Chapter 56: History Time

DUSK

    Chi suddenly looked up. In the middle of teaching Dusk how to read runes, the unicorn shivered. "What's wrong?" she asked.

    "There's something malicious happening," Chi said, and she closed her eyes and held the pose for quite some while before turning her head towards Dusk, opening her eyes. "All's well," Chi said. "As far as I know."

    Dusk didn't like the sound of it.

    "As for this rune..." Chi said, pointing at the one carved into the walls of her dwelling.

    "Hold up," Dusk said. "It may be well now, but what of later? Shouldn't you go and aid?"

    Chi sighed. "If I did, then there wouldn't be anyone left to protect the other parts of this woods."

    Dusk frowned. "Before all this happened, I attended something called the 'Pack Quest', and this was one of the places we had to pass through. Some of my friends devoured the animals from this woods, and oddities happened. A purple tail, unblinking eyes... We were scared by how still this forest was, yet, it was screaming with danger... to us. Now... this place is so... hectic with all these happenings. Even weirder things arose. Trees than become creatures, wolves changing into dragons, and so on."

    Chi didn't seem to be listening, but Dusk ploughed on ahead. "What has this place become? What are you all?"

    Dusk could faintly remember that even the wind was scarce in the forest, and it was so silent that one could hear their own breath as they walked down the path calmly. It was all too odd.

    Where did these creatures come from? They were obviously not normal. Wolves can't turn into dragons, nor can they cast spells, and unicorns shouldn't have existed.

    "This forest was built by magic-users. They used this land as their sanctuary, and thus now magic grows here as well," Chi said, turning away from the rune.

    "Sanctuary?" Dusk echoed.

    "It's our sacred area," Chi said. "It has a special magic tying this land with out spirits."

    "A bond?"

    Chi flicked her tail. "Our soul and this place is connected!" she exclaimed.

    "Whoa," Dusk said.

    There was a pause, and Chi decided to continue with the story. "Soon, the magic-users began to realise the shift in magic. Crystal was one of the factors. The unbalanced world of the magics and non-magics has also caused the rise of dark and light. To each tribe, they had their own darkness to fear, and light to savour. Those here realised their forest would push the favour of magic, and the Court of Magic was formed."

    "Court of Magic?" asked Dusk.

    Chi nodded. "Quit interrupting, alright? I'll get to it soon."

    Dusk wasn't surprised at Chi's sudden outburst, for it was normal.

    "The Court of Magic started with different tribes. The magical non-magic, a majestic wolf, a superior magic, a manticore, and the everlasting phoenix. They were driven to the point where they want the world to be as before. Thus, they assigned themselves ranks. The eternal phoenix got his title as Alpha, the manticore as the Beta, while the wolf, which they considered weak in magic, Omega."

    "So... all this... Chi, Beta, Zeta, Lambda... they're not your names, but ranks?" Dusk asked.

    "Yes, though Chi is a nickname of my name Chira, so it was an uncanny coincidence," the unicorn replied.

    "Then why are you introducing us to your fake names??" Dusk demanded.

    "It's just what we call each other by."

    "Are you saying Lambda isn't the leader?"

    "Hush!" snapped Chi. "I will get to that soon!"

    Dusk scoffed at it, but listened to what Chi had to say next. "It was not long until they have collected all twenty-four members, each given a rank by their magic status. The wolf remained the only non-magic animal in the court.

    "They take on tasks to clear humans from the path of magics, those who hunt down the phoenix tribe had to face the court, or even for purchasing illegal goods, both the seller and purchaser would be doomed. The court slowly shifted the magic back into favour and balance, however it was too slow, and such rapid mistakes made magic fall back down. The non-magics are in favour, Crystal was the biggest factor, but she was praised by the unicorn tribe, so if the court was to harm her, the unicorn race, with no doubt, would oppose them.

    "As animals come and go in and out of the court, some eventually retired, or left due to boredom, or succumbed to an enemy outside of battle. With the number of magics reducing, more non-magics joined. The next non-magic was a white lion."

    Dusk couldn't help but breathe out, "Lambda."

