Chumana appeared as the rock slide happened, seeing Alpha, Ryker, and Masuyo heading away, she moved swiftly. Running, she appeared before them, and when they arrived at her, she touched each of them, and teleported them to the spot where the others were. They would barely notice the teleport at all for the speed they had been moving at. It would have seemed that they ran the whole way, but they had not. Looking back for a second, the woman then teleported herself to the rest of the group. Sighing seeing everyone, she moved to Alpha. She knew the look of a dislocated shoulder when she saw one, Ryker had done that to her a few times on accident. You could say she was a professional at fixing that. "Hold still." she said as she moved swiftly and popped the shoulder back in it's socket. Frowning at the sound, she then pulled bandages from her backpack that she had grabbed when the attack happened, and wrapped his arm in place. "Try not to move that for a few days. Let the muscles and bones set." she instructed and moved to Masuyo. Her leg was still bad, and as she looked down at that, she brought out her talisman, and handed it to the girl. "You just need rest, and to keep off that foot. But you did well." she said, a bit warmer. She could see that this girl meant well, and she had a fighting spirit. She could maybe come to trust her. Moving to Hibiki, she frowned and lifted his head, and kneeled. Setting his head on her lap, she moved to take a cloth and dampen it with the water in her canteen. Putting it on his forehead to keep a fever from his body, she brushed his hair from face. "Ryker, we will need fire, and camp made. They are too weak to move and Cion deemed this spot safe. For now, we need to get them recovering. Rest is crutial." she said firmly, her wise knowledge showing in her green eyes as she looked to all of them and then looked down at Hibiki again before closing her eyes. "Thank you gods for sparing us today. Please watch over us, bring us healing and good fortune." the native woman whispered under her breath. Things were certainly going to change now.

"One fire coming up. I'll see if I can scrounge up some food too. The heavens know we'll need subsistence if we wish to survive." Wincing at the pain that erupted all over his skin (curse that snake-woman for her venomous spray), Ryker stammered toward a withered tree. It wouldn't burn for long, but it would be better than nothing.

He found it hard to pluck it from the ground (the perks of being exhausted, not). Opting to use his own body weight, he sat on the measly tree until it snapped beneath his weight. Dragging it haphazardly across the ground, he didn't bother to move it when he accidentally dropped it. It was too much work. They could all just gather around the soon-to-be flames. In other words, they could move to the fire.

Fumbling into the tall grass, Ryker found himself eating a mouth full of dirt. Blurred vision and a throbbing head were getting the best of him. Using the only hand he could feel, the ginger dragged his body across the soil. Not making it too far, his body just lost the will to fight. Mind plagued by hallucinations and body fatigued, he simply stopped his pursuit for food. The poison from the Beast Queen seemed to affect Ryker's body in ways not even he understood. A moan pursed his lips as he tried to roll over, but with failed luck.

Everything was like a blur, but the woman was thankful to get away from the beasts they left back at the cave. Masuyo took the talisman from Chumana and gave her a small smile. “Thank you. Rest would be nice, but that’s easier said than done.” She felt she could trust the younger woman, as well as the older men. In time the others would hopefully prove to be trustworthy as well. Her eyes went to Hibiki, the boy seemed to be rough shape. “I’ll help too,” she said even though she had been told to rest. Right now she couldn’t bring herself to. Chumana was busy with Hibiki and she figured she could leave Alpha and Thistle to rest. The least she could do now was to help even if it was just tending the fire or helping to cook.

Her movements were a little slow due to fatigue catching up to her, but she made her way towards Ryker who was breaking down a small dead tree. She shook her head slightly after it broke under his weight and then he dropped it while attempting to drag it closer. “Let me hel...” her sentence broke off when the older man fell, face planting into the dirt. “Ryker!” Masuyo forced herself to run to the man’s side before dropping to her knees. His body was heavy, but she managed to roll him over. She tore off a piece of her tattered skirt and used it to wipe the dirt from the male’s face. “Can you hear me? Ryker?” She wasn’t getting much of a response from him. Without much thought she pressed the talisman that Chumana had gave her into Ryker’s hand before looking over at the woman. The younger woman knew more about healing than she did. Sure she could deal with cuts, bruises and broken bones, but poisons were totally different. There were only a few she knew how to deal with and the venom from that Beast Queen was more than likely nothing like those.

“Chumana help. I can’t get him to respond.” Her voice trembled as she called to the other for help. “I’m not sure what to do. If you can help him then I’ll see to the fire and food.” Her eyes moved to Thistle. “Would you mind helping me with finding some food? We won’t move far from this spot since it’s unclear how long we will be safe here.” She didn’t like the idea of having to rely on someone else due to being hurt, but she had no choice. At this point she was really pushing her limits of not doing any permanent damage to her leg.

Chumana was wiping the young boy's brow when she heard the thud and Masuyo's cry of worry. Her head shooting up and her eyes darting to her dearest friend and practically father had her heart stop in worry. Gently laying Hibiki's head on her backpack, she swiftly hurried to Ryker's side. She was at his side before Masuyo even asked for help, turning her friend over and looking over his skin. It wasn't doing any real damage on the surface, a few poison burns here and there, but it was mostly an internal poison. Which would be why Ryker was suddenly taken off guard and fell. "I can heal him. I just need to gather some herbs. I don't know this area very well, but I know what I am looking for." she said and brushed Ryker's bangs from his forehead. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked down at him. She had been stupid to think he got out unscaved, and now she was paying the price for it.

