Midsummer Shadows

[Skarx]

When she saw how annoyed he was she smiled. Maybe she could not hurt him, well she probably could, but that sword was keeping her in her place, but she could at least make it tiresome to keep her. His answer though just pissed her more.

 

“And yes, it’s so hard to answer, so there. I’ve answered your question.”

 

Now the rocks on the ground seemed really interesting. They looked like they would go well with that man’s face. He then lowered his sword a bit and leaned towards them then said something else.

 

“Now pray tell me, what were you going to do if I didn’t answer you?”

 

She clenched her teeth angry and felt her face become a bit hotter. How dare he turn one of her comment against her! She sat and fell silent only glaring at him with all she had. She picked up a small rock and let her imagination run wild about the many uses she now had for it. If she even did throw it at the man she was probably going to get it and the memory of the black haired girl helped her cool down. She almost jumped in surprise when Sen, who was rather close to her suddenly spoke up, randomly after being silent for a bit.

 

"Shut up!" A silence. "What the hell? Why do I care? What and where are you?!"

 

He was looking everywhere and she looked around too, leaving the guard to his own affair. Had he seen something?

 

"Oak, what? A tree is talking to me. Okay, this is friggin ridiculous. I have got to be dreaming."

 

When he suddenly curled on the ground she moved a bit closer worried.

 

"Maybe when I "fall asleep," I'll wake up..." A bit more silence and he then turned around "If they didn't kill those people, who did? What did? And does it have anything to do with what's going on in the world right now?"

 

Sophia poke him on the shoulder to get his attention.

 

“Sen. Sen. What’s happening to you? You sound strange, saying you talk to an oak and stuff.”

 

She was worried. Since she was now quite lost about what was happening around her. If they were both hybrids was she going to get voice in her head too? She didn’t want that... Though they didn’t look so much alike, maybe they were different kind of freaks.

 

[myahoo]

Movement appeared in the corner of his eye and Mark immediately shifted his attention that way, noticing that one of the people was approaching him and his companions were standing now. Warily watching the man approach, he slowly stood up and started stepping backwards through the brush, not caring about the noise as he decided that his possible escape route was way more important than his continuing concealment. Damn it. Nice going Mark. You just had to forget your surroundings. How in the world did you survive these last eight years? He grimaced as the oddly dressed person got closer. To run or not to run. Hmm… He studied the people who now stood and the man approaching him. He observed the scar and the build of the man, before his eyes drifted to his face and gave the slightest unsettled shiver.Should I really chance it? They all look older than me and the one coming this way is not someone I would relish a fight with.

 

“You! What are you doing in there? Get out here!”

 

He hesitated for a split second, before turning tail and running. Run it is. He strained his ears, trying to tell if the people would give chase. Mark knew that if they did, he couldn't run in a straight line anymore. The people were more likely to catch up to him, being older and probably stronger, so he decided that he would weave between the trees, make sharp turns, and generally try to confuse them. If they gave chase that is. Focusing on listening behind him, Mark never noticed that there was a pond right in his path. The next thing he knew, he was soaking wet, kneeling in a pond, and coughing up the water that entered his lungs when he fell in. Could life get any better? He snarled silently, frustrated, as he picked himself out of the water, completely forgetting about the possibility of being chased.

 

Sitting on the ground again, he shook his head to try to get rid of the water in his hair before wiping the water off his face with his hands. Afterwards, he automatically checked to see if his necklace and pendants were still around his neck. Feeling the familar cloud-shaped pendant and key, he crossed his arms behind his head and lay down, slightly tired from running and coughing. Hope I don't fall asleep. Closing his eyes, he didn't notice when a very light fog condensed around his form.

[Mangaholic]

Tristen couldn't help but widen that smug smirk on his face when both of the hybrids, Sen and Sophia, failed to come up with a comeback of any sort. It made him feel even better when the expression of anger and utter humiliation spread across their faces. It was a feeling of satisfaction, that he managed to find the right comments to shut these two up. It wasn't long, though, before Sen starting talking again, but from the fact that the boy seemed to be whipping his head about frantically for some invisible object, Tristen guessed that he was hearing that voice again. This time, the man waited patiently, looking at Sophia to see what the girl would react to a boy who was seemingly crazy.

 

 

"If they didn't kill those people, who did? What did? And does it have anything to do with what's going on in the world right now?"

Sophia was prodding the boy's shoulder now, obviously worried about his sanity.

 

“Sen. Sen. What’s happening to you? You sound strange, saying you talk to an oak and stuff.”

 

"He is talking to an oak," Tristen said softly. "So no, the fact that he's talking randomly doesn't exactly prove that he's out of his mind." He paused, wondering about what to say next, that wouldn't get the two hybrids bristling in fury at him again. "You want to know what the murderers are?" He stopped again. Would they think he was crazy too? What did it matter anyways? It was true, and they were about to find that out sooner or later. "Demons and faeries and everything else that's hidden from mundane. And why did it start now?"

 

Suddenly, the smirk disappeared from Tristen's face, and there was a new, terrifying light in his brown eyes. His voice was touched by a hint of bitterness as he remembered his own losses. "Because we're a dying people, too weak to stop anything now. They don't listen to us anymore. And look at you two! Scared out of your minds already, and you haven't even seen the real world yet!"

 

He looked hysterical, almost feverish, but he wasn't. He was just furious with the fact that they were placing their hopes into some cowards who knew nothing about how harsh the world could really be.

 

[Key2Universe]

Sadine stood calmly through the insult the girl with the crazy hair threw, and the spat she got into with the man. Breckin's statement coincided completely with the conclusion she had drawn, so she felt no need to add anything.Even as the other girl who had come out of nowhere got into an argument, Sadie still stood silent. She had made her decision she didn't care about theirs. But, their behavior was annoying her the whole time. The stupid comments, the child like tone. Even the woman that Sadie had guess was in the area was acting stupid. Sadie made herself stay quiet, trying to keep her frustration down as well, but it only worked for so long. Sadie took a deep breath before she started.