    "Yes, he had taken the slot for Lambda," said Chi. "The former had taken leave as they no longer wanted to protect magic seeing it's a hopeless case. The Alpha admired Lambda quickly as the lion was known to do it with all he has. Where he came from, it seemed like the biggest mystery shrouding Lambda.

    "Eons pass by. The members change, and yet a war between magics brew more violently than ever. To magics, this was the most brutal war. The Magic Battle, in which one tribe tears down the rest, dragons, phoenix, manticores, centaurs... so many tribes were lost that fateful year. The number of the court as some aided their own tribes, some tried to stop it whole.

    "Lambda did nothing but sit back. He watched his friends fall in the battle. It was a war he could do nothing to stop. Everything... everything the court strived for has disappeared that fateful day.

    "With the only member Lambda left, he disbanded the court, and seeked for those who cared about peace. Those with magic, those without. It was over so long ago, when I was just a filly. Omicron could not possibly be as old as Lambda despite their relations, but then when the opportunity approaches, the Silver Woods was started to be populated once more. Those who had fallen in war and could be saved, their souls linger in wild animals in the woods, like a bird, or even powerful ones regain form as a wolf, then leave or stay.

    "Lambda's decision was not always right. When he found the wolf once more, once dubbed Omega, Lambda gave the wolf a second chance at their reincarnation. That wolf would be now known as Beta, while Lambda insisted to stick with his title. Beta, Rune and the war against him, that is a different story not of this forest.

    "This is our heaven, Dusk. If we were to die here, our magic connecting us and this land would spark, and our souls would find a new body, or, rather, craft it with our powers. What. You've seen as you pass by was a façade, and a lie. It was the front cover. This is what's inside, and... now, you know, Dusk," Chi said, "and we... we are magic.

    "Spirits of magic."

Author's Note: We're getting to learn a bit of history haha. I wonder when is the climax oops.

Chapter 55: Digging Through the Wall

WISP

    It felt like forever until light shone in his face. He was curled up and half-asleep when there was a loud sound of something giving way. He was high on alert, baring his fangs, as a paw appeared.

    "Thank goodness he's alright," said a soft voice.

    "Wisp! Can you hear me?" shouted another voice.

    Wisp knew the voices well. Terra and Darren.

    Or was it Rho and Darren?

    "Oh... Thank the stars! Wisp! Wisp!"

    Mist.

    "I'm alright," Wisp managed to call out.

    "You got me worried sick, dummy!" cried Mist, furious.

    "I'm... I'm sorry..." stuttered Wisp as more of the blocking walls gave way.

    "Don't just say sorry, help us out!" cried Darren. "You can try and push the soil away. It's much weaker now."

    Soil? So whatever rushed at him was soil?

    "A-alright," Wisp said and dug at the opening. Soil flew onto his face, and he shook his head.

    "A small gap, not much to work on," sighed Terra, or Rho.

    Darren sighed. "We still need to try nevertheless," sighed he.

    "Is Escarda helping?" inquired Wisp, still clawing at the opening.

     "She insists on hunting instead," said Darren calmly, "and I don't see any reason why I should stop her."

    Reasonable, calm. That's Darren in a twist.

    "What happened? I mean, what could have caused this?" cried Mist.

    It was then Wisp realised his mouth was parched. "I... I don't know," he lied, not wanting to have the blame on Terra. It wasn't her fault anyway. It was Rho's.

    "Some kind of sneaky monster must be releasing spells," Terra suddenly said as another block of soil gave way.

    "Eh?" Darren cried.

    "Spells?" inquired Mist.

    There was a pause, and it was quiet except for the scratching noise. "Spells, well, when I was back with my former pack, we believed in monsters. They're lurking at night, and for every weird incident, they're the ones who caused it," said Terra. "Phenomenas are not their talent, but disasters are. We don't understand many things, but the Alpha said when the earth shakes, a giant is upset. When a flood ruins our area, it is said that a giant is crying. They do things without thoughts. It's their pure emotions."

    "You believe in those?" asked Mist, curious. "If the earth shakes, if it floods, we just accept the reality that it happens. We never consider about what factor or cause."

