The Campfire Song [pg13] [event]

[Oren]

Yama could have thrown up then and there. He felt an involuntary shiver run down his spine. Maybe being nice to her wasn't the best idea. He'd be sick before the hour was over. Heck, he was already sick! She was disgusting! So very, very disgusting! And she was going to give him way too much attention! Clenching his hands into fists, he stilled their shaking. ...Disgusting...

Smiling charmingly and making it obvious that he 'noticed' her intentions, he said, "My name is Yama. Pray, what is your name? Surely it's as beautiful as your face... and your body..." He let his eyes quickly 'study' her from head to toe.

So. Very. Disgusting.

Another shiver attempted to run down his spine. He needed shake this feeling, and fast. At least he needed to stop his physical reactions. His acting would be for naught if he showed his repulsion. She didn't seem to dangerous herself, but he recalled seeing a boy with her in his peripheral vision. The same boy that had given her that expensive gem... he seemed dangerous enough. If, of course, she got on his nerves enough, he just might do something about their over-obvious fake relationship. That would get back at her. Of course, she wouldn't suspect his true intentions. No, she would think he was jealous of her boyfriend, and for a girl like her... she would dump the other one in an instant for a 'better catch'.

Picking a small yellow wild-flower, he held it up as if comparing her and it. After only a second, he tossed the flower away and said, "Just as I thought. You're still more beautiful than the best early spring has to offer. Aren't I the lucky one..."

So. Not. Lucky.

Anything, anything, but lucky! Alas! this was the price for being deceptive! On the bright side, he wouldn't be getting on anyone's bad side during the first five minutes he was within the students. Unlike Hendrix, who, of course, had already drawn a few people's attention, most of who also gave him a scowl as well. Ah, the freedom of actually being a decent person! He supposed Hendrix had fun, but that was nothing that Yama enjoyed.

[Iƪƪia]

Hendrix continued to smile even though Areyna didn't seem quite as pleased about having been paired up with him. For some reason, she didn't seem to think too fondly of him. Perhaps it had something to do with their last meeting? Ah, it was unfortunate that she wasn't so easily swayed by charm. Though, he wasn't about to let that keep him from trying.

The voices, however, could prove to be an annoyance. Well, it was really just one voice now.

They're onto us, they're ******* onto us! How the hell would they know we're here at all! They know about us, they know! They know and now they're gonna kill us!

Turning away momentarily, he shook his head slightly in an attempt to force it to be quiet. He seemed to have succeeded as several seconds of silence followed. Good... He didn't need it filling his head with all of those paranoid thoughts. There was only one thing he was planning on focusing on here.

Glancing up, his eyes locked with some other guy's on the opposite side of the group. He'd never seen him before, though he didn't really pay much attention to the guys. But... What was with that creepy glare he was giving him?

He's onto us too! This is all just a trick, they all know!

Will you shut up?! He finally interjected, What exactly is the danger I'm in?! If I have to, I'll just do what I do best, Or at least one of the things he does best, of course, They can't do a damn thing!

Silence. Finally.

Well, it was more like a really soft whisper, but that was normal.

At the sound of a different voice, he turned back, arching his eyebrows slightly as if he had just noticed the boy that the phoenix was with for the first time. However, he quickly managed to replace his annoyed expression with his ever charming smile as he nodded politely.

"Ah. And I'm Hendrix. Nice to meet you as well."

Looking past Skyler, he noticed yet another person had come to stand by Areyna, as well as that nasty glare he had given him. Really? What was with everyone glaring at him today? And he hadn't even done anything yet! Maybe they just didn't want the competition.

Deciding it was best to ignore the emo freak, he stepped around Skyler, not taking his eyes off of Areyna.

"It would appear as though we've been paired together," Stepping back, he shook his head, as if in disbelief, "Ah, I must be dreaming... But if I am, I really don't want to wake up."

Chuckling softly, he held his hand out to her.

"Well? Shall we?"

***

Watching the demon, Ivan's smile only broadened. He usually didn't take so much pleasure in another's anger. Then again, perhaps he had underestimated how much he disliked this creature.

Laughing loudly, he instead stepped forward to give the demon a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Oh, wonderful! You see, for a moment I thought you might still be upset about having lost that precious item of yours to that lovely girl."

He nodded over to where Elle stood. Poor girl. She seemed to be just slightly frightened about her partner's enthusiasm. No matter. She'd get over that soon enough.

"But I am glad I was wrong," He said, turning back.

Then, leaning in closer, his face became perfectly serious. It truly did appear as if he actually cared about the demon. Indeed, his acting skills were so good that he even impressed himself.

Quietly, he added: "Yes, the professor doesn't seem to be in good spirits today. I'd hate to... How do you say it? Get on his bad side? No, that wouldn't be wise..."

He nodded solemnly as he cast a glance toward Crane.

Then, straightening up, he chuckled lightly. Perhaps he was getting too much enjoyment out of this. Indeed, there would be time to deal with the demon later. Right now he had to remain alert. There was a reason he was here and he wouldn't let this petty feud distract him from it.

***

Illia smiled triumphantly as Yama seemed to know just what she was getting at. Finally! Since she came to this school, none of the guys she'd met had been that quick. She would either have to spell it all out for them or they'd go get all uppity and start acting like they were better than her, and that it wasn't a shock that she was after them.

This, however, was much better.

Flipping her hair back, she gave Yama her best, seductive gaze as she twitched her body slightly.