 

"Are you children?" Sadine began, turning her golden eyes that seemed to be dancing like flames on everyone. "Did you hear anything Breckin just said? The odds are against you. You've entered this park because you look like a freak, and you've walked into a trap. You have no idea how many people could be surrounding us, or even the strength of the two in front of us. Plus, I would bet that none of you are armed, whereas they clearly have weapons. You probably came to this park to find out why you look like something Dr. Seuss would think up, but when someone arrives offering to tell you, you refuse. You chose to come into a huge park, alone, and even if these people want to murder us, no one will hear the screams. If they are the murderers, I would bet that they came prepared to fight or catch children, so running is also probably useless. So, unless you came here to die, the best idea seems to just be to follow these two and listen to their explanation." Sadie said. She took another deep breath after all of the words had left her mouth. She was ready to hear what was going on, and she had the most normal appearance.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Key2Universe

[Walker]

Carlie flinched and retreated back into the shadows of the trees when he heard that his sudden outburst had not gone unnoticed. How much worse could this day get? Did he have to run into Breckin and company along with looking like him came out of the rear end of some animal? He sighed again as he took another glimpse down at his mud coated attire. It didn't get much worse then right here. Cursing bitterly to himself, he wondered what to do at this point. His three options were to run, to face the group, or to run. Actually, that only totaled up to two options and options one and three weren't really feasible. He couldn't even outrun an overweight worm in his condition. His leg was still sore and a perpetual tiredness still permeated him like that foul odor he kept smelling... Oh yah. No bath this morning. Duh. That explains the odor. He usually snuck into a YMCA and took a shower in the mornings. Even homeless guys liked to smell decent, or at least he did.

 

There was really only one thing to do in this situation. Letting out one final sigh, Carlie prepared to slip out from the trees but then he heard the girl beside Breckin suddenly go into some sort of rampage. He smiled despite himself. This girl had gusto to say the least. He found himself completely absorbed in what she had to say. Soaking up as much as he could, he frowned a bit as she came to the part about looking like a freak though. Anything even bridging appearances caused him discomfort, even if the girl wasn't speaking directly to him. The problem was, it seemed as if she was What she said seemed to hit right home for him. Were all these other people going through what he was going through too? As he poked his head around from the tree, he eyed them again curiously and then made up his mind. He didn't really care what these creeps were going through, especially Breckin, Mister Goody-Two-Shoes. He did have a few words to say to Miss Loud-Mouth though.

 

Finally slipping out of the forest into the clearing, he slowly made his way towards the rampaging girl. It was time to push some buttons just for the fun of it.

 

"Let me start out by saying my name is Carlie. Now that we have formalities out of the way though, I have some things to say. First, technically speaking, we are all children in the eyes of the law you genius. No. I'm afraid I didn't hear what Breckin just said. I wasn't around to hear it, but frankly, I could care less what comes out of that stupid saintly mouth of his. Looking like a freak is nothing new to me by the way. I've looked like a freak most of my teen years and yet never once did I come to Forest Park seeking answers. If I wanted answers and all that other load of carp I would have gone on some holy pilgrimage to Mt. Givemealltheanswers. I'm only here because something possessed me to be here, and when I say possessed, I mean possessed. By the way, I don't think Dr. Seuss would have the imagination to think up something as great as me. He only wishes he could."

 

Carlie paused for a moment. As he had gone on his own useless tirade, he had walked right to the foot of the stage where the group was huddled. He couldn't possible imagine how any of them would react to the mud covered specimen in front of them. He probably looked like The Thing from The Swamp. Considering how everyone else looked all prim and proper, he was the one who looked like the biggest freak in this joint. No matter. There was no fixing it now. Instead, he smiled at the group and leaned nonchalantly against the side of the stage.

 

"Now one of you called? I'm not sure who it is, but I heard you from the woods. I came out like you wanted, but now that I think about it, I might as well leave. It seems I stumbled upon something I don't want to get involved in."

 

This last statement was directed at Breckin in particular. Carlie didn't want to end up in anything that had anything to do with Breckin.

[RheaZen]

“Sen. Sen. What’s happening to you? You sound strange, saying you talk to an oak and stuff.”

 

"Ugh..." Sen rolled his eyes and brushed Sophia off. He rolled over to face her, then heard Tristen start talking.

 

"He is talking to an oak... So no, the fact that he's talking randomly doesn't exactly prove that he's out of his mind." A pause. "You want to know what the murderers are?" Another pause. "Demons and faeries and everything else that's hidden from mundane. And why did it start now?"

 

Sen raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something, wanting to comment on the apparent insanity of Tristen as compared to himself (what with all the voices in his head and all), but then Tristen continued... in a rather terse tone. His eyes lost their previous arrogant gleam as he ranted.

 

"Because we're a dying people, too weak to stop anything now. They don't listen to us anymore. And look at you two! Scared out of your minds already, and you haven't even seen the real world yet!"

 

"Uh. Okay, first off, with the dying-people thing. Can't you just, I dunno, er, reproduce more? I mean, that's all there is to it. And why did they listen to you in the first place? And what do you mean by the 'real world'?" Sen rolled over again, back to the ground, staring at Tristen upside-down by leaning his head back. "And why are we so important again? Are we even important to begin with? You'd think so, since you're getting us all together and not killing us. But if we are important, wouldn't it be better for you to be nice to us and explain things, rather than alienating us and making us hate you?"

[SandMessiah]

"Because we're a dying people, too weak to stop anything now. They don't listen to us anymore. And look at you two! Scared out of your minds already, and you haven't even seen the real world yet!"

 

Clay turned immediately to Tristen, his sad smile was now replaced with a slight smug. He had kept quiet because he knew he wouldn't get his way with them. But now, hear those words from the one person who chained him and beat him made him explode with smugness. "Really, your too weak? That comes as a surprise, considering you go around like you own the damn world. Sarcastically snorted Clay as he moved away from the group slightly. He retrieved a can of spray paint and place it back in his holder. But the comment about not seeing the real world really stuck a cord with him. Why was the world he was living in fake?

 

"Uh. Okay, first off, with the dying-people thing. Can't you just, I dunno, er, reproduce more? I mean, that's all there is to it. And why did they listen to you in the first place? And what do you mean by the 'real world'? And why are we so important again? Are we even important to begin with? You'd think so, since you're getting us all together and not killing us. But if we are important, wouldn't it be better for you to be nice to us and explain things, rather than alienating us and making us hate you?"

 

Clay looked at the kid, who was now laying down on the ground. He looked at him with utter surprise, even though Clay didn't pay attention to the small details, he got the gist of what they were saying. "Listen kid, first off i don't think breeding would have worked. If it did, we wouldn't even be here. Second, we are hybrids, which means that for some reason, they hate us for having human and un-human blood. And if what they say is true, then we are scum because of that." Clay looked at Tristen before he said "and for some reason, I'm considered to be the lowest scum by people who claim they are superior while they are in fact dying because they are too weak."

