Anastasia opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Butterflies can't sneeze. She stood up and widened her feet into a defensive stance.

"I hate this horrible place." She grumbled, walking cautiously forward. She could see sunlight reflecting off the leaves at the top of the trees and she headed in that direction. Her hand hovered over the hilt of her large knife just in case she needed it.

Aeon watched them further, standing there with the light reflecting off his silver fur, his two tails twitching in irritation. His icy blue eyes looked silver in this light as well. A silver fox, a very rare breed, yet that's what he was. Silver foxes weren't born very often, but there had been others before him. I'm down here. He thought as he walked towards the girl still sitting on the ground. She looked a lot less harmless, even though he was distrustful of others, he couldn't help his curiosity. A sort of humming sound, almost like a purr, rumbled in his throat as he sniffed the air again and took in both scents. These two would not be easily forgotten by him. He refused to turn back into his Human-Form, and even if he did, he would not be able to talk to them anyway.

Éclair was about to follow Anastasia as the other girl stood up and began taking a few steps ahead. She could hear the soft padding of feet…or were they paws heading straight for her? Turning in the direction of the sound, the sunlight reflecting off the fox’s fur obscured her vision from it for a moment, till she realized that something was coming her way…and that thing happened to be a – well, to her it looked like a wolf. Éclair gasped, and her eyes widened. Trying to crawl backwards, she stumbled. “Oh…my…god,” she whimpered, as she was unarmed and couldn’t protect herself. Not only that, she had no idea what it would do to either her or the girl that found her. Covering her mouth to stifle the sounds of nervousness, she didn’t want it to attack her.

Anastasia turned just as she heard the blond girl gasp.

"...you're afraid of that?" Shat asked suppressing a giggle and pointing to the silver fox. "It's barely even a foot tall!"

She slowly approached and crouched down. "I bet he is just hungry." She said pulling out a small piece of dried meat from her pack and holding it out to the animal.

Aeon stopped in his tracks when the girl edged away from him, her fear and nervousness picked up easily by his highly attuned senses. He sat down and watched the demon girl walk over and pull out a strip of something. It wasn't something he'd ever seen before, but it smelled of meat. He stared at the dried meat for a moment and then looked up at the demon's face, tilting his head to the side as if saying, 'You-really-want-me-to-take-that?'. His tails twitched behind him, a movement that he could never fully control. He watched them for a moment longer before getting back onto his feet and turning away from them. There was still the human he smelled earlier that he had yet to find. He looked back at them, before shaking his head softly and walking away. He hoped they didn't end up following him, that would be a little annoying, though he couldn't voice his concerns.

Anastasia watched the silver creature walk away. She shrugged and popped the meat in her mouth. Only then did she remember her manners. Still chewing on the rough meat she pulled another out of her pack and offered it to the girl. "You want one?" She said between chews.

The trog's eyes narrowed, her scale-covered maw stretching into a grin full of razor sharp teeth. Her flexible tail slowly snaked back and forth as her claws twitched with an eagerness to sink into flesh and blood. "Mm, so my snack turned into a full-sized meal~" she spoke lowly with a growl, taking a step closer to the strange male but stopped when she heard Aeryth speak.

"Xe'ov, Tokage," the girl uttered quickly, causing the trog to stop and glance back to her, "ji het vii t'vupei..." The trogs' language wasn't nearly as dynamic as, say, the English language, but it was extremely helpful in cases where she needed to communicate exclusively with the sadistic flesh-devouring creatures. Each word was drawn out in a low hiss but there was a heavy emphasis on the last term.

Tokage made a growl-like scoff, then turned back to the male. "Qu'suwei."

Stepping forward, Aeryth gave the trog's head a soft pat on the head. "Relax, relax, both of you!" She said with a light and friendly voice, even adding a soft laugh afterwards. "My friend here is just being a bit protective, that's all, especially given the..." As she searched for the right words, she used her hand to gesture to their surroundings. "...you know."

