===Aislinn===
Today was one of the best days of her life.
She got to hang out with the Princess, even if the Princess made a deal to make her kiss a human.
She had fed from a human in the past, but she had no other type of interaction with them. Fortunately, she didn't have to kiss that person, at least not yet.
She was okay with the Princess making a deal like that, as the Princess called her CUTE friend. Even if it was to persuade the human, Aislinn was above clouds from hearing those words.
They trained a bit with their Elements, and since the man took his gloves, Princess Pyre's control of her Element wasn't the best.
Aislinn was glad she could work with her and give her some tips, even if the Princess taught her instead. They had a great time, and Aislinn couldn't think of anything to ruin her mood.
"So here you are, young lady."
Aislinn froze when she heard that voice.
She slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice and saw her mother walking towards her.
"Mom…I…we… I can… *ouch* *ouch* *ouch* not this," she said in pain as her mother started pulling her from her ear.
"I told you never to leave the castle. And not only did you not follow this rule, but you even got the Princess out here in potential danger."
Ecaps pulled her daughter's ear harder to show the seriousness of the situation.
"It's ok, Ecaps. This isn't her fault. I suggested that we get here as I needed some fresh air."
Aislinn was ready to cry from the pain and Princess's words as she tried to defend her.
"Princess, you don't need to make excuses for her. She knew better and still didn't make the right choice. But, at least she used the rings."
Ecaps let go of her daughter's ears.
"We should return. Things aren't so safe out here, Princess, and I am certain Elder Gareth would like to speak with both of you."
It surprised Aislinn how casually her mother spoke to the Princess, but it wasn't too casual and showed respect to her.
"You are right. How about you lead the way?" the Princess said to Aislinn's mother.
As Aislinn made a step, her mother moved at a speed she couldn't keep up with, and she started dragging her from the ear once more.
"*ouch* *ouch* *ouch* *ouch* I am going, I am going. Let go."
But she did not hear her pleas as her mother seemed to have dragged her like that the whole way.
Aislinn could hear some giggling from the Princess, and for the second time today, she wanted to have the earth consume her.
It WAS such a good day.
===Mady===
Finally, she had a worthy task.
Mady joined the Allied Army because she wanted to face those magical creatures and fight using all those cool weapons she had heard stories about. But until now, the Base Leader just had her do cleaning duty, help cook, and do other chores.
It was frustrating since if she wanted to do chores, she would stay home to help her mother. She would get married like her two sisters to have children and grow the family, but she persuaded her father to let her join the Allied Army instead.
She had one year to make a name for herself and prove that she was more useful there so that she could stay. Her father wasn't part of the Allied Army, but he had sponsored them as a man of wealth, so he had a say in a few things and could pull some strings. Still, he didn't help her, and she was alone to prove herself.
The Leader had to make the team investigate the nearby forest, and somehow, one member of the scout group got injured and couldn't make it. They were still investigating how he slipped and broke his left leg.
Maddy was the only one who volunteered to join the group, and since it was a routine mission, the Base Leader let her, even though she had no prior experience with something like that.
She didn't get the chance to get any weapons, but she wore a new suit. It wasn't a suit with a function other than its colors fitting to blend into the forest environment a bit.
The group had six members, including Mady, who wasn't the only female. Actually, the leader was the only other female person in the group.
Her name was Kora, and she wasn't much older than Mady, probably in her twenties. Still, she had made a name for herself and was almost like an idol for Mady. She was a Chief, meaning she had a team that worked under her, which mostly did the scouting or the surrounding area.
"Private Mady. Have you read the log of the mission?"
"Yes, madam. We will investigate nearby woods for any signs of fairies or other magical creatures. If we find any, we need to capture them, if possible, or report their existence and ask for backup," Mady said to the group leader.
They were doing this investigation once per month, but they had seen no signs of any magical creatures for the past four months that Mady had been here. She had heard that they had found nothing since the creation of the base five years ago. Their lead researcher seemed angry with everyone, especially the higher-ups since he had nothing to experiment with and had been doing simulations all this time. The higher-ups told him they had nothing to spare for this base and had to capture subjects themselves.
Fortunately, after pulling along many strings, their researcher persuaded them to send him something to experiment on, which seemed to be a Fairy and a mermaid. He insisted on trying to capture more, even if they had little space left.
It seemed a common theme for many of the bases, as capturing and keeping magical creatures alive was hard. Some killed themselves instead of living the life of a guinea pig.
"Everything seems in order. Jefry, lead the way, and the rest, keep your eyes open."
Jefry was an older gentleman than Kora, around his forties, who seemed to be the most experienced in the group. Mady had interacted little with him but had seen him on some training routines, and she had to admit that he was a very agile person.
He was the kind of person who didn't speak unless needed, so he just motioned for people to follow him.
The entrance of the forest was a half-hour walk from the base.
When they entered, Mady tried to be as quiet as possible and pay attention to the surroundings. She hoped she would find something and prove herself.
They had a path to follow that covered all the forest. It would take them close to six hours to complete it all, with a few breaks in between.
During their first break, Mady still looked around for strange signs, while even Jefry was relaxed. Nobody expected them to find anything as usual, and they just did it because they had to.
"Private Maddy. You should spend some time resting."
Kora motioned to Mady to sit next to her.
Mady turned to walk towards her but then turned again towards her left. She swore that she saw some movement.
She picked out a small tool that the researcher gave them. It was a detector of magical creatures, detecting their magical aura. Still, the range was small, and its battery lasted for a couple of minutes, so they didn't use it unless necessary.
There was a ping. A magical creature was nearby.