"uuuuugh.." Dria groaned again as she walked behind Adeana, she didn't feel the need to be visible to anyone but her Carrier right now as they were fighting their way through a dense jungle. It was legend that the tribes of Odorian and Arctain ruled this jungle but were at constant war with one another. Though that was mere legend to the Pairah, Dria's race. Adeana was just a human, a slave of sorts to the Pairah. Gifted with the sight to be able to see the Pairah yet cursed to be their companion until they find their broken soul and become whole once again.

"uuuughh." Dria groaned once more before pausing, panting with her head down and hands on her knees. She knew it must be at least two million degrees in the jungle right now.


Adeana sighed and turned slowly. "Groaning wont accomplish anything. And we can't take a break here. We need to make it as far as possible before setting up camp." He said, staring down at her, his voice was somehow soothing to Dria. it was always calm and even. It drove Dria mad because she could never argue with him or even get a rise out of him. "Would it help if I played you a song before we continued?" He didn't have to wait for a response, he knew what she'd say. He found a near by boulder and sat on it, crossing his legs. He brought out his ocarina and began a slow melody. It drift in the low notes with dashes of high ones. The song was subtle and eerie, Dria's favorite.

Dria hadn't noticed her breathing had returned to normal, or that she had straightened herself and began to stare directly at Adeana, his music would forever entrance her. So much so that she easily missed the noise in the bushes coming from behing Adeana.

Senri had been napping under a tree when a strange whistling sound woke him from his deep slumber. He glanced up at the tree branch above him where his lifelong friend Nami was still softly snoring. He stood slowly, deciding to investigate on his own. They were suppose to be on watch, but having to constantly babysit Nami had worn him out and he'd fallen asleep. Something their elders wouldn't be too pleased about.

As he stepped into a small clearing, he froze and starred at the small, pale boy sitting on a large rock holding a strange looking object up to his mouth. He didn't feel the boy posed any sort of threat, considering his size. Senri could sense something else here though, and he wasn't sure if he liked this strange feeling. He sniffed the air curiously as his tail flicked back and forth. He figured he'd take the boy back to the village and see what the elders wanted to do. Strangers weren't welcomed here.

Adeana abruptly stopped playing and turned toward the noise of moving bushes before looking back at Dria to see if she had noticed it, she had but obviously couldn't see anything more than he could. He was about to start playing again when he heard the noise once more and this time when he turned around he was face-to-pelvis with tall, strange man. Slowly, Adeana's eyes traveled up the mans body until he found the others eyes. Adeana blushes red but couldn't find any words to force out of his mouth. Instead, as the large man bent and picked him up he spewed word vomit everywhere, blurting out the first thing to come to his mind. "Please don't kill me.." He clamped a hang over his mouth before he finished the sentence that would have been "Please don't kill me, you're too attractive to be a killer." If Dria found out about his sexuality he would never hear the end of it. Though his problem of being unable to control him blushing face and random word vomit did pose a threat. He glanced over to Dria to see if she'd be any help at all in this awkward situation.

Dria stared blankly at Adeana before looking over the man. She snorted. "Do you see the size of this man? Not even I could take him down. Tough luck champ." He shrugged. "I'll figure something out once he puts you down." She said as she walked with the two, Adeana glared at her slightly for a while before letting his eyes glance up at the man that was carrying him from time to time.

As he made his way through the jungle, he found the tree Nami was so conveniently still sleeping in. He whistled loud enough to make her jump and go crashing down into a bush.

Nami jumped up, ready to yell and throw a tantrum when she realized that Senri was carrying a rather innocent looking boy. "What is that?" She curiously followed him starring at the boy. "What's you're name? Can you talk? Where'd you find it Senri? It's sort of cute! Do we really have to take it back to the village? They probably won't let him off with a warning.." She hadn't realized she'd been rambling as they walked. She'd never seen someone so pale.

"We have to." Senri said simply. It wasn't often that he spoke, but sometimes it was the only way he could get Nami to shut her trap for more than five seconds. He loved her like a sister but sometimes she could get on his nerves.