Taking a deep breath, she took another step forward, purposefully getting in between Tokage and the male to make sure she wouldn't try and pounce in the middle of her performance. "Anyways~ we're here only because we're searching for something... My uncle stole something from my father and supposedly fled into these woods in order to escape. As you can guess, he became mesmerized, but somehow found his way out of the woods. He returned to our village still with the after-effects of the daze, but unfortunately he had not in his possession the artifact he stole. I was wondering if perhaps it was dropped somewhere... maybe you've seen it! It's a small ruby-red stone..."

Being a skilled rogue and excellent thief, her sight - like her reptilian companion - was also finely tuned. When the male had transformed, she saw him put a stone into his pouch, one that looked nearly identical to the one she had found. That was of course after she got over the short little shock of a bug thing suddenly transforming into a.. rather cute male. She was hoping she'd be able to get him to pull out that stone so that she could have a closer look, and so that she could prove to Tokage what she'd seen. After all, that's what Tokage had asked for. Qu'suwei... "prove it".

((would someone please give me a short version of what happened?))

Drake folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "You are lying." He didn't like liers, and his brow furrowed as he stood there and looked down at her. "Human's never come in here for any good reason, and you just end up killing yourselves when you cant leave." He took a few steps back. "I've warned you once. Leave."

When they didn't move a sigh escaped him. "If you want something, the truth gets you there faster. Don't lie to me next time." he flicked his wings open, they were getting cramped lying flat on his back. Drake eyed the Trog still wondering why it was here, let alone why it was with a human. He ignored the thought and stared at the girl, waiting to see if she would make up another excuse.

She shook her head quickly as the animal had gone on its merry way and the other girl offered her a piece of meat. Not feeling very hungry, she was still anxious and nervous as to what exactly was going on here. The past events in her head were such a blur. “There’s an inn nearby…does this mean that we’re on the outskirts of a city?” Éclair asked the other girl. She still didn’t know what the other girl’s name was, nor did Éclair introduce herself.

Aeon took off into the brush and made his way to the scent he'd caught eariler. He stopped several feet away, however, as he caught the scent of a Trog as well. He edged his way closer until he could see a human girl standing in front of a Trog and looking up at a tree. Lifting his eyes higher, he saw someone up there and he tilted his head to the side. What in the world was going on? He moved closer until the sun was reflecting off his fur again, but he didn't dare get too close this time. It was too bad he couldn't understand anything they were saying.

"No cities around here." Anastasia said to the girl. "Just a small town. If you want me to show you the way I can. Any excuse to get out of this horrible place is good enough for me." She looked around at the trees as if she expected something to jump out at her. "Otherwise I have something I need to do farther in the woods. You can come with me if you want, but if I was you I would head out of here as fast as you can."

She followed to where the other girl looked. "Well...I wouldn't know what to do by the time I got to the town, or whatever it is." Eclair paused. "On the other hand, I'd probably hinder you more than help you." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. There's just been a lot on my mind. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you. So if you could just please point me in the direction I'm supposed to be going..." she trailed off.

Anastasia looked at the girl for a long moment. "The butterfly cam mesmerize one just as easily as it can mesmerize two, so I doubt that you will be much of a hindrance. If anything we will probably just both end up dead."

She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently. "I don't know who you are, what you are doing here, or whether you are going to stab me in the back as soon as I turn around. I don't know where you should go because I know absolutely nothing about you and I do not know what you want. I am going deeper into the woods this way." She waved her hand vaguely at the trees. "If you want to come that's fine. Frankly I think it would be nice to have some company while I do this fools errand. But it is suicide to come with me. Take my advice. Go to the town. Talk to the innkeeper, maybe he can give you some work. If not, he probably can point you in the direction of someone who needs help."

