Once In Light

Aiko walked till she and Gerrin were out of the others' earshot before turning around. She had questions that she wanted answered. "I have just a few questions to ask. None really that big. One-" Aiko held up an index finger, "Could you please tell me your leader's motive in all this? Two-" she held up another finger, "Could you please tell us where the hideout is? And three-" Aiko held up one more finger, making a dramatic pause. This is a question she always wanted to ask the 'Bad guys.' A small grin appeared on her face as she asked, "Why are you working on the bad side instead of with us? Haven't you heard yet that the good guys always win?"

Gerrin stared up at Aiko, seemingly stunned. He narrowed his eyes. He wasn't working on the bad side was he? He knew their goal, and while their tatcics were... Odd... The ends surely justified the means. He, of course, was also being paid, so he was personally fine.

"I don't think you understand," he said simply, "though no one ever told you, so that makes sense." He ignored Aiko's first two questions, mostly, in favor of the third. "We are not evil," he stated, "I am not entirely sure how, but I do know that Serath, our leader, intends to rid the world of evil."

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Kader broke through the forest and beheld what was left of Springvale. Nothing but ashes. He froze, horrified, as he realized that it wasn't just the wood that had burned. It was the stone. This was no normal fire. Someone had to have done it, someone with access to powerful magic. He gulped and pulled his cloak tighter around himself as he walked down the hill and into the town. Something about the place worried him, and he gripped his dagger tightly in one hand.

He peered through the lingering cloud of ash. Nothing. He couldn't be the only survivor, people didn't just die like that! There had to be someone here, there just had to. He didn't speak, just looked. A dark figure among ashes and the burned remains of houses, he realized that he probably looked rather ominous. Any survivors might just run from him, but... They would recognize him, most likely.

He spun around, reacting instantly to a flicker of movement at the edge of his vision. There was someone there. He squinted in an attempt to keep the ashes out of his eyes. There was definately a small figure there. He approached cautiously, calling out. "Hello?"

After a moment, a small lupine creature with very splindly legs stepped out. He was wearing some bags across his back, which seemed to include a fishing pole held horizontaly almost longer than he was. He looked incredibly nervous, which Kader couldn't blame him for. He was, put simply, a maned wolf. Orange with black socks and a mane running down his back. He had a longer tail, though, almost feline, tipped with black. Kader recognized him.

"Eri?" Kader exclaimed. He knelt down so that he was eye level with his friend, who almost stepped back before he recognized the bigger raptor.

Eri grinned, "Kader!" his face fell again, almost instantly, "I- I thought I was the only one left..."

Kader frowned, clearly saddened. He spoke solemnly. "Well... It might only be us two..."

Aiko frowned at Gerrin's reply. "Since when do people who aren't bad kidnap and threaten innocent people?" She sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead with her index finger and thumb, one ear twitching in annoyance. She looked back at Gerrin. "How exactly is the guy in charge of you planning on ridding the world from evil? By killing?" she put emphasis on the last word in order to prove her point.

Sasha stood up before Gerrin could answer. She spoke clearly, staring down almost everyone in the area, as if telling them that they really should not interrupt her. "Serath is good at heart," she said sadly, as if she remembered something from long ago, "but he doesn't truly understand what he is doing." She sighed, "He used to be a good person. But he is driven by revenge, and when the one who did him wrong became unreachable... Well... He tried anyway."

She wasn't exactly defending Gerrin, but she was defending Serath. To an extent. "do not be so quick to judge," she said harshly, "even the misled are often trying their best." She seemed to know more than she was letting on, but she also didn't intend to reveal anything.

Serath shrugged. "Not particularly, but that is what we already have."

He wasn't entirely sure what to ask of Lillith, not knowing what she could actually do anyway. They did have a large amount of power crystals that needed filling, but that was already covered, after all... What else could she do? He decided to ask. "Forgive me, I do not exactly know what you can do." He thought before continuing, "what would you like to do, then?"

Aiko sighed, her tail swishing as she tried to think the situation through. After a few moments, she spoke up. "Well, then, Gerrin. You seem to have good intentions no matter how... unusual your methods of doing good were. So here's my suggestion," a small smile crept onto her face, "You come with us, if you want."

