An instant later, Ruby found herself surrounded by trees. Her Crimson eyes looked around in wonder. She couldn't help but feel genuine joy. The smell of fresh air, the buzzing sound of bugs, birds chirping, and seeing small critters scurry across the forest floor. She made it, she's finally free.
"ahhh." She tried to say something but realized she still couldn't talk. She looked over to Judieth.
"Oh, sorry, let me get that for you." Using the key she got from Dr. Vancer Red-headed woman unlocked the collar.
"...Thank you."
"Yes, we very much appreciate you getting us out."
Ruby expressed her gratitude to Judieth with a simple thank you with Morella following her lead. She then glanced over to Sable with a questioning gaze. Why was he here? What was his purpose? And why wasn't he bleeding from any of his wounds. The only person she can think of to answer that question was the red head in front of her.
Noticing her questioning gaze directed towards the undead puppet Judieth decided to give a brief explanation was probably necessary. Plus, "Sable Hook" was always known to the girls as a very important part of the facility. Still they were considered a separate agent not really affiliated with them, but important enough to have sway. Makes sense they would be weary of "Sable's" Presence.
"So I should probably explain this guy." Judieth said pointing at Sable. "Think of them as a puppet. I'll explain the rest later, for now we have to move. That stuff I gave you will wear off soon. So let's get somewhere safe first."
"... I feel fine, What exactly did you make me drink?"
"What you drank just gave you an extreme boost of energy really." She explained. "It's essentially tricking your body that you are fine for a bit. It can last up to 3 hours, or only 5 minutes. It depends on how much you are pushing your body, and how badly damage you were before you took it. When it wears off you will be even more exhausted than you were before, and will probably pass out."
"Will she be okay?" Morella worriedly asked.
"She'll be fine. She didn't have a lot so she wont experience any harmful effects this time around."
"What about Yuki? Will she be fine?" Ruby asked quickly glancing at Yuki when she said that.
"She's just passed out from a combination of exhaustion and drugs. she'll wake up in a few hours. Okay, that's enough questions for now Let's go!" Realizing if she let them continue asking questions they wouldn't get anywhere. So forcefully cutting the conversation short, their group started walking through the forest.
Feeling the bare forest floor beneath her bare feet was weirdly satisfying for Ruby. Looking down she noticed that her nails on both her hands and feet really did turn black claw-like, similar to Yuki. She couldn't see the inside of her mouth, but just like she felt before, her teeth were now sharp and pointed.
Looking over Yuki, the Silver strand of hair was still present. Along with the two tiny horns growing on her forehead, she also assumed the new Crimson eye she saw earlier was there. She wondered if there were any other changes that weren't as noticeable. After all, Ruby felt the presence of something new inside of her own body. But it seemed almost separate, like it was trying to sing in harmony with others but slightly off key.
'I'll have to ask about this later. I want to know what happened to me and Yuki exactly.' She thought to herself.
After traveling for a few minutes in silence both Judieth and Morella stopped and got in defensive positions. Sable moved over to shield Yuki and Ruby. Not appreciating being treated like she was fragile Ruby moved from behind Sable to instead stand next to it also getting into a battle ready stance.
"Something is coming from that direction." Morella said pointing slightly to the right of them. Summing one tendril made of water she sent it in the direction she pointed. Everyone heard a faint 'Grrah' in the distance before, "MOVE!"
Hearing Morella yell that everyone moved to the side just as a large bear-like creature came crashing through the trees. It was visibly similar to a Brown Bear, but with some strange differences. it was much bigger than a normal Brown Bear with spiky stone spines running down its back with patches of hard rock covering it like Armour. Its eyes were a dark ruby red with silver markings covering its body signifying it as a monster.
"Oh Gods, I'm more weak than I thought." Morella said after safely getting out of the way.
"Of course it's a damn Earth-Bear!" Crying out in annoyance Judieth quickly started channeling Arcane Power into a magic circle and started chanting.
Finishing her spell Dark shadows started forming beneath the Bear, quickly making its way up its body towards its face. With the Bear now blinded by shadows Morella quickly made a tendril of water, but instead of trying to damage the Monster she instead tried to restrain it. The water efficiently wrapped itself around the bear successfully stopping its movement momentarily.
"I got a hold of it! Someone, do something!" Her voice straining with effort, Morella wanted to hasten her compatriots to hurry up and do something.
"Got it!" Ruby, without chanting, summoned two air blades from her arms, sending them flying towards the Bears neck. The blades of air hit its mark but didn't do much damage thanks to the stone armor covering most of the Beard neck.
"RRRROOOOOAAAAARRRR!" Seaming angered by these nuisances the Bear let out a mighty roar before earthen spikes erupted around it. Once again everyone jumped away from the attack, but with Morella's concentration broken the bear broke free from its bindings.
"Ah Spirits." Said Morella.
"Uhg, darn it. Fine, we don't have time for this anyway." Judieth said with a slight sound of defeat coming from her voice. Sable suddenly activated the magic circles on their gloves, and just like before summoned a stone wall to slow down the opponents tracks.
Judieth then started chanting a new spell, taking a little longer this time to complete. When finished the Bear began to sink into the now shadowy ground with short shadow tendrils corroding it where it touched and pulling it further down into the ground. "RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRR." This time the Bear let out a roar of pain as the shadows ate away at its body slowly.
Ruby once again aimed for the Earth-Bear's neck, but learning from earlier she got up close and personal, surrounding her hands in sharp piercing winds, she aimed for the Bears unguarded jugular. Blood spurted from the wound onto her arms and face which made her smirk a little as the scent of blood mixed with the Bears strong earthy smell hit her senses.
"RRRROOOoooaaarrr..." Slumping over, the bear died after suffering a slow agonizing death.
"I didn't realize how weak I've become. I need to gather my strength again." Morella said after seeing that the Bear died.
"... I also need to work on getting stronger. I'm just glad I was taught how to use basic magic as an experiment." Ruby said looking at her blood covered hands.
"Good job guys. Honestly didn't know if you could fight or not. The Earth-Bear was probably the best possible way we could've figured that out." Judieth said smiling. Unlike Morella and Ruby who were out of breath, she stood there fresh as one could be. Maybe a little sweaty but that's about it.
"... Well let's... Let's..." Ruby suddenly felt unsteady on her feet with her vision starting to bluer and become unfocused. Next her body started aching all over. As she dropped to one knee she looked up and the last thing she saw was Morella's worried face as she knelt next to the Silver haired girl.