Edited January 19, 2010 by SandMessiah

[MURDERcomplexx]

Hearing his name, Breckin slowly turned toward the source, his eyes widening upon sight of the figure that emerged from the trees. That face, that attitude, it was almost too hilarious. He never expected to see Carlie again, and by the looks of things the boy had hardly changed.

But he'd barely begun to respond, when Sadine started up a rant identical to his, with much more fury involved. While he was sure that his feelings were mutual with hers on the matter, the more level headed Breckin was apt to keep his words muted.

She had a way of lashing out whatever was on his mind at the time.

However, the blond couldn't resist replying to Carlie's speech. While not fully understanding the evident grudge that boy held against him, Breckin found it little more than amusing to hear.

"Still as independent as always Carlie. It's been a while hasn't it?"

Pulling back his hood to let the streaked locks free, Breckin brushed his hand past a marked cheek, scratching at it as if it irritated him.

"Almost ironic how we end up in the same situation isn't it? Then again, you don't have to worry about me. I've no intention of asking you the same question twice. As far as I'm concerned, we may as well be strangers to each other."

 

 

[Skarx]

Sophia was a bit angry of being brushed off by Sen, but said nothing. He had his own problems for now it seems. Fine then. She was surprised when it was that arrogant and bothersome swordsman who actually answered her question.

 

"He is talking to an oak... So no, the fact that he's talking randomly doesn't exactly prove that he's out of his mind." A pause. "You want to know what the murderers are?" Another pause. "Demons and faeries and everything else that's hidden from mundane. And why did it start now?"

 

Wait... how did he know all of this about Sen? He seemed to know a lo more than themselves about what they were and had finally, for some reasons, decided to answer her question. She was not going to complain, but... What was this about faeries and demons being the one who killed? If what that girl, she glanced at Shira, had said was true then they were part faerie... Whatever that meant. Part of what they were would have cause all of these evens? As for demons... She preferred not think about such a thing.

 

"Because we're a dying people, too weak to stop anything now. They don't listen to us anymore. And look at you two! Scared out of your minds already, and you haven't even seen the real world yet!"

 

She looked at the man with an eyebrow raised. Their lack of population was not her problem, but being told they were scared out of their mind now that was pissing her off again. She stood again squeezing the rock that had been the star in her mental movie of the man getting hit.

 

"We don't know your 'real' world. Hear yourself out you moron! If your 'real' world exist it has been HIDDEN from us! How in all HELL were we supposed to know about it! As for being scared, who would not be! We aren't trained fighting machine like your little group seems to be! I had a normal life before all of this came crashing down on me like a damn curse!"

 

She took a deep breath trying to figure out what Sen had said just before she got angry. When the boy who had been fighting just poured more oil on the fire she and Sen had been building she glared at him. She didn't really have anything against him yet, but she was just pissed and need to let out some steam.

 

"Oh shut up you! You don't sound nor act more bright then them either! Now you" She pointed their captor. "Have some explaining to do. If you hate us so much and we are so useless looking, why do you even try to gather us and for what?!"

 

 

[Kira1]

”But you’re still here,” Emilia replied innocently. ”I thought that you weren’t going to listen to me. Or are you afraid of this little bow?”

 

She lowered her bow so that the arrow pointed to her feet, but her light blue eyes remained on Danni’s face, unwavering and infuriatingly childlike.

 

“There, why don’t you run off now, like the frightened little child you are?” Emilia challenged, no longer hiding her scorn, but her voice still as smooth as silk. ”Run off, and let the world fall apart as payment for your cowardice, while the rest of us perish for it. I dare you.”

 

"I didn't run, because I would prefer to not get shot with an arrow," Danni replied in almost a growl, gritting her teeth somewhat in frustration with this annoying woman. "And what do you mean by "let the world fall apart" and others perishing? What the hell are you talking about?"

 

Danni wanted these questions answered and she wanted those answers now. Though, she was considering coming with them just to show this woman that she wasn't afraid. Though, she was still afraid, but she could swallow that and get through this. Just went to show, her hotheadedness was greater than her fear, which she knew would get her in trouble one day. Of course, she never did anything to change that.

 

She would see what these people wanted, and if she didn't like it, she would leave. Simple as that. With a defiant glare at the woman, she walked back towards them, standing apart from group about a foot or so away with arms crossed. She then waited for her answers.

[Mangaholic]

Malduk was ready to chase after the gray-haired boy, since it wasn’t hard at all to predict the young man’s reaction. It was pretty much the same thing that the other hybrids had attempted to do – escape, that is. The boy made it harder to be caught by weaving through the trees and making sharp turns at random points, but somehow, the heavy-set executioner managed to keep up. It was probably the fact that the boy was making such a huge racket in trying to get away that allowed Malduk to follow the boy’s every footstep. Even without the noise, the boy’s tracks would have been a piece of cake to follow. There was a obvious trail in the forest floor, laid down by trampled ferns and broken plants.

 

As Malduk turned sharply after the boy once more, still intent on catching him, a loud splash, as if someone had dropped a giant boulder into a lake, sounded out, followed by wretched coughing. The sight that met Malduk’s eyes confirmed his guess – the boy had run straight into a pond. The hybrid had crawled back onto the bank, seemingly forgetting about his pursuer, and laid, stretched out, on his back. He was caught now. It would be too hard for him to run off again with the starting position that he was currently in. Malduk walked silently up to him, and looked down at the young man’s face. He appeared to be sleeping.

 

“Get up. You’re not supposed to be here.”

 

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

 

Kiril kept silent as the young man, who had introduced him self as Carlie, continued with some conceited speech about himself, along with some other things. It was obvious, by Breckin’s irritated reply, that the two young men knew each other quite well, and that neither was happy to see the other’s face. Now, Kiril was wondering what to say to the mud-covered hybrid who had seemingly arose from some putrid swamp. Could life get any better? he thought sarcastically. We manage to get most of them to comply, and now, out of nowhere comes some random mud monster who seems to have the impression that the world revolves around himself.

 

He glanced at Emilia, whose broad smile had widened upon her face when Danni grudgingly walked back to the stage. She said nothing to the girl and instead, turned her attention to the young man who had everyone’s attention. She returned her arrow to the quiver slung across her back and fixed her blue eyes on Carlie.

