The Search For Mana

[Vosur Aekira]

Vosur gave Lazaryos a death-like glare, not letting Dante in on what he just saw happen. "Hey Padre... you may want to eat up and we better get a move on before anything else happens. " he spoke to him before slinging the two bags of food onto his shoulders to start up the journey again. He was rather angry at seeing the lightning mage attack the cleric for a reason that did not seem worth the effort to hurt someone else, but since Dante did not seem to notice it as an attack he figured it would be best to not mention it yet.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos felt Vosur's glare and merely scoffed as he kicked his owl over to the cleric. "You can have mine. I'm not in the mood." He really didn't give a left or right about the kid or what he thought about him, so he just left it at that. Only a couple more days, and it's Hell on earth once more. Lazaryos did watch his pace, however, to let Ember just be a step behind him, the blood draining from his brain from his thoughts of her.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember pulled the owl out of her bag again and tore a large chunk off with her teeth before shoving it back into her bag where it would stay until lunchtime. She remained one step behind Lazaryos and slightly to his right. As she walked she tore the hunk of meat in half with her teeth and chewed on the half that remained in her mouth then swallowed. After she was done with the first half of the hunk of meat, she put the other half in her mouth and chew on it as well then swallowed it. Continuing to walk, she looked around them just in case there were any threats nearby.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

The cleric could hear a "Yoink" as Chrono picked up the sand covered owl meat and brushed off the sand keeping it on hand as he was going to finish his first serving. "Given our track record tiger mage, its probably best of you eat at least half of it..." He half-yelled, even though he was very tempted to eat both of them himself. He finished his portion, then left the bone in his mouth to gnaw on while waiting on the mage to make up his mind.

[Srgntcuddles]

Dante hopped up grabbing his owl before doing so. He took a nibble then a large bite out of it. Leaving the rest in his he sauntered over behind Chrono and tickled him in the ribs. "Goochy goo!" he said the best he could with the owl in his mouth. He laughed too and grabbed the owl back. He took the one in his mouth out and held one each in his hands. "I think this is ample payment for saving his life!" he said with a fake seriousness, but he was clearly playing around. "Besides, this is delicious! Ahahaha!" He took another bite of his and went to retrieve his cross.

[Vosur Aekira]

Vosur managed to see Chrono's and Dante's antics since he had to force himself to slow down to put him in the back of the group every once in a while. He couldn't help but snicker at the two acting like kids, even though they knew of the serious events that would unfold when they finally reached their destination. He kept up the walk with the rest of them, intentionally trying to keep himself from speeding up ahead of the group as his tendency was to move fast. Every now and then though, he would get distracted with something he could see off in the distance, a different type of terrain.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos scoffed at Chrono's comment and pulled the last of the salted pork from the night they escaped and tore it apart in his mouth. "When you get to my age, hatchling, you'll learn a thing or two about what your body can or cannot do, as well as knowing how to survive." He sighed and enjoyed the rest of the day with Ember by his side, and his mind wandering. Lazaryos did, on occasion, stumble a bit in his step, his body still recovering.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember walked along at a normal pace, keeping her spot slightly behind and to the right of Lazaryos. She remained quiet as she walked along and kept an eye out for any threats around them. Whenever Lazaryos would stumble, she had to resist an urge to reach forward and make sure he didn't fall over. She didn't understand why she felt like she needed to make sure he was okay and slightly shook her head at the idea of actually caring about him.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono's chuckle could be heard above the grinding of the sand against his lower armor. "When I get to your age, I'll either be six feet under, the next recipient of Mana, or the leader of the Tri'Malis clan. When I've reached either of the two latter points the only way to go from there, is up. Now for the Blue Crimson, exactly how do you plan on crossing a war-zone?"

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Lazaryos ignored the dragon for his ignorant comment making fun of his age. Being only 31, it bothered him a little, but not much, since Tigers have always been mistaken for well over their real ages. With each passing day, he limped less and less, but his fuse became shorter and shorter with the constant sun beaming down on them. He was near his limit 3 days later, only 2 days away from Blue Crimson, the moon in the area already glowing red at night. However, the biggest was what was lying in wait for them that night.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Ember kept to herself for the next three days as they continued their journey. The sun didn't bother her, she loved the heat of it. Plus, it made her feel even stronger than usual when it was beating down on her. The moon glowing red interested her a bit just because it was something different to look at for a change. She knew how close they were to Blue Crimson and it made her think even more about how their whole journey would end.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono constantly strayed from the group for the past three days, looking for a two-handed sword or a battle axe. His searches seemed to ebb away his optimism as he constantly came up with only broken handles or shattered blades. Eventually he just gave up and got in front of Lazaryos since Ember had him covered from the back. When he noticed the moon was red, it seemed to excite him enough to make his tattoos glow and once again strengthen his body to almost superhuman levels.

[Srgntcuddles]

Dante complained about the heat as the days went on. when the red mooned night came he relaxed a short distance from the group looking up at it while lying down. "Almost there...What am I going to do when I get there? I mean...My goal seems selfish the more I think about it. And the others...Terrible things are bound to happen if they get the Mana...Even Vosur...More people will die as the result. But...If I get the Mana...Maybe I can become powerful enough to stop everything? No one will die then...I have to think of a way to dispatch of the others without killing them...I think I got it..."

[Vosur Aekira]

He continued on with the group during the day, stopping with them then they set up camp and going to get his usual hunting in. Also, when the chance arose, he managed to refill his waterskin at an oasis along the way, making sure to keep a close check on the food and water supplies while he was moving along with them. He tried to not think of how it would end, who would be the most likely to get to the Mana, but it did weigh on his mind on who among the group was most worth to receive it. Vosur didn't even know why Dante was looking for it, but he had risked his own life to save the others, and just that show of selflessness was nearing in making him abandon the mission... but there were others outside of their group that were trying to get to it first, so he could not abandon the task given to him.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

That night, after Lazaryos set the fire and laid back against one of the trees on the treeline between the long forested area around the Enchanted River and the rest of the desert. He'd been very irritable these last few days, but something was really out of the ordinary that made him more restless than ever. Lazaryos tried to keep his mind occupied by staring at Ember's behind as she was laying on her mat. His attention was finally taken away when his fur began to stand up on end. Shit! He dove out towards the first as the sound of lightning cracking filled the air as the tree he was leaning on was cut right through, alongside those around him. The all-too familiar chameleon walked out through the falling trees.