"Oh, of course. My name's Illia."

She watched as he picked a small flower, laughing as he compared her to it.

Oh, he was good. Very good.

But she wasn't about to be swayed by a few pretty words. Or at least, that's what she told herself. In all honesty, she was already completely taken by this guy. What could she say? She was a real sucker for sweet talk.

"Oh, aren't you charming?" She giggled, "Well, you're not bad yourself."

She stepped forward a bit, but still never took her eyes off of Yama. Perhaps this trip wouldn't be so boring after all.

***

Ailyth skidded to a halt, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Man, running around those trees really took a lot out of a person. But hey, she was excited! Winter was finally over! If she wanted to, she could hop around the forest in her bunny form without risking being swallowed up by all that snow.

Stupid frozen water!

When she heard the list being read off, she quickly looked around the group, trying to locate her partner. So his name was Kevin? She'd never heard of him! But he must be here somewhere, and she'd find him.

As she watched everyone walk up to their partners, she noticed one buy who was clearly partner-less. Immediately, she sped toward him and stopped right in front of him.

Hi! I'm Ailyth! And you must be Kevin, right?" She asked excitedly, though she wasn't about to wait for a response, "I thought you were! I thought you looked like a Kevin! Or a Jeffrey. But there was no Jeffrey on that list, sooooo.... C'mon, let's go!"

Again, without waiting for a response, she reached forward and grabbed his arm and began dragging him with her. This was gonna be totally awesome! And who didn't love camping?

[ωΘĿƒ]

Coyle was about to make an underhanded, outlandish, and otherwise childish protest, but then the Russian slyly patted him on the shoulder, and he lost all stomach for it in the sheer, unrelenting hatred of the guy.

He remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the guy's whole little muse; frozen in a state he neither understood nor wished to identify. Then, at the end of it, he only had to laugh.

Finally. Someone who wanted to have fun.

"Damn, son! We's gonna have ourselves a hellova time!"

Coyle adopted an overly developed Western accent, just for that second. Every syllable perfect, and every gesture on time with an actual cowboy, the facade only broke when he was through with his little acting gig.

Then he just snorted, the sound low and threatening, like that of a monstrous animal clearing its nostrils to sniff out its prey. His uncannily charming voice resurfaced, crooning out the lines for a more sadistic response.

"Yes sir... The man's out to get us. But don't you worry your sick little head about him all that much now."

Coyle smiled, so pleasantly that it would lead you to think he was in a contest - an acting contest with this thing in front of him - this threat. This affront to his very nature - his freedom.

No one screwed Coyle's freedom...

"He's not your partner, partner. I am, and we're going to talk about that pretty little thing over there with the pearl... She's mine. Body, mind, and soul. Forget the trinket she has, you're not even getting the vessel."

As he spoke, the red in his eyes became more and more apparent - glowing, even. There smoldered the cinders of something long dormant, and now that it was awake and stretching its bushy little tail and all, why let it go back to sleep?

"We're going to have fun now, Ivy..." He added that last part not as a threat, but more to himself, just to make sure he was reading the situation right.

No more dolls to play with. No more plastic figurines to pose. Coyle had a real friend now, and he wasn't about to let his new friend's hand go.

[Iƪƪia]

His expression entirely serious, Ivan remained quiet as he patiently listened to the demon's little spiel. On occasion he nodded, though not in agreement. It was more as if to prompt him to continue.

When he was finally finished, Ivan was silent for several moments. He turned his head, though he continued to keep his eyes on the demon before his gaze flickered over to Elle, though in a fraction of a second, the demon was locked in his sights again.

He smiled once again, however, this time it was a bit different than that charming facade he always put on. It was still a pleasant enough smile, though his eyes betrayed the threat behind it.

"Ah, I see. Although, I do believe... That as long as that girl has your pearl," Here, he lowered his voice, speaking much more slowly, "You belong to her... Body. Mind. And soul."

Turning away, he busied himself with straightening the cuff of his jacket, chuckling to himself. He did rather enjoy listening to the demon talk, though while the girl still had that orb, that's all it was. Talk.

"And you shan't have to worry about me," He continued calmly, "I have no need for baubles such as that."

True, he didn't care to have that object in his possession, really. He never liked pets, anyway. However, that didn't mean that he was about to let the girl keep it either. She didn't even have a clue as to what that thing was. While she was fine holding onto it for now, but there were certainly other people who'd make better use of that orb instead of simply using it as a sort of pathetic security blanket.

But that was for another time. It would be soon, but not now.

[Ari Phoenix]

"Skyler Kuria with Aori" The currently muddy human disguised phoenix heard from the back of the group. It seemed every slick patch of mud, she ran into it. She had a pack on, and what was a clean pair of pants and a vest. She would look good if she didn't have mud in her hair, nor on her clothing, nor the bruising and scaring from hitting multiple trees with her face. She had been following quietly. She was concerned about this trip, being that she would not be able to hide certain things so well, some how she hadn't ended up in a situation where someone had realized she wasn't fully a girl, nor did she end up revealing her major trouble with keeping her disguise due to emotions, but it was getting hard not to flare up some blue flames to get rid of the mud. The truth was, she had only gone camping before under situations that didn't involve walking on rough terrain. Anyone who had watched her in class would know she isn't the most graceful or balanced of people physically.