 

”Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, O great Carlie,” she said nonchalantly. ”While you were just limping over here, I was trying to figure what you are exactly. So you have the name of a girl, the voice of a guy, and looks too grotesque for either. I’m guessing…that you’re an it, right?”

 

She smiled, pausing only briefly so that Carlie wouldn’t have the chance to return her insult with a cutting one of his own. She knew what she was going to say next. It was so dreadfully easy to manipulate these pigheaded teens, just as Danni had shown. They all have a common Achilles’ heel, and that was to be called a coward and a weakling. Reverse psychology nearly always worked with them, and Emilia was pretty sure that Carlie would fall for it, especially considering what an enormous head that he had.

 

”But sure, go ahead and leave. I don’t feel like being a jerk to someone who doesn’t have anyone to play with except themselves. Don’t get me wrong. It’s perfectly fine to be both; at least you can always have fun whenever you like,” she continued with mock consolation. ”Besides, you look too weak and useless to do anything. You probably couldn’t even walk a couple more meters, never mind following us all the way back to that place. In fact, if you’d like, I’ll go fetch a wheelchair for you and wheel you out of this place.”

 

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

 

"Uh. Okay, first off, with the dying-people thing. Can't you just, I dunno, er, reproduce more? I mean, that's all there is to it. And why did they listen to you in the first place?”

 

Tristen stared at Sen, unable to talk for a moment. Was this kid that dense? Probably. He looked a lot like it, Was he really sixteen? He had the antics of some ten-year old.

 

“Of course we reproduce. In fact, reproducing is our favorite past-time,” he answered casually. “Aren’t all American teenagers supposed to know that? And by the “real world,” I mean life! Is that so hard to understand? Seriously, none of you know what life is like yet. Not that many American teenagers know what real life is like. All they’re ever doing is having fun in some dark corner.”

 

He completely ignored Sophia; he didn’t feel like starting another petty argument with the green-haired girl. Besides, he was pretty sure that his ignoring her would tick her off even more, and he definitely didn't mind that. But by her words about the “real world,” Tristen had a feeling that she had totally misinterpreted his words. She was talking about the Downworld; he was talking about life, at least for now.

 

He was starting to cool down again. The fact that he was arguing with two highly dense teenagers did something to chase his anger away, replacing it with the incredulity that Sen and Sophia could really be that…dense. They were seriously parked cars. And yet, just as his annoyance had returned to room temperature, that idiotic Dark hybrid had to come along and ignite it again. A little ways past the hybrids’ heads, Tristen could see the three Umbralatronis adults glaring furiously at the hybrid. Hadyn, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care at all. He was kneeling beside Rhiannon and the raven-haired girl, looking rather relieved that the Dark boy had decided to leave Rhiannon alone and bother the c*** out of Tristen, instead.

 

“Look, just shut up, or I’ll tackle you down again and tie you up again,” Tristen threatened angrily. “And don’t think that this time, we’ll let you go.” He glanced at Belinos and Brunor. “Can we just take them there now, and wait for Emilia and Kiril over there, please?”

 

He could no longer stand being the hybrids’ babysitter, and he was pretty sure they couldn’t stand him either. So why not make everyone happy and just lock them up now? And then, they could wait for his sister and her idiot fiancé over there without having to listen to the annoying droning of these idiotic half-breeds who can’t seem to find the will to just shut up.

[Skarx]

When the man didn't answer her at all, ignoring her after looking at them like they were idiots, she lost interest in the argument. What point was there speaking to a wall? It would not get her anywhere and she could not run away. She had seen them move and she was no match. She sat on the ground and played with the grass trying to kill time, but it quickly bored her. She wanted something else and it was not there, freedom excluded from what she wanted since it was impossible to get. As she looked into the sky she tried and figured out what the cloud would look like, but there again she found nothing of interest. There was a sudden splashing sound coming from somewhere and she finally got an idea. The pond, it was supposed to be near here. She stood again, glanced at the bored swordsman and took a couple of step away. She then tried to remember where that pond was. Maybe she could kill time catching frogs or looking at the fishes. She then called out to the man while walking away from him.

 

"Well I'm going to the pond over there. I'm tired of being stranded on this spot and the wait is endless, just like my wait for an answer that never comes from you."

 

She then turned around and started walking in a direction. Water was there, she was sure of it. It was probably the pond she had first found too, the one in her dream. Thinking of that cursed dream... if it was not for it she would never had come to the park and never got trapped like this by complete strangers. If what Sen said was true, which she didn't know what to think about that, these people were not the murderers... but they were not nice people either and they were now kidnapping them. She sigh. No use thinking about it now it was too late and the pond was not that far. A good... 15 meter perhaps and far from the others.

[myahoo]

Something nudged the back of his mind. Mark tried to push it away and relax, but the thought caused him to raise his guard once more. It was the same kind of feeling that he got when he knew something was going to happen and he should be prepared for it, but this time, he reacted slowly. The more serious, realistic side of himself started to remind him that only moments ago he was running from something when he tensed, hearing the voice that spoke to him mere moments before from somewhere above him.

 

"Get up. You're not supposed to be here."

 

Sighing, Mark opened his eyes to see that the same man who approached him earlier was now standing above him. Although he knew that he was at a disadvantage, he reflexively started looking for an escape route. Finding none only confirmed his inability to do anything more, so he mentally shrugged before sitting up. His hair started dripping pond water onto his back, making him more uncomfortable in his current situation. He chose to try to get the water out by shaking his head like a dog, completely disregarding the man standing above him. Afterwards, he wiped the last clinging strands of now-gray hair away from his face and observed the man's current state.

 

The man hardly seemed to be ruffled by his trip through the forest, chasing after Mark. In fact, he seemed to have predicted that Mark would have bolted like that and had been prepared to chase after him. This caused Mark to re-evaluate the situation he was now in and decide that now was definitely not a time to try running again. He didn't even want to imagine what would happen if he tried to run again, especially with the man barely an arm's reach away. So, that only left him the option of following the man and trying to get his answers or stalling and trying to get his answers. Looking down, Mark grinned as he stood up and started squeezing the water out of his clothes. Stalling it was. When he next looked up, a curious expression was on his face.

 

"Well, I'm up now, not that I was sleeping in the first place. Why'd you say that I'm not supposed to be here? This is a public park, right? And if I'm not supposed to be here, why didn't you tell that to the other guys that were back over there?" He pointed in the direction both of them had come from, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him.