    Darren spoke up. "What you have mentioned are disasters, but this misfortune has only struck Wisp. Why is that?"

    Uh-oh.

    Wisp wanted to change the subject, but that'll look bad on him. He slammed his body against a wall of soil. It barely budged.

    "Perhaps this is how the earth giants hunt," Terra mused, and it came to Wisp that she has been bluffing. "They've never told me this kind of things could happen."

    It was Mist's turn to speak. "It's too unnatural for me to believe it's not caused by someone. I'll buy the giant story until I know what's really happening here."

    Darren didn't say anything.

    For a long time, they just kept on digging without another conversation.

    "Hold up, guys," said Darren suddenly. "We're close to completion."

    In a few minutes, there was a tunnel-like entrance which Wisp squeezed through. "Thank the stars," Mist breathed, embracing him warmly.

    "I hope you're alright, Wisp," Terra said, her eyes apologetic when he faced her.

    "I'm good, but thirsty," Wisp replied.

    "Come then," Darren said. "There's a small watering hole nearby, and we can help Escarda hunt as well."

    "Alright!" cried Mist and rushed ahead, and Wisp hypothesised that she didn't have any luck when she went hunting last night.

    Terra turned. "Come on, Wisp."

    Wisp turned to follow, but she wasn't done with her sentence.

    "I want to talk to you."

Author's Note: HAHAHA one chapter dedicated to the soil tower. Oops. Nothing much, I know, but the next one, I hope, will be fascinating.

Chapter 54: Battle at the Hill!

MIDNIGHT

    She and Lambda has rushed to the scene mentioned. "Beta? I mean, they share the same name, but why did Epsilon attack her?" cried Midnight as they crashed through bushes.

    "I don't know," Lambda briefly answered. "We need to stop him, though. All the monsters outside are bad enough, we don't need this as another trouble."

    Midnight nodded as they reached the foot of a rocky hill. Lambda looked at Midnight, worried. "Do you think you can climb up?"

    "Y-yeah, I'm sure I can," Midnight said, recalling the time she went here with Pi.

    Lambda nodded. "Good."

    Midnight wondered why Lambda didn't turn into a mountain goat to climb with more ease like Pi had. To each their own, she guessed. With a little difficulty she reached the peak, where Lambda was waiting.

    "Why don't you... go on?" Midnight asked as she caught her breath.

     Lambda shook his head instead. "Come, now."

    Midnight was more than puzzled by their leader's behaviour. Nodding, she and Lambda advanced and reached a point where even Midnight could make out the magical aura all around it.

    She started to growl. "Calm down," Lambda kindly said, and she glanced at the black wolf, who has a glowing blue aura around him. Even if it was a spell, Midnight was comforted by the sudden relaxed feeling she had.

    The two's pace started to increase. Lambda then skidded to a stop, followed by Midnight.

    In the center of the ring made by four dragons, a Komodo dragon was baring its fangs, fire dancing around its raised tail. Fire shot upwards towards a hawk.

    "Epsilon! Beta! Stop!" Lambda cried.

    Aside from herself, Lambda and the two fighting figures, Theta, Omega, Alpha and Iota were already on the site. Omega and Theta was casting spells to defend Beta while Alpha was trying to force Epsilon into another form. Iota was standing there, staring at Epsilon.

    "Enough!" cried Lambda as yet another fiery comet shot upwards. Beta flapped her wings, and water extinguished it midair.

    Somehow, memories stirred within Midnight. A hawk... A traitor...

    "Theta!" Lambda called. "What's the reason for this battle?"

    "I assume it's because they share names! After all, Epsilon never got to know this Beta," replied Theta.

    Lambda growled, frustrated.

    "He won't turn into anything else. It's hard to get into his mind," Alpha admitted, sighing. "His mind's defense was easy to break through, but what his mind is filled with was rage and it was impossible to get through that."

    "So... as long as there is bloodlust he won't stop?" inquired Lambda.

    "I'm confident of that," Alpha sighed.

    Midnight was silent. She wanted to raise a question if Epsilon knew she was a traitor, but she was told by Blaze, and who knew if no one else knew, or that she'd be wrong?

    "Have you tried everything?" Lambda said.

