Things lost, things found

[Meow]

“Careful kitten, this forest is really dangerous!” Kahn yowled his warning as Feru carried him out of the portal. The two were at the edge of the blighted forest of many dangers and, more importantly, rich magic.

“Wow it’s pretty, like autumn without all the brown leaves.” Feru looked and studied a single red leaf that was at her feet. “I know to be careful, I can lose the wolves of Concordia easily.”

“Feru, this forest is many times more dangerous and if you’re not going to take it seriously we’ll go strait home before you get us eaten.” Kahn batted his tail impatiently; he really needed the girl to be careful. “And I need you to take me to an old friend.”

“Meow alright, I’ll be extra careful.” The young cat girl yielded with the old cat’s harping. He was right, there was a feeling in the air and the place smelled like blood, it was best to be careful, she walked with Kahn on her shoulders poking the girl with his claws when his nerves got high.

“Feru, look here.” The old man cat pointed his paw at a strange vine. “A baby Ruilserk. The larger ones are most dangerous, suck your blood dry but the little ones are good if you get a poison bite, they’ll suck the wound of any poison.”

Feru looked to see the thorny vine closely, it wasn’t very big with the width only a little more than her pinky. But the girl came too close and the vine snapped like a viper and coiling painfully around her hand. “Ow it hurts!” Feru yelped as she pulled the evil vine out and threw it against the ground. It was pink from the little magus’ blood.

“Don’t touch it!” The old cat hissed at Feru for her foolishness. “Don’t touch anything in this cursed forest. Most of it can kill you.”

“I’m sorry master.” Feru apologized feeling enough shame to call him master; she usually just called him Khan.

“Uh don’t worry, just be more careful from now on. The Talib’s home isn’t too far, just down this path and turn west when the magic tells you to, we’ll be welcome there so we will find the place without much fuss.”

[Gadgeteer Mikami]

The docks of Yanbo Harbor was as lively as ever no matter how many times Reina dropped by to see her cousins coming home from high sea. Her spirit was elated the moment news of their eventual arrival reached her small home on the outskirt of Capital City. In fact, her entire family decided to take a short break from city life to enjoy the warm sun out on the coast. It was a nice respite from the constant reminder that her gadgeteer mentor had left for another land carried in the chilling Autumn wind inland.

Reina's senses was greeted by the familiar salty air as the early morning stroll took her down to the dockside, the ocean waves singing the songs of Hadaj as she gracefully traversed the sea. Fishermen were hauling in a load of the day's catch onto land where eager dockhands went about wheeling the fresh catch to the local market. Today was a happy day for the Yanbo populace and the rest of Akashima alike - for without their continuous supply of marine harvest, the wintery months would be hard-pressed for those who could not afford to buy grain.

Reina smiled gratefully as she meandered around, greeting the familiar faces hard at work to ensure their friends and neighbors had enough to eat. The docks was like a second home to her. Many times the girl had come on trips with Uncle Hajime, the respected clocksmith among Akashimans, to observe the various ship-building technology made available to Akashima. Reina wandered into The Blue Eel, glancing at the various tools the shipwrights used to carve wondrous sea-faring crafts that had protected the lives of numerous fishermen and the navy for uncountable years. Their technique, though simple as it may be, was refined with simplistic beauty.

"Well, there. Look what Kazen's Wind drove into our little shop, boys." A gruff, kind voice rang from the top of a gigantic ship skeleton moored under the sturdy roofing. The workers turned their heads towards the entrance, some even as they were suspended from the side of an enourmous wooden cliff. Showers of greeting echoed in the expansive shipyard, acknowledging her friendly presence before they went back to work on the ship. One of the men leapt down from the behemoth and rappeled to safety before heading towards the smiling maiden. His sandy grin as bright as the morning sun.

"Reina, kiddo! Long time no see!" The grinning seadog wrapped his thick, sun-tanned arms around her shoulders and gave her a teasing squeeze. "What brings you here to lil ol' Blue Eel? And where is that old salt, Hajime, anyways? I haven't seen him in ages!"

The lass smiled back at Taisho, the head shipwright of Yanbo Harbor. She had met him several years back in one of her trips with Uncle Hajime and they forged quick friendship in the short days they spent learning about the tools and equipments these hardy men use. The mention of her mentor's name, though, brought a sad frown to her face. Taisho must've noticed the sudden change as well and threw her a curious glance.

