Her vision became blurry and her strength faded. "L...V-Valen...," she tried to call out for help, but ended up passing out before she could send a proper call. "She is too close to this...Everything will be up in smoke if we do not finish this properly..." said someone in a voice barely louder than a whisper. Shortly after the voice was heard, the wind changed directions. "Leave her be for now...someone will catch our scent..." Another voice said from outside the cave, "We cannot ruin this for Master..." both the voices hummed in agreement and one began to laugh in a deep, scratchy, cackle.
...After an unknown amount of time, Wren began to stir and slowly moved her stiff joints. The air felt cold and damp, causing her to shiver slightly as she tried to sit up. 'What in the world happened?' she thought to herself as she managed to stand up steady herself to teleport. She still had the blanket around her body, held in place by her arms, her hair was mostly dry; so she knew she had been in the small cave for a while. She took a deep breath and focused her energy within her body, so she could use her abilities, and within less than 5 seconds she teleported to the area where her clothes were. She looked around and didn't see anyone around so she quickly dropped the blanket and put her shirt, pants, and shoes back on her body. She then prepared herself to teleport to Lord Valen's study, 'I really hope he is alone,' she thought just before disappearing.
-Elsewhere in the temple- "Now, do you remember what to do?" "Yes Master Abena, we understand. Track and report, wound only if the opportune moment arises and nothing will lead back to us," said one of the people who were kneeling before Abena. She smirked, "Good. If this works out in our favor, you both will be rewarded handsomely. If your skills prove great enough, I could even put one of you as lead for 'Ekleipsis'..." Abena trailed off and the people kneeling looked up at her in surprise, "M-Master A-," "Rise and go get the other two from The Fire Unit, I will send other Ekleipsis members to shadow you all. We will meet later to discuss this with Horacio's and Valen's people." With the last statement, she grabbed her ceremonial robes and turned away, causing her long, straight, dark brown, hair and dress to fan out and sway as she left.
Many minutes passed before Horacio and Abena escorted their chosen Fire and Water Unit members to their meeting place. Lord Valen sat behind a large wooden table, as did Wren. The members of the Lightening and Lunar Unit's were patiently waiting near either side of Wren and Lord Valen. When they heard the door creak slightly, they all turned and focused, ready to attack and defend if needed. Once they saw it was Horacio, everyone let their guard down and relaxed. "My apologies for our delay. There was a meeting within the Water Unit members than ran a bit long." Behind Horacio were his Water Unit members; Amai, Silas, and Camila. "There is no need to apologize Sir Horacio, we only arrived moments before you entered the room," Dumuzi said in a cautious tone. As the Water Unit members came in and took their seats next to the Lunar Unit members, Abena made her way into the room with Ari, Mav, and Shizu. "Now that were are all present, we will begin our plans for this mission."
Everyone in the room remained silent awaiting Lord Valen's next words. "We will have 2 separate groups completing different missions. There will be one group traveling with me into The Tradelands, while another will be lead by Wren to offer our assistance within the Southern Territories." As Lord Valen was giving the information, Abena had a confused look on her face and spoke up before Lord Valen continued. "Pardon my interruption Lord Valen, but didn't we discuss Madame Priestess and yourself both going into The Tradelands together and the Fire Unit members lead-" "What does it matter Lady Abena? We are all hoping for the same end result are we not?" Horacio abruptly interrupted Abena's words with an annoyed look on his face, "Be mindful not to bicker while we are having a meeting. Also, don't interrupt others Horacio." Lord Valen said in a stern voice.
"My apologies Lord Valen," Horacio said as he slowly sank lower in his chair. "To get back on topic; yes Abena, that was our initial plan, but after careful review of our assets and our members who were chosen for this mission, we now have a new plan." Wren looked over to Abena and noticed she had an irritated and slightly worried look on her face, 'I wonder what Abena is planning...' she thought. "As I was saying, I will be leading Sebastian from the Lightening Unit, Serena from Lunar, Amai from Water, and both Ari and Maverick from Fire, into The Tradelands. Once we are there, we will gather intelligence from the towns people in efforts to better understand the current situation. I will then have 2 of those members accompany me to visit an old acquaintance of mine to gather necessary supplies for our everyday use. Is everyone who's name I just called in agreeance with the mission set out this far?" Without hesitation, most of everyone who was called nodded their heads in agreeance.
"Good, now that leaves Rose from Lunar, Dumuzi from Lightening, both Silas and Camila from Water, and Shizu from Fire to be lead by Madame Wren into the Southern territories to assess the full damage of the recent battle as well as provide assistance and support where needed, all the while gathering intelligence on anything relating to the recent battle ." Everyone nodded their heads in agreeance. "Now that it has been settled, here is a small map of the areas where we will be tomorrow. We will not stray from the areas within the map, and we will NOT become side-tracked with alternative agendas. We are there to complete important missions, not to sight see." Lord Valen handed a small rectangular paper that had a map on the front and back.
"Those of you following into The Tradelands, remember to be mindful when using your abilities. The people that live within the main perimeter may be slowly understanding who we are but they are not aware of our true abilities. If they notice, it will derail our mission and draw attention we do not need. We will approach everyone under the identity of average merchants from the Eastern islands stopping by to get the lay of the land and pick up goods to trade and goods for our journey back home. Do not give them too much information. The Military could become suspicious. Rumors about the Military in the area are only becoming more severe. For those of you following Madame Wren, will have no need to provide anyone with false information. We are there to assist and protect."
"E-Excuse me...?" Camila cautiously stood up from her seat, "P-pardon my in-interruption My Lord, b-but how m-many days-s will we...will we be on t-this mission and d-do we n-n-need to prov-vide e-e-...supplies?" She nervously asked as she tucked her short, light pink hair behind her ears and fiddled with her hands. She cautiously looked around with her big light pink eyes, to all those who were now watching her; causing a slight blush to appear on her cheeks. All of her actions, causing her already small frame and stature come across as smaller, even resembling a nervous youth. "We will be gone for approximately 3-5 days. It all depends on how much intelligence we are able to gather. At the end of each day we will collectively "Reach Out" to each other, hence the need for Madame Wren and Myself to be in separate groups, to share what we have learned for the day." Camila smiled slightly, nodded her head, and sat back down.
"Oh, another thing, we will provide a satchel or back pack if you rather, containing general medical supplies, some food and water, as well as a few other small items. We will have vouchers presented to those who will be going to the Tradelands to use for food and other supplies. Once arriving at the port everyone provides their form of currency and are given vouchers in exchange. Everyone else will receive a similar item for traveling within the Southern territory." Wren said as she smiled to Camila who let out a small sigh and smiled back at Wren, relieved that she didn't have to ask what else she was thinking. On the opposite side Shizu shook his head in a disapproving matter, causing his pale yellow, almost white hair to fall forward partially covering his light brown eye.
"Shouldn't only those who continually complete mission be going on something this important? There are a few faces here I know I've never seen before. Couldn't that jeopardize ou-" "Are you the Lord of the Clan, Shizu?" Lord Valen suddenly spoke up, causing Shizu's eyes to open wide in surprise and he immediately shook his head, not daring to say another word. "If you do not wish to complete this missions I will personally see to it that you will be demoted from your status within the Fire Unit." Shizu's eyes grew wide and he shook his head side to side. "N-no My Lord-" "Enough. This meeting is over. If anyone has any further questions you may come to Madame Wren or Sir Horacio," "Bu-" Abena tried to speak but Lord Valen looked over to her with cold eyes, stopping her sentence midway. Lord Valen left the room and Wren promptly left the room with most of the other members following suit. Only leaving Abena and Shizu in the room.