As Eleanor glared at Nyx, the woman shrugged as though it had been a complete accident, though the look in her eyes gave way that it was far from that. She then looked back down at the man she had toppled over; his silence wasn't expected.

"Sorry," she muttered, pulling herself up as she offered the male a hand up. He seemed distracted though, not only did the silence continue but the humor was gone from his face.

He didn't say anything as to what was bothering him other than apologizing, thanking them for their hospitality and running off. The confusion was clear on Eleanor's face as she looked back at Nyx.

"What? I didn't know that was going to happen," she said, the tone of her voice clearly saying she regretted what happened.

Eleanor let out a sigh as one of the twins grabbed her shirt, tugging on it.

"Eleanor," she cried. "Where he go?" It was when she looked around that she saw how shocked everyone around them looked, some even seemed upset by the man's sudden disappearance.

Kneeling down in front of Zoe, she ran a hand through the child's already messy hair, checking for dye after the fact, though she was safe. Cupping the girl's cheek in her hand she said, "I'll get him back, don't worry." The child nodded, her eyes looking so close to bursting anytime soon.

As she started making her way towards the main room, Nyx ran up to her. "Eleanor, I'll go with you," she said, her voice earnest.

Without stopping, the brunette shook her head before saying, "I need you to see if you can clean up the mess in the other room."

Nyx didn't argue the point further, knowing it was pointless.

Eleanor grabbed a few pieces of fabric scraps that had been left behind, opening the brightly colored vest, she shoved the fabric into one of the interior pockets before zipping it back up.

As she got to the entrance of the cave, she saw the door still open so as she passed through, she made sure to close it. Not knowing what way the man would have gone, though a voice from the side spoke up. "The guy you brought in went straight if you're looking for him," Sabine said, though she didn't seem entirely concerned. With a nod, Eleanor started her venture off in that direction.

The darkness was quick to envelope the woman as she made her way through the trees as quick as she could without any sort of enhanced sight. "Hawk," she yelled every so often, though the call never got a response.

A couple of hunting parties had gone to check on her but she dismissed them, telling her she would handle this and that she was fine. One did tell her that they saw someone heading out from the cave not too much before they saw her and she went in the direction they said they saw it.

She was starting to grow frustrated when her foot caught something on the ground, sending her down. Once the air returned to her lungs, it dawned on the woman that what she had landed on wasn't rough or hard like a rock or log, but rather much softer and warmer.

Eyes widening, she pulled herself back, her hand gingerly reaching down. Though her night vision was standard, she could easily make out the brunette's features at this close of a distance. "Hawk?" She questioned slowly anyway. "You ok?"

He hadn't realized how long he had been sitting there numb on the ground with that scarf tucked neatly in his hand. If he could have, he would have frozen time. No, he would have turned back the clock's hands to undo everything. He never would have come here. He never would have gotten injured. Hell, he would spin the time back so far to the point where he could beg Aleu not to leave for her top secret mission.

But Nieko wasn't a time wizard. He was a fire bending Valsozn. Capable of flight and unleashing torrents of fire on unsuspecting enemies. Time travel wasn't in the cards he was dealt.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, he missed the sounds of someone coming through the woods. If he were on his A-game, he would have heard her coming from a mile away, but with his current state of mind, the world around him was numb and cold. He felt nothing but sorrow and perhaps shame.

When her body collided with his, Nieko's first instinct was to draw out the blades from behind his ears to attack his assaulter. Only, when he heard her voice, he slipped the curved blade back behind his ears. He was glad he didn't summon his dual blades; that would have been an obvious giveaway that he was indeed not your everyday average human.

"I'm fine," he responded semi-coldly. He wasn't really in the mood to chit-chat. Had the situation not been linked to his father, he would have been overjoyed to know that Eleanor came to find him. Hell, he might have even kissed her. Scratch that, he would have definitely kissed her. However, with his mind still fretting over the damaged scarf, he just couldn't bring himself to blush or even make a joke, let alone flirt.

Collecting himself, he pulled his legs to his chest as he turned away from the woman. Plopping his head on his knees, he let out a depressing sigh.

"You're better off just leaving me out here. I'll only cause you more trouble. Wouldn't want that. You have enough on your hands trying to tend to and protect those people." Every word that came from his mouth was dry and flat. That usual charming tease was no longer there. Then came that unexpected taunt. "Besides, who's to say I wouldn't kill you while all your pets are away?" There was a bitter undertone as he spoke.

After a bit of silence, his head shifted to gaze over his shoulder. The moon, previously hidden beneath a lair of clouds, finally showed herself. As she did, her silver rays illuminated Nieko's green gaze. There was something very feral in that jaded glare of his. Though, the longer her stared at her, the softer his gaze became. Then, before she knew it, a pair of sad, broken eyes were slipping away. His hand shifted and clung to his scarf to the point where his knuckles turned white.

"I ruined the one thing my father told me to protect. What kind of man am I if I can't keep a simple scarf safe?" The frown on his face clear as day in the moon's light. His voice quivered and, if Eleanor looked hard enough, she could see streaks running down his pink-stained face--a surefire sign that the man was deeply upset by what had transpired. Could he really be a killer if he was so distraught about a stupid little stain on a scarf?

When the male muttered a cheap 'I'm fine' and turned away from her, Eleanor inwardly rolled her eyes, casting a glance to the sky asking whatever power watched over them, what she did to be the one to have to handle these sort of situations every time. She moved closer to the male, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder as she knelt next to him and as much as she didn't want to say it, she said, "And if I come back without you, I'll have an onslaught of crying children on my hands."

It was when he talked about the possibility of killing her while her 'pets' were away. In this situation, she chose to ignore that part and said, "I'm a lot harder to kill than you may think." There was a harsh seriousness in her eyes as she said that, not the usual dull color, but almost like a firm affirmation to what she had just said.

The look in the male's eyes almost caught her off guard, though the harsh look he had soon faded to something more kind before shattering all together. Her gaze fell to what those larger hands held onto so lightly and it was what he had to say next that put all the pieces into place.

Letting out a slowly breath, she moved her hand from his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, pulling him against her as she shifted so that she sat firmly on the ground.

"But you did keep it safe," she said, her voice oddly soft as though she were taking care of the twins rather than this strange man that she brought in the day before. "Would your father want you to protect something against your own memories? You're adding more memories, hopefully pleasant ones, to something that means a lot to you."

At some point the woman had wrapped her other arm around the man, her hand rubbing his back.

At her words, Nieko found himself dumbfounded. "Heh," the tears on his cheeks seemed to fade, "people always amaze me. Thinking of things in a perspective I hadn't considered. It's.. it's people that restore my faith in the world. Despite whatever past you have, you continue to instill hope in others."

Taking her hand into his, he allowed the woman to feel the plush fabric. It was neither warm nor cold, holding a very cool yet pleasant feel to it. "I haven't seen my father in years. He... he walked out of my life when I turned seven. I... I never saw him again." Worry clung to his eyes as his gaze moved to the clouds above. "I know he's not out there but I like to believe he could be." His chest raised as he took in a shallow breath. "And I know nothing of my mother. I was raised by a teacher at the academy. Then, well, I started follow someone else around. He took me under his wing and trained me. Everything I am today is because of him. My father's wisdom grounds me. My friend's strength is what causes me to rise when others would surely fall."

When their hands collided, nervously pulled his hand away and ran it through his hair. When the moon finally emerged from behind the clouds, her rays cast their white light on his trembling hands. He was shaking? Why?

With her hand still rubbing his back, his blush returned. "Do you believe in fate?" He knew it an odd question to ask, but he had to know. Aleu always spoke about how things happened for a reason. Was it his destiny to be in that cave when it crumbled? Was it his destiny to meet this woman? For so long, he thought the only path he could walk was the one behind Rroy. But now, for the first time in forever, he felt he could walk his own path. Instead of being the shadow to the man he idolized, he could now walk beside him rather than behind. And somehow he knew that this woman, Eleanor, was the catalyst that would bring about his change. His metamorphosis.

Smile growing on his face, he playfully nuzzled his cheek against hers. It was supposed to be an innocent, sweet gesture but the second he pulled his cheek away, he realized his mistake.

"Uh...." Beads of sweat grew on his forehead. "I... uh...." He swallowed hard. He needed to be a man about this. Stuttering and stumbling would only make things worse. His free hand rubbed his neck while his eyes twisted away from her reassuring gaze. "I... I might have forgotten something." The sheepish smile on his face reflected the guilt it wore in his green orbs. "You know, that... pink problem." He grinned at her, every bit hesitant about his actions. "Well," he rolled his eyes, "you might have that same problem... just on a... smaller... scale?" His grin contorted, slipping to the side to reveal his nervous side grin. The pink on his face didn't help, just making him look all the more ridiculous.

"I can fix it though!" Immediately, he jumped to his feet. "It'll tie in nicely to my abrupt leave. Just," his eyes darted around the area, "wait here. I'll be right back."

He didn't wait for her to respond one way or another. He took off in the shadows and seemed to have perfect night vision. How it was possible was beyond even him, though he knew it had something to do with his ability to control fire.