"Uncle Hajime went away overseas..." Reina's voice was just a whisper as her gaze lowered to the floor. She didn't want to remember how sad it was to be left alone inside that workshop, unusually cold and bitter. But the memories just kept on flooding back to her like an upturned bottle. "He said something about dwarves and things like that..."

The shipwright's eyes grew sullen to see the girl so glum. He thought about what he said and regretted bringing it up, but he had no idea the clockmaker had really gone off to investigate the mysterious letter. Something about the content of the letter, having read parts of it himself, was strangely amiss but had held quiet during that time. It was a strange piece of information that still puzzled him to this day.

"Hey..." Taisho's eyes lit up, drawing Reina's attention from the wooden planks holding the two from salty waves below. "I think I know where that old salt might be at..."

The rugged seadog wandered towards his workbench and, grabbing a roll of parchment from a weathered box, unfurled it on top of the smooth surface. Dark, sketchy lines and letters outlined a rough map of explored regions of the northern sea. There were also some other strange form of letters - writings supposedly of elven origin. "This is a map of the seaside locales us seafarers and merchants had visited. I think that just across the sea, there's a land populated by odd-looking race of people called "dwarves" as well." His sturdy fingers traced a line from Yanbo Harbor in a curve line towards the closest landmass on the map. "I believe it's called Raiaera, in elventongue, though I'm not completely sure."

Reina glanced up from the map towards her older friend curiously. "You know how to read Elvenscript, Big Bro?" It was already uncommon for an Akashiman to speak anything else besides Tradespeak, let alone being able to read Elvenscript at all. The elves haven't been seen too often within Akashiman borders, but the lass reasoned that the man knew a little from his time out at sea.

"Like I said, I'm not completely sure." He shrugged, rolling the map up and placing it back where he had taken it from. "I could be wrong, kiddo. But, I don't think I can help you with your woes. The Akashiman Royal Navy is riding the backs of us shipwrights to finish their 'precious' Battle Ark." Taisho chuckled before drawing a length of coarse rope into a crude harness equipped with several iron pulleys, hauling himself off the wooden floor with relative ease. "Although... I do believe there is a ship headed out to Raiaera just mooring at the docks. They say they're leaving in a couple of hours." The man grinned sheepishly before disappearing over the side, getting to work on the gigantic galleon. "Just so you know..."

***

Reina never thought she would've done what she had just did. The lass was now even more terrified by the fact she had nothing close to a ration of any kind on her - she had to leave quickly from Yanbo Harbor that the only thing she could afford to bring along was the clothes on her back and her gadgeteering tools. Still, The young engineer was glad she always had Nami tucked into her back pocket. The steel fan was a gift from a good friend of hers from her teens and she would be horrified to part with it.

The air around her was foul with rot decay. Something about this place was just strangely unnerving to the girl and she hesitated about walking forward any farther. It was only a matter of hours before when the ship she stowed away in had landed and the lass made haste in making herself scarce. Getting caught surely meant she would be taken back to Akashima, humiliated and undignified. Therefore, going back was not an option. Not until she found Uncle Hajime.

The forest looked as dead as the ground she tread, the young gadgeteer noticed the deeper she walked. Every tree within this seemingly cursed forest was devoid of any leaf yet strange, thorny vinces made its home here like the lush green forest back home. Many aspects of this place contradicted itself in the strangest ways, yet the girl could not understand why. Another disturbing thought came to mind as her eyes roamed warily about the silent trees.

She couldn't hear any birds sing at all. Nothing was making a sound in this cursed place.

M... Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all... Reina was having second thoughts, yet her feet kept going onwards, hoping to find the end of this maze of death and decay.

Almost in surprise, the young Akashiman snapped her head and peered cautiously in front of her. Faint noises drifted through the windless air, sounding something like oddly-accented Tradespeak. Her black-rimmed glasses were of not much help in seeing the two figures a good ways off, but nonetheless they seemed human enough for Reina to relax. There are other people here as well?! Thank goodness! I'm saved!

The girl wasted little time quickening her pace, almost breaking into a mad rush in order to reach the two supposedly human figures ahead. She was so elated to find other people here that she had utterly failed at noticing the unnatural vines twisting about in her wake.

Reina thought she had made it. She thought she was truly saved and can finally relax. It would've been that way had her feet not caught against an old, gnarled treeroot just short of ten yards away from the two magus. The raven-haired girl landed face-first into the hard, dusty ground with a surprised yelp followed by a rapidly expanding cloud of dust.

"Owww... stupid treeroot..." Her head felt as if it had broken into thousands of jigsaw pieces while her mind feebly attempted to put them back together. She was fine, though, for the time being. She had only taken a clumsy fall, luckily avoiding any broken bone that would've made things far more complicated for the other two.

