Thread: Don't Let Your Hope Fade

The heroes had spent a good day recovering and it was the following morning when Nicholas lead them to his vacant home. While resting, the heroes engaged in a few good gambling games and learned that Nick had one hell of a poker face. But it was expected for he was the Hero of Darkness.

While the heroes played some games, they also had some time to really confess their feelings of the journey and each other. Reluctantly, some of the men were less upfront about their feelings. Cole and Nick were actually the two not to engage in the "let's reflect upon our lives" little pow-wow. It was the two of them that decided they would just watch and keep to themselves. Adam, though a part of the circle, was relatively silent too, but he was sitting beside Gavyn, which might have been why he was so still.

Speaking of Gavyn, it was it her idea to pay tribe to those that had fallen during their little journey. It was also she who was the first to admit that, despite the dark journey that laid in their wake, that she wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.

Jenna was more like Adam. She spoke, but she didn't really have as much emotion as Gavyn. She did, however, pipe up when they got to talking about their ninjackles. She actually had the most to say and it was her idea that they let the ninjackles go free once heir quest was over.

With Nick not being in the circle, Rynn was left to sit beside Jenna and Gavyn. Between these two, she did her best to contribute to the circle's discussions, but it was pretty obvious that she was distracted by Nick's lack of involvement. Jokingly, the bartender at the time had cracked a joke about Nick being in love with Jenna, which actually caused Rynn to fall silent for the remainder of the evening.

When the circle discussion was over, each of the heroes went about their own way. Gavyn, Adam, and Cole were the first to hit the beds. Jenna and Nick actually paired off and went for a little midnight stroll which left Rynn to drink alone and drinking she did. Although she had not consumed enough enough to get her tipsy, she was set to bed by the inn owner. When Jenna and Nick finally returned, Jenna was sent to her quarters while Nick was given a good verbal lashing for having a romantic moonlight stroll with Jenna rather than Rynn.

Going to bed mad, Nick had a rough time getting a decent sleep. Rynn, like Nick, also had an awful night's sleep. The rest of the heroes, however, slept perfectly.

With the rising sun waking them from their slumber, the heroes began their little walk to Nick's house. In an oh-so-happy mood, Nick nearly danced the entire way to his home. He even told stories revolving around his childhood and how he once ran around the yard naked to protest bathing.

All had appeared well and safe. The day was playing out all too perfect. But upon entering the house, a sickening feeling hit the guts of all the heroes. With blades and guns pointed at their chests and up, the ban of heroes knew that this was all a trap. The la'Ronk army, who had heard that the heroes would need a rare book perched on the self at Nick's home, had arrived just hours before the heroes had entered the house. Having the place surrounded an epic battle broke out.

Without hesitation, the heroes run head-on into the mess of soldiers. Though they were outnumbered, their sheer willpower seemed to give them a bit of an edge. It was going okay until Garnette, Teresa, and Kyle showed up.

Teresa. Oh poor Teresa. Her heart couldn't take the battle. The blood. It was everywhere. It was actually a sharp pain that really did her in. A stray bullet grazed her, which instantly dropped her. Kyle, who was nearby, took to warding off the hero that he believed to have slain his dear friend. In a heartbeat, Kyle shoved the tip of his sword into the thigh of Jenna.

Jenna, now injured, knew that she needed to retreat but was unable to move her leg as it was rendered useless. Cole, seeing his injured comrade, immediately came to her side. Fighting with such vigor, Jenna watched in awe and admiration was Cole protected the woman his heart desired.

Just when Cole seemed to have Jenna and himself in the clear, Kyna's wild hounds torn Cole apart, limb after limb. The hounds circled Jenna, but were pulled back to their master when Nicholas engaged the blind woman in a close-combat battle.

For a while, Kyna and Nick was out of sight for the two had fumbled down the hill and into the fog covered valley below. There fight, though, was quite beautiful. Between the nipping jaws of the hounds and the dark magic cast by Nick, their battlefield was scorn and worn.

