(Hey guys! Sorry for not replying in awhile >:/ I should have been more responsible.)
(Oh, and sorry if this post was too... if it was crossing the line... I'll change it if it did.)
Ruin lay on the ground, her chest rising and falling quickly, her eyes looking upwards, as if searching for a savior. Scarlet drops of blood stained her fur, dripping down to the ground and glinting in the sunlight. The red liquid bled profusely from a long, jagged wound across the now exhausted wolf. Surrounded by the malicious creature's, Ruin felt that there was no hope for her survival, and she could feel her life flicker like a flame before a strong breeze, ready to be put out. Eyes full of despair, she gazed upon her last sight, the creature's ugly faces, and their sadistic grins splitting their heads. They watched her agonize in her death throes, withholding the blissful embrace of death.
Finally, one of the members shifted, allowing a curved weapon to catch the sunlight from under his pelts. Quietly unsheathing a magnificent blade, the owner bent over the suffering wolf. Ruin pulled her lips back over her teeth, baring them in a savage grin. This, though, did not dissuade the cruel being from carrying out his deed. If anything, it merely amused him, and he let out a rough coughing noise which was his way of chuckling. His face remained picture of merriment while he brusquely pushed the thick, wiry fur around Ruin's neck, exposing the pale skin beneath. The knife gleamed brightly against the she-wolf's skin, it blade hardening down into a sharp edge. As if to experiment, the man-like beast pressed the weapon gently against the timer wolf's skin, letting a dark stream of blood to whet the edge. Giving out a loud bark of satisfaction, he raised the knife high above his head, letting it shine brightly. It appeared so pure while it glistened like fresh-fallen snow in the sunlight, and only the dripping stream of blood would persuade you that it had a dark history.
His brethren urging him on, the being let out a mighty cry and swung the blade downwards, towards Ruin's exposed neck. As his hand descended, it burst into an unearthly blue flame which licked greedily at his hands, perpetually hungry. The beast let out a cry of shock and pain, falling back and letting the knife fall to the ground, inches from the intended target. The flame intensified, turning a bright orange and running up the crazed animal's arm, as he begged for his comrades to assist him. They were petrified, the rank smell of fear permeating the area, and they backed away from their suffering kin. He writhed against the ground, one last cry leaving his throat as the fire completely engulfed him, turning a dark red as it searched for more victims.
At this point, a deep growl rang across the clearing. The strange beasts, which were now so terrified they could barely stand, looked towards the sound. It came from Pyro. His pelt was alight with the surreal flames, though they did not harm him. Eyes glowed a fierce amber, which seemed to scorch the creatures as they settled on the group. One, who finally seemed unable to take it, made a wild dash for the tree-line. His comrades watched as, actually nearing the first few trees, burst into flames. A blood-curdling scream raised the hairs on the nape of their necks, and they finally broke from their stupor of fear.
Each being ran in different directions, and Pyro chased after each, a wicked grin running up his face. Fire raged inside Pyro, and he could feel it eating up every other feeling of guilt, grief, and disappointment. It gave him one goal, fueling him onward. He barely had any conscious idea of what he was doing, only knew that he was one step closer to his goal each time the satisfying taste of blood exploded in his mouth, and the shrill cries coming from his quarry broke off suddenly.
Finally, Pyro could see the last of his prey, standing trapped against a cliff wall. The wall before the creature was smooth, with barely any handholds, each too far apart for any chance of scaling the cliff. Turning around, he watched his adversary approach him. Teeth locked together in a snarl, the brute, who once held so much power in his hands, was angered to being subjected to such humiliation and terror. In desperation, he pulled out his last resort, a short axe, it's blade polished and sharpened for what he thought, before, was going to be an easy slaughter of the resident wolf pack. Instead, he was now going to fight for his life.
Taking his time, Pyro neared the last of his victims. He watched as the beast pulled out an axe while letting out a throaty growl. But the young wolf could hear the fear behind the noise, and could see how his quarry's hands shook. Allowing a snarl to jump forth, Pyro lunged at his victim, the sense that his goal was so close spurring him on.
Grabbing the beast's left leg, he bit deep inside, allowing the flames to pass on to his prey. Quickly letting go and backing up, Pyro made sure that the brute would not make any attempt at escape. He watched as the monster fell against the cliff wall, crying out for help in the strange language of his kind.
It was then that Pyro felt something pressing against his mind, trying to get past all of the hatred fueling the flames that surrounded him. He tried to ignore it, but the feeling broke through the turmoil of his mind and forced the youth to watch the expression on his victim's face turn from pain to despair. Pyro recoiled from the creature, as he fully came conscious and started to remember why he was doing this. The bodies of his loved ones appeared before his eyes, the empty shell of his pack-mates littered across the clearing, their eyes glazed over in death. Then there was Ruin, slowly entering into death's embrace.
Pyro felt grief overwhelm him, and he let out a howl, allowing all of his sorrow to pour out. Tears streamed out of his eyes and mingled with the blood from his enemies, dripping down to the forest floor, staining it red. The sadness that engulfed him quenched the flames of his fire, even putting out the fire that had been used against his enemies. Pyro fell to the ground, his head buried in his paws, back arched in a pitiful position.
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"Ruin...?" Pyro murmured, his mouth curving into an unsightly frown, his brows furrowing and tears forming around the edge of his eyes. "Don't worry anymore... I'm coming to help you..." the words came out unbidden, and hid the sense of great loss that Pyro was keeping inside himself.
Unconsciously, the dreaming wolf shifted the match from the side of his mouth, to his front teeth. They clung to the dark wood of the match, holding it in place. The end lighted, a tiny flame slowly growing and staying a consistent size, swaying slightly in breezes but other than that, it held in place.
(Sorry again... I keep doing this in pieces :()

