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Maxwell raised an eyebrow as he sighed. He'll try, and maybe when they'll found Ezekiel, she'll be happy that he finally made friends on his own. Maybe her smile of her face was worth the efforts he could make to earn that Metaralis' trust.

As he saw him struggling with the fire. He stood up, still groaning, and approched the fire, and Metaralis.

"Mister Outteridge." He began, trying not to sound too cold or harsh, as usual, "May i... offer my help?" Geez, this sounded more natural coming from Ezekiel's mouth, not his.

"What i mean is... i know how to start a fire in the wild. And i also know that's long. Really, really long to start it." He looked at the sky. "It'll be night soon, and we need to start it before the night falls. You don't like me. I don't like you neither, trust me on that. However, as your friend said, we're alone here. I can't die right now, not before i made sure my friend is safe. So i'll stay with you, at least until i find her. And i will not harm both of you. Where is the point of hurting allies, if they serve your interests?" He finished.

"So, will you accept my help?"

Simon would slowly get to his feet after the long time he had spent leaning against the tree. Considering he had no clue where he had been deposited, he quickly moved to his sword and sheathed it then picked up the rifle. Even if it had no ammo surely anything he encountered should be warded off by it. Surely?

Either way, he set off, heading in any direction. He didn't care which way he headed however, he wanted to get away from this tree and the feelings it brought for him. That being the place he had been spat out of the sky by whatever that ... thing was. Slowly as he walked he heard a noise, when he got closer he discovered it was the sound of a tree being cut down. After a few seconds of pausing to think about it he made up his mind. Any encounter at this point could only make his day better, so why not investigate it. Parting the trees he looked into the clearing.

Metaralis looked up at Maxwell from his crouched position over the pile of wood he just picked up from the forest ground. The short man didn't look very enthusiasm to the help offer.

"I do know how to start a fire," he said in an annoyed tone.

A slight glance at Delastarh's disapproving look made the long-haired man sigh.

"But if you really want to help, I guess I have no objections..."

De gave him a thumbs up and a big smile, to which Meta rolled his eyes.

"We need a piece of flint and/or dry foliage." Then he added in a slightly condescending tone: "But I guess you already know that if you know how to start a fire."

Maxwell gave Metaralis the same condescending look.

"If i didn't know how to start one, then i would never have offered my help, Mister Outteridge. But i thought that YOU had those objects, as you know how to start a fire." He couldn't help but give a smirk to the smaller man.

"However i'll make efforts, and i will find some." He said while getting up and going to fond some flint and leaves. As he went next to a tree, he broke a brench.

"This will be my weapon." He justified, "As i, somehow, does not have any working weapons." He smiled again, but this smile felt faker than usual.

"I hope that someone else than those two will join us soon." He mutured to himself. "As much as i don't like being surrounded by people, i need someone else. Ezekiel, or someone that saw her, it would be perfect." He sighed as he picked up a flint.

A creaking noise tear the silence as a tree must give up its roots and limp to the side. Splinters are sent flying in all directions before the thundering crash of the tree hitting the ground. A deep hum is heard from the small beings working on the trees. The axes sing in the air, swung in the hands of 3 fully plated males. The sound of axes chopping wood is suddenly interrupted by the sound of a deep voice shouting.

"Oi, 'Ere be a kin!" A redhaired male jumps atop the stump of a previously fallen tree and point his fingers at the strange tall being. The remaining two turn from their work as a brief silence falls upon the clearing. The three stairing down the taller being. Each male has long hair in brown colours, hiding most of their faces behind a thick, braided beard. They are muscular, but surpricingly small. The small grey eyes glims behind the thick hair as the only truly visible facial feature. The axes in their strong grips, are beautifully detailed with runelike symbols at the edge of the keen and along the handle. If one look closely, similar symbols can be seen on their plated armor which rest over their wide shoulders. None of the three moves for a what feels like forever, simply awaiting the strangers reaction. They stand on guard, prepared to wield the axes as weapons rather than tools.

