State of Mind

[Leiton]

-Suzumi-

Clarissa shook her head and started washing out the bowls and putting away things. "No, I can handle everything. As for the earth village, he meant one of the elemental villages. This one in particularly is specifically earth-based. We don't really have a reason to go there, other than for sight-seeing-"
Spurney looked up from his pack and interrupted, "Alright, there's my things." He turned to Suzumi and nodded. "It's your choice then. Back up to Fnorgan, and from there go back to Besmir, or to the earth village, and maybe see the world a little? It's about the same distance either way."

--- --- ---

-Jojo-

There wasn't much around you, save for the city in the distance and the woods behind you. Except for a dark figure that was sprinting away from the city. As it neared, Jo could see that it was a black wolf, carrying a rather large bundle on his back. The wolf kept running, though as he past him, he winked at Jo. As he ran off, he shouted back, "Might want to get to running! Guard's swarming like a bee hive again!"
A loud whirring noise arose, from the direction of the city. Two rather large vehicles were moving across the plains towards Jo at a rather fast pace.

--- --- ---

-Sigcutio and Cifero-

Chris gave the rest of his squad a few more orders before walking over to a tree and grabbing a small bag. "Alright, let's move out of here." The rest of the Black squadron followed him into the woods. Joan, Gorm, and Deim followed them into the woods, but Mawz stayed where he was at. Crystal gave him an odd look before grabbing onto Sarah's hand and following the rest of the group.
Deirx walked over to Mawz and squated down next to him. "So, the infamous Mawz got captured himself by the likes of Jasper, eh? Seems like you goofed that one pretty bad."
Mawz chuckled and leaned back. "It wasn't MY fault... Your buddy Jasper keeps on following Leiton where ever he goes."
"Eh, Jasper's an odd one... He just can never seem to let go of things..." He picked a blade of grass and examined it for a second before standing back up. "He was supposed to be here by now..."

[JoJoJoshua]

"Huh? Oh crap..."


Jo turned toward the incoming sound, his ears catching it before his eyes as the familiar noise of engines got his heart beating fast quickly. He jumped into motion, deftly hopping up onto his horse's back.

"Let's go!"


He grabbed the reins and thumped his footpaws against Whisker's sides, mushing her into a run quickly as he followed after the wolf, not knowing exactly where to go so just following his lead. He looked over his shoulder, seeing the vehicles approaching as he swore under his breath.

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi quietly nodded despite knowing that she should go back, but the urge to visit this village was gnawing at her mind. "I thought the elemental villages were just a rumour...or at least that's what my dad told me."

She stood up and stretched out, indicating that she was ready to get moving again

[Cifero Windtail]

Grant was relieved to see Krystal and her family were alive. He would have hated to have found that the family that had helped him in his time of need had perished. He watched as a person was working on something on a computer, but his ears perked as Deirx began to talk to Chris. Tuning into their conversation, Grant hoped he could discover a piece of what was going on.


"Has Leiton made it back yet? He wasn't at his house."

"He met with us in the city, but ran off. Said he had to do something. We can't wait for him. I guarantee Black isn't the ones in charge of this attack."

Black had not been in charge of the attack? Grant suspected the criminal organization had something to do with the event, but this was a surprise. Who could have done it? Grant kept his ears perked and tried to look inconspicuous by staring off into the distance as he tried to glean more information.

"Snoop around much?" Jayce said, popping up behind Grant suddenly. "Or are you just interested?"

[Sigcutio]

Still listening to Deirx's conversation, Grant was startled when a young cat approached him and struck up a conversation.


"Snoop around much?"

"Or are you just interested?"

Whoops. Grant hadn't planned ahead for this awkward occurrence.

"Oh--er...no...just....watching...t-the ground, yeah! The ground!" he struggled and formed a sheepish grin to hide his surprise. Inwardly he chided himself for exposing himself. It was completely obvious he had been listening in on Deirx's conversation, but deny it he must! He decided to throw the conversation back around to the cat.

"W-well what about you?"

[Cifero Windtail]

Jayce shrugged. "I'm just helping them out. I like helping."