All was fine, until Reina gazed up from the dusty ground and come face-to-face with the snake-like vine she saw hanging limp on many trees within the forest. This one, however, was as large as her thumb and had reared back like a viper.

Like a viper ready to strike at its prey.

[Rayne of Fire]

What had brought Rayne Illiarus Lunitari to the Red Forest you might ask. It was simply really. Rumors. Rumors he'd heard that had put him ill at ease since the moment he'd crashed onto this little dustball of a planet.

Technology seemed to sprout up in the strangest places on this world, technology that was far beyond the possibilities of the people native to it. And many of the things he'd heard of and seen himself seemed to be of Illunwean make. Which was terribly distressing. After all, he thought he'd been sent there all on his own. And that he'd been the first to be sent there. But many of the things he'd heard whispers of had been whispered of for years and years.

One rumor in particular had caught his attention, a tower deep in the Red Forest filled with magic and technology. The magic held no interest for him whatsoever. It was the technology, or rather a specific piece of it that brought him here.

I still don't like this idea you know. Traipsing through the Red Forest just because you might find a few "slides" for your gunblade. Not the brightest idea.

"I need ammunition 'Oh-Great-Voice-Who-Insists-On-Being-Nameless'. I'm nearly out and in case you hadn't noticed I'm far better with my gunblade than with the sword I got," he replied simply.

The Voice made no reply, and Rayne couldn't help but smirk a bit - even Voices got pouty from time to time. For awhile, all was silent, save for the noises of the forest. Granted those noices were far different from those he'd heard in Concordia.. but this was a very different kind of forest.

There are people ahead Rayne.

The Voice once more broke the silence, and Rayne quietly drew his gunblade, holding it at the ready but not in a manner to be threatening, "How many... and what sort?"

Just a few, and they don't seem to be threatening. Probably here for the same sort of thing you are.

Rayne nodded - though it occured to him often that nodding to a voice only he could here might eventually land him in the nuthouse - and stepped through the trees out onto a path. Up ahead he saw the people the Voice had warned of and raised his hand in greeting, "Hail strangers!"

[Amy]

If there was a single thing in the world that Amowyn Kristel loved, it was Magic, especially in her minor conquest to gain more of the power. She grinned, standing well outside the reach of most of the bloodvines that were in the Red Forest. The leaves of the trees had scared the girl a bit when she had first seen it, especially the way the morning sun had hit the branches and the almost gloomy look of the forest.

She had decided to travel to Raiera on mostly a whim. She had heard a lot of great things about the Elven country. Amazing swordsmen, great magic with a huge school devoted entirely to it, a large great army and achient and beutiful arceteture. She huffed, almost laughing at how wrong she had been. The stories were always gretaly exhaggerated when someone wasn't actually in the country. Whatever swordsmen that made Raiera famous for it where, they were not near the Red Forest. The same for the Magical School she heard about. She had yet to see it, but most of the elves around here didn't know much of it. It also didn't help that whatever good looking building there was, the origional maker was still around. She grinned at that. A building wasn't laced with history and called anchint in her book till the creator was dead and buried.

She sighed, looking around as she came to the edge of the forest. She really wished that she was back at her home again in Corone. At least back there she didn't have to worry about much, and had things to do. Here the girl only had this so-called dangerous Red Forest left to explore. It didn't help that amy's impression of the elves was a lot lower than it was origionally. The opath befroe her was simple in its make, just few trees cut off to the side at the moment, and no real foliage around her. She smilied, mentally thinking of what to get from what may be rather rich rescources around her. She had never experimented with herbs in spells before, but now would be a good a time as any to try.


((Reminding myself I need to spellcheck this, and Amy's starting away from you guys. This messege'll be deleated when edited.))

[Meow]

Feru watched as the girl approached, she was running towards them with a face of such relief to see someone of the trail. She seemed so excited that she failed to notice the tree branch and took a painful fall. Still it seemed like she would be fine.

“Feru cast a spell! There’s a blood vine near her!” Kahn yowled once again, he would do more but his kitty form wasn’t up to it and he had lost his powers, it would be up to the cat girl apprentice.

“Um ok.” Feru grabbed her spell book in her left and opened to a random page, it didn’t matter which and pointed her right hand at the vine. She prepared a quick little chant of three syllables and while speaking them her hand grew hot as a sphere of fire grew an inch from her palm. The cat girl made the final word “Pyroro” which she made up and sent the ball flying.