Summoning up her strength, she grunted as she lifted Ryker, cradling his head gently against her chest, she carried him closer to the others. Thank goodness he was a lean and thinner man. Had he been Alpha there was no way she would have gotten him over to the others. Laying him down, she pulled his over coat off of his body and folded it under his head. Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to his forehead, blinking away her tears. "Stay awake. I will be back swiftly. Just hold on." she breathed, and then swiftly moved like in flight. Grabbing her bow and satchel, she ran into the woods. Her bright green eyes scanning the forest floor for the herbs she needed. Every second wasted was a second she could be loosing Ryker. Heart pounding, her lips in a firm line, the tattooed woman stopped seeing a bush of one of the herbs she needed. Pulling out her hunting knife she then cut off the amount she would need, plus a little extra.

Climbing the tree next, she then found the leaves she needed and moved to find the berries and one other herb. It took all of four minutes. She was soon back and apologizing to Hibiki as she took her backpack, and began pulling out her wooden mixing bowl and crushing stick. Grabbing the herbs she needed, she smashed them in the bowl, and then chopped and squeezed the berries in. Muttering under her breath, her hands worked swiftly, though a bit of a shake was in them showing her nerves. Snatching her canteen she bit the cork and pulled it off. Pouring the clear water in the bowl the liquid turned a light red, and she sprinkled some rosemary in it to make it taste better. Moving to Ryker's side, she lifted his head gently. "Drink Ryker. As much as you can." Chumana instructed, pressing the bowl to his lips, prayers racing through her head. Please save him. Gods, don't take him from me.

Trust her? What was she going to do? Leila wondered to herself as she nodded. But just as she did the beast Tony seem to sense were already upon them, breaking through the doors. Leila even in her condition was already tense for battle, but it wasn't needed. Definitely wasn't needed. Together with Sky she watched as he took them down with ease, of course he did it in a fancy looking way but he got the job done. During the one sided fight Leila and Sky had taken shelter to hide where they could. From the front they could hear him ask about wanting BBQ. Leila gingerly stepped out of her hiding spot to see the mutant otters were cooking. Did these beast control fire? He was a odd one. For one he was strangely nice, two he defeated basically his own brethen, and three and he just made them food? And to top it off he's acting like a big pet cat. It was strange seeing someone of his stature purr and wag his tail.

Leila was speechless, she didn't know what to say. In any case Sky did it for her as she sat next to her. "It just happened." Leila almost whispered as she kept her eyes on Tony and switched between him and the otters every now and then. After Sky had asked her question, Leila wanted to ask her own but she kept her mouth shut as Tony began to answer and divulge important information about the beast.

The Q&A didn't last long as Tony had somewhere more pressing to be. Leila had been tense since the otters came in but once Tony had left she became relaxed almost immediately. She looked over to Sky for a long moment. "I can't believe this... and he offered up valuable information like it was just.. just... oh I don't know but things are getting more serious than ever that's for sure." Leila looked towards the otters. "Do you think we should eat those?" After a short pause, she asked another question. "I'm not sure about beast in this area but do you think we're still safe.. here.. in this store?"

Something cool pressed against his lips. He felt warmth gather around him, only this warm wasn't the burning, scarring kind of warmth. It felt like the touch of love and the wings of angels. His mind was still racing, but with each passing second, the voices and feelings fell. Soon nothing but silence surrounded him. What was happening? Blinking in the visions of his mind, a bright, white light appeared. A hand reached out toward him and a voice said, "Do not be afraid, my child." Hand extending up to greet the hand of glowing light, he found himself hesitating. Zooming out from his body, Ryker's mind seemed to float above the scene before him. Eyes shifting from his humanly form to the hand from above, a look of disbelief came to his eyes. Was he... dying?

Watching his hand stretch out again, Ryker forced his aura to brush between the handshake. Even if his body failed him, Ryker's soul refused to part with the earth. Turning toward the heavenly hand, Ryker's glowing aura shook as if saying no, it's not my time.

"You don't get to decide when you go," the voice told him. Ryker refused to listen. Coming between the hands again, he fought to keep his soul alive. Rage began to build up and soon tears came from his actual eyes. Not ready to die, the vision within his mind braced for impact. Soul flying as fast as lightning, it collided with the empty body in his mind.

Darkness came. And then a cough.

Sitting upright, his hand pushed away the cup that tried to give him water. Frantically looking around, his eyes tried to adjust to the colors of the world and the views around him. He wasn't dead. Somehow he managed to fight off the hand of god to live another day. Drained and wary, Ryker fell back into his grassy bed.

"I saw the light at the end of the tunnel," he whispered up to Ana. Looking past her face, he saw Masuyo and smiled. Closing his eyes for a moment, he brought back the very second before he could have died. There were two faces he saw, two faces that pulled him back to earth. Ana, the daughter he never had, and Masu, a strong, brave woman whose affection he grew fond of.

Eyes opening again to reveal his green orbs, he sighed in relief. "Sorry to worry you both." His hand reached up to cup Ana's cheek. "But I could never leave my beautiful ladies in such a dark world. I would hate to see you both lose your smiles." Head butting against Ana's, he smiled again.