No more than a minute later did he return. There in his hands was a bouquet of flowers. They were a creamy white color with ivy leaves weaved between them. "With everyone making their dresses and outfits, you didn't get a chance to grab your own supplies. After seeing the pink on your vest, I ran off to find a solution."

The hand that was behind his back slowly circled out from behind. There, in the middle was a rare pink flower, similar to the pink that tainted their skin and clothing.

"Its rumored to bloom when a new heir has been found. I... I don't know a lot of the lore behind it but whatever it is, I know it's tied to something important."

Handing her the flower, Nieko circled around her backside. "Mind if I do your hair up?" He glanced at the flowers he still held in his other hand. "Just a loose braid. Nothing fancy. I'll weave the flowers into it. Then, when I'm doing, I'll put that bigger one toward the top."

His eyes closed as he gave her a soft smile. If she agreed to it, he would take no more than ten minutes to do her up. Then, they could be on their way back to the cave. If she declined, he would just put the flowers in his own hair.

Eleanor said nothing as the male talked; when he grabbed her hand, her gaze fell down to him as he spoke, her hand feeling the item he had kept so hidden within his grasp. She could understand why he was so protective about the object, though she couldn't say that she could relate to it since she couldn't recall much of anything before being taken to the facility. To have something to remember those that cared for you though, she knew many of the others wished they were in the same boat as this man.

Hawk suddenly pulled his hand back as his fingers brushed it, she looked at him confused as she asked if she believed in fate. Eleanor was silent for a few minutes, thinking the question over before saying, "No, I don't. I would hardly think it was in my cards to wind up out in a cave in the middle of a forest, fighting not only for my life, but the lives of so many others." She then shook her head before adding, "We write our own fates. Nothing is predestined for us, if it was, fate has a sick sense of humor."

Shortly after her answer, the man nuzzled her cheek, though she didn't push him away or reject it outright; somewhere in her mind she felt like she was still comforting one of the children, or even Melik for he too had interesting habits when it came to coping. She rose a brow as the man pulled away suddenly, stuttering as he spoke.

When he spoke about the issue with the pink goo, she pulled back enough to look at her vest. Shaking her head she dismissively said, "It's just clothing. It's not like it effects how warm it keeps me."

She was about to open the vest to pull out the fabric she brought as a makeshift washcloth when he said he had something to fix it and vanished into the night. She wasn't sure how he had managed to wander off so easily, even she had a hard time seeing in the dark.

He wasn't gone all that long later and as he came into view, he held pale colored flowers in his hand. Eleanor rose a brow; how was this supposed to help? "I didn't have the intention of taking part," she said when he was talking about how she hadn't had a chance to get her own supplies.

"A new heir?" The woman asked confused as she looked at the flower. She had never been too versed on nature, it wasn't her forte, not before the facility that she could remember and not after. She took the flower looking at it; she never usually went out on patrols, especially nightly ones, so it was her first time seeing it.

She turned her head back when he asked about doing her hair up; it was still tied up in its usual black ribbon and unlike Hawk's scarf, it had no fancy meaning. She opened her mouth to tell him not to bother when she recalled the look that Zoe had given her before she left. "Very well," she said with a slow sigh as she reached back with her free hand and tugged on the ribbon, pulling it free, letting her brown locks fall down just past her shoulders.

A surprise gasp purred from between his lips. He wasn't expecting this! Not wanting to ask again and have her say no, Nieko took a seat behind the woman and went to work. It wasn't difficult for he had done stuff like this time and time again. He loved brushing Varun's long, luscious navy locks. He also enjoyed styling Arvin's hair from time to time. If Fritz had cared more about his looks, Nieko had a few ideas on how to fix that too.

As his fingers combed her hair, the brunette smirked. "Sometimes I forget what it's like to receive the affection." His comment came out of nowhere but he soon explained what he meant. "I've never been in-charge of things, but I'm almost always the right-hand man. I'm constantly coddling to people and doing everything I can to keep the team together." His hands danced down her spine as he finished off the braid. Laying his hands in his lap, he worked on peeling the leaves from the flowers before he would don her braid with them. "I don't always travel alone. Sometimes I go places with my friends. Those are usually the most dangerous of trips. The kind of journey were you want an extra set of eyes. Sometimes we find ourselves in the mist of chaos. And, in that chaos, comes the loss of the mind. I often have to come in and play the savior, the protector." His hands finally moved to her hair again. He let out a sigh. "It's odd to actually be the one that needs protecting. The one that needs to rely on another. I wouldn't say I'm a loner but I've never really needed someone, sans one time."

While weaving the flowers into her hair, he shared a bit of his back story with the woman. He saw no harm in sharing it for it wouldn't incriminate him or anything.

"We were on this one trip. Oh was it incredible. I had never seen a view so beautiful. And yet, it was extremely dangerous. We were wandering into the dragon's maw. I... I follow this one guy around who's--" he wet his lips "more or less an assassin. Perhaps bounty hunter sounds nicer but there's nothing nice about what he does. He lets me follow him. He's one of my muses. Well, I...."

He finished with the flowers on the back. Slowly, he shifted his weight around to sit on her front side. Kneeling so he was able to get a good angle of hair, he let his gaze lock with hers.

"I did something stupid. I wasn't paying attention and I walked right into the enemy's assault. They used old-fashioned weapons and I didn't see it coming. Had he not been there, I...." His brows knit together. "He lost his right arm for me. I'd never had anyone do that for me ever. It inspired something within me to want to try harder. To learn more. I know our world has many mysteries. I want to discover them and share the facts I find. But I also want to term the sometimes dark truths into stories that will make people seek out the light. Give them hope."

Leaning back, he rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I think that'll work." Rising, he offered the woman a hand. "We're near that stream where I collapsed. If you want to see what it looks like before we head in, now would be the time." Nieko took his thumb to his tongue. Wetting it, he ran it over his cheek before stepping closer to Eleanor. "One pink cheek looks a little weird. Mind if I turn the other one a bit pink so it looks like you're wearing blush?"

While they walked to either the water's edge or the cave, he went back to his story. "I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you. I know I'm a burden. I swear, I'll leave as soon as you think I'm ready to go. But, until then, please let me help you. You're a lot like the friend I spoke of--willing to sacrifice it all for those you love. But you can't do it alone. You need someone to catch you when you fall and to help dry your tears when bad luck comes your way." Playfully, he walked into her. "I make a pretty good number two," Nieko flitted his lashes at her, "if you're hiring." Poking his tongue out, he gave Eleanor a wink.

Hawk seemed to have definitely picked himself up after having run out of the cave. He was back to just talking and at that point, Eleanor wasn't about to interrupt him. What he was saying seemed to put him in a better mood and she didn't want to tell him that she didn't ask for everyone following her and how she rather would have been alone. Yet, even she couldn't deny that if it was between her protecting everyone and everyone falling prey to whatever waited for them, well, she wasn't about to just up and let a bunch of people meet horrible fates.

The brunette worked with practiced hands; he didn't seem to fumble or trip over what he was doing as he spoke, rather it appeared like he had done this many times before. It was then that the woman decided to speak up for a moment. "Do all aspiring writers choose to put themselves into such dangerous situations?" It seemed odd that, even with friends, he would put himself into such a spot; writers didn't seem the type to be able to defend themselves very well.

He had finished the braid and started working on something else with her hair, probably weaving the flowers in at this point, but for all she knew it could have been sticks (though the twins would argue those were just as lovely as flowers).

From the way he spoke, she wasn't the first person he's chose to tag along with for a story. As he moved back before her, her eyes watched him as he continued his tale. Her mouth formed a thin line as he spoke about wandering into the enemy assault which resulted in the person he was with getting hurt. That bit bothered her a bit, just as him trying to find a way to get people to accept the mysteries the world had to offer; unfortunately for her and the others in the cave, not many would so easily accept the twins or many of the others that made up the hunting parties.

Once he stood, he offered a hand down to her, one Eleanor actually accepted, though once she was up her brow rose skeptically. Unzipping her vest, she pulled out the scraps of fabric she had tucked away and said, "I was thinking, maybe we see if we can get some of that pink off rather than spreading it."

As the got to the stream, the woman knelt at its banks, ushering the male down beside her. Setting the scraps next to her, she submerged one into the cool waters and said, "If you keep this up, I don't think the others will let me tell you to leave." Pulling it out, she let the fabric drip as she lifted up on her knees a bit before pressing the cloth to the side of the male's face. "Well," she said, her eyes focused on trying to clean up the dye as best as she could with limited lighting from the moon. "Something tells me, I'm more likely to get you into trouble than you are me." Her eyes then fell on him as she said, "But if that happens and you can somehow convince me to let you help and things turn out well, well, let's say I wouldn't be upset." Her eyes then fell back to his cheek, not entirely sure if she was actually making any progress.

Resting back on her heels, Eleanor dipped the cloth in once again, wringing out the water a few times before she was happy with it. "It wouldn't be the first time someone made me eat my words on working along," she said quieter as she turned back to Hawk.

He scoffed. "Only the writers that want to be famous." He followed that comment up with a wink. At her comment about removing the pink, he gave her a wide grin. Less pink would be nice, though no pink would be ideal. He wasn't sure if that was possible so he would take what he could.