She shook her head. “I’m unarmed, I’ll admit that. But if I tell you who I am…like I said, you wouldn’t believe me.” Éclair thought for a bit. “Really…I’ve nothing to do. But if you’re going to hunt down this butterfly or wherever it is you’re going to go, I guess I might as well follow along.” The foot tapping didn’t go unnoticed. ’How dare she do that in front of me?’ Éclair had to pull her thoughts back. ’Restrain yourself, Éclair. Nobody is supposed to know who you are, so don’t act like the former princess you’ve been. That life is gone. And now you’re a commoner. Act like it,’ she reminded herself. But the girl was at least nice enough to invite her to follow along. “If it is a suicide mission,” she started, shrugging her shoulders, “then this experience may be worthwhile if we survive it.”

Aeryth blinked, her mouth slightly agape as she stared blankly at the male. He saw through her lie? She thought for sure that her excuse was completely plausible! Half the reason she'd survived this far in life was due to her ability to twist and color her words to the appeal of others, and she trusted very few with the raw truth. Besides, how did she know he wouldn't just say she was crazy or insane for thinking these stones came from or had anything to do with the future?

Behind her, Tokage scoffed and stepped up beside the girl. "How about I kill him~ then if he does have it, we can just take it." She gave a dark, sadistic snicker but was interrupted by a slight smack on the head.

"Toka, no one's killing any one right now." Looking up to the winged male, her lips parted once more, but no words came out. Any other story she'd been able to quickly construct was either too bizarre or too similar to the one she'd just told. He wasn't like any other people she knew, like any of the gullible, ignorant, simple-minded humans she couldn't stand to be around. Perhaps this time, it wouldn't hurt to just lay out her true intention.

"...Look... I saw you put a red stone into your pouch there. If I'm not mistaken, it's very similar to this one here~" Reaching down into her own bag, she pulled out the stone she herself had found, and held it up so that he could see. "But mine came with a bonus. Some guy tried to kill me - needless to say he failed - but he said something about the 'other' stone and about, well... the future..." She stopped, her arm lowering to her side, although she still held her stone tightly. "That's why I would like to know if the stone you have is of the same kind. If that's the other stone that guy was referring to, then maybe I can figure out why he was so set on getting them back."

~*~

finx15: Check the Captain's Log post on the first page for a summary of what's happened so far! :]

Drake let one of his rare smiles show. "See that wasn't so hard now was it?" He reached into his pouch and pulled oh the small red stone. He looked from it to the girl before him. "I knew there was something strange going on when that guy showed up.... You see earlie I found a strangly dressed human wonderin around in here. He was mesmerized but he kept mumbling about some strange stone and well, the future. Once I got him to leave I found this on the ground, I assume it was what he was babbling about." his wings twitched on his back so drake folded themup once more, he wasn't sure what the human before him would think of them, he had never met a human that wasn't masmerized before.

"so what exactly are you going to do with your stone?" he asked as the hits on his neck stood up. Damn... More people are in the forest. Why all of the sudden do people want to cause trouble? he though with a sigh.

Aeon watched the girl talk to the fae for a while and eventually yawned. It was a soft sound, barely noticable by most people, but he sat still and kept watching them. The fae seemed to pull some red stone or something out of a pouch and his head tilted to the side. It was a very beautiful looking stone, and if he felt so inclined, he would try to take it, but that wasn't the kind of thing he did. He was no thief, and he really had no business here, except for his curiosity. After a moment, he walked out into the little clearing, but still he kept his distance from the girl and the Trog. But having moved so suddenly, he was revealing his presence to them.

Finx finished walking home and entered her house to find it emty. *mother must have gone out* she thought *great know im home alone.* She sighed and put the stuff she had bought away and planted herself in one of the chiars in there den.

"Ok mystery girl. Lets go." Anastasia said as she headed off in the direction the silver fox had taken. "My name is Anastasia, but most people call me Ana."

She looked from side to side nervously. "If you do see a butterfly tell me immediately." Her voice was hushed as she said it as if by keeping quiet she could keep away the creature. "And don't stab me in the back... If you do, make sure you do a good enough job that I can't get up and come after you. Things could get unpleasant for both of us if that happened."

After walking through the forest for a while Anastasia heard voices in the distance. She looked back at her companion. "Shall we investigate?"