"Awh, that's such a shame!" She poked the boy's cheek gently, "I've never seen someone so pale. Where are you from?"

"We're from Sarvin. A tribe made of Pairah Elders. Ones that have found their souls already. I'm just a Carrier." He said simply to the woman. He really was bound by Pairah law to not disclose much more information.. even though Dria broke that law all the time. He glanced back up at the man carrying him. "Excuse me, but please put me down. We really don't have time for this." He said.

Dria snorted when the woman joined them. She wondered if these people were from one of the legend tribes. And if so, which one. "Come on Adeana. Like you said we need to go." She whined.

"You weren't concerned about that a minute ago." Adeana retorted. "Why not introduce yourself?" He shot back rudely, knowing it was hard for her to make herself visible and heard.

Dria glared at Adeana. "Shut up." She said, defeated. She knew if she used her energy to appear now then they'd have to rest sooner than they needed to.

"Pairah......Paaairah. Never heard of it. I wonder if our elders know...They don't tell us much about other races." Nami said, "And who are you talking to? And why do you smell so strange?" After she realized she'd been asking far too many questions, she cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, that was rude."

After they'd reached the village, Senri had been told to take him to a holding cell, a hollowed out old tree guarded by four Arctain that kept a constant watch on any prisoners.

"I was talking to..." Adeana sighed. "Never mind." Obviously, the man had ignored his request to be set free. He kept silent the rest of the way and didn't even protest once he was put into a holding cell, instead he whispered to Dria. "Now what?" He asked, glancing over at the four Arctain guarding the only exit and entrance of the cell.

Dria shrugged and stretched out on the floor of the cell. "I don't know. We wait." She said. "I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when night falls." She said with a yawn before rolling over and falling to sleep after a few minutes.

Adeana sighed. He didn't know what to do, and neither did Dria. How were they suppose to get out? He hugged his knees and put his head down, he too had fallen asleep and awoke at dusk. The guards had reduced to just two, meaning their odds looked better at least. He rubbed his eyes and reached over to nudge Dria. "Wake up, its almost night."

Dria yawned and sat up, brushing her bangs out of her face and smoothing down the back of her messy hair before tying it in a lose bun. Once it was dark all around the Dria stood and easily passed through the wall of the cell like a ghost. She then made herself visible, instantly feeling the toll it took on her energy, luckily the nap had helped. She then quietly approached the first guard from behind and knocked him out, feeling no need to kill him. The second guard was alerted and ready to fight. She smirked. She loved people who thought they could take her down. The guard thrust a spear at her and she disappeared, the spear went right through her ghost form and for a second the guard paused at the sudden disappearance of Dria. She then reappeared and grabbed the spear, whipping it around and slamming the pole into the guards head, he hit the ground with a thud. Dria threw the pole to the ground and searched the two guards for a key, neither of them had one. She cursed. Before hearing a noise behind her. She turned to see a small, pink haired girl standing in front of a tall dark haired man. Another fight? Dria stood and straightened herself, saying nothing, but readying herself for what looked like a tough fight. The girl would be easy enough to take out but the man looked skilled enough.

Nymphora had heard that the Arctain had found an outsider wandering through the jungle, and naturally her curiosity had got the better of her and she'd practically sprinted out of the Odorian's village to see if she could catch a glimpse of the so called outsider. It wasn't often someone of another race wandered anywhere near this jungle, and she wasn't about to let the thousand year long dispute between the Arctain and Odorian get in her way of something amazing. It was a lot easier to get passed the guards and make her way into the village, and her eyes widened when she saw the boy sitting inside of the cage. "Oh! Look Palus! It's a boy! How curious, he's so light!" She eagerly crept closer to the cage, ignoring the guards who'd previously been taken out.

Palus however, did not ignore them. "There's something wrong here Nymphora...What happened to these guards?" He stepped over them lightly, unafraid. The whole reason he was risking his neck right now was to make sure Nymphora wasn't torn to pieces by these savages. Interesting though how they seem to have run into trouble themselves. He glanced away from them for a moment to see the boy with jet black hair and hazel eyes. He looked completely harmless. "What was a flea sized runt like him doing in this jungle I wonder...Come on Nymphora, if we're going to do this let's make it quick. Grab the kid and let's get out of here."