"Awww," his hand fell on his heart, "am I winning the kiddies over. I've always had a soft spot for them. I hope to have seventeen of my own some day." There was a light laugh. "Kidding. Seventeen is a bit ridiculous. Maybe two." He didn't expect Eleanor to share her desire to start a family so he didn't press the issue.

"You? Getting me into trouble? Ha," his face moved closer to hers. Their noses were nearly an inch apart. "I wouldn't complain." A slow, teasing wink followed before he drew his head back and allowed the woman to pat away the pink. He had no idea if it was working but he did notice that the cloth appeared more pink than before. It had to be pulling something off!

"Hey now," he seized her hand and turned her body back toward his, "you better watch what you say, my lady. Or else you might find you have a new partner." Wiggling his brows, the brunette purred. "I'll let you decide what kind of partner I am though." Releasing her hand, he pulled his sleeve into his palm. Dipping in the water, he slowly raised it to dab the small pink mark on her cheek. With a soft pat-pat he pulled the dye from her cheeks. It wasn't that same bright color and, with another wash tomorrow, none would know the dye even existed.

"There, pretty as ever." She received one of his charming, flirty grins. "And to think, it didn't take me that long to get you all to myself." His usual wink didn't follow as a seductive look in his eyes took over.

"If we're being all honest though," he dipped into a light bow, "I should begin by properly introducing myself. My friends call me Hawk but my true name is Nieko Colte." Pulling up from his bow, he gave Eleanor one of his sweet grins. "And although I'm both an story writer and an adventurer, I was a soldier prior to taking up this new lifestyle. I've seen a lot of things. Dark things. It's what spurred my desire to explore and learn more. War... war is messy. It always starts because of a difference or fear. I want to know how to prevent it. To stop it. So I explore and immerse myself in a new culture. I don't know your story--what you're running from, what you're hiding, or why you're living in a cave--but, if given the chance, I would very much like to learn your story. Who knows, perhaps I can help. I've made a difference in the past. Perhaps I can do it again."

As she continued to work at the dye, she shook her head slowly. "The Twins especially, seem to like you," she said as she pulled away while he laughed. At his comment about having kids, her eyes widened slightly at the idea of seventeen children; she couldn't imagine the work behind that. He quickly corrected himself by saying two would be good. The brunette only nodded, the idea of having a family never had crossed her mind, it usually wasn't something one thought about when the people who loved either vanished from history, died or were under the constant threat of being killed. No, once this was done, she was more than happy to find a nice quiet place to live and see how things played out then.

When the man leaned in towards her, doubting that she could get him in trouble, so it seemed, Eleanor didn't move. He seemed to have no issue in her getting him into trouble, which was something that told the woman their two definitions of 'trouble' were completely different. She wasn't sure what he imagined as trouble, but for her it was an army of who knows what going after them and threatening to knock down their down on any given day.

Once he pulled away again, Eleanor went to dip her last bit of cloth into the water when he caugh her hand, pulling her towards him again. It was the way he spoke, the facial expressions that he gave her that caused the woman to narrow her eyes at the male. Is he flirting with me? She thought to herself, but dared not to ask. This was definitely not the time for such thoughts, regardless if she responded to his advances or not; if she were distracted, there was no telling what could happen to the others.

It was then that Hawk dipped his sleeve into the water and placed it against her cheek and at the point, she did feel kinda bad for just taking soaking cloth and wiping it on him. While her hands didn't quite notice how cold the water was, her cheek definitely did. Eleanor turned her head slightly, looking at the male partly from the side as his comment about getting her alone; he had to be flirting with her, that sort of thing didn't just come up in a normal conversation.

He quickly changed the conversation though, saying that he should properly introduce himself; she hadn't questioned his earlier introduction too horribly much, they all had things they did and didn't want to share and she just pegged it as one of those. Something nearly flickered across the woman's face, a near hint of emotion though it could have just been the trick of the moonlight. "We certainly seem to attract soldiers," she said before wadding the damp, pink fabric in her hand and standing back up.

The words he spoke though, about war starting from fear or differences, she hoped it wouldn't get to that point for all of them. Eleanor didn't doubt the ability of women among their group, for most of them were women, but there were also so many children. They had so much at stake that she couldn't bear to think about what would happen if they were attacked in a way which they weren't ready. Slowly shaking her head of such thoughts, she cast a gaze back at the man. "Well, Nieko," she said as she nodded her head in the direction of the cave. "Depending on how things unfold, you may learn a little bit about us. But for now, all I'm willing to tell you is the people we're hiding from aren't the nicest people out there.

"Now, then, we should head back before people start thinking something happened and the hunting parties start looking for us."

"Well," as they started to move back to the cave, Nieko cast Eleanor one of his friendly grin, "I'll do everything I can to help. Perhaps my background will prove useful. You don't make it this far in life based on luck. Skill has to kick in at some point."

The walk back wasn't difficult. Or at least it wasn't for Nieko. Eleanor, though, she struggled whenever the moon dipped behind the clouds. Laughing, he extended a hand to the woman. "You need to work on your night vision. Gotta be more like a cat!" He make a cat scratch gesture. "Meow, meow!" There was a light purr to his call. Dropping the kitty-cat act, he re-extended his hand to the woman. If she took it, he would guide her without issue. If she didn't, from time to time he would bump into her to keep her from running into a tree or branch.

"You know," he finally said after a few moments of silence, "the trick to seeing isn't difficult. Rather than looking right in front of you, look beyond that. Look at the path you seek to walk. Memorize it. Count the steps from here to there. It also helps to close your eyes the second the moon starts to disappear. When you reopen your eyes, you're not struggling because you already saw total darkness." Shaking a finger at her, he smirked. "Learned that from a friend."

When they finally made it to the cave, Nieko's brow cocked. "Huh," he scratched the top of his head. "I could have sworn I left the door open." His body zipped to the mountain's side. Pressing his narrow form against it, he tapped the wall lightly, listening for the caverns within. "Yup, I have no idea where the door is."

Truthfully, he did. But he couldn't have Eleanor know he knew of Melik's magic. That would certainly blow his cover.

"Guess we'll have to camp out here tonight," he schmoozed before stepping beside the woman. "I'll keep you warm," he cooed, "should you get cold." As if on cue, he winked.

Eleanor rolled her eyes up at the male as he talked about hoping to be of some kind of help. That would have been a pleasant surprise, though she wasn't holding her breath. There was a part of her that screamed at her, telling her it was foolish to let this man in the cave, to let him stay longer even though he seemed perfectly fine.

She had been doing her best to get through the forest, though with ease was far from the truth. She stumbled a few times, though thought she had managed to hide that rather well, until the man spoke up, clearly having seen her. She shook her head, cats weren't her thing, they were too deceptive for her to really be fond of. Dogs, however, they were loyal; they would sooner lay their lives down for you rather than get you killed over the fact they just had to chase something somewhere they didn't belong.

Her eyes fell to his extended hand, though she ignored it; she didn't want to something like this hold her back to the point that she physically needed help. Of course, that didn't stop her from shooting a glare at the man every time he bumped into her. She was starting to think that maybe his vision wasn't as good as he thought at night; she wasn't aware that he was helping guide her around things.

Once they got back to the cave, the woman watched the man with an amused look. It may have been wiser to have left the door open, but she didn't want to admit that at this point. As he made his way back next to her, talking about helping to keep her warm if she got cold, the sound of someone clearing their throat came from the darker shadows of the cave.

Emerging from the darkness a bit, a woman's form could barely be made out next to the now open passage way. "Keep it in your pants, lover boy," Sabine's German-accented voice said, a smirk on her face. "Door's right here." She pointed back to the darker form against the already dark rock face before stepping back to the darkest shadows to keep a further eye out; soon Anastasia would be taking her shift for her sight wasn't all that great at night either, but she had a better vantage point with the moon at this angle.

"You'll figure things out," Eleanor said, patting the male on the shoulder before dipping into the shadows, her feet following the familiar trail of the winding path that led back down to the main room. As they were heading down, a white haired woman briskly walked by them, her head down, eyes glued to the floor as she vanished into the darkness to relieve Sabine.

Once inside, the Twins practically threw themselves at the woman, practically in tears. She knelt down, the two nearly sobbing into her ear until their crimson gazes fell onto the man. "You find him!" Zoe exclaimed excitedly, wrapping her arms around the woman. Zorion, on the other hand, tilted his head to look at her hair. "What happen?" He asked, picking at one of the petals.

"Oooh, pretty!" Zoe said as she climbed further onto the woman's leg to get a better view of the new hair style.

He practically jumped from his skin when Sabine spoke. He had completely forgotten she went out to relieve Eleanor from watching so the woman could play with the twins.

Smoothing the hair that stood on end, he turned his gaze to the blonde. "I don't know if my pants are that stretchy," he chirped, "but I won't mind trying it out."

The pat on his shoulder caused his head to swivel around to catch Eleanor wandering into the cave. His rarely fading smile grew a bit before his eyes casually shot to Sabine. "Werden Sie zu uns?" He asked in German, instantly recognizing the woman's accent. He wasn't sure if she spoke it nor if he was as good as he liked to believe. "Er, will you be joining us?"

His eyes saw Eleanor fade in the darkness. Eyes dilating, he waved the woman off and ran after his brunette. He had to know what everyone would say when she arrived. She always looked so tough and stern. Would the flowers make her appear more girly and less of a hardass?