Chumana let out a heavy sigh of relief as she heard Ryker's voice. Tears ran down her cheeks as she pressed her forehead to his. Kissing his forehead, she felt her heart start to beat normally, finally after holding her breathe for so long. "Please don't scare me like that." she whispered and wiped the tears away from her eyes. Laughing softly as Ryker bumped heads with her like he used to, she smiled and chuckled. "The gods answered my prayers. I couldn't let you go without kicking your tail for not saying goodbye." she joked lightly, wiping his forehead with the cloth. Grabbing the bowl, she then gave him a stern look. "You need to finish this. It will take care of the poison in you. But it wont if you don't drink it silly boy." Chumana chided lightly before brushing her braids back over her shoulder. Thank the gods, she didn't know what she would do without this man.

"Sorry, mother. Yes, mother. As you wish, mother" The color was coming back to him and from the way he teased, he was obviously feeling better. "I like how I, the one who raised you all these years, now have the honorable title of 'silly boy.' And to think, I thought of you as a daughter. Shall I call you mom now? Perhaps, mama? Mammy? Mamster? Oh yes, Mamsta Ansta." He began to laugh but a wicked cough stopped him short. "Eh," he wheezed before forcing himself to drink the liquid.

Not overly thrilled with the taste, Ryker continued to chug away until it was all gone. If this stuff really worked, he might be better come the next day. Well, that was wishful thinking. First they would need food. Looking down at his growling stomach, he sighed. "Sorry I failed everyone. I tried to press on but, I'm just not as durable as all you kiddies."

Reclining again so that his back was in the grass, Ryker let his eyes look around. Hand pushing his rusty hair from his face, he glanced over at Cion. "Baby Bot, keep your sensors open. If something bad's heading our way, make sure you protect the kid and the ladies. Al and I, we totally got future fights covered." He was such a liar, but at least he meant well. Sort of.

Chumana's eyes narrowed as Ryker became a smart ass. Once he was done drinking the liquid, she poked him, rather hard in the side to make him cringe. "Then you would be pappy ryappy." she teased with narrowed eyes. Shaking her head, she stood, and then taking the paste she made she then pressed it to his poison burns. It would sting, but it would teach him not to tease her. Smiling innocently as she pressed the paste against his last burn. Standing she sighed and looked around. knowing food was needed, she grabbed the bow off of her back and looked around. Hearing Ryker talk to Cion, she nodded. "Yes. Watch them, I will be back with food." she said, and was off in the woods once again. This time, it was about ten minutes she returned with a skinned and skewered animal in hand. Moving to make a fire, she hummed to herself as she did, and then once it was moving well, she made a stand for the skewer, and balanced the meat on it. "Food is cooking and will be done shortly."

Hibiki felt a powerful headache setting in now, from all that had happened. He could tell a lot was going on around him, but right now, most of it was a mass of moving shapes and blurs. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the cave once more. That power...he had not known what he was doing really, it had kind of just...happened. A sigh escaped him, as he slowly sat up again. The others were talking not to far away. Ryker was talking to Cion, telling him if anything happened to protect him. Hibiki looked away, feeling slightly like a burden once more. He glanced down at his hands, taking a breath. He did not know what was going on with him, but if it was something he could use to be helpful, he would do it.

Although, that would mean he would have to get better at it. He needed to get some training in, as had been suggested before. He made a note to himself to slip away once everyone was asleep or occupied. He would take care of things then. One step at a time, he would learn to use...whatever this was. He glanced at the others, and gave a slight nod to himself. Laying back, he looked up at the sky. A more determined look was beginning to take up in his eyes, as the headache slowly cleared a bit. He was determined now not to make everyone worry about him, or feel as if they had to watch his every move like babysitting. He wanted to be useful, and in this fight, he would have to be. People were counting on him.

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Everyone got out, that was good. Cion was still not to happy about being used as a crash dummy and a shield of sorts though. That number two had better be prepared for a little payback. He hovered near Hibiki for awhile, watching as the other did not look to healthy. Doing a quick scan of his body, Cion noted the strain upon his mind, which was a lot of the source of his experimentation. He floated over to the others after a bit, and now is when Ryker decided to pop another quip. His eye narrowed, as he jabbed an arm like appendage at him. "Nothing gets past my sensors old timer, besides" he tapped his faceplate again, "I've already set up a series of blue and redlight cloaking over us. Do to our advancements in science and technology, the lighting patterns will make this clearing and everything in it look like nothing more than nature to everything but those I choose." He smiled, "for example..." he looked to Ryker.

After a moment, everything within the clearing would vanish like it was never there in front of the man's eyes. It would be as if he was standing in the clearing alone. Moments later, things would appear once more. "Fullproof, and with you around that covers hiding our smell to...whew" he waved a hand in front of his faceplate, though he did not have a nose to begin with. When number Eight came back, he floated over to her. "You know herbs and plants right?" he gave her a small list of a few that would help with the ailments everyone was experiencing for the moment. Including one that would help take the strain and pressure off of Hibiki's mind. With that, he turned away to make a round around the clearing to make sure it was safe.