 

This was all said quite innocently and curiously before Mark's expression turned slightly serious.

 

"Really, though, why do I have to leave? For some reason, I found my way here, which is really quite a ways away from where I normally hang around, and then, I just happen to stumble across a group of weirdly dressed people with swords and some teenagers? Oh, and my eyes changed colors, while my hair decided to speed through a couple of decades in the span of a night. Coincidence? I don't think so. Mark paused, waiting expectantly for some sort of answer, only to scowl as he realized that he said more about himself than he normally would have at a first meeting. Hopefully he won't pick up on that. He thought to himself, shifting uneasily.

Edited January 21, 2010 by myahoo

[RheaZen]

Sen, dejected from the put-downs of the others, slumped and curled up into a ball again. It was really his fault, though; what they'd said was pretty true. He never was the brightest bulb in the... whatever the saying was. He couldn't remember. He sighed, unrolled, and lay facedown on the ground. He could hear the girl, Sophia, say that she was going to the pond. Normally he would've wanted to go to the pond, too, especially since there wasn't anything else to do at the moment, but he was too busy feeling sorry for himself to get up. Why us? Why me? I'm useless. I'm like a little kid. The rest of them are all, like, kickass and stuff. I can only climb things.

 

He stared down into the grass, noting the movements of ants. How simple their life is. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to bother with things like these strange people, or even normal things like going to school and having to do homework and such. School sucks, especially. I'm always picked on 'cause of my size. At least the bunsen burner incident has warded off some of the bullies. But now I got no friends either. He gripped the grass tightly. I wish I could just sink into the ground!

 

You sure? Hundreds of tiny voices piped up at once.

 

"Why the hell not?!" Sen whimpered. He wasn't even startled by the voices anymore. "So long as I don't have to deal with all this anymore.

 

... okay. Watch your head.

 

Sen only managed to shout the beginning of a protest before he was dragged under by what seemed to be many strong green hands.

 

((He's only about a foot under the soil, since grass roots don't go too far down.))

[Mangaholic]

Malduk frowned as he was hit with a spray of pond water from the hybrid's gray hair, causing his scarred face to look even more vicious than before. He was annoyed by the way the boy was taking his capture, but he made no move, at least not yet.

 

"Well, I'm up now, not that I was sleeping in the first place. Why'd you say that I'm not supposed to be here? This is a public park, right? And if I'm not supposed to be here, why didn't you tell that to the other guys that were back over there? Really, though, why do I have to leave? For some reason, I found my way here, which is really quite a ways away from where I normally hang around, and then, I just happen to stumble across a group of weirdly dressed people with swords and some teenagers? Oh, and my eyes changed colors, while my hair decided to speed through a couple of decades in the span of a night. Coincidence? I don't think so."

 

Now, a trace of amusement entered Malduk's dark, unsettling eyes. What the young man had revealed to him did not come at all as a surprise. In fact, he would have been surprised if none of these things had occured to this teen. However, it struck him as amusing that the hybrid had pretty much everything strange about himself, at least so far, without any hesitation. By the uneasy expression that was spreading slowly across the hybrid's face, Malduk guessed that the young man was also realizing the same thing.

 

"In the first place," Malduk growled lowly, "this is public park that has been closed down. And how exactly do you know that we were telling the same to those kids back there? No matter. You're still coming with us. You're part of this now, whether you like it or not."

 

He would have grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt, rather like the way he had caught the other green-haired Rose boy, but the soft sound of footsteps distracted his attention for a while. He turned his head quickly, but not too far so that he could no longer see the gray-haired young man. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the Sea girl, making her way to the pond, and a scowl arose upon the corners of his mouth.

 

Idiot Tristen! Malduk thought angrily. Has he let the girl get away? He doubted it though, since the girl wasn't in so much of a hurry that she seemed to be fleeing from something. A second pair of footsteps followed, and through the trees behind the Sea half-breed, Malduk could see Miranda keeping an eye on the girl. He returned his full attention to the gray-haired teen once again, though not being yelling aloud, "Why are you over here too, girl?"

 

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

 

"Well I'm going to the pond over there. I'm tired of being stranded on this spot and the wait is endless, just like my wait for an answer that never comes from you."

 

Tristen heaved a long sigh of exasperation, but made no move to stop Sophia as she walked over. Miranda had already left to follow the young woman and make sure that she didn't make a second attempt at escape. Why did it seem like he was overflowing with exasperation? He had the weirdest feeling that he was going to have some stroke or heart attack caused with excess exasperation, though he was pretty sure that the hybrids would enjoy seeing him suffering from a seizure, especially the Dark teen.

 

Belinos watched Sophia disappear into the thicket of the trees before glancing at Tristen and resting his gaze on Hadyn and Rhiannon. "Yes," he murmured. "Once those two come back, we'll wait for Emilia and Kiril over there."

 

To this response, Tristen let out a sigh of relief. I'm going to get really short of breath if I keep sighing like this. Still, he didn't mind the fact that he wouldn't have to deal with these teens any longer. Even Hadyn wasn't this annoying. His sense of relief was short-lived. A whimper randomly escaped from the caverns of Sen's mouth, and almost instantly, Tristen witnessed the young man being pulled completely underground.

 

"Holy C***!" Tristen placed his sword beside Hadyn's, on the tree trunk, but so carelessly that both swords fell onto the ground. He was on his knees in a flash, trying to figure out a way to pull Sen out without pulling at his hair. Hell! What do I care if the kid comes out bald and bloody? he thought angrily, still looking down the hole where he could see the top of Sen's head. Still, he couldn't bring himself to do it. How the heck was he going to pull the hybrid out? He looked at Belinos, who was also staring at the hole in the ground. Obviously, he was stumped as well. Tristen didn't bother to look at the Dark hybrid. There was no way he was going to accept any help from that idiot. Besides, he doubted that the Dark teen could do much else either.

 

"Okay," Tristen began slowly, feeling like an idiot for talking to absolutely nothing. "Whatever just pulled the kid down, can you please bring him back up? Otherwise, the world is going to fall apart, and you're probably going to perish along with it."

 

Was that a good idea, to make such a threat? Tristen didn't know, but it was worth a try. The only problem was that he was going to feel totally like an idiot if it didn't work.