Serath raised an eyebrow as he made a connection. He gave Celinati a look, and the general returned it, if somewhat skeptically. Serath paid him very little mind, walking right past him and Lillith out the door. Celinati trailed behind to close the door behind Lillith as Serath began talking.

"Any of those options would be fine," he said, leading the way back up several corridors, through a labarynthine set of tunnels that he seemed to know by heart. "I know just the place you would fit in..."

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Gerrin shrank back slightly, partly startled at Desiderii's odd mode of communication. Putting that aside, she sounded rather upset, and he doubted it would be a good idea not to answer. "Well, Lessya cast it..." he said, "it's her emanation. I only used runes to strengthen it."

He shrugged, "it makes people fall asleep?"

Serath came to a wooden door at the end of a hall and opened it without a word. Inside, the room was somewhat dark, lit by only a few torches. Chained to the walls, so that they could still walk, were a few varied creatures. The first and most noticeable being a large gryphon, standing menacingly in front of a few smaller creatures. His eyes flashed an odd, hot pink, and he growled under his breath. Around his neck, other than the chain keeping him bound to the wall, was a dark pink crystal on a leather rope, paired with a small amulet with black and white patterns. The gryphon gave Serath a look of pure hatred, but made no move to attack him.

Serath barely gave the gryphon a second glance, walking past him just beyond where he could reach. The golden dragon turned back to the opening of the room, facing Lillith. "These are the less cooperative prisoners," he said, almost as if they were not there, "do what you wish."

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Gerrin did not respond to Desiderii. He turned away without a word, wondering what the strange equine had been talking about. He recalled what Aiko had said a moment ago, and turned to face her. He considered her words for a moment. He could follow them, couldn't he? Leave Lessya and the rest of the organization behind. Perhaps he could escape to some small town and just stay there. He nodded, though he didn't exactly smile. "I will follow you, then" he said, "for a while."

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Kader was leading Eri back through the forest. They were discussing what had happened to them the night before. It turned out that Kader was the only one who had any idea what had happened. Eri had gone out earlier that afternoon to the river, to fish. He did this almost every day, but that night he had camped out by the river. This was partly because he had been having a hard time catching enough fish to sell recently, but also because he got nervous in large crowds. He supposed he wouldn't have to worry about either of those things anymore.

Kader frowned. So the only other survivor from Springvale had been a fluke? He still wasn't sure what to think about that, but... Eri was one of his childhood friends. They had grown close due to Kader's general aura of calm silence, which Eri liked much better than large groups of excited people. Kader didn't know what to do, really, other than take his friend back to the rest of the group. Sure, none of the others were actually from Springvale, but they were still the only survivors that he knew of. He at least didn't have a better idea.

Aiko grinned, her unusually-long-yet-not-unusual-for-a-kitsune canines becoming visible. "Great. Hope you didn't take the earlier fight personal." she turned to the rest of the group, her grin fading to an expression of sternness. "Well, guys, I believe we should get going, now. Maybe we should check supplies, first, though." without waiting for a reply, Aiko opened her bag. "I, for one, have some dried meat, some money, sewing kit, spare bandages, and I think that's it." her head snapped back up from her bag. "Well? How about everyone else, then?"

Celinati slipped in behing Lillith on silent paws, his glossy black fur making him almost impossible to see in the dark room.  He smirked.  "Oh that's not our doing," he said, gesturing toward the gryphon, "he came with that."

The general walked up until he was face to face with the gryphon, who was obviously an adolescent, given that he was a bit shorter than Celinati.  The gryphon was still growling quietly, but was obviously scared.  Celinati almost seemed to pity the younger one, but that didn't change his actions.  "Go on then," he said, "introduce yourself."

The gryphon snarled, but complied.  "I am prince Deluge Abnai D'Wavecrash!" he stated with pride, poorly concealing his anger and fear.  Celinati chuckled.

"A prince, yet you've probably never heard of him," Celinati said, "prince of monsters and thieves."  Celinati took a step closer to Deluge, as if daring him to attack.  "Your father," he said, "is one of the most wanted criminals in Arcan.  You do know how many he's killed, right?"