A look of relief washed over Masuyo’s face when Ryker woke and seemed to be doing better. She could feel herself blush slightly as she overheard what Ryker was saying to Chumana. Turning away from the pair she set herself to work. The younger woman would probably end up scolding her for not taking it easy, but sitting still just wasn’t something felt she could do right now. Since Chumana went to hunt she would stay nearby to gather some of the berries and vegetation she knew would be edible for them to have with the meat. The woman was only gone for a little while, but it appeared that Chumana had made a faster trip than she had. The fire was made and the meat already cooking.

Walking over the fire she removed her satchel taking out the berries she managed to find nearby. She used some of the water in her canteen to wash them off. Once finished she placed them on a large leaf close the fire. Masuyo moved away, sitting away from the others. Her eyes scanned over the group, one thing was for sure they were an odd bunch to say the least. Her gaze stopped on each person as she recalled the information that Cion had given them. When her eyes landed on Ryker they lingered a bit longer than on the others. After a few moments she let herself fall back into the soft grass, letting out a sigh. Things had already changed so much in the last 24 hours. One thing was for sure and that was she was no longer alone and there were a couple people around who wouldn't let her forget that.

"Hey now, scrappy, I was sprayed with poison. Do you expect the scent of burning flesh to be sweet and delicious? Of course not. Unless... unless you're a man eating ro'bit!" A weak laugh pursed his lips before he took in the scent of burning wood. It was nice to have a fire going again. Somehow, between everything that happened, he managed to get cold. Perhaps it was a fever? Rolling closer to the fire, Ryker found himself curling around it. Eyes heavy with exhaustion, he seized this moment to nap. If they needed him, they would wake up. From the looks of things, the ladies and Cion had everything handled.

Eyes shifting toward Alpha, he noticed that the man seemed to be in a similar situation. Clearly being one of the 'firsts' had its major drawbacks. They weren't given body perks such as immunity to poison. Thankfully, the girls seemed to be doing a bang-up job keeping Alpha healthy. He too was drinking the gross water and falling back to nap. Seeing the older male rest, Ryker's eyes fell black as a light nap consumed him.

---

I figured I would lump Alpha into the same boat as Ryker since BoD isn't able to post right now.

"I guess beasts can have varied personalities, just like humans." Sky thought aloud. With Tony gone, and the roasted monsters in front of them, there was only on thing to do. "Are you kidding? Free food!" She said happily. She got up and brought one of the creatures over. "I'm actually relived that Tony wasn't going to hurt us. I really wouldn't want to be up against him."

She looked over at the door, which Tony had sealed shut. "I think it would be best to move. I thought it was safe, but it's obviously not. We should try to move once you feel up to it, but don't rush yourself. I don't need you biting the dust after I finally find another human."

Thistle had move slightly away from Alpha and Chumana so that the Snake beast wouldn’t necessarily go after them. She had notice the robot flying towards the tiger man and heard Chumana curse under her breath. Looking back at the snake beast when she heard for them all to be killed she stood defiantly. Hearing a question posed to her as the beast slid closer to her and rose higher she gripped the pebbles in her hand she was about to reply when the beast answered her own question. When the snake turned around she threw another pebble to get its attention back. She watched as the snake got ready to lunge and was ready for when it happened. Though she didn’t expect to see it go for Alpha instead, seeing this she began to move towards him. Just before she was able to reach him she felt someone grab he wrist and she no longer saw Alpha.

Seeing her new surroundings she stared at the empty space that Alpha had once stood, she heard Chumana say to watch after Hibiki before she left again. Thistle paused for a moment as memories filled her head before she slumped to her knees. She had no idea what had happened to cause this at all. She shook it off though and fast, standing back up again she moved closed to Hibiki and held his arm saying “We’ll be fine as long as I am touching you. I can change both our densities that way if anything gets close.” She looked forwards almost in her own little world wondering what was happening back in the cave and if Alpha was alright. But she was also listening, ready for at any noise to change density to protect them from an attack.

Hearing a noise she instantly changed Hibiki’s density as well as her own. Turning towards the sound she gasped a little, seeing that it was Alpha, Ryker, Masuyo and Chumana. Their densities changed back and she moved towards them saying “Oh, thank heavens you all are alright.” She hadn’t let go of Hibiki though just as a precaution. When Chumana took to taking care of everyone Thistle stood and watched, when she moved to Hibiki, Thistle finally let go of him so that he could get tended to. From there she moved and sat near Alpha, she was just glad he was alright. She knew that she said she wouldn’t get to attached to anyone but he had been the first person she had seen in ages.

Hearing that Ryker was going to build a fire and get food Thistle stood up wanting to help out since she felt kind of useless at the moment. She then watched as Ryker fell over and Masuyo move over to him. She heard Masuyo ask for help with the fire and food and was about to respond when Chumana said that she was going to look for herbs first to help Ryker. Nodding Thistle just said “I think staying her would be best until she gets back.” When Chumana returned with the herbs and made something for Ryker to drink she let out a small sigh. When Ryker was awake again and smiling Thistle smiled as well, she was glad he was alright again. She laughed a little at the conversation the two of them were having it was a moment that she could relate too. When he coughed again she cringed a little and then said “I’m sure we can keep things cover while you take a break, you have already done so much.”