Sweat dotting his face and soaking his body, Nick collapsed before Kyna. Exhaustion finally kicked it. But, to his surprise, Kyna called the dogs off. She said, "I will not kill you when you're down due to fatigue. I want to kill you fair and square." It was then when she, too, felt her legs buckle out from below her and she dropped to the ground. The hounds, as odd as it was, actually took to lapping up both Nick and Kyna's wounds for they knew that the amount of blood both had lost would bring about their death had they not treated the wounds.

While Kyna and Nick were rolling around and sparing, Garnette had managed to engage in a battle with Gavyn and Adam. The two tag-teamed and ended up rendering Garnette's hands useless. In a fit of rage, she took out not only Adam and Gavyn, but also a large chunk of la'Ronk soldiers. Dropping dead, she wore a smirk on her face for she had claimed the most lives during the battle.

Rynn, who was busy trying to move Jenna to a safe zone, saw Adam and Gavyn take a great blowing. Limping to their side, she singlehandedly carried them to safety.

Being the last hero, she felt the tears of defeat swell in her eye as the prince and his elite soldiers circled in on her and her knocked out comrades.

Just as the tip of Kyle's sword cut into her cheek, a bellowing whinny sent the la'Ronk fumbling back. The mystery rider. She was back. Reaching down, she picked the defeated heroes from the earth and raced down the steep slope behind Nick's house. Missing Nick and not having enough time to round back and get him, she pressed on and thundered off into the black forest that are virtually impossible to navigate through, unless you were familiar with the woods.

Dropping the heroes onto a mount of snow, she shook her head in disgust before vanishing into the darkness of night.

Suffering a great loss of their own, the heroes would eventually stir to find that Cole was gone. They also discovered that the la'Ronk Teresa was at their side, which made them realize that she must have been the knew hero of light.

Distraught and broken, the heroes now mourn the loss of their fallen brethren.

Back at Nick's house, the prince rounds up the surviving la'Ronk soldiers and has them come with him to Kittmund. Seizing Nick, the prince decided he would take the hero as a prisoner, figuring he would lure the others out of hiding. The prince gave Kyna full responsibility over the Hero of Darkness as he figured she would best suit him.

A full-scale war was about to be declared. But before war was announced heroes needed naming. Kyle would be crowned a hero as would Kyna. Garnette would go down in fame and Jenny Lynn... well, she was no where to be found....

Those of you that do not have DECEASED before your character's name are allowed to post. If you're a hero, you should be posting here. If you're a la'Ronk, you need to move your posts to Kittmund.

Heroes: You should probably worry about yourself and getting healed. Probably mad at Nick for blindly leading them into a la'Ronk trap. Probably thankful that the mysterious woman rider showed up. Also probably debating whether or not it's worth saving Nick. But there is good news... you managed to get the book Nick wanted....

la'Ronk: You're probably pissed that the heroes got away. You'll be attending a round table meeting. You'll probably want to investigate the rider that saved them. And Nick? Feel free to harass and torture him. Maybe he can spill some secrets on his comrades. Oh, and you might also noticed that Jenny Lynn wasn't there. Might want to question her whereabouts. Wait... she's still not here. Hmmm.... Oh, and why is the prince acting all weird. Upon returning to Kittmund, he's been acting very... strange....

It was cold. So very cold. Had she died? Rynn thought she had. She'd been surrounded, the only one conscious as the soldiers pressed in. They were going to die. They were going to fail at the very beginning. How pathetic. But then, as these angry thoughts filled her mind- Rynn realized she was still capable of thought. She could feel cold around her, hear the silence of the snow, not to mention she felt the stare of something. Death would have silenced everything. She would have seen her family again if she'd truly died. That luxury had been denied her. Which meant she was still living.

Opening her eyes, Rynn finally took in the scenery, bracing herself to find out who was staring at her. She was lying on her side, staring down a little white rabbit. Well that was harmless enough. Apparently it wasn't a captor or a murderer watching her rest, just a bunny. The rabbit hopped over to her, and sniffed at her cheek. Its fur was incredibly soft and warm. Rynn wanted nothing more than to cradle the snowy bunny, but as soon as she moved her hand to hold it, the rabbit hopped back, its whiskers moving rapidly as it continued to sniff the air. A moment later it was gone.