"Oh she found me," Nieko hiked up his shirt to reveal a fresh blotch of purple skin that wasn't before. "Managed to trip over me. Afraid your precious Eleanor has horrible eye sight at night." Jeering, his eyes snaked to her olive gaze. "What, I'm just saying we would all be doomed if you were the leader of the hunting party." Shrugging casually, he smirked.

"So," his hand racked though his hair, "I might have cheated." Not giving Eleanor a chance to stop him, the male whirled the leader around so her backside was visible to everyone. "I know I said I wasn't going to help anyone but... well, you saw her before." He wore a smug grin. "She needed help. I wasn't sure she knew the difference between girly and tomboy."

Flicking one of the flowers that had fallen back behind his ear, he flashed another grin. Some of the older women laughed and a few awed.

"Not fair," the auburn haired teenager jerked on his hand, "you made Eleanor too pretty. How am I supposed to win if you're cheating."

"Yeah," the ten year old unicorn girl waddled up to him. "You're a cheater cheater pumpkin eater!"

"Egads," his hand flew to his forehead. "Whatever shall I do to redeem myself from such a terrible fate? I don't want to be a pumpkin eater!"

At that point, Igna wore a dangerous grin on her face. "You could get Eleanor to dance with you."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" That once calm look contorted into something fearful. "She would murder me? You know how hard it was to get her to let me put the flowers in her hair?"

"Dance with Eleanor," the ten year old clapped. "Or else you gotta kiss...." Her eyes shifted across the room. "Zorion."

"I would rather kiss Zorion."

"Eww," the auburn haired girl rolled a disgusted tongue from her mouth. "Why would you do that? He's a boy. You're a boy."

"What? Are you saying boys can't like boys?" Snapping his head away, he snorted. "Unlike you, I'm not picky." His finger soon poked the girl in the nose. "I think everyone's pretty, regardless of gender. Boy, girl, doesn't matter."

At that comment Igna gasped. "Whoa, you're... you're not afraid of getting laughed at for being... different?"

"Different? Ha, if being bisexual is weird, then oi. You have a lot to learn. The world's changing. You've been in this cave far too long. Progress has been slow but it's happening. Soon no one will care who you are, what you wear, or who you like. Sure, people will always judge you, that's a fact. But those things won't matter as much as what's in here." His hands fell over his chest.

"What's in where?" The ten year old's nose wrinkled.

"What's in the heart, silly." Flicking his finger down her nose, he smirked before picking her up and placing her on his hips. "I don't mind being different. It makes me special. I would rather be special than average. Yeah, I might have more obstacles to tackle but the journey is greater. It's more... magical."

Twirling her around, he set her back on her toes before the auburn haired girl moved up to dance with him.

"Dance with me next," she flitted her lashes, "please."

His gaze shifted to Eleanor. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to see if she approved. That and he half-hoped the brunette would demand a dance.

The woman's brow rose at the brunette's retort to her comment about keeping it in his pants. The curious look continuing as the male spoke in a language she rarely heard; her and Sabine were German, but they rarely spoke to each other, let alone in their natural tongue since they didn't want to exclude the others. A smirk crept up her lips as she replied, "Wahrscheinlich nicht." Or, probably not, for once she was done there, she wanted to go to bed.

The first reaction Eleanor was going to have to the male's display of a rather large bruise on his chest was one that would have been nearly apologetic, but when he teased about her dooming them if she led a hunting party, that tone was quickly washed away by a glare. "Most people don't decide to lay out in the woods after running away," she said bitterly.

He didn't seem to mind the retort though, as he was pulling her to her feet and away from the twins. Just as she was about to question what he was doing, he started speaking about how he may have cheated when it came to dressing people up. The glare she had given the male sharpened at his comment about how he doubted if she understood the difference between girly and tomboy. Did that even matter? She wasn't trying to impress anyone and dressed however she felt.

Eleanor wanted to correct those that were upset and tell them she had no interest in participating in the first place, but the debating just seemed to grow more and more out of hand. At that point, it seemed more tiresome to correct it. At least Nieko understood that dancing was a no-no, though her brow had lifted at the offer of the idea, she was partly impressed that he caught on so quick as to not doing it.

When Zorion was brought up as a part of it, Eleanor turned to not only see his face flush but his eyes narrow at the man. Though the look soon faded as the attention was pulled off of him. As the topic turned to not being afraid of being different; the woman couldn't help but feel that the message was directly meant for all of them. Looking at the others, she could see how that thought reverberated in many of their eyes. This guy was definitely getting much of the group to warm up to him and that nagging part of her mind was telling her than was a bad idea.

She had partly zoned out when a girl was demanding to dance with Nieko and he looked over to her. She shot him a confused look. "What?" She asked before waving a hand dismissively. "Go ahead, you don't need my permission."

She then made her way to the twins, kneeling down in front of them, patting them each on the head. "You have lots of fun for Eleanor, ok?" She told them. "I have to go to bed so I can get up early tomorrow." The twins nodded before Eleanor parted from the group, some watching as she left.

As she made her way back, she stopped by the barrels, grabbing a bowl and filling it with some water before nabbing up a cloth that sat to the side, waiting to be washed. She then made her way through the room that once held the warehouse tunnel and back to a small alcove that had a small fire burning to one side, a blanket and a few other bits of fabric to the other.

Taking a seat on the blanket, the woman unzipped her vest, setting it on the ground, inside on the bottom so the pink stain glared upward. She then hoisted her long sleeved black shirt over her head before sliding a cleaner, black tank top on instead.

With her back against one wall, her booted feet propped up on the other as she soaked the cloth before using it to try and blot out some of the dye.

---

Back in the room, Noah made her way through the crowd, bits of paper poking up from her head; the attempt at a crown her and one of the children were working on. Finding the white haired woman she was looking for, she playfully bumped into her her saying, "I don't think Eleanor never let you put flowers in her hair."

Nyx shot the woman a harsh look, her arms crossed stubbornly under her chest. "Yeah, well, maybe Eleanor's just easier to trick than I thought," she said bitterly, but knew that was far from the truth.

Noah sighed before looking at the woman. "Or," she tested. "Maybe he's not as evil as you think he is?"

"Who?" Another voice pipped in a the blonde from outside rejoined the group. "You mean lover boy over there?" She nodded her head towards Nieko before saying, "From what I saw outside, he's fallen, quite stupidly I might add, for Eleanor. If he's bluffing and really tricking us all, I'll be surprised." She rolled her eyes before adding, "You should have heard what he was saying outside. Tacky, that's for sure." She then parted from the group, heading to the sleeping quarters just off to the side.

The remainder of the night was spent dancing and trying not to laugh too loudly to wake those who had crawled off to bed. He passed out the apple treats, which were well received. A few had requested that he be in charge of meals henceforth but Nieko didn't want to step on any toes so he politely declined.

He spent a lot of time dancing with the kids though Igna did manage to snag him a few times. Since men were few and far between, the girls were quick to ask the brunette with the black mark to dance. Eleanor's handiwork helped a lot; at least he didn't look as silly with pink everywhere. He still had light stains but nothing as bright or bad as before.

With yawns gripping everyone, including Nieko, he decided it was time to bring their little party to an end. "Okay," he let out a light yawn while moving to the front of the crowd. "Let's crown our winners. Since we only had one boy, Zorion is our prince." Dropping to his knees, he bowed before the eight-year-old. "I dub thee Prince Zorion of the Mountains." Passing off the crown, built of branches with golden flowers, he rose to look over the crowd. It was going to be a tough choice. Who should win? Everyone was so different. The 10-year-old wanted to win but she had already dozed off so there was no point in waking her. Igna, although probably the most flirty of them all, wanted nothing to do with Zorion so she wasn't a good choice. Picking Zoe would have been cheating.

"Hmmmm," his hand cupped around his chin. "Guess it'll have to be," he leaned to the auburn hair girl who refused to make an outfit. "What's her name?" He pointed directly at Noah.

"That's Noah. She does look really pretty. I think she's a good choice." The other girl behind her nodded in agreement.

"Our lovely princess will be the elegant Noah." Sweeping across the room, he popped the flower petal crown on her head. The design of this one was similar to the wooden one Zorion wore only it was white, pink, and powder blue.

"I crown thee Princess Noah of the Caverns."

Nearly everyone approved of the decision. Those that didn't soon realized that it didn't matter. Nieko had managed to keep their minds off the unknown. He had managed to get them to smile and feel happy for a moment of time, something they hadn't done in ages.

As the sleepy bodies slipped away, one came up to him. She wore that same angsty grin she had on since the moment he met her.

"Yes, Chloe?" He turned to look down at the auburn haired girl.

"You won't... you won't leave us? Will you?" She tucked her ankle behind her other foot. "I just... I don't know why. But it feels safer with you here. Big Brother even let you watch the twins. If he trusts you with them, you have to be good. Even Eleanor ran out to get you." Her finger twirled a strand of her hair. "I just... I want to say sorry. I was wrong to doubt you. You," a pink blush clung to her cheeks, "you might be just what we need. I though Melik was that person but maybe I was wrong." She opened her mouth to continue speaking but her words stopped with a warm kiss pressed against her forehead. Face flushed, she adverted her gaze and nervously fiddled with her hands.