((OH, goodness. It's been a while since I've posted in here. :sweat: Ah . . . Ariel's still around. Heck, he's probably giving his new girl friends (not to be confused with "girlfriends") a few teasing tugs here and there. He's open for conversation (if I remember correctly he was speaking with Tempo's rider about the world's changes. He hasn't seen it in . . . well, a long time). I'll have him notice the "lurker" outside the camp if no one else does. ;)))

((Heh, nah. I had more been waiting to hear from you))

((Ah! I just read the reply. I must have missed it. . . .))

Ariel materialized the moment he heard Irian's cry of pain. The elemental managed to look mildly worried (as though emotions were hard to conjure) as his hand slid through the woman's palm. His silver gaze flickered over her before he voiced his question. "What happened?"

((:XD Short . . . but I'm trying to ease my way back in. :sarcasm:))

Lifting her head, Irian tried to focus on the person before her instead of the dragon somewhere in the forest. The disorientation was nothing compared to the wrenching worry she felt at not being able to sense where exactly Tempo was. Aches and pains covered her body though none were apparent. A large gash ran down Tempo's back, a very painful one at that, wihch had been caused by branches. The very thought of such things harming a dragon was absurd. It only proved how dangerous the forest was.

"Tempo and Ora were taken down by the forest. They're alright, with a few wounds. Ora only has a few scratches, but Tempo has a huge gash down his back and..." After a moment spent conversing the dragon the red-head found out why her arms were aching. "Well in any case, I can feel his pain and the fact that I don't know exactly where Tempo is worries me. I sense him all around, though I know only one direction is the good one." Frustration filled the rider sitting upon the ground. The sound of a soft sigh sounded trough the clearing as she stood with pain not her own. Regarding her spirit friend, Irian smiled. "It'll be alright, Tempo and I have gone trough quite a few crazy situations before." Indeed they had, but this was vastly different.

((Sorry for not replying sooner, university is taking up a lot of my time. It's mostly going to be during weekends, my replies that is))

"A few scratches here and there, nothing more." The dragon hid the fact that arather painful gash ran down his back. To hide the fact Tempo decided it would be best to remain a dragon. It would also make defending themselves easier, though the room for maneuvering in the forest was quite scarce for one so large.

Snorting, the dragon righted himself from his uncomfortable postition while being careful of his friend. There was no possible way to find the group yet, since Tempo had the same problem as Irian. "Ora, I want you to stay close by my side. Do you mind that? It's simply because I have no idea how well you can defend yourself." The dragon lifted a wing in invitation for the woman to take refuge there as they walked. Truly, Tempo meant no offense.

Seiri smiled apologetically, snuggling the other into a hug. "Hey I'm sure they'll be fine. The other dragon could probably use his bond to his rider to get back here. He'll also more than likely keep Ora safe." The raven shrugged, unconcerned really about the whole thing. Looking over to Ryu as the other shivered, he wondered what was wrong. "Ryu?

