..."Madame Wren! Can you hear me?!" Wren could hear the muffled voice of a woman near her, but she couldn't respond to their words. She could feel her heart beating strong but slower than it should, her body felt jittery, her skin was becoming hot to the touch, everything hurt. "Stay with me Priestess..." This time she heard a man's voice, but she herself could still not answer. Her ears were ringing and everything sounded muffled and garbled as if she were deep under water. Her head was pounding, she didn't have control of her body, she felt limp and lifeless. They quickly left the Southern Territory on horse back to arrive home once they noticed her condition; leaving in the middle of the night to get back as quick as possible. Wren tried to wet her dry mouth but instead, only tasted the metallic taste of blood, and soon felt something running down her nose and from the area near her eyes. 'What happened?...Was I poisoned?' She thought to herself in her dream like state of pain. Every time she tried to focus, she felt like a hot metal rod was being buried deep into her skull, causing a sharp burning pain. She twitched slightly causing Rose to look down at her body, which was in front of her own, with a worried expression.
"Silas, is there a way to get her to Sir Shoyo quicker? Can Dumuzi get both himself and Madame Wren there sooner? There's blood coming out of her nose, eyes, and mouth now. I can barely hold her and-" "Rose duck!" Rose was shocked but sensed someone was near and ducked down with Wren, just as an arrow was shot in their direction, nearly missing Rose's body. "Formation Q!" Silas yelled, and everyone quickly moved into their practiced formation, avoiding the on coming arrows at the same time. Shizu was using his sword to deflect oncoming arrows that were within his reach while Rose and Camila were trying to locate the shooters. Dumuzi and Silas both used their staffs to deflect the arrows in their path as well as shield and cover for Camila, Rose, and Wren. *CRACK! THUD!* Shizu managed to grab an arrow that was shot and threw it with all his might, hitting one of their attackers in the leg; causing them to fall of the tree.
"I got em! Breakaway!" Rose yelled out and everyone quickly obliged. Rose had a bow as well but she used her strength and abilities to guide her arrows and target more than one of their attackers at once. She grabbed 4 arrows, loaded them, drew back her bow, and fired in a matter of mere seconds. Leaving Camila in awe as she had never seen some of the elite Guard Unit members in any form of combat. Rose, a member of the Lunar Unit, has eyes that are able to see in the dark and she can also move within the shadows without being detected; seemingly disappearing within the shadows. There was only a small amount of light coming over the hill, as it was early morning, so this gave Rose her best advantage. She can also manipulate objects that have her energy within them to do as she wishes; because she was able to see the dark figures of the attackers, she readied her arrows and released them, using her energy to guide them into the bodies of the attackers. *CRASH! THUD!* There were almost 4 simultaneous sounds of the arrows impact and the falling of their bodies.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately tensed back up as they heard Wren begin to cough. 'Ow! My chest...it, it burns so bad!' Wren thought as she tried to open her eyes or respond to those around her, but she only coughed instead, causing more blood to come from her mouth and nose. Rose quickly steadied her body against her own to try and alleviate any pain. "Anyone have any sort of healing balm or medical experience?" Rose asked the others, as they continued on the narrow path through the trees on horseback. "Camila, you're from Water Unit right? Don't-" "I have some training but given her symptoms, she was poisoned with something potent. I'm afraid if I try, she will only get worse, or even die." Silas said in a grim tone. Everyone fell silent for a while, nothing but the sounds of the horses hooves hitting the dirt and grass that covered trail to fill their ears. "Once we get a little closer, I should have the stamina to transport both Madame Priestess and myself, but it will be a slight gamble on my part," Dumuzi said in a skeptical tone. Silas nodded and maneuvered his way over to Rose, and grabbed Wren's body and moved her onto his horse, then on Dumuzi's.