"You're cute, kid." Nuzzling her nose with his own, he smirked. "I don't plan on leaving. If Eleanor will have me, I would love to stay."

"Promise?" Her eyes flicked back to him, growing wider as she gaze at him.

"Promise." Holding out his pinkie, he looked it around hers. "Pinkie promise."

Squealing, she ran off to her cot. She was definitely going to have to share with the others that she got a kiss from the tall, dark, and handsome stranger. The other girls, namely Igna, would be jealous.

Nieko shook his head lightly before looking around the room. Only a few stragglers remained, the obvious ones at that. "So," he moved toward Noah, "where am I to sleep?" A sheepish grin took over. "I don't want to use up more supplies but I don't want to be in the way when morning comes. I'm fine sleeping beside a fire. Just point me whatever way you think works."

His eyes moved to Lydia. "Oh," he whirled around to grace her with a smile. "I'll... I'll try to be more careful. Don't need to keep you tending to me. I think these bruises will go away in time. Just need to make sure I don't break Eleanor's fall again." He smirked. "Regardless, thank you."

Shortly after Sabine went off to bed, Nyx followed as well. Noah, who wasn't quite tired yet decided to stay up with the others. She spent most of her time playing and dancing with the smaller ones, those that were either too scared or didn't care to dance with their newest member. She wasn't sure how long they had been up before people started yawning one after another. It was then that the brunette decided it was time to officiate the winners of the night, though to be honest, the blonde had forgotten all about that. Though, blonde probably wasn't the correct word at that point for from tip to nearly root, her hair was a vibrant pink.

When Zorion was deemed the winner for the boys, the group clapped. It was then that Noah realized that Big Brother must have gone back to bed and Reggie hadn't joined the festivities at all, though that wasn't a surprise.

What she wasn't expecting was for the male to approach her with the other crown, dubbing her 'Princess of the Caverns'. She smiled, thanking him before kneeling down to the girl that she had been working with earlier and plopping the crown onto her head before sending her off to bed leaving her to watch as a few more people spoke to the man before wandering off. One in particular stood out, Chloe; she was as supportive of Eleanor as Nyx, though a bit more shy about it. She ran with one of the daylight hunting packs and was known to be very vocal and occasionally difficult to deal with. Hearing what she said brought a smile to the woman's face; Eleanor wasn't known to run after just anybody and Big Brother was so overprotective of the twins that not many others were really allowed near them, not that they listened to that 'rule'.

The girl ran off shortly after talking to Nieko and he made his way towards her. Raising a brow at his question, Noah turned and pointed towards where most of the others had wandered off. "Sleeping quarters are that way. You can pretty much sleep wherever you find room." She then nodded towards the other way, where Eleanor had gone and said, "If you prefer a bit of solitude though, there are places to sleep over there too. Eleanor and some of the others hide out that way." She then shrugged, a smile on her face as she said, "But, you can pretty much sleep wherever."

Lydia had been on her way to bed when the tall male caught her. She cast him a small smile as she said, "If you end up needing any fixing up, just let me know. I'm more than happy to help."

---

By the time Eleanor woke, everything was silent, telling her the 'party' must have ended and everyone had gone to bed. Sitting up, she rubbed her back slowly before reaching for her boots in the dark. The fire had burned out some time ago, which was fine for the woman since it told her when it was time to get up. Lacing them up, she stood up, sliding her green skirt over top of her boots and leggings, the hem falling half way to her knees. She then felt for her vest, though upon feeling that it was still damp, decided against wearing it before heading out.

Once out front, she had dismissed the person that took the front watch, taking Anastasia's place telling him to get Nyx and Noah to head out to clean clothes and get water. She took a seat, leaning her head against the wall; while she had taken the flowers out, the braid remained.

---

A voice was nagging in the darkness and it wasn't until Nyx reached out to swat said voice that she realized that there was actually someone talking to her. Slowly blinking her eyes, her arm came to rest on her forehead.

"Eleanor wants you and Noah to do laundry and get water," the voice said. Slowly blinking, the whit haired woman focused on the figure before her before nodding and waving her off.

Pulling herself from her cot was easier said than done as someone had joined her later in the night, though she managed to wiggle to the floor. Careful, as to not trip over anyone sleeping on the floor, the water woman made her way over to the blonde that was curled up on the floor near the door, a child pressed up against her.

"Hey," she whispered, shaking the woman's shoulder. It would take a few more shakes and calls until the blonde would finally open her eyes.

"Hmmm," she groaned as she tried to roll over.

"Eleanor wants us to go out," Nyx said sitting on her haunches. "Gotta go wash some clothes and get more water."

Without another sound, Noah pushed herself from the ground, the child moving away it her sleep. "What time is it?" She mumbled as she made her way to the door where the two slid on their boots.

Nyx shrugged before laughing, "Probably the crack of dawn if this is coming from Eleanor."

Noah nodded slowly as the two made their way around, collecting clothing as they found it before finding the main pile. Nyx stood there, hand on hip, the other holding what she had found so far. "That's totally not getting done in one trip," she said before her and Noah grabbed what they could easily managed before heading out.

As they left, Eleanor gave them an approving nod, leaving them to head to the stream alone. Once at the water, they tossed the clothes into the water and Nyx altered the flow so it moved in a circle, rather than a straight line so it kept everything in one spot, allowing them to clean without worry.

Not wanting to interrupt Eleanor, Nieko decided it was best just to follow the others as they went to one of the sleeping chambers. Much to his surprise, Chloe and the ten-year-old were waiting for him. They wanted to sleep beside him as, unlike everyone else, he was a whole lot warmer. Who was he to argue? Accepting their invitation, the trio arranged themselves so the youngest sleep on his lap and Chloe leaned against Nieko's shoulder. Nieko slept with his back propped against a wall with a pillow below his butt and behind his head. No sheet was required, or so the girls learned. He really was the warmest of the all, easily keeping the night's chill off them as they slept.

When morning finally came, Nieko woke to a great amount of weight on him. At some point during the night, Igna and the girl with the curly hair had moved closer to him. The fire went out and everyone seemed to gravitate to the male.

Eyes flicking over everyone, he hoped no one would question the herd that now huddled around him. If they did, he would just play it off that he was the only man in the room and they all wanted to get a piece of him. Granted, it was far from the truth. As he was a being of fire, Nieko was naturally the stronger source of heat. Even if the fire was still glowing, they likely would have moved to him for unlike the fire, he wouldn't go out.

He untangled himself from the mess of arms and legs that were draped over him. He told himself he would definitely join Eleanor tonight. There was no way he wanted this to happen again for someone would definitely grow suspicious. Not to mention, he didn't want to piss any of the other males off.

Tiptoeing from the room, he moved into the main room where the night before was held. Noah and Nyx had already left so that left Nieko to seek out the nice doctor. Sure enough, she was in her quarters going over her supplies. Leaning in the archway, he smirked.

"Morning," he chirped. "Still trying to figure out what I need to pick up when I go into the town today?"

---

---

As promised, Fritz left early that morning to meet with Noah and Nyx. He took a pleasant stroll through the woods--or at least started to. When the hunting pack came into the area, he took to the trees and decided it best to keep with the wind. He would let it rustle the leaves as he watched the ground below. They seemed... refreshed? Perhaps happy? What happened the night before? He recalled not seeing the twins out either, though he assumed it was due to the attack that happened just nights before.

With a casual shrug, he made his way to the stream. He didn't want to keep the women waiting; he could hear their voices in the wind.

Branch to branch he jumped until he arrived just above the women's heads. They seemed preoccupied, completely unware of the fact that he was above them. To this, his brows furrowed. Had they forgotten their arrangement from the night prior?

Nyx seemed tense. Her words were short and no longer held that delightful charm to them. Where they attacked last night? He didn't recall hearing any screams. Not to mention, the hunting pack was out and about--Melik kept an eye on them. Ever since the hunter came into their territory--Melik and Fritz would go on nightly patrols to keep a wary eye on the pack. They didn't want the twins in harms way again.

A light breeze soon moved across the area. It tossed their hair into the air, twisting it lightly as it moved. Gracefully, he back-flipped from the tree and appeared before the pair of woman. Sweeping into a bow, he greeted them.

"Good morning," he began. As his eyes ran over Nyx, worry set in. "Something wrong, my lady?" His brows creased. "You don't seem like your usual self." Taking a step closer, his hand moved to her shoulder as he twisted his head to the side. He was confused. Why was she not excited? She should have been thrilled. She was the night prior. Had... had he done something wrong.

Pulling his hand back, a small frown controlled his lips. Those once bright cyan eyes fell dull and no longer beheld Nyx's form. Instead, he kept them on her shadow. He was ashamed, completely blind to the fact that he had done nothing wrong.

Quietly, he questioned Noah more so than Nyx about Nieko. "How's Nieko doing?"

Lydia rose her eyes from the yellowed paper for just a moment to look at the brunette that had joined her at some point before looking down again. "It's difficult to fully grasp what we do and don't need at any given time," she said as she traced what appeared to be a chewed on pencil back over the items she had already written. "There's already been one attack so stocking up on first aid supplies may be useful." At that point, it could have appeared that she was more talking to herself, or at least anyone passing wouldn't know if she was talking to the man or not.