Spotting him with another female, Cecilia carefully walked over, nervous a little. "Hey. I'm Cecilia." She introduced herself to the other, though blinking as fully noticed the other didn't look good. "Is something wrong? Are you ok?" Cecilia bit her lip nervously, wondering what to do now, amber eyes glancing to look at Ariel, maybe in the hopes he'd explain things to her.

Pale lips drew back in a smirk as she saw her quarry. She'd found him, and she planned on bringing him a lot of pain if she could get him away from the naive little raven. Chuckling lightly to herself, she seemed to float as she walked away from her starting spot, moving to the pair to somewhat spy on them. At least that had been her intention. Changing her mind, she deftly climbed into the tree above them. Finding a decent branch to sit on so that she could clearly see them, but if they wanted to see her, they would really have to look for her. Brushing her dirty blonde hair behind her ear, she grinned maliciously.

"Her friend has been hurt somewhere in the forest," the elemental said quietly, his gaze traveling over Cecilia as though to ensure she was alright. Ariel's wind carried warmth with it; the swirls that flit about both of the women carried both concern and a twinge of fear. The forest was active once again. Something had happened to Ora . . . and to Tempo.
The misty figure was barely visible for a moment before he finally solidified enough to brush Cecilia's arm, and then Irian's.

For a moment his gaze flit to the trees - the wind there was disturbed momentarily. Instead of focusing on it, the male let his attention focus back to his companions.

Blood trickled slowly down her brow as Ora wiped at her face. When Tempo asked her to stay close, she was far from offended, in fact relieved. She was no fighter and frankly was suddenly terrified of this place. She thought about the others, wondering what would become of them in this place, or with Ryu, would she see them again? She was thankful to have on shoes now as the forest was treacherous. Looking up at Tempo she wondered why he wasn't changing into his human form. There was no way he was going to be able to make it through these woods with his size, not with all of the trees, stumps, fallen trunks, etc. When he lifted his wing she stepped closer, "Tempo," she said in a worried voice, "Which way do we go?" The trees seemed to move again to disorient them. It was still night and she knew they had flown far. Her body felt sore from the fall as she took a step, pointing she said, "I think it's this way...". Ora squinted through the dark, no she had fallen over there, so, "No, that way" she said pointing in a different direction. She was confused, tired, hurt and scared. Breathing hard Ora fought back tears, they really were going to be stuck in this awful place forever.

Tempo gazed at the forest and growled sullenly. There really was no way to get trough in his form. The dragon braced himself for the change and slipped into humanity with a grunt. As a dragon, such a gouge upon his back hadn't meant so much pain... But as a human it was nearly unbearable. Still, there was somebody to be protected.

Tempo stood and placed a guiding hand upon Ora's elbow. Irian's direction had become clearer, though no less daunting, after a convergence of thoughts. "The others are that way. I have a vague sense of Irian's direction." Glencing down at Ora, the dragon found himself thinking about how very fragile she seemed. It was a thought that had only crossed his mind once upon seeing Irian, and he'd been quickly disillusioned. "I promise to do everything I can to see you safe." The dragon used his free hand to rub Ora's back comfortingly as he began to walk with her in the direction they had both seemed to choose.

Irian lifted her gaze to nodd at Cecilia with a small smile. The young woman hoped the worry in her eyes would excuse her behavior. It was hard to talk when trying to figure out such a situation. A dark menace lurked in the trees now, when none had seemed to hide there before. On that point, the thoughts of dragon and rder converged for a moment bringing reassurance to them both. There was a lessening of the confusion brought upon their minds by the forest. Now instead of sensing each other in all directions, it was only in a wide concentrated stretch.

Brought out of her thoughts by Ariel's touch, Irian lifted her eyes to regard him. "If I told you I might be able to find Tempo and Ora, would you come with me?" Turning to include Cecilia in the offer, Irian let her brown eyes speak for her.

It was strange to think that he had been living within the forest for generations, though rarely helped those in its snare. The elemental finally nodded, his winds carrying a salty tinge with them as he agreed. "I would go with you even if you didn't have a way to find him." Ariel kept his expression carefully guarded as he thought of going after Ora and Tempo. These people would either die, or escape the forest. Either way, he wanted to be there for either happening.