She was surprised when she was told she had a partner, but didn't know where that person was. She just knew they were ahead of her. She just tried to keep up with out slipping so much. She had been quiet the whole time, trying to keep her emotions in balance, if only to prevent herself from breaking her disguise again, as she did last class trip, she was certain there was still laughter from her freak out over it. She also remembered in the library. She liked Kendryek-sama as a Sensei to her. She wanted to learn more from him, if only so that she could possibly have it easier in the human world, but in situations like this, she would have to get over her shyness, so she started to hum to herself, and tried to clean her face with her muddy hands. Yes, with as little actual mud there, she had gotten that dirty.

She just kept looking for the person that would be her Partner, as she walked, if only because it would be needed. She had barely managed to keep up to this point, and hoped it would be easier soon, and maybe that she could catch a secret dip in a spring or stream so as to clean off. She knew one of the rules was not lose your skin, but she needed to clean off, otherwise she might be mistaken for a shape shifter or a Mud monster for this. Why oh why did she have such a luck about her? She could have easily done better with out such a problem.

She sighed and waited for someone to notice that she was looking for her partner, even if he only saw her as a mud monster right now, she would still do her best with this trip. She had to, the last one didn't really turn out well...

[Elle]

Elle could only blink several times at the enthusiasm with which she was greeted. Actually, enthusiasm might be an understatement. Well, wasn't that perfect? That meant that Nami would want to talk... And then she'd have to respond.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to smile.

"Um, yeah! It's n-nice to meet you too!"

She tried but failed to sound excited as she responded. Well, hopefully Nami wouldn't notice. But she was going to do her best to be cheerful, excited, and even talkative on this trip! Actually... Maybe not talkative, but- No, yes talkative! She had to make good on that resolution sometime, and now was as good a time as any!

At that moment, she felt like someone's eyes were on her. Suddenly nervous, she turned and managed to catch Ivan's gaze for just a second before he turned away. Weird. Why was he watching her? And that guy he was with... Were they talking about her? Why? What was wrong with her? Did she do something?

Turning back to Nami, she smiled shyly before looking down at her feet. Well, that resolution would have to wait again. She was too busy making herself paranoid right now.

[areyna]

Wow, how this Elle girl reminded her so much of her good friend Areyna. So quite, so shy. The girl barely made it with a decent hello. Well it was a darn good thing Nami grew used to such a timid personality. She found such a character cute in the way they act blushing at about anything. Well, Areyna did for the most part which in the end made her laugh but she’ll try not to laugh if Elle ever blushed. It would be quite rude because she barely knew the girl though this little detail will indeed change by the end of the trip. After a minor distraction Elle made another shy gesture looking towards the ground. Nami bent down a little placing her hands on her knees lowering her head to where she can see Elle face.

“Hey, what’s wrong? I don’t bite.” She said gently as possible quietly giggling to herself at a memory deciding to enter her mind. She used the exact same line when she met Areyna for the first time. “Hey, tell you what. If I make you uncomfortable with my overbearing personality just let me know and I’ll try to die down a bit kay? Don’t be afraid to speak out loud.” She stood properly upright again hoping her encouragement speech was encouraging enough.

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Areyna squeezed Skyler’s arm as Hendrix approached her stepping around Skyler as if he weren’t there. He held his hand out to her and she could only stare at it. She didn’t want to leave yet, where would they go? She didn’t want to be alone; she was always with her friends. It was only that one frightening night she decided to roam alone. Never again would she commit the same mistake.

“Whe-where will we-we g- go.” She stuttered releasing Skyler’s arm backing purposely into Areon.

The relief washing over her knowing Areon was here with her unlike the other time. She felt so helpless but in his presence she always felt safe though she knew she wouldn’t be with him 24/7 as she hoped. She was so weak wasn’t she? The thought never occurred to her but what if she was a burden to Areon. She never inquired him to guard over her has he did, in a way she somehow felt she forced it upon him. She was scared so she ran to him and always went to him. Was that fair? How could she tell though, he never murmurs a single complaint. Areyna bit her lip, placing her eyes on Hendrix. No, she will no longer be a burden, she has to strong. Her stomach tied into a knot while she forcefully required her legs to budge stopping a foot from Hendrix.

“So where do you want to go?” She tried with her hardest effort to sound brave but oh how epically she failed.

A hand gripped her shoulder startling her. Areon drew his lips to her ear. “What are you doing? Where do you think you are going?” he whispered. “I don’t trust him, there’s something severely dark about him.”

In unison they both cast there gaze on Hendrix though Areon still held his glare. He sensed a powerful dark aura surrounding the strange man, an aura that kept his demon alert. He was dangerous.

“It’s ok Areon.” Areyna comforted pulling a smile, a teeny smile, to her lips. She this time whispered into his ear. “I’ll find a way to inform you if anything happens besides we aren’t going to be too far right away? "

Her endeavor to mask her fear was futile; Areon felt full well how afraid she truly was. She should know by now the impossibility of lying about fear to him. He sensed it all.

Breaking the tension Areon created someone from behind greeted him, a boy. He introduced himself as Z. O so this was his infamous partner to be. Areon stood up taking a few steps away from Areyna, reluctantly. His eyebrow’s furrowed at Z’s mention of water guns. He sigh, of course, he would be paired up with a complete idiot. Great. Was the world out to get him or what? He said nothing; the kid gained no privilege of his words. Especially with something as pointless as a water gun, he would have to try a lot harder to get a sentence from Areon’s mouth.