“Don’t hit the Girl!” Kahn yowled once again causing Feru to miss the plant, but at least she was close and the blood vine retreated to the dense undergrowth off of the path.

“Meow, are you Ok?” Feru asked as she sat catlike on the ground and taking her hand to help the girl up. Once standing She heard Kahn growl a little.

“You didn’t find a new friend and decided to take her on an adventure did you?” The old gray cat said accusingly.

Feru mewed a little with the accusation. “Khan I didn’t, she just came from no where.”

“You know this isn’t a game.”

“Nya I know Khan.” Feru hissed back not liking the tone.

The girl was in strange clothing and a pair of glasses that made her seem really adorable to the catgirl. She seemed really out of place in the red forest and Feru wondered why a girl would be all alone out here.

“What are you doing here? It’s not a safe place.” Feru said knowing the words were Khan’s but he was right most of the time. “I guess you should come to Talib’s tower with us. It’ll nice to have some who isn’t a grouchy old cat. Meow.” Feru made a reassuring smile in hopes to comfort the girl.

Another stranger came forward, carrying a strange looking sword. He called out hail. “Meow hail? Seems a little cloudy but no rain or hail.” Feru looked to the sky then to the swordsman. “Well hello sir, though I think you’re wrong about the weather.”

Khan was still pretty grumpy, another stranger in the red forest what were they all thinking, the girl surely must be nuts and the guy a foolish hero, who would take a gun blade into the red forest anyways.

“Quit being such a grump.” Feru said to the old cat when she sensed his mood.

[Gadgeteer Mikami]

Reina had never seen a plant move like a snake before, let alone knew before hand that the very place she came searching for her Uncle was the very last place she would even find a dwarf. The only thing she would find here in the cursed forest would be death and decay. The upstart gadgeteer was about to find out about the experience first-handed had it not been the timely intervention of a well-placed fireball near her position. The explosion echoed in her ears even as the snaking thornvine retreated to the shadows, followed by a furry shape which squatted in front of her, hand extended in a friendly manner.

"Umm, yes, I think I'm fine now..." The lass replied after picking through the spoken words carefully. The language was certainly Tradespeak, yet the dialect was slightly different - enough to give the Akashiman a tasking job of deciphering the language. Reina was still shakened by fright even as the catgirl helped her stand up on unsteady legs, nervously adjusting her lenses and inspecting them for damage. The scare was enough to rattle her senses, but at least she was still able to recognize a feline anthropomorphic being when she saw one - Nekojins, as they were called back in Akashima. The young lady had seen a good deal of their kind wander about in the streets going about their daily business. Still, Reina was surprised to see one so far from her homeland - and perhaps the catgirl herself was surprised to see Reina so deep in this life-forbidden forest. The other person - or rather, as she looked more carefully - was a rather normal-looking housecat with one vivid citrine and one milky white eye. The cat, Khan, as the catgirl had said, seemed to be someone of high position. It was strange to see one speak in Tradespeak, though, so he might be someone of high status or power. Either way, Reina did not want to know about it for the time being.

While the Nekojin conversed with her "companion" and seemed to be arguing with each other, Reina quietly observed the catgirl's clothing and demeanor from a few paces away. The lithe girl looked like any random traveller or an adventurer with her form-fitting clothes and short skirt - colored to match the trees and the grass - but her obvious feline traits and magical skills suggested that she was more than just meets the eye. The catgirl would be a figure Reina needed to keep an eye on if she ever needed help surviving through this trecherous forest.

Reina smiled apologetically at the catgirl's invitation and stifled a laugh. She could certainly see why having another human being - or as close to the catgirl's own kind - along for the travel. Even if the Akashiman knew close to nothing about fighting, she believed she would not fall prey to the same folly twice. "Sure, I'll go with you. Meow." Reina replied, trying to imitate the odd dialect as close as possible. It might be the language the catgirl speaks when travelling around these lands, or it could even be the local dialect for this area. It didn't matter much, though. What mattered was that she could at least communicate with another being.

Then, a man showed up behind the small party and startled Reina with his greeting. "Hail?! Here!?! Where?!?" The Akashiman quickly cupped her hands over her black, silky hair, looking up at the sky only to find some lazy grey clouds against the ironic blue sky. What in Hadaj's Name did he mean by "hail"?!? The catgirl made similar notes about the weather and replied back to the man, clad in ragged black clothes but thankfully really good-looking guy by Reina's standards. Despite the rather dangerous locale, the Akashiman couldn't help but stifle a laugh because of his blunder. She would still fail to understand such an odd greeting until later on in her travel.