    Alpha nodded his head as yet more comets launched upwards.

    "Wave!" cried Beta from above and a blanket of water fell from the skies extinguishing most of the furious attack, and the rest was taken care by Omega.

    "This attack was solely launched towards Beta only," Theta sighed. "We couldn't get him to do anything else."

    Alpha shook his head. "Beta is not the most powerful sorcerer in this woods, but Theta and Omega are rather talented in defending magic... but, then, Lambda..."

    He paused and ran towards Lambda and whispered in his ear something Midnight couldn't hear.

     "I'm afraid of that," said Lambda after Alpha stopped whispering, "but Chi should have done a good work on it. She knows how dangerous it is."

    "I wonder," Alpha sarcastically said and continued to report. "We were unable to put a spell on Epsilon either. We tried trapping him, his magic overpowered it. We tried to force him to submission, or to cast a blackout spell on it, but he resisted. Or that he had placed plenty of spells for his defense."

    Lambda looked furious. "Then, I see no other choice," was his reply after long last. He raised his head and shouted, "Everyone, STAND DOWN! Move back!"

    Alpha was the first to react. "Come on, Midnight!"

    Midnight moved back and watched Theta and Omega retreat, followed by a hesitating Iota.

    "Beta, I want you to move back too soon!" commanded Lambda.

     A shrill cry was in the air, and avoided yet another volley of attacks. Lambda suddenly howled, and, from where Midnight stood with Alpha,  she could see his fur glowing. It was a soft, ethereal glow.

    "Watch him," Alpha urged.

    Midnight's eyes shifted from Lambda to Epsilon, who persisted in his attack, shooting fire, casting spirit-like comets at Beta, who dodged them or used her water to defend and deal damage at Epsilon at the same time.

    Midnight caught a sparkle from the corner of her eye. From the skies, like shooting stars, three wisps plunged into Lambda's body, and the wolf began to glow violently. Light engulfed him, and it expanded. When there was a roar, a majestic white lion stood in place instead of a battle-worn black wolf. To Midnight's surprise, the lion jumped up with agility she did not expect. She glanced at the skies. Beta had moved backwards.

    The white lion roared as it plunged towards Epsilon. The Komodo dragon hissed, upset at the interruption, and sent fiery arrows at Lambda's face.

    "Lambda!" cried Midnight. The distance between them was so close, and judging by Lambda's posture, it would be impossible to dodge but receive damage.

    "No need to worry," Alpha simply said, but Midnight was beyond comprehension to his words.

    However, the fire simply floated towards the lion's left, and as more fire attacks followed, the fire ball accumulated.

    The deep voice of Lambda seemed to be different, yet it was still recognisable. "Give it up, Epsilon!"

    Before the reptile could reply, the lion reached down to the earth, two of it's paws pinning Epsilon down. The fire around the lizard's tail accumulated to Lambda's collection as the lion spoke, "It doesn't have to be like this..."

    Again, Midnight was surprised by how soft the voice was, yet loud enough to reach them.

    The lizard responded with a hiss.

     "Sorry, Epsilon!" Lambda's deep voice spoke again. "It's for your own good."

    The lion's body trembled violently as there was a glow, like the three colours of the wisps earlier. "Is Lambda's body alright?" Midnight questioned.

    "He's borrowing the strength of the dragons," said Alpha calmly. "With hiss magic and the dragons' it'll be fine. They can definitely change Epsilon into another form and quickly weave a fabricated story."

    Beta landed beside them. "Darn... he's dangerous," she said to Alpha.

    "He has always been the one to lash out in battles," admitted Alpha.

    What? Really? The way he was so regal and proper in his deer form made the information hard to digest.

    There was a cry in the air.

    A Komodo dragon has it's jaws connected with the lion's forepaw.

    Lambda looked frozen, helpless as Epsilon removed his jaws. He patted the part where he had placed a bite and looked at the lion's frozen face.

    "Oh," he said in a mocking voice. "Did you forget I was given the power to command dragons?"

Author's Note: Did you guys forget about the hawk-traitor? Hurhurhur.

