Ren's eyes opened for the first time since he landed in the forest. Traveling by portal always seemed to knock him out, whether it was by the intense strain on his body or his head hitting the rough ground. He stood up, and looked around. In front of him was an arch of tangled tree branches, looming over a grassy path. The forest entrance, a deceivingly beautiful sight. The sky above him showed it was morning, the sun still rising in the distance. He calmly stood, and stretched out his wings to their full span. Then, he took flight.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY8QDeAmAA
The mocking chirps of bird-like corrupts filled the air. One particularly noisy singer got beheaded when it made the mistake of straying too close to Anubis' tent. The damned creatures were getting cockier every day. Just like when Ryn checked the food storage to see that almost half of their rations gone or half-eaten. She volunteered to go looking for edible plants, or any other food she could find. Jin was pacing around his tent, restlessly. His eyes were red and puffy from sleep-deprivation, as he looked over a map he had found. His mind was filled with questions, the most prominent one being 'How did mere humans manage to make a map of the forest?'.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKN6d3WNzF
It wasn't the whole forest, naturally, it would've taken more than a human's full lifespan to explore the forest. Regardless, the map contained some of the area surrounding the camp, it could be very useful. The sheet the map was written on was wide, implying the campers actually attempted to waste their lives exploring the entire place. It was so detailed, if they could find out where the map stops, and where to expand on it...copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡnviF1Vzzvk
"Jin?"copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYiCPWRpis
Jin turned and saw Leliana standing in the tent entrance. He looked back down at the map after he glanced at her, only acknowledging her with a brief nod and grunt. She stepped inside, ignoring his rude greeting. She leaned over the map, looking at him with a concerned face.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wdODrRzfq
"Have you not had any sleep?" Leliana asked.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDVxiXsSxX
"No, what's your point?" Jin replied.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1WuELqwaJ
"My point is that's not good for anyone!"copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbgcZTERsT
"The corrupted species don't need to sleep as often as humans, neither do I. We can go up to a week without sleep." he said. A poorly-timed yawn slipped out before he could stop it.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHwdePbHHI
"...Maybe you're more human than you think, then."copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUKBoomPVx
"Why don't you ever bother Anubis? He looks fun to annoy the hell out of!" he said, giving a sarcastic smile.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUJP7IILAb
"Because Anubis didn't promise to teach me how to fight." she replied. "Come on! In all seriousness, I could use all the help I could get, Jin. Please?"copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡESTb670hOI
She made her eyes hopeful and innocent, in an attempt at a puppy face. Jin rolled his eyes, and walked out of the tent, Leliana excitedly following behind him. She grabbed her machete from her tent, before following him to the training area. The area itself was more or less just a clearing with targets painted on trees, and a few poorly made dummies scattered around. He led her to one of them, allowing her to show him her idea of a slash. She eagerly took the hilt in her hand. As she brought the machete back, he stopped her, grabbing the hilt.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuCJ518sQ3
"You're holding it wrong, your grip should be tighter, or else it'll go flying." Jin sighed.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qXJg5sYQ2
She adjusted it, and then tried again, bringing the machete down on the dummy. Instead of a clean slash through the dummy, the blade got stuck, leading her to struggle as she attempted to tug it out. Jin shook his head, covering his face with a hand. He stepped over, and helped her pull it out with minimum effort. She looked down in embarrassment as he rolled his eyes and headed over to the weapons bin.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡavU3G0aHhZ
"Maybe a blade like that isn't for you. Humans are good with guns, right?" Jin asked, while fishing through the bin.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡphu10z282T
"Humans that are trained to use them, yes. I've never used one before in my life!" Leliana replied. "Besides, I can do this! I've cut down plenty of plants with this thing, what's slicing up a few corrupts?"copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2kaMAfez6
She flourished her weapon with a series of over-the-top slashes going through the air. It slips from her grip, and goes flying upwards, before it started to descend blade first. She frantically runs out of the way before it came back down to fall harmlessly on it's side. Jin took a deep breath, nearly cracking a smile. He picked it up, and handed it back to her.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJBbMibX0t
"How about you practice against a moving target?" Jin asked.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpKrrL1uT4
"What do you m-" Leliana paused, the realization sinking in. "You want me to go against you? But, that's completely dangerous!"copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡo56IfTiv7R
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." he replied calmly.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoBcAovMlv
"It's not you I'm worried about..." she muttered under her breath.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjV0LmLNRF
He just laughed in response, and put himself in a defensive pose. She fumbled with the hilt, before preparing a slash at him. He easily avoided it, ducking down and swiping her feet from under her. She fell to the ground, dropping her weapon, and he prepared himself for another attempt. She stood up again, angrily grabbing her machete, and charging towards him. He side-stepped her, leading her to stumble into a tree. Jin grabbed her by her shoulder, using his other hand to disarm her.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfKYX0RfvZ
"Having fun, guys?" a female voice said behind them.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76oIjY6PKs
They looked back to see Ryn and Anubis had come back from collecting berries and plants. They suddenly realized how they looked. Jin's hands were pinning her to the tree, and their faces were inches away from each other. They quickly stepped away from each other, Leliana blushing in embarrassment and brushing herself off. Jin just tried to look unaffected. Anubis spared no more than a glance over at the two, before he went off to find the food storage. Ryn stuck around with an almost amused smile.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0Mg1yDMlu
"Shouldn't you be helping Anubis?" Jin asked.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcKcaHd2XI