"Anyway," Reina wiped a stray tear away and smiled gratefully at the catgirl. A proper introduction was due on the Akashiman's part, being that the Neko had saved her life even when they had only just met. "My name's Reina Mikami. I just landed in this place, Raiaera, is it? Thanks for having me come along with you, this place scares the daylight out of me."

The catgirl looked well-travelled enough, so there was nothing to lose on Reina's mind. She had no idea, however, that the place her Uncle went to was actually a continent across and over the even more trecherous pass of the Mountains of Dusk.

[Rayne of Fire]

Their confusion at the word hail was rather amusing, and he hard to try very hard in order to suppress the chuckle that sought to escape his lips. Shaking his head gently, he smiled at them, "Hail is simply a greeting in this case strangers, it is not always a warning of foul weather."

Watching as the catgirl helped the other stand, he approached, hand on the end of his gunblade. Looking them over he frowned a little, "Everything alright? The two of you are not injured are you?"

For Rayne had not heard the cat speak, nor if he had would he have at first believed what he'd heard. To him it seemed nothing more than a pet, and would remain as such in his mind until proved otherwise, "I am Rayne Lunitari... HighGua-..... I'm a wanderer, from Concordia."

It almost hurt to say so... but in the end it was true. There was little of Illun left in Rayne, so much had happened to him since he'd first set foot on this dustball. Glad to know you've finally accepted it you stubborn, stubborn man.

"Just shut up," he thought in return.

Extending his hand to the two, it being customary to shake hands upon first meeting strangers on this planet, he smiled slightly, "Who might you be?"

[Amy]

The Red Forest was exactly as Amowyn had thought it was, now that she was a bit farther in. The red foliage made for a pretty, if morbid and somewhat odd, setting. despite the fact she knew that she was safe until getting farther into the "cursed" forest, a sense of unease had been growing in her since the first few steps into the forest. Besides the fact that every single leaf was the exact same shade of red as every other leaf, she felt like something was a bit off.

Whatever ideas she had were quickly tossed out of her mind as a strange vine, nearly invisible against the leaves that were above her, snatched onto her arm, pulling back in with terrifying force that nearly tore her arm out of her socket. The girl panicked, pulling her arm fruitlessly and wasting two of the enchantments she had saved up on her newly aquired gloves. Her third attempt, even if she was firing off the magic in blind luck worked, the small flame touching the vine and sending it whipping back into the foliage above.

The forest was as still as the girl was as she caught her breath, biting her lip and berating herself. Even though the elves were arrogant and annoying, they had been nice enough to give her a lot of good tips for this forest. At the very least for this part of it. A few fire spells would keep the vines away, stay away from the trees with teeth at the bottom, and don't be loud. The advice was good, even if the magician forgot it.

She stood, dusting herself off. The pants she wore were somewhat baggy, in her mind enough for her to run and not enough for anything to grab her leg as she did so. Her top was mostly the same, a red shirt, now missing half of her sleeve where the blood vine had ripped through. She sighed, rubbing her arm were she was hit as she gathered her things again. The blood vine at the very least should have knocked the arrogance out of her, at least enough for her to live through this little escapade.

She took a few steps tentatively, wary and ready for anymore of the blood vines to attack her. She stepped cathiously. Most of her life hadn't been suited to this sort of things. Her childhood had been spent refining the most basic types of magic, and her rather short stint with an actual group only taught her how to deal with sentient opponents, and even then from behind. In reality, it shouldn't have come as a surprise when Amy tripped over a large, tooth like root, and found herself screaming as a shape shifting wolf snarled over her.

[Meow]

Now there were four of them, the foreign girl, the stranger, the Kitty magus and the magus turned cat. “Well we better get going, large groups attract a lot of attention and there’s nothing in this forest that we would want any attention from.” Kahn announced while sitting proudly on a rock. “So lets get moving, I won’t be able to save any of your tails if you get into trouble.”

“Meow, quit being so mean. Just cause you once were a great magus doesn’t mean you can talk down to them.” Feru said to Khan as she flicked her tail. “I’m Feru, this is Khan and Reina. We’re heading to a wizards tower that’s hidden in the forest. Might be able to get something for all your troubles.”

Khan hissed at the last part. “Talib’s stuff isn’t up for grabs Feru. It’s not yours to give away.”

“Meow sorry.” Feru whined as she went quiet but then perked her ears. Something else was in the forest, something growled and made the kitty girl quake with fear.