Whoa, this story took a twist I did not intend it to! The battle was fun to write, but I was focusing more on the magic than that, but whoa, I did not expect this battle to continue after this chapter, but perhaps it seems like Epsilon has changed my mind. Dum dum dum...

Chapter 53: The Last Unicorn

DUSK

    "Alright, that'd do!"

    When Dusk came to, she was no longer in Chi's hut. "You should have been more cautious, Chi!" the voice said again. "It could have been worse! You were lucky. She was lucky. You know magic well, and now..."

    "Stop whining about all these little details," huffed Chi.

    The other voice sighed. "You care too little for mortal lives. You should consider more."

    "Chh, not like they cared about us either," Chi said.

    "Oh? She's awake," said the other voice. Dusk wasn't sure how she knew despite her closed eyes, so she opened them instead, blinking, the dim light showing her a pale grey wolf, peering at her with large grey eyes.

    Dusk moved her legs around, lifting her head. "Where am I?" she questioned.

    "Magic has sapped a lot of energy from you," said Chi coolly. "Welcome back, Dusk."

    The other wolf who had inspected Dusk whipped her head towards the unicorn and cried, "Spirits! Don't lie to her at once that she has now finally gained consciousness!"

    They were arguing among themselves now. "It's true, though!" insisted Chi.

    The grey wolf sighed. "Chi, I know, but you know what was the main cause! Dragon ingredients causes those without magic in their blood to feel too weak. Yet you asked her to aid you in making the potion! As weak as you were, you should be able to withstand just one dragon ingredient! It doesn't sap a lot of energy, but consciousness and magic..."

    "Magic?" inquired Dusk softy.

    The wolf nodded. "Even if one doesn't have magic in their blood, it's taken from their lifetime, memories, which is why consciousness is needed. Miracles are a form of magic, indescribable dreams are one too. You need to have either strong magic in your veins or a powerful grip on your consciousness, or death might fall upon you."

    "Zeta, don't scare the poor girl," Chi said, and it didn't please Dusk to hear that her voice had warmth in it.

    "I'm not scaring her, I'm just telling her that she should stay cautious next time when someone tells her to help out," the wolf said, throwing a murderous look at Chi.

    Sighing, Chi said, "Alright, alright."

    "Also, about your feathers..." Zeta said softly.

    "Ah?" Dusk moaned, forgetting about them already.

    "On your left side," Zeta reminded.

    Dusk turned her body around and lifted her head, and saw that the feathers were longer than last time. "Any pain yet?" inquired Zeta.

    "Oh... Not yet," was Dusk's reply.

    Zeta nodded. "If anything, you should come and see me."

    "Have I been gone for long?" inquired Dusk.

    Chi shook her head. "Not really. Around an hour?"

    Dusk pretended not to hear her.

    "If you feel better, you should try walking off now, and tell me if anything is wrong with you," Zeta said in a kind voice. "It would be careless to notice oddities too late When it could have been sooner."

    Dusk raised her head and stretched. Looking into Zeta's eyes, she said, "Thanks for healing me."

    "Mhmm," Zeta said. "You're welcome."

    Chi was to go with her. They were a little outside of Zeta's hut, stopping because Chi insisted whenever she saw an exotic plant and collected them.

    "Why are you a unicorn?" Dusk inquired suddenly, the conversation between Chi and Zeta replaying in her head. "Unicorns symbolise purity, clarity, but you... you're sly and selfish. Why are you a unicorn?"

    "You're generalising unicorns," Chi huffed. "Many others did too, like Beta and Rho, so and so, but that's because Crystal was everywhere on earth, she just... she just had to be goody-two-shoes! Now everyone thinks unicorns are born with a pure heart, with a horn on their head, they don't!"

    Dusk was surprised. "Unicorns weren't born with horns?" she cried.

    Chi sighed. "You have to earn them. It's like a medal," she explained, though not so kindly. "For every deed that's honourable to the unicorn race, it grows. Slowly, slowly, it expands. However, this is going to be how my horn looks forever."

    "Why not?" Dusk inquired, puzzled.