The transparent male ran his fingers through Irian's hair before flickering to Cecilia's other side. "It would be . . . pleasing if you accompanied us, Cecilia." That, and he didn't want to leave the woman near the demons and whatever trouble seemed to be brewing. Ariel could sense it, but see nothing. It might have been a phantom thought of danger, but in either case he wanted Cecilia within sight.

It was the waiting for answers which had always been the worst. The unknown was far more frightening then anything else, perhaps that was the reason why this forest had such a strong hold on everyone. As Ariel finally answered, Irian sighed in relief. "I'm glad. It means a lot to me that you would do so Ariel." Trough the worry a tinge of happiness and joy flitted trough the young woman. During the circumstances though, she couldn't help but push it aside.

Though her attraction to Ariel jumped back to the forefront as he ran his hand trough her hair again. It was the meaning of the action, of what it could represent, more then anything else which had the dragon rider smiling. Turning to Cecilia, the young woman pleaded with her quickly. "Please do come!"

As Tempo placed his hand on her back to lead her towards the others she looked back over her shoulder at him. He looked hurt. Like her he had scrapes and cuts about him, and she was sure he was probably just as sore, but he seemed different, like something was really wrong. She needed to be strong and brave, for them both. Her head was pounding, from the excitement, but also from the small gash above her brow. The bleeding was slowing, dried blood smeared across the side of her face. As they walked through the darkness she could hear the sound of running water. A stream! "Do you hear that Tempo!?" She desperately needed a drink of water, and wanted to wash the blood and dirt from her face. She took off in a run until the reached the stream. Kneeling beside it she washed her hands, then cupping them to bring some of the water to her face, splashing the dirt and dried blood away.

As they walked the dragon took deep breaths to hde his pain. It was so unusual and wrong that Tempo had no idea how to deal with it. There were times when he wanted to be human, out of curiosity, but this was not one of them. Pure distracton kept him from hearing the stream, though when Ora ran off he followed.

Branches crunched and broke under his feet as he ran. Harsh winds swirled about, making everythign dance in a menacing way. To have something so good in such a dangerous place boded nothing well at all. Kneeling beside Ora with a grimace, the dragon placed an arm before her to bar access to the water. "Don"t drink it. We have no idea what this forest has in mind." Tempo closed his eyes briefly against a sudden throb in his back. Exhaling softly, the dragon thought of other thigns which might result from this wound... Other then the pain.

Ora had cupped some water in her hands about to drink it when Tempo stopped her. She guessed he was right, this water could be bad to drink. Sadly she let the water trickle from her hands as she plopped backwards on her butt and then to her back into a laying position. Her whole body hurt and all she wanted to do was lay down for a minute. As she laid back on the bank of the stream something red caught her eye. Leaning up to see better, she saw a huge wound across Tempo's back. "Tempo! You're hurt badly!" she said with worry and shock. "Why didn't you say anything!?" She was sitting up entirely now pulling him to a sitting position. "Can't you talk to Irian in your thoughts?" she asked "We should stay here and wait for them to find us Tempo, I don't think you should travel like this." Ora didn't know what to do. She wanted to help, but she didn't know anything about herbs or wrapping wounds or anything. The blood was running down his back in a way that made Ora worry that he may be losing too much blood. She reached down and ripped off the bottom of her long skirt to mid thigh and held it to his wound keeping some of it clean hoping they could use it as a wrap. She knew it was going to hurt, but the only thing she seemed to know about a wound like this was that it needed pressure to stop the bleeding.


((Please correct me if Tempo is wearing a shirt... I seem to recall him only putting on pants ealier, but could be mistaken!))

Tempo simply raised an eyebrow despite the fact the he thought she was entirely right. The pain of his back was making the usually composed dragon want to run around screaming. A yelp did escape him as Ora placed the cloth upon his wound. Grudgingly, Tempo nodded. '"You're entirely right. And.. I did not want to worry you. You seemed frightened enough as it was." The dragon found himself leaning to the side as fatigue began to seep trough him. "Keep me awake, no matter what you need to do. If I sleep, Irian cannot find us." And it would mean a huge deterioration in his health. As it was, the dragon was applying what magic he could to the wound, little as that was.