“Damn Dur’Taigen!” Khan made a feline growl. “They’re close and between us and the tower. I hope you guys are better fighters than I’m guessing.”

Feru moved forward to see a wolf like animal holding something down. No! It was someone a girl. “Meow it has a girl under its grip.” Feru whispered in a frightened tone. The wolf looked up at the girl magus. “It saw me!” Feru yelped as she went down and hid under a red bush with her quivering tail sticking out. Canines scared her like nothing else and she simply didn’t want to be seen.

[Gadgeteer Mikami]

The rugged man introduced himself, offering his hand in a customary greeting ritual Reina was not familiar with. Reina simply smiled and bowed in the Akashiman's own customary greeting, unsure about the "handshake" everyone else on Althanas was more familiar with. "Nice to meet you, Mister Rayne. I also look forward to travelling with you."

Reina was still a little worried about her destination, though, and kept looking at the path before them. Feru said she's headed for a wizard's tower... I don't think Uncle Hajime would be there... or dwarves... Oh~ and there probably won't be a lot of machines there as well! Still, navigating these woods alone in an attempt to leave this blood-colored woods. She had nothing to fight the blood-thirsty vines to begin with and who knows what other dangers lurk among its foliage.

Heaving a dejected sigh, Reina's eyes came across the brown-hair man's armaments, one of which looked very intriguing to the young gadgeteer. Her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of his strange blade attached to something resembling a firearm, an odd weapon no Akashiman had ever seen before. Its odd structure nearly assured her of something along the lines of technological wonder that only the Ancient Seals were capable of imagining.

All of that was struck away from her attention with the shrill cry of Feru as the catgirl bounded for a clump of leaves, scared for her life.

And a little ways off, a gigantic wolf-like creature with a young girl stumbling near its massive claws, its hideous yellow fangs bared and snarling viciously as the beast looked up at the band of travellers headed its way. Reina's mind dashed back and forth between the young girl - no older than a young teen - the frightened catgirl and the gunblade-wielding traveller. Wha- What should I do?! I can't fight that thing, I don't know how to fight!

By the looks of things, time was the last thing any of them had to spare. If they were to save that young girl, it would have to be done soon.

"M- Mister Rayne!" The gadgeteer whipped her head around towards the only man in their group. If anyone capable of beating back that wolf, it would be him.

[Rayne of Fire]

Bowing respectfully in response, he mused slightly over the complete lack of recognition of his attempt to shake hands. It seemed that every single culture on this planet decided to have their own way of saying hello. Which, as variant as these cultures could be made sense in a way. The thing that didn't make sense was the male voice emmitting from the large feline. A cat... that spoke. Though it took a few moments, he made his mind reconcile it, and then let it go. After all, he was sure that before his time here was done he was sure to see even stranger things - as hard as that was to imagine.

As he followed, he gathered from the little bit of conversation he overheard that this cat had once been a... a great magus? Of course this word still meant little to Rayne. But obviously it was something of import for this girl to tolerate the obvious belligerance of the cat. Unfortunately, he had no more time to observe his new travelling companions. For when the one called Feru let out her cry, his gunblade was instantly in hand and his feet were carrying him foreward. The other girl did not even need to call his name - as she did his gunblade went spiraling past her to land solidly in the canine's side. The beast was practically launched off it's captive and sent rolling through the dirt and Rayne drew his katana as he reached the third girl, standing over her a bit protectively as he eyed the forest for more of the beasts, "Are you all right?"

Once again, his time was cut short as the Voice alerted him - though a bit too late. Behind you Rayne! Turning a split second too late, a second of the wolfin creatures landed on his back, snarling and growling, driving him into the dirt face first. His katana slid farther than he did, leaving him weaponless, and a slight bit of desperation suddenly coarsed through his body. With a hearty grunt, he drove his elbow up into the beast's abdomen, satisfied when he heard the loud snap of breaking ribs. This got the animal off him just long enough for him to scrabble away and snatch up his katana from the forest floor and then leap back into his position defending the girl who had previously been pinned.

"Don't worry... I'll not let those things have you as long as I stand," Rayne was after all a Knight at heart, and could not help but at least do his best to protect anyone who was in need of it. Of course, now that a trickle of blood was flowing down his back from the laceration the creature had managed to cause on his neck, his buddies sensed an easier target, and before long he was faced by three of these monstrosities at once. Smirking a little nervously, he called out to his newfound companions, "If any of you have any brilliant plans for fighting these things off, now would be a good time to reveal them!"