Sitting up, Rynn stretched her muscles, feeling the soreness from the battle everywhere. As if a light finally went off in her mind, she remembered her unconscious companions. Looking around herself, Rynn saw Jenna, Gavyn, and Adam. That was it. Cole was no where to be seen. The light hero they'd so recently acquired was already dead. Nick wasn't near her either. But she knew he hadn't died. They wouldn't have killed him.

In the fury that engulfed her just then, Rynn sent a firebal at one of the trees right near them. She was so angry. Angrier than she remembered feeling. Standing up quickly, she drew her blades and and took out her fury on the tree. Rynn said nothing, but the gashes her blades were leaving in the tree were deep, proving that she most definitely had some anger issues to resolve, though she'd never show it to her allies. They needed her to be their leader even now, especially now that they'd lost so much.

As if suddenly given a shot of breath into her barely moving body, she sat up suddenly in a gasp. Her eyes were wide now, as she tried to steady her blurry vision. After a few moments, the shapes around her practically engulfed in white were now forming to be her friends, laid out in the snow. But not all of them, no there were a few bodies missing.

Slowly, the events that transpired came back to her mind. Nick was gone, he had been taken away… but was he safe? And for how long? Everything was so very hard to remember, and with every memory came a sharp pain in her skull. “Oh right, Rynn…” Rynn was the last person she saw before slipping into unconsciousness, she was carrying Gavyn’s wounded body to safety… to protect her and Adam. But as she spoke of Rynn, a repeating sound began to catch the girls attention. It sent her into a panic when she thought it was the sound of an attacker, but after taking a look around she saw that it was Rynn in a frenzy, taking out her anger on a nearby tree.

So there was Rynn… she thought to herself, looking around and the bodies beside her. Adam…, Jenna…., and… wait, who was this? Rubbing her eyes, the form could in no way belong to Cole, it was a female form. Her face, it was recognizable, wasn’t she apart of that battle?

“Wait… Cole..?” She called out, moving only slightly at first, her body almost begging her to remain still. Her voice quivered as the realization soon came, that Cole was gone. “Oh… no…” Curling her lips she pressed them together, bringing her hand to her face, bits of dried blood staining her fingers. She couldn’t fight back the sudden stream of warm tears that came out of her as she silently tried to calm herself. It was all too much, the deaths… the damage… it was now that she finally let herself break down a little. What were they to do? Look for Nick? Blindly walk into another battle they weren’t prepared for? They couldn’t rely on this mysterious ride to always be there to save them. That wasn’t being a Hero at all.

Wiping her face clean the best she could, she took a deep breath through her nose and calmed herself. The others, they still weren’t awake yet. Everyone needed to be examined, and they needed to get their bodies off ice. As much as Gavyn wanted to ask Rynn to inform her of the details that had gone on, it was more than likely best to not get between her blades at the moment. Instead, she rolled over and attempted to wake up the closest person to her, Adam. “Adam…” She brought her hand to his body and rubbed along his shoulder, trying not to be too rough knowing he was most likely in pain as well. “Adam… please, wake up.” All she wanted was for everyone to give her a sign they were okay. She hated being out of control like this, being so oblivious and lost. Trying to pull herself up off the ground she winced and reached for her flask of purified water. It would be weak, considering Gavyn herself was still weak but she would attempt to use her healing magic to at least help them walk to the nearest shelter where Adam could mix a few herbal drinks to help the process along.

Eyes, the bluish grey color of lightening, popped open and stared up into the sky. She was numb, very very numb. Not just physically but emotionally.

Jenna didn't blink, or move a muscle. She just stared silently up at the sky. Her mind was going back over everything, everything the battle had taken from her. Taken from all of them.

It was Cole that made her so numb. He had saved her life, fought so bravely and so amazing to make sure they didn't die. But in the end..she wanted to scream, cry, throw her lightening bolts at someone, something. Cole was special, she could have loved him she thought to herself. There was just something there between the two of them. Right after they met she knew, she knew he was something special.