Seeing as Chumana went off to get food, Thistle decided just to go sit back next to him; she wasn’t going to leave him in the situation that he was in. She looked up when Chumana returned again and watched her as she made the fire and began cooking to food. She sat cross legged saying “If you need any help just let me know, I feel like I have done nothing to help since you all arrived here.”

Alphas mind still couldn't get perfectly straight due to the pain in his arm, as he gripped the foul liquid. 'Get a grip you wuss' his internal monologue repeated to himself, as he began to concentrate about the pain, imagining the pain simply impulses traveling up his neck to his brain, being interpreted by his receptors, but nothing more than just data. The pain ebbed away. He enjoyed the pain probably secretly, he was never sure why, but it always gave him an excuse to be grumpy, detaching himself from those around him. But when you battle with comrades they become closer, we'll to Alpha they did anyhow.
He took large several loud gulps of the herbal drink, before wiping his lips with his thumb and index finger, and stroking his chin, letting out a satisfying gasp he groaned "ahh, I've drank worse"
Seeing those around him relatively safe, we'll in one piece at least he was less tense, he specifically looked over to Ryker, glad he now appeared okay, and his little Thistle safe too. He closed his eyes gently.
"I think your getting slow Ryker! Next time shift your ass quicker" he chuckled a bit too himself as Ryker began to slip off too.
"So this little Omega lad certainly was a catalyst alright, because he's definitely started something!" He growled out to the group.

"Well, we are getting old, Al. I suppose it only makes sense that we start loosing our luster." Sighing, Ryker let out a yawn. Exhausted, thirsty, and hungry were the first things that came to mind. The battle that they escaped moments before? Yeah, that still lingered on his mind but it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. At least they were safe, or so Cion claimed.

Finding little words left in him, the redhead nudged his way over to Ana. Even if the woman was busy, Ryker didn't want to stray far from her. Her presence was just what he needed. She calmed his nerves and made him feel safe. Perhaps it was that father/daughter bond taking over again? Either way, he shot her a smile before tucking his hands below his head. Lids heavy, he tried to get a quick nap in. It wasn't much, but at least he wasn't exerting more energy than he needed to. His stamina was usually top-notch, but after taking on those burns, it was hard to really purge the body of its fatigue when it was still fighting off the final remains of the poison.

Eyes fluttering open, he spoke to no one. "Why do you suppose they're attacking us. Why do they want us dead?"

The night passed with little more talking, Ryker’s words hanging in the air, making everyone think. They had especially gotten to Hibiki, he kept replaying them in his mind, as he tried to get a bit of sleep. He woke before the others, made sure of it. Standing up, he glanced over them one by one, before glancing at Cion. The little robot was all closed up, to the point where he looked like a very odd egg.

Taking a breath, Hibiki looked out at the wilderness around them. So far, they had been able to keep out of the way of those beasts who had confronted them in the cave the other day. For that, he was thankful. He glanced at Ryker and Alpha, making sure the two of them were still doing ok, after events of the day before as well. His heart had no wavered, he did not want to be a burden to any of them.

He did not look back, as he stepped away from the camp. He moved into the line of trees, past the plants and the sounds of odd animals moving around in the distance. He was on his own now, getting further and further away from the others, but that was alright with him. He wanted this, needed this, he needed to get some training in, and some thinking done. The sun rose overhead, and back at camp, the others were waking.

Chumana went to retrieve food as usual, while Thistle and Masuyo were left behind to look after Alpha and Ryker. The two were doing better, thanks to the herb blend that Cion had asked Chumana to make the night before. The little robot knew his stuff when it came down to it. His battery fully up and running, he uncurled himself from his egg like position and streatched, giving a yawn even though he did not actually breath or need to.

He glanced at the others, then over at the huddle where Hibiki should have been. Seeing the other gone, he glanced over at the others asking where he had gone. It seemed that none of them knew for the moment, and although he had been still a bit sick, Ryker had been thinking of going out to look for him. The girls had made him stay put for now, separating was not the best idea. Now that they were all awake and moving however, it would be better to get a move on.

Packing up what few things they had, the small band moved off into the forest. They had no inkling of where Hibiki had gone to, but Cion’s scans gave them a general direction. They made it along the forest floor with little interruption, though it did not help everyone’s nerves to much. There was always danger lurking around them. Cion stopped within the trees after a moment, pointing through them.

“There’s an abandoned city up ahead…from my readings..I’m picking up two more experiments over there to” he turned to the others, “and Hibiki” he added. The two he was referring to, was Leila and Sky, who at this point, seemed to be being stalked by the beast man they had run into the other day. The man was keeping to the roofs for now, but he was not bothering to hide his presence as the girls were out looking for more of anything useful within the city.

They were not to far from Hibiki, who was in an old abandoned car lot. He had been there since he had left earlier that morning, and had been doing a lot of training to get familiar with what he could do. His scent would have been easily picked up by the beast man, though it was his choice to tell the females or not. With Cion and the others now reaching the city lines, a quick scan of the city said there were a few things lurking within. Ryker and Alpha both did not seem to like the openness of the area.

It would mean they would be more exposed to whatever happened to try and come at them. At least in the forest, they had a bit of cover. They did all agree that it was good to look for useful items, as well as to stay together. Even if they could not explain it, an odd feeling of being drawn to one another was beginning to surface within each of them. This pull was a bit stronger towards Hibiki, which seemed to help push their fears aside. They were to move on, but none of them noticed something stalking them from up in the sky.