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Skyler succeeded at secretly sneaking away from his companions while there little moment took over their absolute attention. His goal was obvious, find his mysterious partner. Aori was their name. How helpful his search would become if he had the slightest clue as to what his partner looked like. He was basically searching blindly until he received the brilliant idea of asking students if they knew Aori and what they looked like. After what seemed like endless “I don’t knows.” he was given a decent description. Pushing further behind the crowd he finally spotted her, thank goodness, though she was covered in mud. Was she alright? He increased his pace stepping in front of her.

“Hey, are you alright.” He inspected her once more. “What happened? I’m Skyler by the way. Are you by any chance Aori?” He picked a small twig out of her hair that she hadn’t noticed. He wished he could somehow help her with her filthy predicament.

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Out of nowhere, utterly out of thin air a random girl approached Kevin with enough enthusiasm to make up for the whole camping crowd! Kevin jumped back with a yelp.

“Ah! Where the heck did you come from!” To be honest, she kind of frightened him, but his friend seemed to getting a kick out this. He glared at her. “Sophie! It’s not funny! I about had a heart attack!”

The girl, Ailyth seized his arm impatiently dragging him away from Sophie to who knows where. “O my gosh! I’m being abducted!”

He screamed. “Sophie help!”

Sophie shrugged. “Sorry darling, she’s your designated partner. Again I can’t help you. Have fun! Be nice to her! See ya later” she winked playfully him at while Kevin continuously question “Why me!?”

[Oren]

He smiled at her when she said her name. "Illia?" He let his eyes grow big and made them sparkle, almost childishly. "Wow, that is a beautiful name! I've never heard one like it!" Such a lie. "Who would have known that heaven could create something so wonderful!" Picking up a piece of her hair and bringing it to his lips, he added the cherry to the top. "And then it made an even more beautiful girl to go with it." He looked into her eyes deeply before dropping the lock of hair fall back to her shoulder, smiling.

Then she said he was charming, and rather good looking himself. Oh great. He felt like glaring right now. If only he had been paired with Areon! That would have been so much better! The teen was intelligent, mature, and (best of all) quiet! Why why why had he been paired with this girl?!

"Oh," he pouted, "I don't say what I say or do what I do just to get compliments and adoring fans..." He let his voice trail off. It was amazing how he could be saying one thing and it it be taken the way he wanted it to but the person still had no idea what he was talking about. They only heard what his actions and body language spoke. Which, in this case, was completely different. It was true that he didn't do what he did just for compliments. While she was thinking other things, he was thinking of ruining her life and the such. It was almost hilarious how different their thoughts were.

Facing the sky, he looked at her from the corner of his eye. "But, now, in front of everyone, is no time to woo. Maybe tonight we can become more... 'acquainted'?"

[Ari Phoenix]

She looked at the boy who approached her and blushed. He didn't really seem to mind that she was covered in mud, nor did he really think that there was a reason she was back here, she supposed. It was obvious he hadn't been at the winter trip, otherwise he would know her. She couldn't keep her tune, so her shyness over took her completely. She just looked at him. She then nodded again when he asked if she was Aori. She wasn't the most confident, and was now even more worried, being she was paired up with someone she didn't know, who's first seeing of her, probably realized she wasn't the most graceful in Human form. She was covered in scrapes, bruises, and scratches, as well as mud, but didn't care, for she wouldn't allow it to break her concentration. She needed to keep her disguise, if only so that she wouldn't hurt anyone, nor get in trouble.

She just held silent for the moment, as she looked at the boy who was her partner, she couldn't tell what he was, nor, did she suspect that he could tell what she was under the disguise. She would not reveal her nature, if he didn't know it, then she would just have to hold it back, and not let him, as a test...unless part of this was to use your true forms...she was suddenly dizzy from the thought process there, and already being naturally spacey, she forgot what was going on, and promptly slipped on a batch of muddy and wet grass, hitting her head on a tree behind her. She felt embarrassed, and ignored the bleeding of her forehead, and hoped that none of her feathers were showing. She just hid her face for a few minutes behind her arms, as if they were the wings they really were. She didn't know how this trip could get worse right now, but had a feeling if it could, it would.

[Iƪƪia]

Illia giggled as Yama continued to compliment her. This was nice. Oh, so very nice. It had been awhile since someone talked to her like this, and she liked it. It didn't matter what his motivation was - after all, weren't there always ulterior motives? - the point it, he was paying attention to her, and that's all she wanted.

As he picked up a lock of her hair, she had to keep herself from stumbling back slightly. Very nice indeed. It was getting a bit harder to maintain her composure, but she managed somehow, and simply smiled at him as he continued to talk.

When he mentioned how they should really save all of this for some other time, Illia instinctively glanced back toward Z. He did have a point. She was being much more bold than usual, though she wasn't quite sure why that was. Perhaps she was just feeling lonely? Well, it wasn't as if she needed someone. She just wanted someone.

"Yes... I suppose you're right," She reluctantly agreed.

But really... Why did they have to wait? Everyone was far too preoccupied with their own affairs, so to speak. Surely no one would notice if...

"Mm... Do we have to wait until tonight?"

***

As Areyna stepped back, Hendrix pulled back his hand. unintentionally clenching it loosely into a fist. Now this little dance was just starting to get annoying. They thought so too, as he could feel such disappointment, irritation and rage emanating from them. Luckily, he managed to show only the disappointment.