Dria had went invisible at the last second. Changing back and forth so many times was taking a serious toll on her energy but she knew it would be worth it. She needed to get to safety, with Adeana. She slowly walking up behind them, not sure why she was trying hard to be so silent as they couldn't see or hear her right now. However, when she heard the comment made by the older male she flipped. Especially, since Adeana looked utterly unphased by the insult. Instantly, her temper burst and she allowed herself full visibility and slammed her boot into the back of the large man. "HOW DARE YOU!" She didn't waste time, as she watched the man fall forward and moved forward to slam the tip of her boot into his rib cage before launching herself through the air at the pink hair girl. "NO ONE TALKS TO HIM LIKE THAT EXCEPT ME!" She screamed, ignoring the fact that she should be quiet. She had landed straight on top of the girl and wrestled her to the ground, placing a firm hand over her throat and squeezing. She fiercely glared down at the little woman, trying to fry her alive with her eyes.

Adeana cleared his throat. "Dria stop. They're here to let us out." He said very nonchalantly. He was leaning against the bars of the little cell and staring up at the ceiling, almost uncaring. "It wouldn't be polite to kill our rescuers." He said, brushing off his jacket.

Dria paused for just a second, finally noticing the set of keys in the girls hands. She released her grasp and stood, not a second to soon either as the man looked as if he had been preparing to murder her. Or at least try to seriously harm her. Dria looked awkwardly back and forth from the girl to the man before turning her face to the side. "..Sorry." She said plainly, picking at her nails absently.

Palus felt his temper raging, and without thinking, he shoved the girl out of the way and grabbed Nymphora's hand, pulling her to her feet. "Most people don't attack those who come to save them, but it's understandable that you'd be startled. Our apologies. I would stop for introductions but I don't think we have time for that right now si-" He froze as a small boy with silver hair and eyes rounded a tree holding a lantern and a tray of what looked to be food. He froze as well and starred back at them in shock.

Palus wasted no time and tackled the boy to the ground, quickly pulling out his knife and holding it to his throat. He growled, "We were never here, got that?"

Toa held back a girly screech and nodded slowly, his entire body trembling in fear. All he wanted to do was bring the prisoner and guards some food. He had absolutely no idea what a couple of Odorians were doing here. "P-please don't kill me." He whispered nervously. And without thinking, he began blurting out words. "T-take me with you! I don't want to live here anymore! J-just don't kill me! I promise I can be useful!"

Dria smirked and folded her arms across his chest. "I like 'im already!" She exclaimed to herself as she watched what the older male had done. She would have done the same thing had she been facing the direction and saw the boy before hand. She turned her head to the pink haired female and stuck out her hand "Dria Vina of Sarvin-Pairah. Whats yo--" She couldn't finish her sentence as she heard something she never thought she'd hear in her lifetime. Adeana had raised his voice to the point where he was yelling, and it had actual emotion behind it. Dria went wide-eyed and stared over at Adeana.

"Let him go!" Adeana had yelled out. He had spotted the boy coming out of the woods before the man had tackled him and had instantly felt his heart skip a beat. He was absolutely adorable. Adeana wanted this boy to come with them. "Let him come with us." He said, his voice a normal tone now. "We could always use extra hands." He paused and averted his eyes to Dria. "Right, Dria?" He noticed then he was pressed up against the bars of the cell, practically trying to squeeze out. He stepped back then and waited to be released.

Dria looked from the boy to Adeana, completely dumbfounded. "uh... yeah sure. I guess. Whatever you say Adeana." She said with a shrug, looking back over to the boy she seriously doubted he'd be any help.

Palus glared down at the boy for a moment, before stepping back. "Filthy savage..." He turned to Nymphora and grabbed her arm, "If you're coming, follow us." He grabbed the keys from Nymphora's hand and tossed them towards Dria. "Introductions are important however. My name is Palus, this is Nymphora."