Frog’s form floated above the sand, masked face expressionless. Motioning towards the land before them, then pointing towards the human, “All of this is your new reality. My reality is everything and yet, nothing.” Shifting her head to the side in observation, Frog’s body remained still but her quiet and partially distant laugh could be faintly heard, “Nichole Firana.” And as she spoke, she lifted a hand and with her fingers outstretched, she moved her hand into the woman’s chest. Moving to curl her hand around the femme’s heart, her cold embrace would linger there for a moment as she spoke, “Then our pact is made, the promise to be kept.” The empty hand would slowly close, the absence of feeling slowly becoming absolute until…

A fly buzzed somewhere near her cheek, if Frog’s grasp was unhindered. She would be deposited upon the sands, seeming to sleep but not for too long. The nearby toad would smack her cheek with its tongue, drawing the fly into its mouth to consume. Frog was nowhere to be seen, or, was she the toad all along?

Nina watched the masked entity before her as it reached out towards her chest. The talk of a new reality had long since fled the forefront of her mind as she watched fingers seamlessly slip past her clothing and flesh. The coldness of it's touch sent a chill up her spine, making her form tense and her breath cease for the few seconds that Frog had ahold of her heart. "W-wha-..?" she chokes on her words, her hands releasing her weapon and sending it falling at her feet. Nina listened to it's words, regarding a promise with more than a little worry than before. As the hand drew back out of her chest, the girl took in a sharp breath and suddenly fell to get knees, her hands reaching up to press against the very spot the hand had entered. As if checking for a wound, but there was none. She caught her breath, then lifted her head to cast her eyes back up to Frog. Wait, where had she gone?

"Hello? What did you do?! What promise?" She asks somewhat frantically, then scrambling to collect get gun and crawl towards the tree on her knees "Where did you-..." she says, about to ask where she had vanished to, setting her previous questions aside until it reappeared and was able. Then...came the frog...again. Smacking her face with it's tongue, sending yet another chill up her spine, but instead she clung to her weapon and only glanced over at the frog in the corner of her eye. Her face suggesting she felt rather...violated...and understandably so.

(*her...not get. Damn predictive text.)

The frog croaked and the wind swept up the sand about the femme. The face of Frog was nearby, laying upon the sand with its expressionless white face. There was a long moment of silence, until, far away, Frog's voice answered, "I will always be with you. Wear a face over yours and I will be with you." The sand about the mask of birch was carried away, leaving the mask untouched. The voice seemed to emanate from its location, but seemed distant, "I will protect you in your endeavors. But do not trust yourself to the emptiness, or you will be lost to it." The frog turned its gaze to the skies, possibly looking for more prey.

"Know that I will regulate what I offer, for your safety. Go forth and collect your truth if you wish."

Metaralis growled as Maxwell walked away. "I don't walk around with flints and leaves in my pockets! If you gave me a minute, I could have done it MYSELF!" he all but screamed at the other man.

"Meta, please," De said softly.

But the smaller man had enough. "Why are we staying with him?! We don't need him! We don't need anybody! I don't care that we are lost, it's not like he is going help us! He is just being a huge a--"

"Meta!" Delastarh cut him off.

"It's true! He almost shot you! And he's doing everything to be a jerk! I know I said I would make effort with people, but he's just a big pain to put up with! I'm done!"

The tall man placed his hands on the other's shoulders. "I know that you two don't get along very well. But try to make a little effort, at least until we find a town or something. Then we can go on our way, and he can go on his. Alright? Do it for me."

Meta grimaced, not looking at the other. "...Alright."

Delastarh smiled widely. "There you go."

He wrapped an arm around Meta's shoulders and pulled him against his chest, using his free hand to ruffle his long hair. Metaralis groaned against him, but did nothing to get away.

When he heard Metaralis raising his voice, his grip on his newly-made weapon tightened. He thought one moment that he was going to run toward him, and kill him with his bare hands. What an idiotic end for someone like Maxwell Rockfield. However, a tiny voice deep down himself says he would have deserved it, after teasing this man. Of course this fricking voice sounded like Ezekiel.

He turned around and saw the two men talking. Delastarh was probably trying to convince him not to kill him, and the smaller man was struggling on agreeing with him. After all, Maxwell must've admited, he has been kind of a jerk toward the man. Either because he confiscated his precious ammos. And because he liked to tease people just to drive them mad. Using every weakness, getting on every nerves, until they can't stand it anymore, for Maxwell, it was kind of... amusing.