That guy was the problem. The emo freak. He didn't seem to want his precious phoenix to leave, for some reason. Well, this sucked. That guy seriously needed to be a good, little whatever-the-hell-he-is and just leave him to conduct his business in peace.

************.

He needs to die. Really.

Riiiight. Well, go ahead and kill it. In broad daylight. In front of everyone.

Whatever! We'll kill it later then.

But it needs to die NOW!

I know, but apparently we can't right now...

Hey, does anyone even know what it is? That seems kind of-

Oh, ****! She's moving closer!

Eyes widening in surprise, he watched as the phoenix gathered up enough confidence to step closer to him. Much closer. She was only about a foot away now. He could just about reach out and-

Focus!

Blinking several times as he quickly decided upon his plan of attack, he smiled down at Areyna as she still seemed hesitant about going with him.

Laughing sadly, he looked toward the ground, tipping his head slightly so that he could watch her out of the corner of his eye. He did his best to appear as though he was embarrassed about having frightened her so much.

"Ah, so... You're still afraid of me?" His voice sounded genuinely apologetic, "I'm sorry. Am... Am I really that scary?"

It was probably too much to ask that she come away with him right then and there. However, if he at least managed to get her away from him, well that was something.

"Where we go... Doesn't really matter," He responded to her question, looking up, "But we'll certainly stay close to the group!" He added quickly.

Hopeful that his reassuring words had finally won her over, he offered his hand once again.

***

Ailyth continued stumbling up the path, still dragging her partner along the entire time. He was a silly one! Screaming something back toward his friend there- as if he were being tortured or something! How fun!

"Haha! You're funny!" Ailyth laughed, finally letting go of his arm.

She spun around to face him, a smile stretched as far across her face as possible.

"So, who's she? She your friend? Hey! Can you run fast? Wanna have a race?! Or can you fly? We could totally fly! Or..."

She continued to ramble on, quickly tiring of one subject and moving onto the next one, usually before Kevin could even get a word in edgewise. But, hey! There was just so much to say and very little time to say it in.

[Elle]

Nami's response surprised Elle a bit, and she spent several moments just blinking before she responded. Straightening up, she had to bring her hand up to her mouth as she stifled a giggle. It sounded like she was getting a pep talk... Which she kind of was. But hey, she really did need one of those every now and then. Perhaps it was because she felt reassured? Usually people were always so annoyed or impatient with her, which only made her want to say even less. At least someone kind of understood now.

"Oh, no, it's okay!" She responded, surprising herself that she hadn't stuttered, "I just... Don't usually talk much, is all."

She bit her lip contemplating that. It sounded stupid, but it was true. She'd much rather just stand back and listen than actively engage herself in a conversation. Actually, because of that she knew a lot about the people in this school. She'd picked up a decent amount of gossip all the while she'd been here, whether it was or wasn't intended for her. Although, it wasn't like she was about to use that for or against anyone. She was just too nice to do that. Whether or not that was a good thing, however, she had yet to figure out.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Z's smile diminished just a bit. Wha....? He no likey water guns? This was blasphemy! Perverse in the highest sense of the word!

...or maybe he was one of those quiet types?

In any case, he did seem to be busy with someone else. A girlfriend perhaps? Nope! Too close. Z zoned in on the creepy emo guy and his girl, and noticed they were more like related than going out.

That made sense. Z looked at the guy in front of the girl, and he had a little convulsion of disgust. He didn't like that guy... His instincts told him something was off about the man.

Buuuut he had a partner to unclamp, and he was far too worried about what Illia had said to him anyways to give a damn about anything anyone else was doing.

Illia said she loved him... He took a quick look over at her and her new partner, sizing the guy up quickly.

Squeamish little brat, wasn't he? In any case, he didn't look the part of anyone dangerous. Maybe that was why Illia was smiling at him like that. Maybe she felt bad for him? She was kinda... tricky. Even if it was just to make the time fly by faster, she would kind of stick to people and leech off of them.

But she was so good at it... Z sighed. Illia worried him sometimes, but then the part of him that loved her would squish the part of him that was worried about her, and there would be eternal peace in the land of Z once more.

Life was good when you were so single minded.

Z swirled back around, intent on getting his new partner away from his cousin or whatever, and away from that creepy guy.

Wait... was that creepy guy her partner? Z took another look at the situation, and found something.... off.

"Ah... We can hang near these two, if you want to, partner." Z tried to be helpful, sensing his partner's worries for his cousin or whatever.

"But duuuude! We have to organize a water gun fight while we're here! How sweet would that be?!?!"

Still, priorities are priorities. Safety first, then came the action!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After eventually getting over the shock of being paired - quite intentionally, he might add - with Kendryek, the journey was easy walking.

That is, walking by the side of a dragon without the slightest bit of attention span focused on the visual plane. Le Cyll, essentially, was on "auto pilot." It was a state of mind free of any real notice of the encroaching environment and dedicated to more productive and less imminent likelihoods than that of the actual world he would have to occasionally visit.

Before he had come to Chimera Academy, it was a lovely retreat from the harsh, blistering winters of the North. Now though, this state of mind was a permanent fixture.

...and it did help for situations such as this.

Currently, the wolf was far off, wandering around some of his older memories. The ones before Mother died were he best, he thought. There really was no incentive to do anything but remember the shape of the leaves as they sprung from their respective trees - the texture of the bark as it slowly grew out of its blackened char and into a light, crisp brown suitable for springtime.