It stayed out of sight among the clouds, a beast with attributes of a bird, but had evolved to a more humanoid form. Its keen eyes allowed it to see the humans below, a smile revealing sharp fangs under its lips. It would be eating well tonight, but for now it would watch and wait, keeping out of sight unnoticed, to see where these humans were going. A smaller mutated crow like bird flew up to its side, and a bit of an exchange was given.

The black bird flew off, in order to alert the queen and Malo, to where the humans were at this point in time. Things were about to get dangerous, and for now, the experiments did not even know.

Cooking the food, Chumana glanced down at Ryker as he moved to her side. Smiling softly, she reached out and ran a hand through his hair as he slept. Such a silly boy. Turning back to her work, she moved her gaze to Thistle and nodded. "Thank you. For now, just keep up your strength and eat this time. We need to be able to move soon. Whatever those beasts want from us, we need to be strong to fight them." she said and then looked down to her father figure as he spoke. "I do not know... All I know is that when people began to cast aside the well being of the animals, wolves became more feral and attacked people with less reason too... Now I would assume its the same thing... We mutated them, they want revenge." she offered wisely, and began passing out food.

Where Hibiki had gone she didn't know, this child seemed solitary and squeamish around all these people. hearing Cion restart himself, she smiled lightly. Hearing his offer for them to move, she checked on everyone and deemed that they were well enough for a move. Though Masuyo worried her most. A splint would need to be fashioned when they made next camp. Carrying her pack on her back, she stayed close to the most injured in the group. She knew the most of healing it seemed and they would need her should anything go south. In all honesty she was a bit tired from the teleporting, but she knew that she had been through more.

The more they moved along together, the more she felt in tune with the people around her. Her connection with Ryker heightened more then she thought it could, but seemed even stronger towards Hibiki, who they were nearing as they stood outside the entrance of a ruined town. Walking with her bow at the ready, the native woman's bare feet tread carefully. Following the robot as he floated towards the area of the two other experiments she looked around. It was always gut retching to return to cities like this. It was cities like this that had caused the problems for her and all people. Now nature was revolting, and seemingly winning. "We need to find Hibiki and those other two soon. Masuyo's leg needs a splint. If she moves it more like this, it wont heal well." she said, her gaze running over the woman in worry. Ryker was attached to her, so she would do everything in her power to keep her safe and well.

The young woman kept to herself most of the night. Everything that had taken place the past two days ran through her mind. The next morning she rose before some of the others. Hibiki was gone, she took a look around near the camp for him. The boy was nowhere to be seen. While looking for him she did find a suitable tree branch on the ground that she could use as a walking stick.

Masuyo found herself sticking close to Ryker while Chumana was gone. Maybe it was because he was the one that saved her the other day or she just felt a connection between them, she wasn’t sure which. While Chumana cooked the woman pulled out one of her daggers and piece of leather. She used the leather to tie the dagger to the walking stick she had found earlier to make it into a spear. At least this way she would have a better weapon to use if needed. As she checked her work she listened to the others.

Once the group began to move she could feel the stiffness in her leg. She pushed forward not wanting to slow them down any further. Masuyo feared she was going to be of little use to the others, but it wouldn’t stop her from doing what she could. Walking along near the others she used the spear to keep her balance. The more they moved into the pen the more uneasy the woman felt. Her eyes moved to those around her wondering if they felt the same. For the most part she stayed silent, getting a feel for her new ‘family’. She looked over at Chumana. “I don’t think a splint is necessary. I’ll be alright, my leg feel better than it did.” Masuyo gave the younger woman a small smile in an attempt to reassure her and the others as well. “She’s right though, we need to find Hibiki and the other two quickly. Being in the open like this isn’t a good thing.” Her hazel gray eyes scanned over their surroundings. For some reason she couldn’t shake her uneasiness.

Varied personalities? Maybe, but I.. we can't really rule out it might be a trap or something. Could be trying to get our trust and then betraying us later. Leila couldn't help but think this, the beasts were the "bad guys" and now all of sudden theres a semi-good or good beast? Leila watched as Sky went over to one of the scorched creatures and brought it over. "I suppose free food it free food! Hehe" Leila looked down at the creature for a moment before looking over to the door. "Well first things first, we need to eat! And don't worry I wont be biting the dust THAT easily."

---

Time Skip

---

Leila woke up to stretching her arms and legs, albeit carefully. She was still sore and was going to be for awhile more. The day before events were flooding through her mind, she felt herself looking over to the two creatures, although one of them was pretty much bones now. Both Sky and Leila had their fill, and surprising it smelled really good, mouth watering even. Leila hadn't had a meal like in weeks or so, it was nice. When Sky started stirring, she looked over to the other girl. "We should start heading out, but first I think we should look for some useful things before we go... and.." Leila pointed over towards the creatures. "We should definitely take us some of that."

It took both Sky and Leila some time to package what the could of the creatures and gather their things, but once they set and ready to go, they looked for another way out, seeing as the front entrance was welded shut. Once outside Leila used an arm to block the sun from her eyes, it so bright to her, the reason unknown. Leila scoured the area, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, no lurking beasts. Leila looked over to Sky "Any idea where we should look for supplies or a new safe to be? I never been in this area before."