    "The unicorn race is lost," Chi said, her voice has a new-found triumphant tone to it. "I am the last unicorn, who studied magic, escaped the era where humans and unicorns fought, and now standing here. My horn would grow if I did something to the race, but without the race, there is no honour to give the void."

    "That's not true!" Dusk exclaimed. "The race still exists, because you're a unicorn, are you not? You're part of the race, Chi..."

    "So if I honour myself, it'll grow? Hurhur," Chi scoffed. "I've tried, it didn't work."

    Dusk wanted to expand more, but the mood told her to drop it, so she opened up a new topic, "Who was this Crystal you spoke of?"

    "Crystal..." Chi murmured. "She was a unicorn back in the days. She had the shortest horn of the age level, and she never opposed the dragons, nor did she ever bad-mouthed them. She never joined duels. Hmph, being the goody-two-shoes who doesn't want to get a single scratch on her."

    "So how did we all get to know unicorns as this Crystal is? Doesn't sound like much," Dusk confessed.

    Chi strode forwards, and Dusk followed to keep up. "Oh, I know," she said, laughing, but it died away. "I never thought she'd be someone so... special either. Imagine this, Dusk. When we were travelling, we came upon rivers that were dirty, muddy and filled with horrible things that no one would or even survive after drinking from it. It's always been in the unicorn rules that we should never interfere with anything that isn't magic. So we went, but that Crystal! She should have her horn sawn off! She interfered with the natural cycle of who-knows-what and cleansed the river! Instead, her horn grew! It wasn't until years later until we saw a pure-white unicorn, with her mane and tail braided with flowers, her horn magnificent and long, curving forwards. She was singing, singing songs of heroic acts.

    "Imagine! Is it honour that you bring when you sing of yourself? Is it honour to disgrace the unicorns by breaking our law and creating an unbalanced world without magic with magic? Crystal helped humans, healed the dying with her horn, stopped various incidents with spells and incarnations every knew, but it's not fair, now! She has created the world in favour of the non-magics, and yet, she's being praised by us the magical creatures, who knew she defied our law, but..."

    Chi sighed. "Humans began to tell tales of Crystal, how magnificent she was. Blah, blah, blah. However, due to the lack of balance between magic and non-magic, our side started to go down. Those events she stopped should have helped in our favour, but that unicorn wouldn't allow it. Sooner than we knew it, humans were after us. Even after making pacts with the dragons, humans were more unreasonable. Those they hunted cut off the horns of the unicorns, taking our fur as well. I was furious, alright? I called out Crystal, our new leader for the longest horn, but she used her position as our leader to blind them. They were oblivious to the reality she bended. It was hopeless. Over the course of years, I have studied magic with Omicron, and he has lead me to the Silver Woods before, and so, here I am now."

    "So, that was the last you saw of them?" Dusk questioned.

    Chi shook her head. "No, I saw Crystal for the one last final time in this woods."

    "H-here!" cried Dusk.

    Chi was silent. She opened her mouth, but closed it again hesitantly. She stopped, so did Dusk, who nearly crashed into the unicorn. "It was when nearly all was lost. Crystal and her mate came here, seeking for more magic and power to overcome the humans. However, Lambda could not allow that. That would certainly disrupt the balance. The white lion, Lambda, had to stop the white unicorn, Crystal, and so, the great battle of magics occurred in this very woods. The unicorn leader fell, she was heavily wounded by Lambda's magic. Thus, the unicorn race has ended, after Lambda removed the mate who sought revenge.

    "I'm the last unicorn. My name is Chira."

Author's Note: Woah! We're pacing along quickly! A little about Chi and her race-

Chapter 52: Sssneak Away

WISP

    "Maybe I should try hunting instead," Mist offered. "I'm really wanting to go out there and stretch my legs."

    Wisp shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said.

    Mist gleefully jumped off and ran into the barren lands. There was no hope of catching anything there as far as Wisp was concerned of.

    Wisp was pretending to sleep as Mist slipped off. Counting down, he scanned around to see if Mist was still around. When he reached zero, he stood and checked again for the last time.

    No Mist in sight. Good.

    He bounded off to the mountain where Darren and his beginning pack lay. Hopefully, Darren would lay low now that Escarda had already went on a hunt.