Cecilia smiled at the girl, though it faltered when she heard the girl's friend was missing. "Oh dear." She started, unsure how to finish. Brushing her hair behind her ear, she nodded. "Sure. I'll come help!" She replied, eager to do something to help. Looking around though as she felt a shiver chase down her spine like a bad omen, she nibbled her bottom lip. "Should...Should we bring the others or at least let them know? This forest is rather strange." She asked hesitantly, though she knew how Ariel felt about the demons, Seiri was still her friend, so was Ryu now.

"Just a strange feeling..." He muttered the words softly and shrugged. The forest was always watching, and it always instilled strange feelings in him. Though somehow when Seiri called 'Ryu' it just felt wrong. He shook that off as well, he already knew that wasn't his name, but the word meant 'dragon' so it still fit somehow. Ryu inhaled deeply a moment and relaxed, not even sure when he had tensed up, the dragon demon took a step away from Seiri, then laced his fingers tightly with Seiri's. Giving the other demon a gentle tug, Ryu began walking towards Cecilia. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like he wanted to be closer to the others. Safety in numbers, he supposed.

Ariel bowed slightly to Irian, and shot Cecilia a glance when she agreed to come. They would go, then, and find the others. Ora and Tempo were in the forest somewhere, and it was necessary to find them.
The elemental stiffened when he saw the other males rise. Flickering away into the winds once again, a sound of gruff displeasure followed his misty disappearance.

((:XD No offense to you, Kry! :sweat: Just an RP . . . and Ariel's that type of guy. :lol:))

Biting her lower lip, the red head sighed. Demons weren't people she wanted to associate with, but she knew from experience that they weren't all bad. Seiri seemed rather nice, it was Ryu who worried her. So as they approached the young woman turned to Cecilia and smiled. "I think we should." Still smiling, Irian motioned for the two to come join them.

Tilting her head to the side she murmured a few words to the wind. "At least this way we can keep an eye on them." The words were spoken lowly so that it seemed like none had been spoken at all.

Ora was deeply worried about her dragon friend and it showed through her expression and actions. Hoping she was doing this right she began to wrap the cloth around Tempo, under his right arm, across his chest, back under the left arm... She was pulling tightly, even if it hurt Tempo, the bandages wouldn't help if they were so loose they fell off. She tied the two ends together and sat back thinking hard. It was still dark and Ora didn't know if she would be able to keep Tempo awake, especially if he was losing too much blood. Falling asleep and passing out were two different things. If he did, they would need a way for the others to spot them. A fire maybe? That might also help to keep Tempo awake, predators away, and them warm. Quickly she gathered as much firewood around them that she could, stacking them into a mountain figure. "Tempo?" she asked, reaching down and putting her hand on his shoulder, still deeply worried. She couldn't help but feel this was all her fault. "Do you think you could light a fire?"

][Lol Esmme. You're fine. I rather like your character, even if he doesn't like my character. heh.][

Seiri nodded, he knew the feeling. in the last minute or so something appeared, something that screamed dangerous. Squeezing Ryu's hand gently, trying to offer comfort to the dragon. As they were coming closer to where Cecilia was, he sighed softly as Ariel disappeared again. The raven honestly didn't think this flickering thing he did all the time would be healthy for anyone the elemental had a relationship with. But that was none of his business. "Hello again Irian." He nodded politely to the other, waving a little. Looking around, his eyes seemed drawn back to the tree they'd been under, as if there was something important there.

Cecilia smiled softly at Ariel before he disappeared, noticing both Ryu and Seiri walking towards them. Turning to the other woman, her brow furrowed. She could have sworn the woman said something else, but she didn't hear what it was. Shrugging softly she moved to the incoming pair, surprising Seiri with a quick, tight hug, then repeating the same for the dragon. She made that one a very quick hug, since most other times he seemed to be wary of her. Turning back to the other female, smiling brightly as she slipped a hand into Seiri's empty one. "Where do we go first?" She asked, unaware really of the danger the others felt. She was a healer, not a fighter, being aware of her surroundings like that was not something she'd been trained on.