Hibiki had managed to slip away from the camp and the others. He had a lot of time to think as he walked through the jungle around their camp. He had really not realized how far he had gone, until the city broke the edge of the forest and opened up the scene before him. His eyes scanned over the area, taking in everything that he could. Was it safe? He was on his own, and he had seen in the day he had been awake, what kind of world this was. He sighed, but decided nothing ventured, nothing gained. He stepped out into the overgroan streets, walking along. It was eerily quiet, but he could even now, feel the presence of things lurking in the dark. Thankfully, they stayed away from him as he walked.

It was not long after this, that he came upon an old car lot. There were plenty of scrap cars here, and it was out of sight. Perfect to get some practice in, though he would have to try not to make to much noise. This...proved harder than he thought. As he began trying to call upon the energy and emotions he had felt both previous times he had used his powers, it had mixed effects. It worked, but only to a point, before things came crashing down. Quite literally at times. He refused to give up however, continuing with his attempts. Once he got the main jist of it, things went a bit easier for him. He learened to concentrate and move things, though the heavier the object, the harder it was for him. He tried a bit of experimenting, such as with what had happened in the cave.

The mental field, it made him curious of what else could be done with it. It also made him laugh a bit and feel foolish. Two days ago, he had been horrified of his powers, now after a few hours of thinking he was curious about just what he could do. It really was somthing. Hours passed, he lost himself in the work, until he was a bit exhausted. Sitting on the hood of an old car, he looked up at the sky overhead. This world....this was really their home now? What had happened, and why could he not remember anything? This did not make sense at all, but he guessed he had to learn to either figure it out, or accept it and move on. Dwelling on it forever would not make him of any use to the others. He sighed, laying back across the hood, folding his arms behind his head.

The others...they were all counting on him because of some stupid message and prophesy left behind by this doctor. What was up with that? What made him special, what made him the one to decide it. He closed his eyes, frowning. Part of him wanted to scream, part of him wanted to run far away. Where would he go? Where could he go? If the entire world really was like this...there was nowhere to run to. Could he really just ditch the others to? He barley knew them, but already, he felt connected to them. Was that real, or just another experimental enhancement? "Aggghhh!" he put his hands over his eyes, clenching them tightly out of frustration. Something shifted nearby, causing him to sit up. He hadn't done that...not even in his emotion state right now...that had not been him.

He slowly stood off of the car, wondering if he should run. But an odd pull had settled in him, and before he knew it, he was moving forward. Smart people ran from danger, not towards it. He should be avoiding this and long gone by now, but he was moving closer and closer towards the stack of cars before him. A blue light began to form around his hands, as his eyes began to glow lightly. He had discovered, he could focus his psychic energy, by concentrating hard enough, he could manifest it like this...though learning to control it was another story still. It did seem to look pretty intimidating at the moment. He took a breath, at the edge of the car pile now. Counting down mentally from three, he prepared himself for whatever might lay beyond this pile.

When he hit one, he did not let himself think, pushing himself forward around the pile, raising a hand. Another hand was raised right at him, inches from his face. An electric like cackle came from it, as sparks of what looked like electricity moved around it. His eyes widened a bit. The hand was attatched to an arm, which was attatched to a man behind it. He looked at the man, he was very handsome. Tall and in black, he had piercing blue eyes, and silver tinted hair. He seemed to glow a bit within the sunlight. The look in his eyes serious, but he paused as he saw the other. Taking a breath, he looks at the other. The man pulled back as this happened, looking at him. A small smile on his lips. "Well well, I was not expecting this" he chuckled lightly.

Hibiki blinked a bit, raising an eyebrow. Who was this man, why did he feel close to him? This was deffinetly odd. The male stepped around him, looking at him a bit as he did so. Hibiki blushed a bit, feeling more like he was on show at the moment. "Who are you?" he asked. The man paused, now in front of him once more. Another smile had formed upon his lips, as he looked right into Hibiki's eyes. "I go by a few names, Bastien...Impulse...others" he said, reaching a hand up, to run his fingers through his hair. "But I am guessing you are looking for another.." he smiled, "you...may call me number three."

We'll he couldn't complain too much for a change, being looked after by Masuyo and Thistle wasn't exactly a horrible experience.
Alpha could feel his pain slipping away, and strength returning to him. His body was able to heal pretty well anyway, but with the others help it was accelerated. Even his awareness had come back to him, now again noticing small details of their situation, plotting tactical routes away from their area, imagining defensive tactics.

He looked at the others around him assessing their conditions, Ryker too was appearing to recover. He listened to Chumana and Thistle, Thistle was always so eager to please and help. Chumana although the younger, he thought would be great for Thistle, someone strong and confident to learn from.

Alphas mind clicked the same time Cion spoke, his stomache gave a lurch when they noticed hibiki gone, he had begun to realise the importance of them remaining as a group, united, any one of them on their own would struggle to survive in the increasing violent world, but if they were to try to make something of this world, being void of each other, well that would be impossible of sure.

Alpha had the same willingness to rush off to try and find Hibiki, but agreed Ryker should wait, they needed to make sure they were prepared first, they would be no good all splitting apart and loosing more people, or offering an easier target for an enemy.