And now he was gone...dead in a horrific way. What made it worse was that he died protecting her. It would haunt her for forever.

She was so numb that she didn't even feel pain anymore. She didn't feel the burning and aching of the large hole in her leg. The sword that Kyle had stabbed her with had gone all the way through. It was a nasty wound and if she didn't do something to it soon she would bleed out.

But she was just to numb to care. Tears, tears she didn't even know about ran down the side of her face. They dripped into the snow she was laying on. Jenna blinked once and that broke through her numb state. She started to cry harder and harder, after a few seconds she started to sob. Cole..Cole was gone.

Rolling over onto her side she buried her face into her arms and continued to sob. Her whole body shook from her tears, she was about to hyperventilate. But still she couldn't feel the pain in her leg, her mind had shut it out. Right now it was focusing on the pain in her heart.

A soft stirring behind her. A gentle voice begging someone to wake up. The sound of body wrenching sobs. Through her blind fury, these sounds managed to sneak in. Telling her that she was no longer the only one awake, telling her that they knew. They saw her and they knew. They knew there was a temper beneath those big green eyes and calm facade. Hearing Jenna's sobs pick up, Rynn stabbed her blades into the ground, falling to her knees as she did so, her crimson curls hanging limply about her face. The fire heroine could feel the soft sting of tears threatening her eyes, but she refused to give in to them. Wiping them away quickly, Rynn drew in a long deep breath and stood up. She sheathed the blades and turned back to her companions.

Gavyn was shaking Adam awake and trying to do something with her flask, trying to sit up. Jenna was hunched over, the tears shaking her body. Eyes following the line of Jenna's body, Rynn soon saw a deep crimson in the snow next to her. She was bleeding. Badly. Snapping into action, Rynn went over to the girl. "Jenna... look I know its hell for you right now, but you have to stop crying long enough to let someone tend to your leg." Rynn said softly, placing her hand on the lightning heroine's shoulder and the other on her leg near the injury "You are going to die if you don't patch that up..." She spole gently, not wanting to further upset the girl. Taking it upon herself to at least staunch the bleeding, Rynn pulled a few large pieces of cloth out of her bag and grabbed a sturdy stick from nearby. Jenna was going to need a tourniquet if she was going to survive this one. Slowly moving Jenna's leg to an easier to reach location, Rynn began to work on cleaning it up and stopping the bleeding.

"Gavyn I know you're weakened right now and I know you are worried about Adam- but don't be, he's alive and resting from exhaustion. I need you to tend to your wounds if they are serious, but if they are something that can heal naturally just as well, please help me with Jenna, she could die if we don't fix her leg..." Rynn's voice was calm, gentle. She didn't even look up from Jenna's leg as she spoke, as she knew that Gavyn would help her if she could.

Adam didn't know what happened, he only remembered being entering Nick's house and then BAM he blacked out. His eyes finally opened to see Gavyn running over to help Jenna and Rynn was near a tree. Adam ached all over and could barely see straight. Even trying to roll over onto his stomach was a challenge, once on his stomach he used his arms to push himself upwards onto his feet.

On his feet Adam could barely stand, he swayed back and forth quickly grabbing his staff to regain his balance. "Oww...what the fuck just happened? I remember Gavyn and I beating up some chick and BOOM! Now I'm in the snow...and everything hurts."

Adam looked around noticing Nick was gone Shit! on a closer scan he noticed that Cole was gone as well Fuck! This is bad! Adam was in a lost of pain and was having trouble standing even with the aid of his staff. SNAP his staff snapped causing Adam to smack into the ground dislocating his right shoulder "Fucking A! Dammit!"

It was the sound of a grumbling man that soon set the heroes on edge. But just before they were given the chance to attack the mumbling fool that they believed to be a la'Ronk, a young child appeared out of the thicket.

Eyebrows cocked and a foul expression playing on his face, he set a hand on his hip while the other one extended forward with a shaking figure.

"Now just you listen, whipper snappers. I ain't about to deal with you little punks and your little punk attitude. Now drop and give me fifty!"