[SandMessiah]

Clay heard a small whimper, which pulled him from his thoughts. He turned around and saw Sen being dragged into the ground. Clay took into a sprint until he reached Sen. He quickly went onto his knees and began to dig with his bare hands. As he digged and digged, he was oblivious of the fact that Tristen was right next to him. The glyphs on his hands began to light up in a light blue color.

 

"Okay, whatever just pulled the kid down, can you please bring him back up? Otherwise, the world is going to fall apart, and you're probably going to perish along with it."

 

Clay finally stopped digging when Tristen spoke. He looked at Tristen with eyes of irritation. Tristen was not the cause of his irritation, but rather it was the fact that no matter how much he dig, it seemed like he was getting nowhere.

 

"Damn it Tristen, stop staring like an idiot and dig! I'm not letting this child get injured just because you decided to take the diplomatic approach!" Shouted Clay as he began to dig even more furiously. After awhile, he cried out in frustration as he slammed his fists into the ground. His hands, even with the glyphs glowing, his hands were now bleeding badly. Clay began to breath deeply as he closed his eyes, at which point his hands were beginning to be covered with shadows.

 

"I'm not...going to let this child get injured!" Gasped Clay as he tried to dig again. Suddenly, the shadows began to pull on Clay's arms, almost like they were commanding him to stop. Despite this, Clay tried to fight the shadows as he tried. "What trick is this!" Shouted Clay as he placed even more effort into freeing his arms. Eventually, the glow of the glyphs dimmed and Clay began to slow down. Eventually, he stopped and became silent. The shadows started to move away from his arms.

[myahoo]

"In the first place, this is public park that has been closed down. And how exactly do you know that we were telling the same to those kids back there? No matter. You're still coming with us. You're part of this now, whether you like it or not."

 

"So this park is closed down, huh? How could I have missed that?" Mark shook his head, as he mumbled this to himself. "I really should pay more attention to the news." However, he scowled again, as the man finished saying his part, defiance and a spark of anger rising up at the last few words. Who does that guy think he is, telling me what to do? Mark began to open his mouth to retort, when he suddenly recalled the words from the fog in his dream. ...There, you will find your answers... He cooled down almost immediately, (Why does that voice have such an effect over me?) stepping away and closing his mouth as he weighed the pros and cons of going with them. Whoever 'them' was. Hmm, so...don't know who they are, what they want, where they're from, why they need me, how they got here...when they're from. Mark glanced at the clothes the man wore, before shaking his head. On the other hand, they know what's going on, why things are changing...oh, and what's happening to me. He recalled the lack of surprise on the man's face when he had mentioned his hair and eyes changing colors.

 

For some reason, though, Mark felt that he wanted to trust the man and that following the man would take him to a place that part of him found familiar. He sighed, resigning himself to following this man and his friends, knowing that if he didn't go willingly, he would probably be dragged there. Well, it's not like I have any other responsibilities. The slightly bitter thought crossed his mind before Mark tucked it away, calming himself and preparing to let the man lead the way.

 

Hearing footsteps caused him to unconsciously raise his guard himself as he looked towards the sound, without losing sight of the man in front of him, and saw one of the girls from the clearing emerging from the trees. Since he hadn't had the time to catch more than a glimpse of her earlier, Mark examined the girl, taking note of the pale blue skin and the sea green hair. Catching sight of another person in the trees (A woman, this time? Looks like he's got a lot of allies.) reinforced his decision to go willingly, but his body still tensed in preparation for a fight.

 

"Why are you over here too, girl?"

 

Though he was curious, Mark refocused on trying to get his body to stand down, very aware of the man's eyes on him. He resisted the urge to touch his necklace, knowing that questions would follow, questions that he didn't and wouldn't answer, and stuffed his hand in his pockets, turning so that he no longer faced the man head-on. Weariness seemed to settle on him as soon as he broke direct eye contact with the man and the tension in his body eased. Odd. That hasn't happened since...oh. Apparently, my life is going to change entirely. Again. He decided that returning to the clearing was the best idea; he would let the girl have the pond clearing to herself.

 

"I'm pretty sure you know that I don't trust you. You probably don't care about that though." Mark sighed, looking the man out of the corner of his eye. "However, I will go back to that clearing, since, as you said, I'm a part of whatever this is now. I will want some answers eventually, but, for the moment, I don't really care."

[RheaZen]

As he was being dragged under, Sen contemplated opening his mouth to scream but decided against it since it meant he'd be wasting oxygen, plus screaming wouldn't really help him at all - Tristen was guarding him, no need to waste energy trying to draw attention to himself. Instead he cupped his hands over his mouth and nose and inhaled deeply, trying to take as much air with him as he was pulled downwards.

 

Oddly enough, Sen didn't find it very uncomfortable underground. Sure, the soil was rather wet and cold, and there was that nagging fear of being buried alive, but otherwise he seemed fine. He could tell that he wasn't even that far down under, judging from the loudness of those above him. Muffled, but not too much so. Actually, it's rather nice right now. I don't have to listen to them yelling at each other, or fighting, or berating me. And maybe I can just stay down here until they lose interest and leave me alone. ... ha, fat chance. What's the difference between a fat chance and a slim chance? None in the normal English use, term-wise. But... it doesn't really make any sense. Well, actually, I suppose it does if you take into account sarcasm. Who was it that told me that the English language was very big on sarcasm...?

 

He could hear scrabbling noises above him: someone was trying to dig him up. Tristen, above him, asking something to bring Sen back up. "Whatever just pulled the kid down, can you please bring him back up? Otherwise, the world is going to fall apart, and you're probably going to perish along with it."

 

Sen wondered whether it was Tristen digging him up. The guy didn't seem like the type, though. A shout confirmed his suspicions.

 

"Damn it Tristen, stop staring like an idiot and dig! I'm not letting this child get injured just because you decided to take the diplomatic approach!"

 

More scrabbling noises above him. Who's this guy?

 

"I'm not...going to let this child get injured!"

 

A pause. Sen almost giggled. Injured? Far from it. He felt quite snug and secure right where he was. I honestly don't understand claustraphobia...

 

"What trick is this!" Another exclamation from the digger. The sounds of excavation ceased.

[Skarx]

As Sophia walked to the pond she heard voices. Surprised she stopped and listened.

 

"First place… Public park closed… how exactly… we were… to those kids… coming... You're… this now… not."