Deluge roared.  His eyes flashed dark pink again, before something in the combination of magic items around his neck seemed to cut whatever magic he was attempting off.  "Don't talk about my father like that!" he growled, "Torrent has saved so many lives with his work!"  Without warning, Deluge lashed out with one sharp paw, aiming to claw Celinati's face.

Celinati's form shifted, and for an instant he seemed to be in many places at once.  He reformed just out of range of the gryphon, and didn't even flinch when the talons flew by inches from his nose.  "You missed," he stated calmly, before turning to face Lillith.  "Deluge is an Abnai, a royal at that," he spat, "Shallno's cursed, who we thought to have gone extinct in a war.  Do what you wish with him, but..."  He frowned, "there may be... consequences...  If he is killed..."

Deluge shrank back, suddenly very interested in the small black and white charm attached to his necklace. He hissed under his breath at it. Maybe he could just break it... But then he had no idea what would happen. He needed both components to his amulet, but with the reversal charm stuck in the on position, he too was stuck.

Serath nodded. He had ceased hesitating at these questions now, just like he had ceased seconds thoughts about his whole organization years ago. He had nothing else left but to keep moving forward, no matter what he had to do. "There is a ritual chamber, though usually it is used only for the feline recruits to practice in. I could lead you there, if you wish."

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Sasha looked up, seeing movement among the trees. Kader had returned, with another, smaller creature in tow. A canine, just barely bigger than her, mostly because of his long legs. She stood up and walked over to greet them, attracting Gerrin's attention with her sudden movement. Kader's snarl did not escape Sasha's notice as Gerrin walked up behind her to greet him. "I am sorry..." was all she said, to both of them.

Kader didn't say anything to Sasha, choosing instead to glare at Gerrin, who backed away a few steps. He didn't say it out loud, but the message was clear. This is your fault. Eri shuffled awkwardly, before finally breaking the silence with "Uh, hi."

Sasha smiled sympathetically, "hello. I am Sasha."

If Eri recognized either her or the name, he didn't show it. "I'm Eri..." he said, trailing off. He still didn't know what to say, or even really think. He had come home from a campout overnight to find his home gone... What should he think?

Terran had stayed very quiet for quite a long time. She had left Aiko's side, still keeping an eye on her friend however, and settled down into a log near the camp. She had retrieved her belongings and couldn't be happier to be reunited with her pan flute. And now, sitting cross legged on the log, she began to play a short, face paced and quiet song. This was, at first, a test to make sure her favorite instrument hadn't been damaged. However her song quickly became more then just basic scales as she quietly played her feelings.

Meanwhile, a pair of dark grey eyes watched from the forest. The being's face was hidden by the hood of a black cloak, which also helped him blend in to the forest. Krell watched the group, curious as to their purpose, but not wanting to come out of hiding just yet. To ensure that no one detected him, he had carefully maintained a mental shielding that would make it seem to anyone mentally searching that he didn't even exist.

Deluge backed up, still maintaining his place between Serath and the other prisoners. He had his beak clamped shut, refusing to make even the slightest whimper now. His ears were plastered to the back of his neck, and he kept his eyes locked on Celinati, knowing the general sometimes enjoyed taunting the prisoners. Or at least him, since they were all convinced that he was a criminal. Maybe he was...

Serath led the way out of the room without a word, leaving Celinati behind to close the door after them. He walked back through the tunnels, his hind claws scraping lightly across the stone floor. Celinati did not follow them, but instead went somewhere else, attending to other buisness.

After a moment, they arrived in a fairly large room that was mostly empty. There were a pair of felines drawing on the floor, but no one actually in the middle of casting anything. The room itself was little different from any other, but it had several sets of wards on it so that any poorly cast magic didn't cause the entire mountain to fall on all their heads. Serath gestured to one of the far walls, which was almost entirely made of drawers. "You can probably find anything you need in one of these drawers," he said, startling the two felines on the other side of the room. They bowed their heads nervously and went back to what they were doing.

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General Celinati burst into Kashta and Lye's room with little ceremony, startling the thunderbird into almost falling off his perch. "You two," he said somewhat curtly, "are you ready to leave?"