Toa quickly brushed himself off and hurried to catch up with the group. "M-my name is Toa.." He squeaked nervously. It was obvious Palus didn't like him. But it wasn't surprising. Their tribes didn't exactly see eye to eye. Toa glanced over at the other man with black hair. He gulped, "Th-thank you by the way." He smiled nervously and played with his tail, twirling the hair on the end. It was an old habit of his that wasn't easy to break, since he did so whenever he was frightened or nervous, which was most of the time. He hated being so helpless.

Nymphora hummed a soft tune as they walked, happy to be meeting different people. She could tell Palus wasn't at all happy with the situation, but she could care less about that at the moment.

Dria watched Palus start to walk away. She didn't know why she decided to do as the man said but she turned and unlocked the cell and watched as Adeana practically burst out of the cell, past her, and over to Toa. Dria glared at Adeana and slowly followed. "No. No need to thank me Adeana. I could have just left you in there but no thats okay. I'm just a kind and loving person. Seriously, no need to thank me." She mumbled to herself before she fell to the ground, the keys falling from her hand. Her energy was spent and she was no longer visible.

Adeana rushed to Toa's side. "Did he hurt you?" He asked, keeping pace with him as he looked him over. Adeana was a few inches taller than him, which was surprising since Adeana wasn't very tall. "My names Adeana. I'm a Pairah Carrier from Sarvin." His eyes locked on to Toa's tail but he tried hard not to stare, it wasn't until he heard a thud behind him that he stopped and turned to see Dria on the ground, a slight purple tint around her and told him she was not visible to anyone but him. He sighed and walked over to her and pulled out a small lantern. It seem cliche but after Dria had spent her energy she had to enter a short hibernation-like state. Which meant her ghost-like form would be carried inside a lantern, visible to others as a purple flame. In a few hours she would have enough energy to be let out, but it wouldn't be for another day or so until she could become fully visible to others.

Toa shook his head, "I'm fine." After he watched the purple flame appear in the lantern, he gasped. "That's amazing...Is..Is that..?" He wasn't quite sure of the girl's name, but since she'd disappeared he could only assume it was her. What a strange pair they were, he wanted to know more about them. "I've heard stories of a ghost-like race, but I never imagined the stories were true."

Adeana held just a faint trace of a smile on his face. He wasn't sure why he let his emotions out so easily with Toa but it seemed to come naturally. It frightened him a little because it was so odd. After a second of staring at the purple flame he nodded and continued to walk until they caught up with the other two. "The Pairah are ghost-like though calling them that is rather insulting. They are merely soulless humans but with a much longer life span. They go through many Carrier's, like myself, in their life time and the death of their Carrier is the only time they are allowed to reenter Sarvin. Only Pairah that have reclaimed their souls may enter Sarvin, the holy ground. Dria here, is still searching for hers. I am her third Carrier and shes getting worried she may die before finding her soul. Which explains her attitude problem. Its nothing personal." His voice was even and cool the entire time he spoke. He had been with Dria a for five years now and had grown rather attached to her, even if she was hard to handle. She really was a nice person, inside, deep inside.

Adeana took a moment and looked back and forth from Nymphora to Toa. "I assume you are from the Odorian and Arctain tribes. In Sarvin, your tribes are legends... and lessons. Mockery almost. They use your legend as a way to teach children respect, understanding, reasoning, and peace." He said, not realizing his words could be insulting to them.

Palus cursed under his breath at Adeana's words. "Peace? Make peace with those savages? I should hope not. They're nothing but blind animals who kill for fun. You're lucky enough to still be alive. In Odoris we would have welcomed you." He felt a sharp jab in his side from Nymphora, who looked upset. "Er..Well anyhow, it doesn't matter. The two will never be able to mix. Our views are too far apart."

Nymphora cleared her throat, "Don't mind Palus, he's just a grumpy old man!" She smiled back at the two boys. "It's silly that we all can't get along, but I hope our three races can someday live in peace. That would be nice." She twirled a few long strands of pink hair, "I'm curious though Toa, what's it like living with the Arctain?"