But before he could bark out another command, he pulled out a cane and hobble his way over to the heroes that were still sprawled out on the ground with defeat and exhaustion.

"Eh? The la'Ronk kick your keesters?" Cackling as if he were an old man, the funky haired boy waddled over to Gavyn. "Ah. Very nice. Very nice. You will make a find young wife," he said while jabbing Adam with his cane.

It was then when a gust of wind picked up and blew his thick fringe from his face, revealing a set of jewels that seemed to scream "Wind Hero." Drawing a cheeky grin on his face, the boy boastfully awaited their applause. But, when none came, he scowled. "Eh. You kiddies not know a hero when you see them. You must be blinder than me," he said hobbling over to Rynn.

Stroking his beard (or at least an imaginary one), the old man trapped in a boy's body circled around over to Jenna. "Eh. You say something? My ears ain't like they used to be. You'll need to speak up," he said patted her on her head as if she were a ninjackle.

As his rose colored eyes danced over the fallen heroes, he let a smug little look squirm its way onto his face. "C'mon, c'mon. Follow me. Let good ol' Yeri-sensei fix you up a spot of food. C'mon, c'mon."

Again with the hobbling, he started to walk around from the small group of heroes. But he whirled around real fast to give them the puppy dog eyes look before he whipped around to continue his slow walk toward his little hut in the middle of no were.

She was focused on helping Jenna, but soon another voice, an unfamiliar voice made its presence known. Rynn had noticed when Adam had awoken, though he'd apparently just fallen down. Finally, Jenna's leg was in a position where she wouldn't die, though they needed to get to a strong water source soon so the Gavyn could finish the healing process. But there was this voice. This rattling angry voice. Frustrated, Rynn stood up quickly wiping Jenna's blood from her hands.

Emerald eyes on fire, Rynn took in the young man who sounded like he was eighty. What the hell was that. And what was he going on about? "Drop and give me fifty"? Was he serious? Rynn also saw Adam laying in the ground apparently in a large amount of pain. "God Dammit..." Rynn hissed, the snarl picking up in her voice as the pressure mounted inside her. Anger was an understatement for what was bubbling up inside her.

"God dammit would you just stop it?!" Rynn finally yelled as the old man wandered around barking orders and telling them to move "Can't you see that Jenna can hardly move, Adam likely just re-injured himself and Gavyn is still a bit weak? We can't exactly drop and give you fifty..." She spoke, surprised at how even she was keeping her tone. The man was clearly the wind hero, though his presence here seemed confusing and strange and just generally unusual here "Who are you, and yes I know you're the wind hero, but what is your name? How can you help?" Rynn sighed, the stress mounting in her. How the hell were they supposed to win now? They were down three heroes, Light, Dark, and Ice were all dead or gone. As badly as she didn't want to think about it, Nick kept creeping into her thoughts, but she managed to control herself enough to push him away. Far away. Until they found him, he would live in that part of her mind where her parents and younger brother stayed, back in the part of her mind reserved only for when she had time to mourn or more often back there to be forgotten.

She simply couldn't focus on him right now and manage to save the rest of her heroes as well. "Look we'll go with you, but we need some help getting there. I don't know where our ninjackles ended up."

Not too far from her, Jenna had woken to the harshness of reality. Turning to look over at her, she had fidgeted around enough to let Gavyn get a good glimpse at the massive wound in her leg. But she knew that those heavy tears that fell in a steady stream from her eyes weren’t because of the pain from the battle, but the pain from losing someone she cared so deeply for.

Rynn came to Jenna’s side, trying to calm her down while also tending to her wound. It was amazing how responsible the red head was, even though she was suffering through a fit of emotions she still managed to calm herself and calm her allies. The soothing and calm tone she used made Gavyn understand everything a bit more clearly. Now understanding what she had to do, she wabbled to her feet and made her way over to Jenna and Rynn. “I will do what I can… at least try and do enough to get you on your feet… but won’t be able to fully heal you until we find some kind of water source.”