Her mood wasn’t getting any better and being transported to an unknown place wasn’t getting any funner for that matter. “My name is Éclair,” she stated. “Why do you keep asking me if I’m going to try to stab you in the back? I’ve been unarmed since you found me in the first place.” At Anastasia’s suggestion to investigate, she shared a glance with the girl, and without a word, started moving forward toward the sounds.

((Quite pathetic but I'm babysitting and can't think.))

"You are behind me... so where else would you stab me?" Anastasia said. "Some people hide weapons in their cloths."

She paused for a second, looking at Éclair. "Lets just say that I've had some unpleasant experiences in the past. So I don't trust people on sight. You seem nice enough though. Maybe a little odd, but I don't think you look like the violent type."

Anastasia turned and continued towards the sounds from up ahead. She saw a boy and girl talking with each other. Stepping closer Ana stopped sharply in mid-motion as she saw the Trog. She jumped back and uttered a soft "Shit, shit shit!" Her mother had been killed by Trogs. Ana hated the creatures, but she was also terrified of them. She had her knife in her shaking hand without even noticing that she had grabbed it.

She backed up, not wanting to get any closer to the vile creature, when her brain finally began to work. There were two people with the Trog. It could have them ripped apart and eating their insides by now. Anastasia could not let that happen again. She had failed to save her mother, she would not fail these strangers.

Glancing to the sky Anastasia whistled loud and sharp, calling any nearby hawks to her. Not waiting for their response she looked back at her companion once. Said "I'm sorry... but I have to do this." And charged towards the Trog with her long knife drawn.

((Its cool. I've been crazy busy too and haven't been able to post as much as I want to either.))

Aeon noticed the two girls from earlier as they approached and all his instincts were on high alert. Backing up into the brush a little he began his transformation, taking note of the fact that one girl had drawn a weapon. He simply could not stay in fox-form if she was going to attack. Though, why he was helping this girl and the Trog, he didn't really know, but sometimes he simply acted. It had been that way most of his life.

Once he was fully in human-form, he jumped out, dragging one of his own weapons out of their hidden places and stood in the girl's way. Silver-white hair fell into his icy-blue eyes, and his stance wasn't simply defensive, it was instinctual. Anyone could tell by looking that he had spent many years living on instinct alone. Aeon let out a sharp breath as he stared into the eyes of the demon girl.

Drake's eyes got wide when two new people suddenly showed up. The white haired male was the shifter, Drake had noticed him in the tress a little bit ago, but the demon woman was new. Instinctively, Drake grabbed the girl he had been talking to, by the arm and pulled her behind him in a protective manor. As much as she was starting to get on his nerves, he didn't want her killed. He looked down at the Trog. He himself had nothing against the creature, but he knew most other beings held a high distaste for them. When he saw the shifter and the demon with weapons his wings began to twitch. He was supposed to keep people out of the forest why were they all here?
"You all need to leave, Now!" He said in a voice loud and deep enough for them all to hear. His eye brow was twitching as he fought the urge to just call one of the butterflies to mesmerize them all.

"Well, in my defense, I find it rather easy to beat boys up. Been doing it all my life," she admitted nonchalantly. "One boy in particular," she added with a whisper. Her thoughts turned to the crown prince that was her former betrothed. 'I wonder what he's doing now,' Eclair wondered as she continued following Anastasia. She hoped he wasn't betrothed to another princess by now, but knowing her demoted status meant that anything could happen, that glimmer of hope quickly disappeared.

Up ahead, when her mind returned to the present, she stopped when Ana stopped. "What? What's wrong?" Her spine stiffened as the reptilian creature was in plain sight. "Another creature? What kind of place is this?" She had never seen a trog before, but the thing certainly looked creepy.

And then Anastasia had let out a high-pitched whistle, causing Eclair to flinch and cover her ears with her hands. The other girl started to run forward "Hey! Hey wait!" she called after her. But she watched as Ana was quickly blocked by another being. "What are you people?!" she cried out, not fully understanding the ways of this part of the world, if it was even a part of the same world her home was from. Without hesitation, she turned to run.