He casually unsheathed and sheathed his claws, making Ryn step back, a bit frightened. She stuttered out a quick goodbye, and left the two to share a laugh. Jin gave Lily back her sword, and he continued to train with her. This time legitimately helping her along.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15PpN9oUY8
Ren stepped through the wilderness of the forest, though it seemed to be easier to walk through than usual. There seemed to be hints of someone trying to slice through the undergrowth and vines that usually made it difficult to navigate through the acres. Soon, he passed by a small, babbling stream. He crouched down on the grass beside it, and found footsteps in it. Nothing the untrained eye would catch, as they seemed to be made a couple of days ago. He pressed on, following them past the stream, and towards the tall, oak trees that stood before him.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡmj99AaHdX2
Moving through them with swift ease, he came across a cliff. Down said slope, was a campsite that seemed to be populated by only four people. The inhabitants of the camp seemed to not notice them as they chewed through respective handfuls of colorful berries. He used his giant, leathery wings to lift himself into the air, and land safely on the ground. Two of the four, two female humans, were visibly surprised as they reached for weapons. The other two didn't, as they were a fellow corrupt and...the halfling prince he had been sent for. While one of the human females showed fear, the other showed a look of recognition. She seemed to look right through his eyes.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpfsBqaPs8
"What are you supposed to be?" The prince asked, brandishing his claws.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡyudnU0xiVw
Ren's face showed amused surprise. "You don't remember me? Strange, considering I'm a loyal soldier of your mother."copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡriQArqL8EI
He couldn't have expected the laughter that came out of the halfling's mouth. "I thought mother would die before having a human minion!"copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡbn8qPKR0zk
Ren tried hard to not show the obvious annoyance on his face. "I'm not a human."copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87OlvIm21h
"Oh, really?" the boy walked over to Ren, dropping his defensive stance. "You don't look like any corrupt I've seen."copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡzszp31POau
"I'm not here to argue about whether I'm a corrupt or no-"copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlRFMHqDHZ
"You don't look much like a man either though."copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡYP7MbCvyFw
"Enough!" Ren growled, expanding his wings.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeYpD1rtQB
He soon saw the purpose of the prince's teasing when he noticed one of the girls were gone, the red-headed one. He swiftly span around, knocking the girl to the ground with a swish of one of his wings. She held a machete and obviously meant to attack him while the halfling distracted him. He didn't have time for these games. As the other girl went to check on the missing one, the corrupt charged towards him. He sidestepped the attack, and rushed towards the prince. He was the one he was here for.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoWO4Jwund
Jin dodged the charge and took the chance to unfurl his own wings. The pain that usually came from doing it so quickly was barely noticed, and he took to the sky. He didn't know what the corrupt was capable of, especially being so much more humane than the ones he's used to fighting. He couldn't risk wreaking the base for just one fight.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡtl3A8fdDNS
"You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want me to notice you!" Jin teased, as he flapped his wings to stay airborne.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡaD783Kaue1
The hunter flew up to meet him, grabbing Jin by the leg, and digging his claws into him. After a shout of pain, Jin lost his focus, his wings stopped beating, and he fell barreling towards the ground in a spiral, leaving himself vulnerable enough for Ren to fly over him, and kick him downward. He hit the ground of the camp hard, uprooting the grass and dirt under him. As he tried to stand, the other corrupt came down from the sky, landing feet first on his chest. Jin would've yelled in pain again, if the breath hadn't been knocked out of him. Instead, he laid there, his mouth gaping soundlessly. He expected more blows, but they never came.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bp10tLwX8
He leaned up, his chest still hunting, and noticed that the hunter was being held back. It was Anubis. While the hunter fought to get out of his grip, Jin found the energy to stand. Anubis let Ren go, and in the same moment Jin drop-kicked the hunter, sending him flying against a tree. Jin ran, and raising his own claws to lay blows on him, the hunter took off towards him as well. As they charged at each other, they stopped before actually making contact, something distracting them. They felt rumbling under the ground. It felt like it was rumbling the very ground underneath them.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrtO2B3ffQ
They both scrambled to get far away from the area, both going separate ways. The ground under them started to uproot as something bashed against it. Jin quickly shouted for the others to get inside, them each going into the meeting tent. Ren took shelter a good distance away in a tall tree whose leaves hid his form. Just as the rumbling stopped and they thought it to be safe, Ragnarok burst through the ground, launching his limbless body at least sixty feet into the air. He let out a mighty roar, as he fell back to the ground mouth first, and dug back underground. He seemed to not sense any of them, as he went on his way, digging away from the campsite.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pufxx0I1e
Jin took a sigh of relief. "He's gone." he announced.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6p98qCUWA
"He seems to be becoming more active around this area lately. Do you think the queen expects this is where we stay?" Anubis asked, looking over the damage done to the ground Ragnarok entered and exited through.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2H1wv37zim
"If she does, that just means we'll have to move soon."copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrLUGjrG2t
The four of them walked outside together. As expected the land near the camp was a mess, but worse of all, the camp was wrecked. Any berries that may have fallen over or been crushed from the food storage could easily be replaced, the whole food storage itself was another thing. Jin looked around, but the human-like corrupt that attacked him must have ran away when Ragnarok appeared. That wasn't what was important now anyway. What was important was making sure everyone was well fed and ready to rebuild. Half their food being taken, being attacked by some kind of corrupted head-hunter, and having Ragnarok mess up the camp's previously beautiful scenery. Something told them this was gonna be a long day.copyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMAkVJLyDI
TO BE CONTINUEDcopyright protection250ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Gp9cVdjuw
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