 

She could not understand everything and finally decided it was probably another of the thugs that had caught another teen and since she was already stuck with them, one following her too, she didn’t have to worry about more trouble. She already had them. When she came out of the trees to the pond area she froze. Her current nightmare turned around to look at her. The wet and scarred face of the man who had beaten the nameless black haired girl was standing near her pond. She was annoyed by his face. She felt like he didn’t want her around, but guess what? She was going to go to the pond anyway and annoy him if he dares talk to her since it was the only sport around! Sure enough he spoke.

 

"Why are you over here too, girl?"

 

She took her best ‘what are you going to do about it’ face and stance she could. Which means crossed arms, leaning her head a bit on one side and take the best annoyed voice she could to tell him.

 

“I came for the pond, but found out your ugly mug was spoiling the scene here.” She noticed the boy looking at her. “What!? You want my picture or something boy?!”

 

She was standing on the other side of the pond from them her feet close to the pond’s water. She didn’t know why, but she felt the pond had been disturbed not long ago; looking at the boy gave her the answer she wanted. What idiot would fall in a pond like that?

 

[Mangaholic]

"I'm pretty sure you know that I don't trust you. You probably don't care about that though. However, I will go back to that clearing, since, as you said, I'm a part of whatever this is now. I will want some answers eventually, but, for the moment, I don't really care."

 

Malduk nodded in satisfaction at the young man’s answer. “Very well then, follow me back.”

 

“I came for the pond, but found out your ugly mug was spoiling the scene here. What!? You want my picture or something boy?!”

 

Malduk’s eyes narrowed his eyes in distaste at the girl who stood on the other side of the little pond. She had too big of a mouth for his liking. He reached slowly for the hilt of his sabre, deliberately making the gesture visible to the girl to show her what kind of danger she would be in if she dared to continue being defiant.

 

“You’re not going anywhere else,” came his harsh growl of a voice. “Unless you want your face all scarred up like mine.” He paused before adding insultingly, “Not that it isn’t pretty ugly even without scars.”

 

Miranda was behind the green-haired young woman now, two or three meters away or so, though she made no move to restrain the feisty hybrid, at least not yet. “Look,” she pointed out, “You could make this easy for us, and come along quietly, or you could end up like the raven girl.”

 

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

 

The Dark hybrid was furiously digging around the hole that Sen had been pulled into, in a futile attempt to save the Rose half-breed. Tristen noticed the faint blue glow that emanated from both of the young man’s hands, but before he could really think about it, the Dark hybrid paused to shout angrily at him, "Damn it Tristen, stop staring like an idiot and dig! I'm not letting this child get injured just because you decided to take the diplomatic approach!"

 

He then began digging again, before stopping and screaming, "What trick is this!"

 

Tristen’s temper flared once more at the hybrid’s words and his actions. “I’m the idiot? Look at you! How are you supposed to get anywhere by digging with your own bare hands Stop thinking that you can save everyone!”

 

He kneeled down and reached his own hands into the hole. What were his motives, exactly? Number one, he wasn’t going to let the Dark boy keep the satisfaction of calling him some useless idiot, and number two, he didn’t want to be branded as the guy who let one of the chosen ones, if Sen was a chosen one, die. It was definitely not the best way to be remembered as.

 

His right hand brushed against something like the collar of a shirt. He immediately grabbed on and began to pull, before letting go again. I’m going to choke him to death before I can get him out. I need some different approach. His second idea wasn’t that different from his first, but when you’re running out of time to think, you usually come up with the lamest ideas. He grabbed the shoulder sleeves of Sen’s shirt, or what felt like them, and began to pull the scrawny, little boy up again. It was a good thing that Sen was really small for his age, like some ten-year old instead of a sixteen-year old, because the mud and earth that clung at Sen was giving Tristen an extremely hard time.

 

[Walker]

Carlie tried to hold in his anger as he listened to the girl’s words. She had managed to hit him in every single spot where he hurt most. It took all of his concentration not vault onto the stage and punch her in the face. He wasn’t quite sure why he was holding back. It was one of those ‘crazy-person inexplicable feelings’ he had been getting all day. He paused. He almost expected to hear the demonic voice again. He let out a breath of relief when there was only blessed silence and the rage in his own head to fill his mind. He wasn’t so sure he could deal with voices along with everything else at the moment.

 

He stood there, huffing like a locomotive. He was too angry to speak without screaming. He bit his lip and decided it would probably be a bad idea to snap back. He was too irate at the moment to think up any snappy comebacks anyway. He would have walked away if he could, but he felt a direct challenge in the in girl’s words that kept him rooted to that spot. He couldn’t leave without looking weak, but he couldn’t speak without exploding, so he just stood there, letting the frustration and anger build and build. His chest heaved and his body shook as he held back his animal instincts to fight back. It almost looked as if a snarl would rise up out of his chest.

 

As his anger grew, he had a funny feeling in that sudden moment of rage. It was enough to drop his gaze to the ground at his feet. He yelped and jumped back when he realized it had transformed into a mud puddle. He could be completely sure he wasn’t standing in a mud puddle earlier. Where had it come from? As he looked at it though, a childish thought came to mind. He grinned devilishly as he reached down, scooping up a large handful of mud. It certainly wasn’t the same as a punch to the face, but it certainly had some poetic justice to it.

 

Before he took the time to reevaluate the intelligence of his actions, Carlie had flung the ball of mud in the girl’s direction. He paused and sighed contentedly. He really didn’t care whether it hit her or not. It was just enough for him to be able to fight back in some way, even in such a childish roundabout fashion. He realized he would probably care soon though. The girl didn’t seem to be the kind who would react well to such an action. Oh well, he might as well enjoy the moment. He smiled again. As long as he had the moment, why not have a little more fun? Reaching down, he grabbed another handful of mud and this time launched it in Breckin’s direction. The simple action made him feel considerably calmer and smug.

Edited January 26, 2010 by Dashidragon

[Skarx]

When Malduk reached for his blade, she was not so sure of herself anymore… Not that she would admit it, but there were time when you needed to calm down. Especially when you know the person in front of you means business and clearly disliked you. She didn’t help him like her either badmouthing him like that.

 

“You’re not going anywhere else. Unless you want your face all scarred up like mine. Not that it isn’t pretty ugly even without scars.”

 

Now that was something. Ok… she had a bad skin and it was blue now, but she was far from ugly… was she?

 

“Oh come on! Don’t you have any imagination!? It’s so lame to use an insult that you received to try and insult back that person! I guess that shows your level of intelligence.”