[Sigcutio]

(Just to keep things rolling I'm gonna post again. If I should hold off next time just let me know, Leiton!)


"Helping?" Grant asked.


That was a simple answer, but better than his. Grant wasn't even sure why he was here. Things happened and first he was in one situation and now he was in another. He had no idea what he should be doing or where he should go. Sticking with Deirx seemed to be his best option for the moment.


It then dawned on him that he was still talking to the cat and it would be rude to be lost in thought at a time like this.


"Sorry, I'm a little tired," he continued rubbing his forehead. "Do you know what exactly is going on?" Grant figured that the cat must know something about what was going on if he had decided to help these people.


Suddenly remembering his manners he added, "My name is Grant by the way. Yours?"

[Cifero Windtail]

"Call me Jayce," the cat said, offering his hand to Grant. "Pleasure to meet you."

[Sigcutio]

"Likewise," Grant added extending a paw and shaking Jayce's.


"So what do you know about this whole situation?" he asked again.

[Cifero Windtail]

"Well, they were freeing some wrongly accused people, and I happened to be trying to do the same, and there was an attack in the town, but they weren't behind it and are trying to figure out who was. Oh, and their leader doesn't think I have any control over my powers."

[Sigcutio]

Grant was suddenly bombarded with information that he wasn't sure how to respond to. A prison escape just before an attack on the town? Sounded like this was a chaotic time. He didn't know how Jayce's uncontrollable powers were relevant to the conversation, but now he knew that Jayce was capable of magic. This could be troublesome if he couldn't control his power, but Grant had little grasp of his own as well. Perhaps being critical of another was not best for the moment.


"So why were you trying to free that prisoner? Were they in any way related to the town's sudden attack?" Grant was confused by the situation, but he wondered if everything was connected.

[Leiton]

(No problem, Sigcutio. As long as the conversation doesn't stretch for pages and pages, it's okay )

-Suzumi-

Spurney and Clarissa finished packing the rest of their things and started to make their way to the nearby road. It split the forest, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Hehe... Your father is also part of the Guard. You'll see the truth soon enough," Spurney commented before he and his wife set off towards the east, walking along the edge of the road.

--- --- ---

-Jojo-

The wolf kept running, straight into the underbrush. Oddly enough, the pack on his back barely moved as he ran, and seemed to be running almost effortlessly. After a few moment, just as your horse is about to catch up to him, you emerge into the clearing with an arctic fox, a mouse, a cat, and a dog. The fox and the mouse look behind them and start to say something, but the wolf keeps running past them, shouting, "Hurry up, let's go!"

--- --- ---

-Sigcutio and Cifero-

Deirx and Mawz exchanged a few more idle words before the black wolf emerged from the clearing. It was Leiton, carrying a rather large bundle, and a fox riding a horse.
Before anybody could say anything, the wolf shouted, "The Guard's on their way!"
Deirx and Mawz immediately jumped up. As Leiton ran past the group, he called, "Hurry up, let's go!"

[Cifero Windtail]

"No," he said. "They're just other magic-users, but they were wrongly imprisoned." Hearing the alarm, he turned to Grant. "You might want to come with us if you would prefer to live."

[Sigcutio]

"They're just other magic-users, but they were wrongly imprisoned."

Grant began to wonder if perhaps those attacking the town had any intention of helping those with magic or just making things worse for everyone. He could recall the demon that Deirx and himself had encountered not long ago. Was it a part of what was attacking?

Before he could speculate further, Grant's train of thought was completely derailed as a black wolf charged across the clearing and raised alarm.

"The Guard's on their way!"

"Hurry up, let's go!"

"You might want to come with us if you would prefer to live."

There was no need to tell him twice. Grant quickly turned and sprinted to catch up with the fleeing wolf. He tried his best to dispell his thoughts of capture, but the thought of being caught and executed lingered. On the bright side, however, Grant still felt as though his body was lighter than air. Running was a breeze. Did this have something do with his power? As the sound of footsteps behind him grew louder and louder, his thoughts shifted from this question to focusing more on keeping up with the others.
 

[Cifero Windtail]

Jayce followed quickly, pulling his mask on. "I hope Zach's alright..."