Pausing on her list, she pressed her hands against the wooden table, her eyes, sincere, fell to the man. "Thank you though, seriously," she said, her voice clear as a bell. "It probably doesn't surprise you to hear that we're rarely able to purchase supplies." No, rather than that, when times demanded it, there were those in the group that were skilled in the ways of 'pocket shopping' as they liked to call it, but in reality, they stole what was needed.

Her eyes then fell back to the paper, looking it over for at least the millionth time. "Eleanor is on watch. She's probably going to be out there most of the day," she said without looking up. "She probably won't leave her post early or let anyone dismiss her before she's ready, but if you're up to the challenge, you're more than wel come to try. Other than that, she'll probably be there till just before dinner." It was things like that, that drove Lydia up the wall; no matter what she told Eleanor, the woman refused to let more people take shifts in the morning like they did at night. She wasn't sure why either, the night shift was definitely more difficult in most cases.

---

"You're letting one get away," Noah said as she scrubbed at a shirt with a bar of soap.

Nyx jumped at the sudden voice before her eyes fell on a pair of pants that were threatening to wash down stream. Grabbing it, she plopped it back into the swirling pool before tightening up her control on it so it wouldn't get away again. She then turned her attention to scrubbing the clothing she had in hand.

There was a movement in front of them, Noah seeming more alert and less jumpy than her white haired counterpart looked up to be greeted with a bow from a familiar teal haired male. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked toward Nyx; they had clearly both forgotten that he planned on meeting him this morning.

Nyx's eyes welled up as she looked back down at what she was doing rather than looking at the man before her. When he touched her, leaning over to look her in the face and she fought to keep her lip from puffing out, though it was when the man asked how Nieko was that she lost it. The lip puffed out and the woman threw her upper body to the ground, her arms splashing into the water.

Noah sighed, shaking her head slowly at the woman's reaction. "Good, if you count making passes at most of the women," she said folding the wet cloth onto her lap. "He's taken quite the interest in Eleanor." Then, pointing the bar of soap at at the sobbing Nyx she added, "And he kissed this one, touched her butt too apparently."

Fritz recoiled when Nyx hit the water. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he should be anywhere near her. Whatever he had done, it had caused her to act all depressed. What could he have said that would set her off on this sad pass? Did he call her something she didn't like? Was he too touchy-feely? Was he too--

He bit his tongue to fight back the laugh. It was impossible and before he could catch himself, Fritz broke into a fit of laughter. He laughed for quite some time that his eyes started to get little tears in the corner. Why, even his stomach started to ache. It had been a while since someone had got him to laugh like that and he was already regretting it! Granted, it was funny.

Wiping away the joyous tears, he coughed out a few more lighter laughs. Everything about his face was full of happiness. No, amusement.

"Nieko's kissed more too so stop worrying. That's just who he is. He'll touch and love anyone that gets too close. But if you don't like it, just tell him to stop. He won't do it to people who find it offensive."

Wading through the water, he fell into a crotch as he reached a hand out to the white haired woman. Cupping her cheek, he pulled her gaze up to meet his.

"Better tell him to stop flirting with you or else I'll have to extinguish his flames with some hurricane-like winds." Winking, he brushed her hair aside, noting that the woman still wore the item he bought her not to long ago.

Offering her his hand, he graced Nyx with one of his soft smiles. "He's harmless, I swear."

Once Nixie was finally standing on her feet again, Fritz brushed up beside her, nuzzling her lightly. "So stop worrying." The nuzzling was fleeting as he soon moved away from the girls to pace a bit. "Do you have any idea when he might get to leave the cave? I have a few questions to ask him. We can't seem to communicate with our team; wanted to know what his thoughts were on that. I also wanted him to check some things for me." The way he said 'things' was definitely unnerving. He was hiding something, but what?

Noah watched how Fritz took the news as to what Nieko had done before casting a cool glance down to the tear ridden woman. "Told you it was nothing to worry about," she said as she went back to scrubbing the shirt that was starting to soak through her skirt.

Nyx eventually looked up as Fritz told her that she could tell him to stop. "You're not mad?" She asked and though her face was dry, her eyes showed how distraught she had been over the matter.

As his hand cupped her cheek, the water woman's features seemed to melt to a softer expression. His words and wink causing her features to brighten as she bit her lower lip slightly before taking his hand, letting him help her to her feet. Once up, he nuzzled her, far too short of a nuzzle in her opinion.

Her gaze followed him longingly as he started to pace. Noah tossed the shirt she had been working on, onto the rock nearby a smile on her face, though she fought the urge to tease the woman. It was impossible to tell that she had been so upset only moments ago with how she looked at the taller man like he was a gazelle and she the lioness.

The girls looked at each other, trying to recall if they had heard something before they both shook her head.

"No idea," Noah said as she fished out the next article of clothing.

Nyx was quiet for a few moments before the color seemed to drain from her face. "Oh god," she said under her breath, looking away for a moment as she tried to not think of the overly flirtatious man as a bad person. Looking back at Fritz, there was almost a devious look in her face, over powering the nearly sick look she seemed to have before. "He wanted me to act as his secret agent to get you messages," she said before making her way up to the man, her fingers dancing across his worn shirt before stepping closer to him, leaving barely any room between them.

"I won't be his secret agent," she said, her voice nearly hushed. "I can be yours though," she then added with a wink which brought a bark-like laugh from Noah.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, a goofy grin on her face as she tried to focus on the clothes before her rather than laughing at how Nyx seemed to be more like the 'over flirtatious' male in this situation. Casting a teasing a glance at them she then added, "Though, you guys keep it up and you'll need a room."

"Why would I be mad?" He cocked a brow at the woman. He wasn't sure why she would think him mad. It's not like they were dating. And, even if they were, Nieko was a dear friend who meant no harm by his flirtatious actions. Shaking it off, he just shrugged his shoulders. Sometimes he didn't understand women and their feelings. It was actually that very reason that he chose to avoid romance. It was just too confusing. It also led to poor choices and stupid decisions not to mention it could cause wars and jealously--two things Fritz actively avoided.

With her fingers dancing across his chest, Fritz suddenly felt very small. How was this woman able to do this? He hadn't even known her a month and she was already worming her way into his heart. The heart he just swore he would never let love into because he found love ridiculous.

At her comment, he shook his head. "Afraid he pulls rank. Technically, without Rroy here, I work for he or Arvin. Since Arvin isn't around, Nieko would be the one I report to. And besides," he shifted nervously, "I already swore an oath to you. I can't have you working for me when I work for you."

Not to mention it would just feel weird. Fritz wasn't used to having someone beneath him. He either worked alone or equally with someone. He hated pulling rank and hated being the leader of anything. It was one of the main reasons he never advanced in the Spectre Corps. He just couldn't pass the leadership tests, namely because he didn't apply. Could he? Sure. Would he likely get to the same L5 level? Definitely! But Fritz was a follower and hated the idea of leading others. He saw what Rroy had to endure; he wanted no part of that life. The raven he called boss had lost his right limbs and Fritz had no intention of going to that extreme for those that followed him.

Inwardly, he squirmed. He hated the thought of being a boss. He had no idea how Nyx could even suggest something like that, especially as a woman. It just screamed abuse of power in his mind--another thing he hated.

Eyes siding to Noah, he caught her little comment. Instantly, his face flushed. From ear to ear, the man wore a bright crimson color.

Fritz had 'gotten a room' before on a few missions but those missions always stopped right before the fun happened. Well, that depended on the definition of fun. Dancing between the sheets didn't interest Fritz. The silent death of a target without alerting the guards? Now that was fun.

Jerking his eyes away, his arms nervously wrapped around himself. He seemed to shrink, losing his near-perfect posture. "I... I don't think that's a good idea."

As he went to open his mouth, a voice cut him off.

"Yeah, the rooms he get usually involve someone dying. He's an assassin after all. No time for sex when you've got a life to take!" Flashing the girls his cheeky grin, Melik jumped onto the rock before plopping down it. "I didn't see anyone unusual," he said with a light sigh. "Is Eleanor on watch again today?" He looked to Noah as Nyx looked preoccupied. "I have a few questions to ask her. She hates Fritz so I was hoping maybe I could sneak in a quick chat."

"You're not going to tell her about Nieko...." Fritz's gaze was cold as ice as he stared at his shorter friend.

"Uh, no. I was going to ask her if she and the group could give us a list of everyone's numbers. I'm sure we'll stumble over a master list at some point. I just want to make sure everyone checks out."

Understanding Melik's train of thought, Fritz rapped his finger on his chin. "Makes sense. If there's a mole within your group, they would certainly want out before facing Eleanor."

"Exactly. I just want to make sure everyone's clean. Since we're not allowed, I want to make sure we're doing what we can."

"Ha," Fritz snorted, "not trusting Nieko?"

"No, I trust him. I just... he should know what he's in. If there is a mole, he should keep a wary eye on them. I don't want the twins to get hurt again."

"Yeah," his voice was meek. "I... I understand. I noticed they weren't out last night. Is everything okay with them?"