Vaguely, he heard a noise. Turning a deaf ear to it, he continued to remember, avoiding reality at all available costs.

Only another day and a half of this...

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At that exact moment, Coyle sensed a plan in the works.

Yeeessss. He could smell it on this pile of filth. There was something that he wanted hidden, and he wanted hidden well from everyone.

Well... Who was he to not play by the rules? He'd let this little mortal have his plan. Coyle had fun foiling the plans of others anyways.

And he did love a good challenge...

"Ah, I see." Coyle played with the different theories he had in his head. So many to choose from. But what was this guy really trying to pull? [/b]"Bauble eh? Don't be so cocky. You and I are going to the same fresh hell as everyone else on this little field trip."[/b]

There was always that... It was good to know there was a common enemy working oh so diligently to provide cover for any preparations Coyle needed to make for this new, fun game. He'd need some supplies for this. Maybe a little cream? Yes! Cream. Cream was a good idea. He needed cream.

Taking out a thermos, Coyle sipped at the small supply he'd brought with him. He was all decked out and ready to go, after all. Camp on. It wasn't like he couldn't sneak back to the castle at night to go get some food or anything.[/color]

"Please, Coyle. It's a camping trip. You don't go back for supplies once you've left the house."

Damn! looks like Crane was bored enough to check out of la-la land and back into reality for a second. Coyle gave the back of the man's blond head a smile and a wave, as if they were looking right at each other.

"I... hate you somuch..." he grinned. Crane tipped his head to the side.

Crap... On to plan "B" eat all the children that went to sleep early.

...and somewhere in between all that get that orb, kill ze Russian, and sneak it all under Crane's sensitive chimera's nose.

Figures he gets stuck with the complicated stuff....

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Mike paused ahead of him, causing Crane to slow to a halt.

The old spider might be pushing a hundred, but he was faster than Crane's strolling pace over all this forest terrain. Crane nodded as Mike turned around to give the announcement.

"Children! We've reached our destination! Hiking is over for the day!"

The spider, to demonstrate, took out a small, bright red flag and slid it gently into the fresh springtime forest earth.

In fact, as the group had progressed, the entire forest had changed from damp, muddy early spring forest into a lush, wild, nearly tropical setting. Mike's flag stood up perfectly straight in the ground, and after he had made sure it was as tidily put up as possible, he stood up again to address the children.

"This red flag here is the center of the camp! If you need assistance finding us, then use this flag to guide you!"

Leaving the topic of the small red flag open for debate, Mike moved on to more pressing issues.

"Now, I hope everyone brought a tent? We will be staying the night here, and the centaurs are gracious enough to keep the forest beasts from coming to eat us in our sleep."

Mike shook his head disgracefully at that, as if it were nothing more than a minor nuisance.

"Now please set up camp! No co-ed tents! And the centaurs have offered a tour of the forest, for any interested."

With that, Mike went about setting up camp. Crane watched him do this, being as fussy and worried as he always was, and went to go find a nice place to sit down.

Walking was so tiring, especially if you had to exchange remarks with Coyle for an hour...

[Oren]

Kendryek didn't say anything as they hiked along the path. Le Cyll seemed too dazed to talk and he couldn't really think of anything to discuss with the wolf. It worked quite well. Kendryek could do as he wished while Le Cyll simply trotted along. They only had to be within each others sight, right? Well, that meant he could wander a little as long as he could still see Le Cyll, seeing as the wolf wasn't trying to keep up with him anyway.

Taking a camera out of his pack, he began to take pictures here and there. Wherever there was a new flower popping up or a few sprouts of grass in the middle of a puddle he would snap a shot.

After a while he smiled to himself. He had an idea. This camera had amazing optical zoom, didn't it? Keeping quite a few yards away from Le Cyll, he aimed the lens at the wolf. The click of the camera sounded at least twenty times. Looking at the screen that replayed the shots, Kendryek frowned. Only a few of them would be any good whatsoever. He'd need more...

Quickly shooting about thirty more and then deleting over half, he smiled to himself. He really didn't have any reason for taking these pictures, it was just kind of fun. Le Cyll had this blank look on his face and the light was getting just right so that light orange shafts covered the ground and anything that was below the canopy. That made some of the pictures look amazing! It would be fun to show Le Cyll if they ever became good friends. He wasn't sure of the possibilities of that so he'd just have to find out as time took its road.

At that time, Mike called for a halt. They were done already? It hadn't even been that long! Oh well. There wasn't much to say. They would probably be allowed to wander, but Le Cyll probably wasn't too up to wandering. That was the only problem with being paired with Le Cyll. Where they wanted to go, if they even wanted to go somewhere, would probably differ. There wasn't much to do outside unless they wanted to get into another fight or something, but it would be fun to go running through the woods. There was no rule that said they had to stay with the group. Mike had only stated that they had to stay with each other. Maybe another hunting trip? Le Cyll seemed to like those...

Well, there was only one way to find out, and that way was to ask.

"Hey, Le Cyll," he said, walking up. "Do you wanna do something? I don't think it's against the rules to wander off as long as we're together and anything has got to be better than being in this crowd, right?"

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Yama glanced over at Z. It wouldn't be too hard to slip something past that guy. He seemed the fun-loving type, and sadly the forgiving type. No wonder this girl was hanging to him like a wet rag! He was so oblivious it caused Yama to laugh out loud, though he made it seem that he was amused by her pouting.