 

 

“Look. You could make this easy for us, and come along quietly, or you could end up like the raven girl.”

 

Sophia turned toward the woman.

 

“Do I look like someone who is not following anymore? I was just going to wait here, since clearly I cannot escape you bunch, for you guys to finish up whatever business you still had here.”

 

With that she started heading back from where she came from. Maybe that swordsman would have died somehow in her short absence.

 

[RheaZen]

Sen wriggled a bit. trying to break free from the grip of whoever was pulling him up - it was hard to tell, since he couldn't see and at this point he had dirt in his ears so he couldn't hear anything either. He coughed, a little soil getting into his mouth and making him spit, then gasped and sucking in a breath as the person pulling him up stopped tugging on his collar and took a different route, pulling on his shoulder sleeves. Sen was dragged up covered in soil, spitting out dirt and gasping for air. He shook his head and sputtered. "PPPffft aaargh pffft ick ick ick soil does not good food make!" He struggled a bit, shaking dirt out of his hair.

 

Eventually he calmed down a bit, stopped struggling and sat still. Blinking his eyes to clear them of dirt, he looked up at Tristen and asked:

 

"Can we go now? To a place without plants, please."

 

((sorry about short post))

[myahoo]

“Very well then, follow me back.”

 

"What!? You want my picture or something boy?!”

 

Mark didn't want to pull up the energy to respond to the girl's question, so he just tossed her an annoyed look instead. It was the same look that he gave the younger orphans when he was in a bad mood, which told them, quite plainly, that they were being idiots. He had no idea how effective it would be on the girl, but hopefully, she would just quiet down. However, noticing that she wasn't paying attention to him, he dropped the look and decided to quietly observe the interchange. Seriously. You would think that she would know better than to annoy the man who has a sword. Sighing, he shook his head and winced when the girl continued arguing with the two adults.

 

After she left, Mark started rubbing his head, trying not to sigh again as he felt the beginnings of a headache. She reminds me of the orphans before I started helping the supervisors. All noise and chaos. He looked at the direction she walked towards, slightly confused, before groaning, having just remembered her presence in the earlier clearing. Great. Just wonderful. I'll have to deal with her while we wait for whatever's going to happen and who knows what the other people are like. Taking a deep breath, he summoned up the patience he had gained while working with the orphans and used it to calm himself down.

 

When he felt calm again, he turned towards the other clearing and started strolling slowly in that direction. Looking at the man he'd interacted the most with, Mark asked, "So, how many other people are there and are any of them as bad as the girl that just left?"

[Mangaholic]

"So, how many other people are there and are any of them as bad as the girl that just left?"

 

A rare grin or amusement spread across Malduk’s scarred face, though the change in facial expression made him look more terrifying. A grin just wasn’t cut out for a face like that of Malduk’s, and it made him look as if he was planning something sinister in his head, but of course, he wasn’t at the moment. He mentally counted the number of people in the clearing as he followed Mark away from the pond.

 

“At that clearing where you were hiding, there are nine total, not including them,” he said, meaning Miranda and Sophia. “I don’t know how many others of your kind there are, but right now there are four. And hopefully, none of them are like her.”

 

He wasn’t exactly sure what the others were like. He vaguely remembered the face of the raven-haired girl, who had desperately tried to save herself, but all in vain, and the green-haired boy who had left her there. Now that Malduk had seen him at close, he seemed no more than a child, hardly capable of much anything besides scurrying up trees. There was also that silver-haired Asian girl who had barely said a word, and the Dark hybrid who had been pissed off when Malduk had prevented him from getting any closer to Rhiannon. It was only five of them, but they all seemed like the unlikeliest bunch of heroes in the world.

 

Malduk finally reached the edge of the forest, to see the green-haired Rose boy covered in mud and dirt and a huge hole beside the him.

 

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

 

With a final heave, Tristen managed to drag Sen up, covered in soil and dirt, and he released the boy to sit beside the hole as he panted with exhaustion. Sen was pretty much doing the exact same thing, gasping for air and spitting dirt from his mouth.

 

"Can we go now? To a place without plants, please.” Sen asked, when he had finally calmed down and caught his breath. Tristen looked at him in surprise at first. He found it hard to believe that one descended from a line of Rose Fey would want to go to someplace void of plants. Still, the kid was probably traumatized by plants after some oak tree had tried talking to him and then some unknown plant pulled into the ground.

 

“Yeah, sure,” he answered after a while, trying not to sound too enthusiastic about the idea of ridding himself of the hybrids. He held his hand out in front of Sen, meaning to help the boy up, but then he realized he probably did seem too enthusiastic and hastily withdrew his hand. Instead, he turned around and picked up his sword and Hadyn’s from the ground. Belinos and Brunor were already walking toward Hadyn, Rhiannon, and the raven girl. Around that time, Sophia appeared from the thicket of trees, followed by Miranda and then Mark and Malduk. “Yup,” he added, “We can go right now.”

 

Brunor had hauled the raven girl upon his shoulder once more, and he, Belinos, Hadyn, and Rhiannon were already headed toward the entrance. Tristen glanced at the four hybrids, Sen, Shirayuki, Sophia, and the nameless Dark hybrid, and beckoned to them to follow him. He then started to follow after Belinos.

 

As they neared the gate, a peculiar sight met Tristen’s eyes, or at least it would have been peculiar had he been a numdane human. He wasn’t, of course, so the sight came to him as no surprise whatsoever. There were two carriages of sorts parked just outside on the empty streets. One was larger than the other. However, what was so peculiar were the four creatures that were used to haul these carriages. They resembled Przewalkski’s horses, though larger and a bit more thickset, with darker fur. Upon their heads sprouted two small horns, like those of a mountain’s goats. Standing aloof from them were the five elegant creatures that resembled horses, but were definitely not so. Three were a solid black color, one was a dark palomino, and the fifth had a silver coat. Each sported a pair of long, black, leathery wings, though unlike the famous Pegasus, these creatures seemed to have a more sinister aura about them. They had no harness or anything of the sort upon them, and they held their heads high in a dignified posture.

 

Tristen greeted them all with a nod, though he directed it mainly at the silver stallion, who snorted impatiently in return. He then proceeded to throwing open the doors of the prison carriages.

 

“You,” he said, pointing at the Dark hybrid. “You go in this one, and the rest of you go in the bigger one. And no, there aren’t any plants in there, so no worries.”