Suddently, the two men hugged.

Maxwell blinked a few time. This was rather...unexpecting to be fair. Even if this was not so surprising after all, Maxwell thought. The way Delastarh looked at Metaralis, how he talked about him. Same goes for Metaralis' reaction, and acting. They both seemed to like each other really deeply. They could do anything just to make the other one happy, or smiling.

He approached both men, and like he haven't seen anything, crouched, put the dry foliage in the brenchs and started hitting the flint together.

"You know..." he started after one moment, "I envy you. At least you are together. With your signifiant other at your side. You're both lucky guys." He bit his lips while finishing his sentence. He wasn't used to saying such things and when he was trying, it always sounded stupid and cliché.

Metaralis had wrapped his arms around Delastarh after the ruffling was done. He sighed softly, trying to cool down from his outburst.

"I'm sorry. I said our day off would be fun, but it didn't turn out how I wanted," De said, not seeing Maxwell coming back. "But hey, we always want to do new stuff. It's the perfect occasion."

They both looked at Maxwell when he talked. Metaralis said nothing, crossing his arms and looking at the side. De rubbed the back of his neck, remembering again what happened.

"Well, I grabbed Meta and we both got sucked in together. So maybe that's why we woke up at the same place." He did his best reassuring smile, and added: "And if your friend was with you, she should be around here too."

Metaralis frowned, and looked around the area. A feeling of dread and discomfort settling in him. "But... So many people were sucked in by this rift. At least a hundred, and more. So, shouldn't there be a lot more people, around here? We can't be only three in this forest. It doesn't sound right..."

Delastarh's smile disappeared. Meta was right. There should be a lot more people. It doesn't matter how big this forest was, with all the screaming they've done and how many people that were sucked in, they would've at least attracted people to their location. He didn't like how things were going, now.

Nina, looking down to the mask in the sand, loosened her hold on her rifle and reached out her right hand towards it. The voice seemed genuine enough for her to trust, but she still wasn't 100% certain if she believed in this 'new reality'. Sure, she just met this ghostly entity at a tree in the middle of a desert, but that apparently wasn't enough to convince her that she wasn't dreaming. The touch to her heart felt real enough, but maybe she just held her breath in her sleep? She wouldn't know for sure until she found out more...or woke up. Whichever came first...She grabbed the mask and held it up closer to inspect it, taking in all it's details and flaws. Then the voice returned..

"Where do I go then?" she asks, speaking to the mask in her hand. A part of her demanded that she put it on...and her will would allow it whether or not she got an answer. Sure enough, once silence filled the chilly night air, her hand raised the mask up to her face until her eyes properly aligned with the eye-ports in the birch. It fit nicely...

Metaralis was right. He was with Ezekiel when this happened. If Metaralis and Delastarh woke up together, why hadn't he woke up alongside Ezekiel? And other people too? They were all sucked in, then why are they alone hete, all by themself.

"You are right." He admitted, "We should have more people around. However, if they aren't here, they probably are all dea-"

He stopped, mesuring the depth of what he just said. Of course, the dead of hundred, no thousand people would have never bothered him, as long as HE stayed alive. However, assuming those people were dead was the same as assuming Ezekiel was...

"Forget it." He immediatly said. "-They must be somewhere, they have to be somewhere." He laughed nervously "Ezekiel isn't dead, she CAN'T be dead." He finished as he continued to hit the stones together as if doing so was helping him forgetting this horrible thought.

De nodded, saying with a nervous voice: "Yeah, I mean, if everybody died, why would WE be alive? We are probably the unlucky ones, stuck in this dumb forest! Your friend probably found a lot of people, and they are all fine. And we can find them tomorrow! Right, Meta?"

The tall man turned around to his partner, asking him silently to help.

"Yes. Let's all search for her when the dawn comes," he said, walking toward the crouched man. He pulled out the munitions from his pockets, and handed them to Maxwell. "And you can protect her with that."

No, Meta wasn't completely trusting this guy. But he also felt compassion for someone who lost something dear to them, and couldn't turn away from that. He would keep an eye out for any murdering attempt from Maxwell, but having a gun without ammos was completely useless if they needed to protect themselves against dangerous animals.