Lavender eyes watched the pair walk away, glimpsing at the held hands. So, he's taken a lover now huh? I wonder how that Raven can stand him. She sneered. Watching them as they moved to another pair, this time female, Asphodel could see the vestige remains of wind energy. Someone else had been with them, someone who could use the wind. Becoming bored with simply watching, she dropped from the branches of the trees, letting herself be seen as she drew in her aura of intent, hoping to make herself friendly to this group.
Letting her blank expression reshape to relief she smiled faintly. "Hello? I was walking through the forest and saw the fire..." She said, shrugging a little as she drew her cloak around her shoulders. Moving closer to the group without making a sound, her gloved hands came up to cover her mouth as she gasped. "Oh my..." She whispered before she moved closer then around to look at the dragon closer. "It really is you. Lief!" She called out at the end as she seemed to tackle the other in a hug.

Seiri's hand in his made him feel somewhat safe...though he didn't exactly feel unsafe. Just..Something. Something wasn't right, and he wasn't sure what it was. Such an odd feeling. When Cecilia hugged him, he tensed just slightly. Her powers still frightened him, but he smiled softly at her when she pulled away and took Seiri's other hand. When the stranger approached them, he tensed again. His eyes narrowing a bit. She seemed familiar but he had no idea who she was.

When she moved closer to him, he let go of Seiri's hand and took a few steps away from the female. When she hugged him with such gusto, he stumbled backwards and fell. Confusion clear in his mismatched eyes as he stared up at the stranger now atop him. Leif. She had called him Leif. Somehow, that name just seemed right. Was it really his? He blinked. Staring at her, looking so very lost and confused. "...Do we know each other?" He had asked it hesitantly, his voice sounding just as lost and confused as his face looked.

At first the dragon tried to hide the fact that her actions were hurting him. Taking deep breaths Tempo managed not to yelp loudly until near the very end of the process. Dimly hearing the words about lighting a fire, the dragon obliged after crawling forward to the branches. Taking a deep breath, he let the flames in the pit of his stomach grow.

This was something a dragon never lost, no matter the shape or form. At least, not those from his world. Letting the flames escape, Tempo winced as they burned his human mouth slightly. Still, it kept him awake and well. Sighing, Tempo returned to Ora's side and placed his head upon her shoulder. "Tell me why are you here? I'm trying to find dragon eggs, or orphaned dragonlings to bring to my world... I don't want to end up being the last of my kind." The only person he'd spoken of this to so far was Irian, and then only because it was necessary.

So why, wondered the dragon, was he telling this tale to Ora?

Irian regarded the others as the approached and smiled. Seiri really wasn't a bad sort for what he was. She'd met much worse time and again, and quite a few of those monsters had been human. "Hi Seiri." The red head then watched with mouth agape as a new player entered the fray, figuratively speaking.

Upon seeing how she jumped upon Ryu, Irian glanced at Seiri to see how he would react. All the while a part of the dragon rider's mind was with Tempo. Prodding him quietly to stay awake, she could only hope that Ora would do a wonderful job by her friend and brother.

Ora was relieved that Tempo was able to light the fire. The fire could prove helpful in many ways, keeping them warm, warding off dangerous animals, keeping them awake, or even helping the others to locate them. She sat near the fire as Tempo leaned back to rest his head on her shoulder. Blushing for a moment she leaned back on her hands as she braced herself to hold his weight in case he did in fact fall asleep. She felt it was the least she could do, being that this was all her fault.

"You're looking for dragon eggs?" Ora asked almost suprised. It was more of a statement than a question. She wondered for a moment about the life of a dragon and how his race might be endangered. Then her thoughts drifted to becoming lost in the forest when she realized she hadn't answered his question. "Well, I was sleepwalking. It's strange, I'd never done that until recently, when I started having these, visions or dreams about a man in the forest." She was staring into the fire as the flames jumped and lit the trees around them. "When I woke I was standing at the edge of the forest. Then I thought I saw someone, maybe the man, but when I ran in after him a fog set in and I was alone, and lost..." her voice trailed off.

Ora was lost in thought again, thinking about running into the group after she had cut her foot. Cecilia's powers were amazing, and Ryu... An image flashed in her mind, Ryu was covered in blood looking crazed... and then it was gone. Ora gasped as her eyes widened and she came out of the vision, still staring into the fire. "Tempo, I think that this forest is trying to tell me something. That Ryu is bad. But he doesn't seem bad to me..." The wind picked up blowing the heat of the fire away from them, as a chill ran up her spine, from the wind or the vision of Ryu, she couldn't tell. She hoped that the others were ok.