Sadly, as she popped open her flask, she realized she had far less purified water than she had thought. But she will make due with it for now. Gavyn had to take a moment to calm herself, it was bad enough she was weak, if she had a weak state of mind as well she wasn’t going to get anything done. Rhythmically breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, she felt her rather dim inner power now coming back to life.

Her hands hovered over the wound in Jenna’s leg, closing her eyes she concentrated all the power she could summon until she finally felt the tingling sensation of the purified water activating and centering itself in a swirling ball under her palms, it slowly enclosing the wound until it seeped into her skin and vanished from sight. Opening her eyes, she could see the faint glow of her element on Jenna’s skin, but couldn’t help but feel dizzy after using all that energy.

“Can you… move it?” She asked with concerned eyes as she closed up her flask once again. But then a voice met her ears she hadn’t heard before. Looking up at him, circling the group with a look in his eyes that she just couldn’t place. His choice of words were peculiar; talking about push ups, their earlier defeat and her making a good wife?! What a strange, strange boy! Was he a boy? He had an air about him that made him seem not so young… it was all so perplexing.

The wind hero….?

“If I were still walking this earth… yes sir…” The words of her grandmother emanating in her ears made her rather shocked. She whispered in an angry tone to her voice, “Knock that off, he looks to be my age!” What on earth had gotten into her? She’d never heard her grandmother say something like that before. She had been silent so long and she comes back saying that? Either way, Gavyn couldn’t follow him until everyone was awake and well enough to follow as well. Nobody was going to be left behind, no one.

Pouting as if he were nine, the teenage looking lad crossed his arms over his chest and stomped off. Not giving a damn if the others were following, Yeri moved at his fast as a snail pace toward his hut that was nestled deep in the woods. But, seeing as he was moving painfully slow (on purpose I should add), he figured that the heroes would eventually get their wits about them and follow him.

It was then when Yeri realized the damage that had been done. He had known about the battle for he overheard the sounds of swords clashing and blood being spilled from miles south of there location. You see, despite what others believed, Yerik was the Wind Hero. Yes, Devyn had the jewels on his face like that of the Wind Hero, but he was just a hoax. A hoax that Yeri had conjured up.

With his age and wisdom, the Hero of Wind had plotted for a long time how he would deal with the heroes. Originally, he was just going to show up at the end and worry about helping them with the orbs - Truth Orbs - but due to the chaos that swallowed the lives of two of the heroes, Yeri had no choice but to join the crew. They needed guidance and he was, sadly, the only one to offer such support, especially during this grave hour.

Lose, though it was expected, had really knocked the heroes from their prideful stance. Perhaps the war that they were fighting was finally becoming real to them. Yerik half figured that the heroes were a bunch of misfits and, from what he could see, he was right. They knew not of their power nor of the underlying mission they were to fulfill. To make matters worse, the one that seemed to know the most (due to his obsession with the tales and stories), was swept out from under their noses and locked within the prison of the la'Ronk.

"Did you know that ninjackles are the guardians of the heroes for the past? Recall that hundreds of years ago, the heroes of legend rose up to thwart the evil that was shaking the land. When those heroes were separated, they used their great hounds, the ninjackle, to communicate with one another. Well, sort of."

Yeri cocked back his head and pursued to lips, as a sorrowful howl rippled in the still, heavy air. It was with that initial howl that the voices of the nearby ninjackles lit up the darkening evening sky.

Their eyes were soon around them and the wagging tails of happy dogs came trudging through the snow. Cold noses and warm licks melted the hearts of the defeated heroes, giving them a sense of hope.

"Ninjackles, as I said, are the guardians of the heroes. They can melt hearts and lap up wounds. They can also be the ears for their rider." With a calm step toward Nick's hound, Yeri rested his head on the muzzle of the beast. "If the bond between rider and hound is strong enough, you will be able to hear what is happening, though it is only for a fragment of time. But, I can see that you are all worried about the Hero of Darkness, so hearing that he is alive might be enough to offset your upset stomachs."