...."Hey Sebby! Come sit next to me, I feel deprived of your energy. I didn't get much time with you yesterday!" Amai said in a playful tone as she munched on a sweet filled treat she bought just before boarding to go back to the temple. Sebastian smiled and went to sit next to Amai, leaving Mav, Ari, and Serena to share a small bench type seating across from them; while Lord Valen was in a different location getting himself something to drink. There were quite a few other people on the small ferry type ship they used to get from one location to another, making the trip somewhat noisy and crowded. Ari had her brows furrowed and her nose crinkled slightly when she saw how friendly Sebastian and Amai were acting with each other. "Serena, Ari, stay here while I go find Lord Valen, I uh-need to discuss some business with him," Mav said as he quickly stood up and walked off; Ari and Serena didn't even answer before he left. "He's been acting funny. Something doesn't feel right." Ari said in a serious but slightly hushed tone. "You're right, it's like he is trying to-" Serena stopped talking as she felt a strong presence of someone wanting do cause great harm. At the same moment Ari and Sebastian went on high alert; followed by Amai. "Sebastian, Amai, go downstairs, we will check up top," They all nodded and got up, going their separate ways. Everyone else on board was unaware of the potential dangers that lurked just around the corner.
"Amai, hold on to my bag okay?" Sebastian said as he navigated to the downstairs section of the ship which had very dim lighting. Sebastian also has the ability to see in the dark and move virtually undetected within the shadows, making it an advantage for him to take lead. Amai nodded and had her hand ready on her knife which was a medium length and was sheathed within the leather belt she wore. They both tried to block out the conversations from other passengers and focus on anything that seemed out of place. *Clink Clink...Clink...Clink Clink...* They could hear a faint, repetitive clinking pattern within the bottom most level, that was off limits to passengers. They looked at each other and nodded as they walked towards the small door that had "Off Limits, Staff Only" boldly printed on an orange sign. "How are we going to get in?" Sebastian asked, which caused Amai to grin brightly and move forward ahead of him. "Just leave that to me my Dear Sebby!" She said as she pulled out a small pouch, which held small metal objects.
...On the upper level of the ship Ari and Serena had split up to cover more ground. Ari scanned the crowds to see if anyone stood out, but she didn't see anyone that came across as not belonging. She decided to search another way; she found an isolated location, then closed her eyes and focused to accumulate her nature energy. She had many abilities, but the one she honed and trained the most, was the ability to sense an individuals heat signature along with their aura. Similar to how Wren can "Reach Out" to see different energies, Ari could find and locate people based on the aura and heat they give off just doing their everyday activities. She knew she was looking for a darker aura and a higher heat; she managed to feel it slightly when the individual first "announced" their presence. Once she gathered enough energy, she opened her eyes and began walking through the crowd once again.
...Serena had no luck finding anything out of the ordinary, but she managed to find Mav standing in the middle of a room; seemingly before he found Lord Valen. Serena was about to approach him, but stopped once she saw a blonde woman walking directly towards him. She had never seen the woman before and tried to gather as many details as she could, 'Long, straight, blonde hair; slight tan skin; tall and lean; narrowed eyes, pink maybe? Dark green, long, thin dress; non threatening, but not trustworthy; no visible tattoo; gold necklace and stud earrings; scar on shoulder,' she thought to herself as she found a spot to watch Mav and the lady's interaction without being noticed. She noticed the lady hand him something that looked like a small cream colored envelope, then she leaned forward, kissed his cheek leaving a slight pink lip impression, and walked off towards the lower level.
Serena was about to follow the lady when she stopped abruptly, then looked down. There was something holding onto her ankle preventing her from walking forward, but it was not visible to her eyes. She bent down and tried to touch the area where she was bound but when she got close she felt a sharp pain travel up her leg. 'Ouch, a spiritual binding?' she questioned. As she stood up, she noticed Mav was no longer in his spot, 'I know he must have felt the presence too...just what is going on,' she thought. In the meantime, she needed to figure out how she can get herself free of the bindings. She grabbed her bag and began to open it, when she heard a lady from the upper level scream. *AAH!* "That's not good," she said as she retrieved an item from her bag. On the upper level a tall and lean blonde woman screamed in horror as she was a young woman with short black hair convulsing on the ground. The young woman had blood coming out of her eyes, nose. and mouth. "Move aside!" The emergency services on the small ferry type ship moved the crowd and leaned down to help the young woman. At the same time Sebastian and Amai came up from the bottom level to see Ari on the floor convulsing and blood coming out of her mouth.