---

---

The last message they had received was the one about the appropriately named Duine and Verraid. After that, Nieko's comm system seemed to be on the fritz and incapable of sending or receiving messages. Arvin kept getting the 'message failure' alert, which caused great alarm.

"I don't get it," Varun said while slumping into a chair. "He's been gone two days and we've only heard from him once. He's the kind of guy that sends nightly reports."

"Perhaps he's been captured," Arvin said while will bringing his own unit online. "I'll see if I can ping his location. That ought to tell us what--" He fell silent and leaned into his Spec-tool. "That... that can't be right." His brows furrowed. Backing out of Nieko's profile, he tried to ping Varun.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," he hissed between grit teeth. "We have a jamming signal in play somewhere. I can't even ping you and you're right next to me." His lime eyes jumped to Varun. The navy haired man was already growing a grin on his face. "Time to get destructive," he chirped while he mimicked Varun's excitement.

Rolling the chair back, Arvin flicked his finger across his screen. "L5 Kaiser," he spoke flattly. A retna scan took a quick snapshot of his iris before the screen glowed a venomous green color. "Transformieren," he barked into the machine.

A swirl of darkness twirled around Arvin's body before he was completely consumed by the darkness. The darkness soon hardened over his body until his form was completely engulfed in a shell-like black material.

Varun stepped back, small smirk playing on his face. He didn't get to see this often so it was always a real treat when he did. L5 Spectres were a rare breed and very few were privy to catch their transformation into a fully functioning exoskeleton that gave the wearer an edge in battle.

A thick crack started to run down his spin as a sound similar to bones being broken followed. Wincing, Varun forced his gaze away. He always hated this part of the transformation.

As the shell peeled away, its gooey center would spill onto the floor before vaporizing into the air. A pant, Arvin's pant, could be heard from behind. Turning his gaze, the blue haired man spied his friend clad in a black skin-tight suit. Although it didn't look like much, this suit was practically perfect. A bullet would ricochet off the flexible material. A blade wouldn't be able to cut into the thin yet heavily weaved pattern. And, perhaps the best part, he wouldn't lose his mobility.

The crunch of eggshells came from below Arvin's feet. The shell, now smashed into a ton of misformed shapes, eventually faded into nothing leaving Arvin standing where he was.

His signature green hair and vibrant eyes looked slick against that black uniform. There, embroidered on his chest was his name KAISER-L5. From neck to toe, the uniform encased him. He looked like he was wearing a jumpsuit for it was one piece. Only, upon closer inspection, one could see that he was wearing boots--though sewn into the fabric--and gloves (also affixed to the body suit). Really the only part that was exposed was his head but even that wasn't completely alone.

Across the right side of his face sat an apparatus that would give Arvin an unfair advantage--his visor. The visor not only enhanced Arvin's vision but it gave him fool-proof accuracy. He could lock onto any heat signature within a 5-mile radius and land a kill-shot. It was one of the perks of being Rroy's sniper--the finest of gear.

Shifting his gaze to the bloke at his left, Arvin smirked. "Stop undressing me with your eyes," he chided playfully. The two had been through a lot and Arvin always knew that Varun envied this side of the sniper. "We've got work to do."

Closing his Spec-tool, he reached over his back to pull out a green and yellow rifle. "Jamming signal will have to be on high grounds," he began. Stepping forward, he pointed the muzzle at a mountainous peak several miles from their location. "I'm guessing we need to get our arses over there and take it out."

Varun just blinked. His vision wasn't nearly as good as Arvin's now. "You sure it's there?"

With a coy smirk, Arvin tapped on the screen before him. Zooming in and in and in, he eventually stopped his zooming when a small silver pole stood out beside a line of trees. "Yeah, I'm sure. Now gear up."

"Don't you think one of us should stay here in case Nieko returns?"

He saw Arvin shake his head. "Negative. We can't keep splitting ourselves up. You and me," he wiggled his fingers between the two of them, "we're sticking together like glue. I don't want to have to explain to Rroy that I got us all killed because I tried the divide an conquer plan."

Nyx rolled her eyes at the male's comment about rank and who pulls what and how he swore and oath to her and she couldn't work for him because he worked for her. "Well, consider the messenger thing a favor, cause I'd rather do it for you than him," she said as she slowly released him as he started shifting. The tone in her voice was clear that she still wasn't fond of Nieko, even if Fritz said he was fine, jut flirty.

The man was about to reply to Noah's bedroom comment, the white haired girl sticking her tongue out at her friend's joke, when another voice joined the fray. The blonde laughed at what Melik had to say before replying, "Ok, so maybe not a bedroom, I'd prefer Nyx to stay alive for some time yet." Casting a playful glance at the white haired woman she added, "Though, I'm pretty sure Sabine wouldn't mind you rooming with him if that were the outcome." There was a squeal of laughter from the girl as a spout of water from the stream shot out at her.

Wiping the water away, Noah then nodded, her head returning to the conversation. "When isn't Eleanor on watch?" She asked teasingly before listening to the rest of the plan he had and why he wanted to talk to her. The woman's gaze slowly hardened as she shook her head saying, "I don't think Eleanor would give that information up to you. She kicked you out with Fritz so she probably expects you to be with him."

Nyx nodded in agreement, watching Noah in silence for a few moments. "Lydia might know though," she said, her eyes widening as though the idea of using her was rather surprising.

"And she seems to get along with Nieko too," Noah added quickly. "What if we have Nieko ask for the numbers?" She then shook her head, "No, I don't think he's seen anyone's branding yet though. It would only come off as suspicious if we went that way."

A sly smile then came to Nyx's face as she said, "But she has to have that list somewhere, right? I mean, she may use magic to heal people, but she keeps records like crazy. We could get her distracted somehow and copy the numbers down."

Noah nodded, liking the idea before the boys were asking about the twins. The devious planning between the two women paused as a mother-like smile came to the younger woman's face. "The twins are fine," she said softly. "Eleanor took them off patrol duty for a little while so they could calm down. Big Brother refused to leave them for another group even when he knew they wouldn't be going anywhere. They'll probably be back on patrol in a few days, though probably either dusk or dawn before going right back to nightly.

"Nieko threw a party last night and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves the most."

Nyx laughed before adding, "At least Zoe did, Zorion was so possessive over Eleanor. It was cute."

While Fritz fought to regain composure, Melik took over. "That would work. She trusts you two. I'm sure at some point she'll wander from the list. And it's not like sneaking into her room would be too odd. If Eleanor caught you, you could just say you were filling up her vases or something."

"Nyx is already on thin ice," Fritz pointed out. "I would prefer she avoid suspicious behavior and leave this to Noah. Right now, Eleanor doesn't seem to realize Noah's role in this whole thing." He tilted his head toward the woman. "Might be best if you don't let Nieko know you know who he is. It'll give you some distance to get done what you need."

Melik started snickering. "Good idea, leave your girlfriend with Nieko."

Fritz turned a hard gaze on Melik. As the redhead bit his lip, Fritz flicked his fringe aside. "Nieko being a problem isn't going to be an issue. In fact, it might help. If he's all touchy-feely with you, she'll think you've lost interest in me."

Melik bounded off his rock and landed behind his taller friend. "Wait, so you're asking your girlfriend to pretend to like Nieko so she can pretend to forget about you?" He laughed. "It could work. Just means we have to stay out of sight. But," his orange orbs shifted to Nyx, "I don't think Nixie here wants to get all chummy with Nieko. So we'll need to think of something else."

He prodded Fritz firmly in the chest. "Don't think I'm onto you either. I've seen this move before, mister. You try to pawn your woman off on another with the hopes she'll fall for the other man so you can make a clean escape."

At those words, Fritz's eyes fell to the ground. The redhead was right. If he did manage to hook a woman, he was quick to pass her off to someone else. Usually the group didn't complain. The last woman that showed an interest in him was the Earth representative, Kyna Riddle. She was a lovely lady but a bit too clingy and overly affectionate. He enjoyed spending time with her but the more she batted her lashes at him, the more uncomfortable he felt. Claiming to be sick one day, he had Arvin take his place on a mission. The two hit it off right off the bat. They had a lot more in common and Arvin didn't seem to mind the clingy, let-me-shower-you-with-love type. In fact, it seemed to cause his ego to swell, which often meant he was in a better mood.

With silence as his answer, Melik rolled his eyes. "Oi," his hand fell on the other's back. "You really need to stop doing this to yourself. It's okay to like som--"

"To like someone," he whipped around to cast his dagger-like gaze on Melik, "so they can what? Die prematurely? See the kind of man I really am? Tell all their friends that their so-called lover is an assassin." His words were harsh, much like salt in a wound. "I don't think you realize the graveness of this situation. Anyone I get close to is automatically put at risk. I kill people for a living; I've made a ton of enemies. I can't protect what I'm not around. And she's no Spectre so she can't even come with me."

Melik opened his mouth to talk but found himself without the heart to argue.

"So yes," he turned curtly, "I am escaping." And with that, the man vanished into the wind, leaving no trace behind as to where he went or where he was going.