Maxwell looked at Metaralis, and then at the ammos. He reached his hand slowly to the man's hand, and took the ammos. He mutured a «Thank you.», his voice still trembling a bit from the thought of Ezekiel being dead. Even with Delastarh's attempt to reassure him, he was still worried. He just had a bad feeling. But it was just that, a feeling, right?

"I..." He began, after he finally cooled down, "I can stau awake this night. To keep an eye for dangerous animals. I don't want to sleep, and consider this as my thanks for keeping me with you and giving me back my ammos. I'm a good ki- shooter, so the wildlife wouldn't be a problem... i hope."

Actually he wasn't sure what kind of creature lived in the forest. He just hoped it was smaller than Metaralis and less stronger than Delastarh if he was to meet one. If not... well his ammos would the most useless thing ever at the moment.

Frog’s mask held no open eyes, the outward indents the only clue to that she had been looking anywhere. From somewhere far behind the femme, Frog’s voice floated towards her, “I suggest seeking shelter. Ultimately, it is up to you where you travel. I cannot direct you, directly.” There was a darkness to the mask, as it lacked eyes, but the wooden face started to cry its oil-like tears that dripped lightly upon the sand. The eyes then became lit, the fire eating the wood that covered the eyes, creating black smoke that rose into the air in small streams. As the heat reached Nina’s eyes, it died out and left the eye sockets free for her…but those that looked at her could only see darkness where the eyes were.

[Also, those in the forest may have missed the stout fellows shouting at them.]

((no that was indeed for Simon xD

Nichole certainly expected to be able to see with the mask on, but to her surprise, there was darkness! It didn't alarm her much, she'd just take it off..However, before she could reach her hand back up to remove it, she could smell the fire as it ignited. Then, for only an instant, she could see the flames right in front of her eyes just before they dissipated, leaving a clear view of the world directly in front of her. Well, that was oddly convenient. She still could of taken it off, but it somehow brought her comfort. Perhaps the aforementioned 'protection' it represented had already burned into her mind. She wanted to wear it...

Heeding the direction the voice gave her, she decided it was time to move. Likely to the settlement a little ways off in the distance..Nina only hoped her presence would be welcomed there..

Looking away from the decrepit tree before her, her eyes went to the frog still near. She then reached her left hand out to it, expecting it to hop onto her palm. Nothing wrong with traveling with a little companion, right? Besides, she couldn't help but suspect the amphibian was the voice speaking to her. Great, an hour or two here and she's already giving in to her naïve nature. No matter if it did or not, she'd slowly rise to her feet and sling her rifle onto her back and start making her way to the promising sight over the desert hills.

After a while flying around differents places of the world, Sombreplume was getting annoyed. Not a soul worth the game. There was this young man, wearing strange clothes compared to the other, but some armed people were dealing with him, it was too risky to join him. Not that he couldn't handle them, but it would complicate things, and oh dear, he hated complicated situations.

The others were a group. The could be nice, three soul in a row. The tallest one, perhaps he could have been easily convinced with the right choice of words. The only problem were the other two, the smallest man and the eye-patched one. The first was really angry, and he didn't seem to trust easily, too hard to talk to. The other one... he was un predictable. he flet like a dark aura around him, he was dangerous, that's a fact.

There were new souls over here, and none of them was worth it? What a way to waste his time.

But when he was in the desert, a soul got his attention.

there was this girl, a young one for sure. She was wearing a strange mask. Sombreplume lived long enough to recognize the work of a magic being. Still, he wasn't sure what kind of creature was travelling with him. He saw the toad on her shoulder. It sure was a strange pet to travel with. And suddently, it hit him. The mask, and the animal form. it looked like it was an Arae's doing. He pouted. So, her soul was already gone to this creature. That was so unfair, he wanted to play with the girl, it was the only one that looked interesting.

However, he didn't look or feel like the girl was "empty". So she still had her soul. Great. But, if she was wearing an Arae's mask, then that would mean the said Arae was with her. That would, once again complicate things. He groaned. Perhaps he could do a pact with the creature, that could work. or simply stealing it. But he was better than that. he was Sombreplume. And the girl was interesting. Maybe it'll be worth it after all.

Changing directions, he started following the girl and her toad, staying in his animal form. Better follow her and appeared in his humanoid form when it'll be the right time.