“Maybe not tonight, but wait a bit, at least. We wouldn’t want your… friend… to see us. There’s no telling what trouble we both could be in if 'caught' doing something he wouldn't like.” He really didn’t care what trouble they got in, he just wanted to delay what was going to happen. If her ‘boyfriend’ was the jealous type or, more importantly, the violent jealous type, he could always count on Hendrix to pull him into the shadow plane. It wasn’t his favorite place, but at least he’d be safe… for the most part. Hendrix would probably be mad at having to help him, but the Nocturne’s rage he knew how to deal with. Every other person dealt with things differently than his friend, or anyone else that he had dealt with multiple times. Those people were dangerous if you didn’t keep your distance, but perfectly fine if you weren’t a nuisance.

Hendrix was like that to a degree, but Yama found that he could stay closer than usual as long as he was ‘away’ for at least a week. It wasn’t a bad system and always a safety net. It was what had saved him after that night in the town. He had stayed away form Hendrix for a week and a half and sent a few good looking girls to their hotel room, each with a verbal message that he had sent them. Of course, none of them had known what was going to happen, they just knew that there was money. And there was, but it wasn’t for them, nor was it as much as he had claimed.

The large spider-type creature at the front turned around and said they were done hiking for the day. Well, wasn’t that… convenient. For Illia, that is. Yama would have preferred to keep waking. He never, never ever ever, looked forward to this part of the job. In fact, it was this part of the job that made him hate women.

What about Areyna?

He shook the thought away. What were thoughts like that doing in his mind? They didn’t belong there. Still, Areyna was… different. She was shy, and nice, and genuine. Anything she said she meant and nothing she did was laced with ulterior motives. She needed protecting and careful eyes that could always watch after her. Even though Hendrix seemed fixated on her, he wasn’t about to allow that nasty creature to lay a hand on her! There was no way in heaven or on earth that he’d allow something so brutal to happen to a girl so precious! That was why she stayed in his mind like that.

He fixed the frown that had slipped through his demeanor before turning back to Illia. He gave her that smile again and then said, “I guess your wait wasn’t too long… I assume that once tents are set up, we’ll be allowed to… wander. How about it? You up to it today?”

[areyna]

Skyler sighed a breath of thanks once his partner confirmed to be his partner, Aori. He once again inspected the mud clinging to her noticing cuts breaking apart her skin and bruises tainting her peach skinned color to shades of blacks and blues. She never answered his question of the fate that befell on her caused by the hike. Skyler paused his thoughts for a moment, well what to ya know, he answered his own question. The hike, duh Skyler, what else, he was being impudent with himself. She was clumsy then judging by her impaired looks; the characteristic reminded him of Areyna. She also was a gauche little thing too wasn’t she? They also appear to share the same lack for words. Aori ceased to mention anything even remotely close to a simple sentence. Another shy one too. Skyler smiled, while she continuously stared at him, trying to appear as unintimidating as he could. His smile widened once he caught the girl spacing out in thoughts of her own though the happy expression was slapped off changing into wide eyed shock while the girl suddenly lost balance ramming her head into a nearby tree. She remained kneeling on the dirt after composing herself hiding her face in pure embarrassment. Skyler cautiously approached her himself kneeling to her level watching blood drip from her revealed chin. A quick gasp formed in his throat, he gently removed Aori’s arm with a soft touch instinctively placing three fingers on her small gash in hopes of hindering the bleeding.

“Hold on, I may have something to cover up that cut.” He spoke, sweetly, wondering if his proximity to her space was uncomfortable to her.

He slung off the decent sized red and black camping pack with a jerk from his shoulder shaking the bag down his arm till it hit the grass with a silent thud. Using his unoccupied hand, at the same time focused on keeping the blood blocked with the other, he unzipped the backpack delving into the pouch feeling around for that certain helpful item. Wrapping his fingers around it he pulled out a white box resembling a first aid kit. Pooping the lid open he snagged a tan Band-Aid from its cardboard home breaking the flimsily paper protector with his teeth removing his fingers swiftly placing the medical material on the gash.

“There, how’s that?” he asked wiping the last of the wet blood from her chin. “A friend of mine checked through all our bags and added the kit. Smart of her huh?” He looked at the red line starting from her forehead ending at her chin. “Unfortunately, I have nothing to wipe the dry blood away.” He stood up reaching his hand for her to grab. “Maybe we should catch up with the others. We can probably find something for there.”

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Nami laughed and clapped excitedly while bouncing happily in response.”Aw, see! That wasn’t too hard though?! Talking is easy. But don’t worry I understand you completely! Like I said, I have a friend who is ridiculously timid to new people kind of like you! Maybe worse! Do you know how long it took me to get her as to so much as speak?! Haha! Of course you don’t you never met her! But it took me a while”

She rambled continuously for a gracious second longer till an idea struck like a hand to a mosquito. She opened her mouth already anxious to express her idea till she heard from the front of their arrival. Yay they were here! Finally the camping experience can begin! With more excitement bubbling then a second ago Nami threw out her idea.

“Hey! Would you like to meet my buddies! It completely up to you! And if you don’t it’s alright, I’ll understand!” She nodded once waiting patiently for the response.