Turning to Kapu, Yeri dropped to his knees and gentle stroked the ears of the hound. This repetitive motion continued for a good minute. After a minute of petting, the Forgotten Hero's lips began to move, muttering words not loud enough for the others to comprehend.

"Thanks," Nick's muttering voice came from the mouth of the ninjackle. "They are quiet beautiful creatures," was the whispering words that followed seconds later. And then, in a questioning tone, Nick spoke again, "What kind of hounds are these?"

As the hound opened its mouth again, the heroes would hear a female's voice. "They are Unai," spoke the ninjackle, mimicking Kyna's actual voice and tone. "A rare breed that is usually only given to the highest ranking la'Ronk if any at all." Continuing on, Kapu added "They've been with me since I was a child."

"See," Yeri said while closing the mouth of Kapu. "Ninjackles all you to hear what is happening. From the sound of it, it appears as if your comrade is with Kyna Riddle, a very formidable foe," the small lad added.

With that now out of the way, Yerik wondered if the heroes would begin to pay him some respect. Unlike them, he had much to offer. He could, essentially, answer all their questions.

As soon as Gavyn came over to Jenna, Rynn moved away from her and towards Yerik. As he walked away however, she shook her head and moved instead to Adam. Kneeling beside him, Rynn gingerly helped to life him into a seated position. "Where are you injured?" She asked, knowing that Gavyn would not be able to help them now, not after using so much to rescue Jenna.

But then the man was back, and his words caused a lightness in her. How a lightness was able to even spark Rynn would never know, but it seemed survival instincts had decided to kick in. Standing up from Adam, Rynn moved closer to the strange man to hear better his words. It seemed the other three were far too distracted to really pay attention to what was happening and it was up to her to understand. "They are guardians?" she asked, before the howling had begun "I had never thought about it that way. I suppose I didn't pay enough attention to that legend..." But her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a sound that made her heart leap a bit in her chest.

Howling. Except Yerik was the one howling, but a moment later, the howls were returned. She heard a familiar one in particular. Ary. As the happy animals bounded towards them, Rynn ran to Ary, stumbling through the snow a bit as she did so. She wrapped her arms around the beast's neck, the creature nuzzling her for a long time, letting out a small whine of comfort and sadness. Ary could read her, Ary knew a tragedy had passed.

After reuniting, Rynn walked with Ary over to Yerik and Kapu, still keeping her hand buried deep in the ninjackle's fur. At the moment it seemed at her grip on Ary was the only thing even keeping her standing. She kept a respectful distance, wondering what was happening. Then Rynn heard it. His voice.

Her gripped tightened instinctively on Ary's fur, her knees buckling beneath her. Rynn nearly fell to her knees in the snow, her eyes wide and fighting back tears as she heard Nick speaking. Ary nudged Rynn, keeping her stable as she threatened to collapse in her shock and sadness. Hearing his voice wasn't something she was prepared for. Rynn could handle locking him away in a deep cell in her mind, letting him rot as her heart rotted, but hearing his voice- hearing his words, even though they were simple and told her very little wasn't something her controlled emotionals could handle. Much to her dismay as she listened to Nick and then Kyna and then Yerik, she felt tears stinging at her eyes. "We can't leave him there..." she whispered, walking closer to Yerik as Ary nudged her forward "I'm sorry I was rude to you before. I just... I'm in a little over my head..."

"Eh, it happens to the best of us. Well, not me. But that's because I'm da bomb." Throwing up a pair of peace signs, Yeri looked at the group of misfit heroes. They were probably labeling him a kid right off the bat, but Yerik didn't mind. In fact, it was the best thing ever, as it masked the fact that he was really an old man trapped in a boy's body.

His pink eyes soon flicked to the sky to take in the shifting clouds and the changing breeze that just couldn't ruffle his hair (he made it that way). It was pretty evident at that point that Yerik had control over the win as there was no other way possible for him to not have messy locks of hair.

Sucking his teeth, the lad shoved his hands into his pockets before protesting that they 'get a move on.' Although he understood their pain and suffering, he also knew that staying in the cold any longer would result in the loss of limbs and life. One day they will learn to respect me. One day....