushed her fear aside, only a single unrelated intention in mind. Without a word, she took off into a terrifying sprint towards the imminent danger she had once thought of retreating from. She could hear the wind rush past her ears as she gained more speed, swiftly closing the distance between herself and the young boy. It wouldn't take long for him to come into her sight again. Reaching her arm out, Clara grabbed the him by his collar and tugged him back with great strength.

She didn't wait to catch her breath, nor did she have time to regret what she had done. Clara locked eyes with the boy as her hands gripped his shoulders like a pair of vices. 

[b]"[color=B22222]"You [i]idiot[/i]! Are you out of your mind, boy?”[/color]"[/b] she hissed.