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Areyna took a step back blushing when Hendrix apologized for frightening her asking if he really was all that scary. She placed her hands over her mouth shaking her head vigorously though she stopped abruptly eyes toward a patch of green weeded grass. Was he scary? Would she be lying if she claimed he wasn’t because in all honesty he kind of was? But why! He seemed to be trying so hard being kind and friendly with her so why does she feel this way? He wasn’t a bad person, was he? Though Areon warned her about him, Areon himself sensed something off and dangerous which was a feeling she must take into consideration. He was gifted in pinpointing such crucial things…..maybe gifted wasn’t that correct way to put it.What should she do! Trust Areon’s instinct or the appearance of kindheartedness Hendrix gave? She buried her face into her hands head spinning with so many answers, warnings, confusion. Peeking through the holes unfilled by her fingers she caught sight of Hendrix offering his hand to her once more. She slowly lowered her hands rising her blue eyes to his hesitantly stretching her shaking hand to place in Hendrix’s till a voice distracted her stopping her movement short. She snapped her glance to the front of the ground where an announcement echoed. They had reached their designated grounds, they were here? Areyna hadn’t moved for the past ten minutes but it seemed she never remained far in the first place. She brought her attention back to her partner dropping her arm to her side.

“Umm…how about th-th-that tour? I-it sounds fun no? How about we…how about we go there!” Her words shook while passing her lips. Was that really convincing enough, either way it works out right! They get to go somewhere like Hendrix wanted and with the centaurs around to guide them she won’t feel as frightened, nervous or as unprotected. Areon’s warning still lingered buzzing in her mind. Taking his hand she forced a smile using most of her effort to persuade him. “So h-how about it?”

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Oh, well how nice of him to consider imprisoning himself in the exact spot they remained while the fact was clearly obviously Z held intention for action more in his case, fun than this. Although, his generous offer failed to remove the annoyance he found in the kid and his water guns. Did he miss the earlier hint? Areon was not interested and he will continue being uninterested with such an idiotic game using a fake gun and water. Where was the amusement in that? Getting wet, oh how joyous. He rolled his eyes full of heavy sarcasm. He finally gave Z the privilege of just one look, a look of bold irritation.

“Go take yourself and your plan elsewhere. “He pulled back the cold venom in his voice softening his words. ”I’ll meet up with you later, how about that? Or if you’d like it bluntly, I don’t care for your pathetic games.”

No, he wasn’t in the bests of moods at the moment, yet it is possible for him to feel better though he was aware a fantasy like that wouldn’t be happening as soon as he wished. His fists clenched between his crossed arms as Areyna took Hendrix’s hand attempting to be so bold, but oh no she was not. Why she was torturing herself he lacked the slightest clue and her reckless choices were driving him on the edge. Idiot, she’s an idiot. It seems his course of fate has lead him to accompanying a tour she had mentioned. If she believed Areon would let her waltz away with a man throwing his senses into a hay-wired mess she was brutally mistaken.

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Kevin continued to squirm around, kicking up some dirt, as Ailyth further heaved him out of his own free will. Not to mention she was blabbering like a mad women!!! Just what the heck was she saying! It was impossible for him to fit a simple single letter in-between her never ending run on sentence! What in the world was she going on about? Flying? No he could not fly but would he be able to tell her? Nope! Kevin whimpered and whined like a little 5 year old boy, did she breathe in the middle of the pauses he failed to catch! Curiosity seeped through as he wondered how exactly a head ache has yet to occur. One would think they would get one trying to keep up with her rhythm of speech. Finally, he yanked himself from her grip jumping a foot away.

“O my gosh women slow down! I can’t freakin understand what you’re saying!” There he said it. He HAD to say it. It’s not like him to stifle any little thought back. He stood there staring at the girl who from a miracle from heaven was quiet. He tilted his head, dang it, now it was too quiet……silence made him jumpy. No one ever could br truly satisfied could they? Drumming his fingers on his pocket he awaited words that would surely come from Ailyth’s mouth sooner or later, sooner, definitely sooner.

[Ari Phoenix]

She nodded as she started walking, after finally getting up and almost hitting her head again. This body didn't have wings, it didn't have a set of tail feathers, and it didn't have talons to balance her. It's neck was short, and it's entire body wasn't as graceful as her true form. She wondered how in the city she was able to keep from hurting herself so badly? She just couldn't believe she had hurt herself that badly though. She wouldn't know how to react to it if it had happened back when she was younger, but as it was, she had to go with it. She looked at her partner and bowed, before starting to walk after the group, trying not to run into the problem of slipping again.

She looked at the group they were approaching, and looked down, wondering if she would be able to clean up a bit more sometime soon. She wasn't even certain they would realize it was her, and that made her worry. She didn't like being so dirty, but she couldn't seem to manage that right now, since people seemed to have not gotten as dirty as she did, and her clumsiness got to her. She felt embarrassed still, and too shy to speak for the moment. She gave up her humming right now.

She wanted to get better, so that she could avoid this in the future. She didn't like feeling that she was possibly the most useless in her Human form. She wondered if there was a way to change her true forms size, so she could act as some exotic bird. She wondered just what she could do about that. She just couldn't think of anything though, and so decided to just try to focus on this trip, knowing that it would take a while for her to adjust to this.

She just wondered what the partnership was needed for though, as it was hard to figure out the entirety of it. She just wanted to be of use, and to be able to help out, but she didn't know how in this human form of hers. She just didn't know what to say, or how to help with this entire thing, and for the misfortune of her partner. He didn't know what he was getting into with her as a Partner.