Rubbing the nape of his neck, Melik turned a disheartened glance on the women. "He... he just needs time." He took a few hesitant steps toward Nyx. "He'll come around. Just, just don't rush him. He needs this to be at his own pace. The fact that he's getting this upset means that whatever you're doing is working." He offered her a light smile before turning back to Noah. "Keep an eye on her, m'kay?" Melik pulled Nyx into his embrace. "And it might be wise to tell Nieko to lay off her for a bit. Though," he tapped his chin, "Nieko does know quite a bit about Fritz. Since I can't tell you his life story, perhaps Nieko can? Trust me, I would but I kind of got myself thrown out. Nieko, at least he's still on the in--" His head swiveled. "I gotta go." Moving to Noah, he gave the woman a hug before taking off into the forest.

"She hasn't not trusted me lately," Nyx said, trying to defend herself and the thin ice Fritz said she was on with Eleanor. "Things don't really seem all that different." Though the man still seemed interested in having Noah take a look at the list instead; she crossed her arms with a huff as she looked away.

It was actually Noah that reacted when Fritz talked about Nyx handling Nieko. She looked over at her friend who looked just as shocked before saying, "No, Eleanor knows Nyx doesn't like him. I don't think that would work either."

There was a look of disgust on Nyx's face as Melik spoke before his eyes fell on her, seeming to change his mind. It was a known fact that Nyx's acting skills were on par and she was more likely to 'drown' the man first and try to say it was out of affection later. The two seemed to go into their own little world though, leaving Nyx and Noah behind as they argued.

Nyx looked down at her blonde friend, not too sure what to do. She wasn't even sure how to take what he was saying or even what was going on for that matter. Any other time, if the air hadn't been so tense, she may have noticed and jumped on the fact that Melik had started and Fritz finished, saying that he liked someone.

Melik was quick to speak up once Fritz had vanished. It was his words that actually brought a smirk to the woman's face as she said, "See, I knew he couldn't resist my charm." She seemed pleased with herself, the sense of danger that the man had, had just moments ago not seeming to have any impact on her. He was an assassin, so? She could turn into a dolphin, Big Brother turned into a passive beast and Reggie was a rock man; an assassin probably seemed a safer, more sane route. Though, even Noah had figured the woman was really down playing a lot of the risks involved; she may not have gone with Fritz and Nyx to their world, but if there were more aliens than what attacked the twins that were after Fritz? Well, she really would have to keep a close watch on Nyx.

When Melik had told Noah to do that very think, she simply nodded to him. The man gave the woman a hug before he ran off for some reason. "I think you should just let Fritz tell you what he's ready to tell you when he's ready rather than asking around," Noah said turning back to the water, though it looked as though the clothes had been finished and tossed onto a rock to start drying.

Nyx nodded slowly as she made her way towards the damp pile so that she could aid in the drying process faster. "Yeah, seeing as last time I dumped water on him," she said, a slight snicker in her voice as water droplets started to rise from the close and dance along her skin.

"I wonder what spooked Melik off though," Noah said as she turned towards Nyx whom only shrugged.

As Melik ran off, Fritz continued to linger in the trees. He too felt something sifting between the bushes and a part of him was fearful of what might come. It didn't seem like an animal and yet, at the same time, it did. Eyes narrowing, he reached for his staff. If shit hit the fan, he was ready to step in and aid the two women.

Sure enough, something did from crashing through the brush. Only as it did, Fritz hitched up a brow. There were... three women. They were malnourished and bruised. They looked as if they were on their last legs. As his eyes scanned over them, he found himself glued to a series of numbers branded on their skin--more experiments! Was that even possible? Had these ones been trapped in the facility and unable to escape until just now?

Taking refuge in a tree above Nyx, he called forth a gentle breeze, a pleasant reminder that, despite his disappearance, he was still there. That he was alert and ready to protect his woman at any cost.

As the one woman, about seventeen, fumbled into the water, another grabbed her. This one had eccentric hair of red and orange. Her hair seemed to flicker and dance, as if it were made of fire. She had strange white markings on her face and her eyes were as fierce as the roar of a burning building.

Blinking slowly, the woman with the fiery hair pulled her friend from the water. "Ossia," she scolded, "you must be more careful." The fiery woman wore an elegant dress-like outfit. Like her hair, it was bright reds with accents of golden orange. Her boots, which went up past her knees, seemed to keep the cool water from extinguishing her fiery attitude.

Ossia had a soft face and a gentle smile. Her hair of green was short and messy, easily hiding the tears that streaked down her peach-colored face. Amber eyes, wild like that of a doe, were locked on the two women washing clothes in the stream she fell into.

Slowly, Ossia pulled her quivering hands to her lips. "Nina," she stepped backwards into the fiery woman.

"I see them, sister." Nina placed a firm hand on Ossia's shoulder and re-positioned herself so she was now between the girls and her younger, trembling sister. "Who are you," her voice held an authoritative tone to it.

As Ossia hide behind her sister, her eyes remained locked on the clothes that seemed to swirl in a circle. How was that possible. Unless... unless!

"Nina," she tugged the woman's dress. "I think they are like us." Slowly, Ossia pulled her hair off her neck to reveal a brand. A set of numbers.

Nina glanced at her thigh, knowing full-well that her numbers were in sight for Noah and Nyx. "If they are," she held her breath, "then we are finally safe."

"Not so fast," another woman soon appeared off to the side of the girls. "Who's to say these two aren't hunters." This woman appeared to be the one in charge. Her body was laced with muscles and at her hips were a pair of pistols. Black armor-like gloves ran up her arms and a vest kept her rather flat chest in place. Around her hips were short shorts and a pair of flat shoes protected her feet.

"If they're hunters," her finger snapped a spark danced between in, "then we need to turn up the heat and start a storm."

Ossia yelped while stepping back. "Vi," she squeaked. "Shouldn't we let them talk before you fry them to a crisp?"

Noah and Nyx had tried to finish up what they were working on when someone had come out to bring them yet more clothes, taking the dry ones back with them. Going back to work, the white haired woman was able to control the water much easier now, the swirling actually seeming a bit faster than it had been before, which helped knock more dirt and debris off before Noah pulled them out. Things seemed calm as a sweet smelling breeze started to roll in, but that breeze wasn't alone.

The women jumped as a woman fell right into the stream they were cleaning the laundry in, two others right with her. They looked exhausted. The hunting parties must really be slacking today, Noah thought to herself as a grey color seemed to branch up from the tips of her hair like ink taking to fabric. Though, even with as still as they were, it didn't take long for the three women to notice the obvious two before them. The green haired girl seemed frightened of them, hiding behind the fiery woman who demanded who they were.

As the green haired one, Ossia, moved back, Noah and Nyx stood up slowly, keeping the three of them in their sight. Noah was trying to figure out the best way to handle these three should they come any closer as they weren't sure just what they were doing there and why the parties hadn't caught them. They could call out for help; Eleanor was on watch and would leave her post to get to them, the hunting parties would respond as well. The question at that point was if they would be able to hold them off until back up arrived.

When the woman that appeared to be on fire stepped closer to them, making sure she separated the two groups, Nyx's eyes narrowed at her demand. Her hand twitched slightly, the water current she had spinning seemed to spread out wider. It was Noah that finally spoke up to answer the demand of the woman,

"I'm Noah and this is my friend Nyx." She pointed to the white haired woman that seemed as alert as Eleanor when things started to get back; clearly the brunette had some positive influence on the water woman.

It was the comment from the green haired woman and the now exposed brand that had burned into her flesh that caused Nyx to lose her concentration for a moment, the swirling water slowly losing its spin. Her eyes followed the fire woman's to her thigh where a brand burned true as well. Her eyes fell to Noah, the look on her face of shock and the other woman slowly nodded; these people, they really were just like them, which would explain why the hunting parties didn't stop them.

The third, whom had been silent all this time finally spoke up, accusing them of being hunters; there weren't many that feared that world in the 'normal' human world. Though that wasn't what threw Nyx further off balance, it was the sudden spark that danced between her fingers. She stumbled backward, nearly toppling over Noah as she threw her arms up as the stream fully returned to its normal flow. "Hey now," she said, her eyes wide. "Keep that stuff to yourself."

"Nyx," Noah whispered from her back as she pushed the woman forward. "The clothes." The white haired woman followed the flow of current to see the current laundry make its way down stream.

"Ahh, no!" She cried as she moved towards the edge of the little clearing. "Come baaaaaack!"

Noah slowly shook her head as she took a slow step forward before pulling her hair away from her usually exposed shoulders. Angry scarred flesh glared at the group in the form of a serial number that read 'DV26375'. There was a comforting smile on her face as she turned her head to look back at the women. "We are far from hunters," the woman said, her tone soft.

Nyx threw an arm out, lifting her hand, pulling the clothes back towards her in a bubble of water before making her way back to the group. She turned slightly, tugging on her vest to reveal the numbers '0017', the rest of it blocked by fabric. "Definitely not hunters," she echoed, a disgusted look on her face. "How could mistake two wonderful people as such horrible things."

Her eyes then locked on the brunette woman as she said, "And seriously keep that stuff to yourself." The floating orb of water was enough indication as to why Nyx was wary of her. "Or you'll have to deal with Eleanor," she finished. They wouldn't know who Eleanor was, but Noah was actually pleased with her bringing the woman up because she hoped it would intrigue the woman to know more and they could see where they were hiding out. Though, before she could let them respond to that she said,

"Where did you guys come from anyway?"