The group made their way through the forest surprisingly easily, the foliage was thick enough they could tell whether anything large enough to pose a threat had moved through recently for was closing in on them. Alpha moved with purpose slightly crouched, his jaw open to aid his hearing, his eyes open wide barely blinking.

They reached the edge of the forest, and could make out the city close by, ruined buildings decrepit, thick vines snaking their way up the sides of exposed apartment blocks, Mother Nature was taking back this land. Ahead of them lay open ground, overgrown storage yards, plots of land that may have previously had warehouses, crumbled flat. Roads cracked open by erupting plants.

Alpha scowled and whispered over to Ryker without taking his eyes off the distance. "Too open Ryker, whatcha think? We need to move to cover and move quick, or wait ages till night"

He tried to keep his mind off Hibiki, or potentially other people out there in the city, and those creatures that could be moving through the debris of the city or slithering through its sewers. Any of those thought may make him rush... Miss something make a mistake, he needed to keep them safe first.

Looking over to Masuyo , and listen to her try to reassure Chumana, he ducked low, and half crawled over to her, keeping his profile low. He frowned at her "you're being stubborn, keep it up, and you'll end up like me" letting out a small smirk as he ended.

"Chumana, Ryker, how you feeling? We need a plan?"
Alpha quickly explained a plan to have Thistle alter and lower Alphas density, and if Masuyo wasn't up to transforming, her too, while Chumana teleported them across the area.

A sitting duck didn't bode well with him. Skin crawling and hair on ends, he moved across the openness around him. He hated it. Thankfully, with openness came vision. If anything was approaching, they would see it. Rather, he would see it. He had trained his eyes to catch movement. A few blades of grass swayed nearby in an unnatural way. Escorting the group away from the rustling, he knew they could make it without exerting themselves. They just needed to be smart about it all.

"Slow and steady wins the race, Al. I'm afraid if I run, I'll only reopen all my wounds. Right now, we can move at a slow pace. We've got our weapons ready. We'll be prepared. And I still have killer reflexes. If something does move on us, I can easily deflect." Shooting the first experiment a wink, his attention returned to the women at his sides. Ana and Masuyo. Whatever would he do without them? "I do think Al's right. We should probably work on wrapping your leg. Best way to prevent more damage. Better safe than sorry, right?" Giving Masuyo a light squeeze, his eyes flitted forward.

What were they going to do? Just keep walking?

Yes. And they did just that.

As they moved into the openness of the planet, Ryker's body started to go into full-on alert mod. Even his ears started to listening for noises and sounds. If anything was out of place, he would signal to the group to run and scattered. Or even, stand and fight. Surely, Cion would prove useful again. After his reboot and rest, the robot had to have something in store for any foes. After all, it was his idea to cross the flatland this way.

Then he stopped. "Let's split. Thistle and Al. You two take the right. Cion and Ana, the center. Masuyo and I shall go left. Branch out far enough so if something does attack, it can't pin us all." He exhaled. "At least this way we won't all die. There's a chance to survive, if things get that ugly." For being the one without plans and brains, Ryker's logic seemed sound. It was better to split up than to be sitting ducks. At least apart they would all have a chance to run and survive.

"Divide and conquer" Al replied to Ryker, and nodded, but every step out away from the tree line, was an extra pound of tension weighing down on them, if he pulled out his knife, he was sure it would cut the air itself, but as he got even lower to the ground and turned to take the left flank across the open ground, he whispered to Ryker "if it all hits the fan though friend, get the girls out of here... Make sure Thistle is safe..." And gave Ryker a brisk tap on his shoulder and continued to monitor the distance for signs of movement

Thistle had slept close to Alpha that night in case he needed anything during the night. Though when she woke up everyone else seemed to up already. She sat up and rubbed her eyes a little, along with everyone else she ate, got ready, and prepared to set out on their journey to find Hibiki.

Time Skip :D

When they reached the outskirts of the forest and the edge of an open space Thistle looked out across it to the abandoned city. She smiled a little saying “Home” to herself more so than to the others. He stared out at the city while she listened to the others talk. Hearing there were two more experiments out there she nodded thinking that that was a good sign. She heard them talk about Masuyo’s leg and how it should be put in a splint. She paused for a moment before she spoke up saying “I could always just change the density of it and fix it up. I mean I did that a lot in the village for the hunters who got injured.” She said this quietly not really wanting to interrupt their conversation.

Though when the conversation switched to that of a plan she looked back out across the land to the city, she couldn’t possibly change their densities for that long without a price. So she was a bit hesitant about the idea. Hearing Ryker mention going as far as they could, Thistle like that better as she could probably deal with a shorter distance. When they started to move out into the open she stayed closer to Alpha and had her hands out ready to change the densities of those closest to her if something happened. When Ryker said they were splitting up she paused for a moment then and looked at him. It did make sense seeing as a single beast couldn’t go after them all. She nodded and waited to move with Alpha.

Hearing Alpha say that if something happened Ryker was supposed to take her a make sure she was safe? Thistle looked at Alpha then said “Oh no, no one is getting left behind. We can all make I know we can.” Her red ribbon blew in front of her face and she swiped it away annoyed before saying “Besides we make a good team and I am not about to lose that. I couldn’t help you once and that is not going to happen again.” She turned to face the rest of the group saying “We should get moving so that we can find Hibiki and the other two before something finds us.”