Toa felt his stomach twist into a knot. It was obvious Palus could care less about him, but he was determined to prove that he wasn't at all what he saw. "It's..Well it can be nice. Lonely sometimes though. I don't have any siblings left, and my parents...Aren't always welcoming." He laughed lightly and cleared his throat again, still nervous to be put in the spotlight for a moment. "But it's relaxing, not much goes on in the jungle. At least for me anyway. I'm too small to be a guard or a hunter, so I just help out with other things like taking care of the young before they're sent off on their own."

Adeana stared blankly at the back of Palus, his way of glaring. "Because Toa looks like a savage right?" He countered, though he wasn't interesting in arguing. He sighed silently and held onto the tiny lantern a little tighter. He really wished Dria would find her soul soon so she could be visible all the time. He looked to Nymphora and Toa, avoiding Palus completely. "You're welcome to join us on our journey as long as you like. Dria wants to sail across the Emerald sea. It should be... interesting." He said, glancing down at the faint purple flame. Dria had really tired herself out. He knew it was because she kept switching from visible to not visible. Normally, she could have stayed visible much longer. He really hoped she had learned her lesson.

Adeana shivered then. "How much further until we reach Odoris?" He asked Palus who was keeping a steady pace at the front of the pack, his posture told Adeana that he wasn't in a good mood and was obviously hurrying to get back.

Nymphora's eyes lit up and she spun around, walking backwards while beaming at Adeana, "Oh! That would be so much fun! I love the sea, but traveling across it is one thing I've never done! I'd love to come with you and Dria!" She felt excitement stir in her stomach and she tugged on Palus's arm, "Can we go? Please? Please please PLEAAASE Palus?!"

Palus sighed, "We'll talk more when we get back, which should be soon." He sniffed the air for a moment, "We're about fifteen minutes away from the village." Palus wasn't to pleased by the thought, but he knew Nymphora would never leave him alone about it, or forgive him if he said no. He'd taken her under his wing when she was young, and he thought of her as a daughter. Even though one of her favorite things to do was bug him until he couldn't stand it anymore and had to hold himself back from holding her head underwater. Somehow over the years they'd grown close.

The sound of sailing across an ocean sounded exciting yet unnerving to Toa. He'd never seen the ocean before, but he'd heard about it. "I'd like to go with you too, if that's alright." He wanted to get over this constant fear, and this would be a great way to start.

Once more the faintest trace of a smile graced Adeana's face. He was glad Dria couldn't see him right now. He knew she'd be the only one to notice it. "I'd like that." He responded to Toa, he kept his face forward though his eyes desperately wanted to look at the boy. His mind wondered what the boy's skin felt like and suddenly his hand ached to reach out and hold the others hand. Of course he wouldn't though. That would be absurd. But maybe one day, maybe if the boy showed signs that he was also interested in the same sex. Though as Adeana thought on it more he knew it was likely that he was because Toa wasn't very tall, he was also thin and fragile looking, and also very shy and quiet. He had a hard time picturing Toa with a female.

Nymphora spun around in circles as she walked, causing Toa to question her sanity. He twirled his tail in his hand nervously, expecting her to fall and hurt herself. But to his amazement, she hoped over sticks and rocks as if they weren't even there. Feeling dizzy from watching her spin, he turned back to Adeana, "So, could you tell me more about the ocean? I've never seen it before." He hoped that maybe they could become friends. Adeana had a cool vibe about him, that helped calm his nerves. He'd never been around anyone that had that same effect. Then again, he'd never been away from the village where 'calm' and 'relaxation' didn't exist.

Adeana was silent a moment as he watched the purple flame flicker. Dria knows her limits but insists on pushing them none the less. He lifted his eyes from the flame and onto Toa after a moment. "It is much how you would picture it really. Vast. Blue. Beautiful but unforgiving." He was silent a moment longer as he watched Nymphora spin around and around. He knew Dria was not likely to get along with this girl. "I hope our traveling across it goes unburdened. We don't have many extra funds for ship repairs." He sighed slightly, mostly he had been speaking his thoughts allowed. Something he didn't often do because it usually resulted in sarcastic comments from Dria. He smiled slightly then at Toa, "Are you nervous?" He asked, though he already knew the answer from his body language.