    Quietly, Wisp sauntered up the rocky hill where Darren was. There was no movement to be heard by Wisp, and so he sighed, but kept cautious. Up the long way, Wisp slowly and stealthily travelled the winding path up. He hoped that whatever Darren and his little pack hunted could be his meal too.

    He knew it was stealing. He knew it wasn't right, but it was the only chance of survival.

    So far.

    Mist wanted a bunny, right?

    No, if it was a bunny Escarda received while hunting, it couldn't even sustain for the three of them. Maybe they hunted something larger? Or in large quantities?

    Wisp could hear the sound of paws scraping against the rocky surface. Wisp froze. Who could it be?

    Wolves may be nocturnal, but Darren is usually asleep at night and move a lot by day. Wisp hoped that they all followed their pack leader.

    The sound of the footsteps were gone. Suddenly, a spine-chilling voice said, "Yes, he was here."

    Wisp, hearing it, couldn't help feeling attracted to the voice. Despite it being fishy, but the voice seem to own some kind of mystical power that drew Wisp towards it. Before Wisp knew it, he was pacing forwards.

    "Who's there?" the same voice said, but it's melodic, and certainly wasn't panicked. Wisp then realised he was out in the open.

    He kept striding forwards, keeping the answer to the question to himself. He needed to see who said that!

    It was too feminine for Darren, and Escarda's voice was harsher. Terra... Terra's voice was less bold, more quiet.

    A brown wolf came to sight. "T-Terra!" cried Wisp, shocked.

    "You know... me?" she inquired, puzzling Wisp terribly.

    Wisp shook his head. "Darren introduced us to each other, remember?"

    "I'm afraid... not," replied Terra apologetically. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Rho."

    "Rho? I... but... but you're Terra!"

    The brown wolf laughed. "Terra has been my host for quite some time now," said the wolf, and suddenly Wisp felt uneasy.

    "Host?" he questioned hesitantly.

    Rho laughed gently. "I'm sorry, are you startled?" she inquired. "I'm Rho. However, I have been defeated in combat years ago, and I was beyond saving, so they removed my soul from my body, and my soul wanders freely."

    "You're... dead?" cried Wisp.

    Rho laughed again, and Wisp felt relaxed from his tense moment. "No, I wasn't, I was close to, but, not yet."

    "So... why are you in Terra's body?" inquired Wisp, studying the brown patterns of the wolf.

    "My soul was useless to do anything, so I needed a physical body. An outcast, Terra accepted my offer, and so here we are!" cried she, smiling.

    "We're friends, don't worry," Rho reassured. "It's not like I forced in to use her body or anything, OK?"

    "Does Darren know about this?" Wisp finally questioned.

    Rho, in Terra's body, shook her head. "No, but Terra told him that sometimes she wonder freely at night without remembering, and not to bother her when she does that. Really sweet of Terra, isn't it?"

    Wisp thought about it for moments.

    "What did you need from this little place?"

    The question seemed to attack Wisp, and he sub-consciously took a step back. "To h-hunt for food, of course!" he replied, a little hurt.

    "In the territory of Darren?" inquired Rho sharply, and suddenly Terra's warm green eyes turned blue.

    "There's a little meadow over here, and I-"

    "Don't lie to me!" screamed Rho menacingly, and somehow uncaring. "You're going to rob Darren of any food, aren't you?"

    "I... but-!"

    Rho's voice softened a bit, but it was still icy. "I'm not letting you destroy Terra's life. She never got anything but scraps in her old pack. It was fine when she and Darren finally got together! Don't you see? Stealing their food might just be what they need to starvation! Hunting is no longer easy as long as we're out here!"

    "Exactly, that's why I'm trying to hunt-"

    "You can't deny the fact you weren't going hunting!" snarled Rho. "Now reflect on your actions! You have the rest of your life to do it!"

    Suddenly, the earth beneath him began to shake. Wisp took quick steps backwards, but, in a blink of an eye, the ground around him rushed up, and he was enveloped in darkness.

Author's Note: I keep forgetting to post on here... oops... Have a chapter! Sorry for the past inconveniences!