Masque, Come Here: A Narrative Fiction
It was a unnaturally sunny day, not including the cloudy gray halo that surrounded a large patch of land, almost as if the sun was afraid to shine. And in the middle of that large patch of land was a very large house, victorian style, and as many old houses are, paint chipping, walls crumbling, and a snaggled barbwire fence surrounding the extensive amount of land. In the middle of all this, a girl, just one girl was lazily playing cards with herself, seemingly oblivious to the various stray cats, snarling dogs, soft drizzle of rain, and crumbling mansion. All of this chaos, around one house, as if it was a magnet for trouble. “Masque, Come here” The girl called, honey blonde hair plastered to the sides of her face due to the drizzle, deep
…show more content…
blue eyes sparkling in slight amusement, slender, small form twitching and fidgeting, flashing her unnaturally sharp, slightly rounded teeth as a small, slender, triangle eared, sleek brown furred, and lean muscled dog sidled over to her.
After generously petting and praising the dog, she twitched, peering over the dog's shoulder, The girl narrowed her sapphire blue eyes, looking off into the distance, searching for something before standing gracefully, but her movements held a nervous, almost malevolent subtext. Faye wrinkled her nose which was average despite the occasional mole and light, almost unnoticeable spray of freckles, she peered down at a small, red rubber ball, that had mysteriously appeared at her feet, coming from the direction of the forest. She hesitantly picked up the ball, gently rolling it back into the forest, after a few moments, the ball rolled back, or more or less flew back, as if it was thrown, but this time the ball was shredded, like shears through a ribbon. At this, she shifted nervously before
looking down at her feet, which were bare, a mostly normal size, though a bit smaller, and she spun round, round and round, before she collapsed to the ground, she did this frequently, as she loved to watch the world spin in disarray. Glancing at the torn ball she sat up dizzily,, Faye began murmuring something “Plants will listen, walls have eyes, Doors have voices, and Beasts tell lies, Fear the rain, the blood, and the snow, but most of all, you must beware the ones you think you know” She glanced towards the forest, this forest was known very well, known throughout the land, known to be dangerous, full of odd, tricky, and violent creatures, this forest was the subject of her twisted mantra .She stopped suddenly before glancing up, noticing as a girl emerged from the house, this girl was a bit shorter than Faye, who was considerably petite herself, she had medium length, soft chestnut hair, enchanting hazel eyes, miniscule feet that many strove to achieve, and a wonderful smile.
Faye giggled, jumping upwards and extravagantly hugging Piper, the girl in question, Pipers silky mahogany hair contrasting greatly with Fayes fair golden hair. looking to her best friend in curiousity. Faye tilted her cranium, looking vehemently at Pipers shoulder, where a cut was waiting for attention, and she silently chastised herself for not noticing earlier. “Who did this?” Faye growled, automatically assuming it was done on purpose, most likely by a threat. “Faye, It’s fine, I ran into a hollow bush” Faye calmed, thinking about the vicious plants, which had a tendency to erupt into anger if anything dare pass by, their sharp thorns serving as daggers.
Though one thing that confused Faye, was the fact that hollow bushes were very rare in general, which was good, considering they enjoyed killing their prey. Which made Faye question Pipers explanation, but she let it be, though she shifted nervously, suspecting something. “I know, Hollow bushes shouldn’t be around here, they were near the forest, about a mile down the styx river” Piper mused, a ball of dread bouncing around both of their stomachs. The feeling quickly faded as Masque bounded forward, his tiny form showing unimaginable strength as he pinned Piper to the ground, excited to see her presence, though his reaction was slightly delayed.
After that quick rejoice, Masque perked his ears, glancing towards the forest, and bounded off with no explanation, disappearing into the shadowy depths.
Faye yelped, in quick reaction she sprinted after Masque hoping to find him, quickly, and at this Piper flinched nervously, but went after her best friend and their sidekick. As the trio entered the forest, they all simultaneously grimaced,. This forest didn’t hold many diurnal animals, and the ones it did, certainly weren’t very friendly. They turned around to the assumed entrance and continued walking, after what seemed hours, they noticed they weren’t even close to where they started and it was getting dark, “ Most things are afraid of the dark, but here the dark is afraid of most things, things that come with the night” Faye …show more content…
murmured.
After a few more moments they peered up into a lanky, gnarled oak which roots were protruding out of the ground, waiting for some naive child to stumble over them. And dangling lazily from an abnormally large branch was an odd sort of creature, lynx like ears with soft blue tufts evident, paws like a very large cat’s and one or two of it’s toes a different color than the others. Some of which were white, one of it’s eyes was suspiciously crimson, and the other a cobalt blue, laced with the most enchanting of golds, it had horns which resembled lighting bolts in their choppy sharp way of forming, the creature’s lean but obviously strong feline like form was adorned with sleek white fur, legs speckled with crimson, almost as the beast had stepped into a bucket of blood, and Jackson Pollock decided to turn the creatures legs into a canvas, at the end of this confusing masterpiece was a whip like tail, which lashed about much like the object it resembled. The oddest part about this creature was that you would assume the beast would look disarming, an eyesore, but the creatures features were perfectly fluid and harmonious, despite the large differences in color and form.
After about a full minute of silence, the creature murmured boredly “Another group of heroes,are you here to be here, or to be here, you have to be here, You have interrupted my nap, I have quite a tedious occupation, I would enjoy some sl…” Faye cut the creature off “Sorry to interrupt your afternoon nap, but we are lost here and if I may ask, what shall we refer to you as?” “Nyx, if you must know”, the creature silkily replied. Masque growled deeply, his champagne eyes glittering with the promise of danger, not taking a liking to the one known as Nyx. “Hush puppy, Go back to your home” and for some unknown reason, Masque silently obeyed, muscles rippling under chestnut colored fur as he took off. “Now, before you have an aneurysm, the pup is fine, he will return, but I would like it, If I could accompany you on this precarious journey” After a few moments of silent communication, Faye and Piper glanced hesitantly around the forest.
They were surrounded by gnarled oaks, odd midnight blue grass, which rustled in the occasional freezing gust, every single kind of animal you could imagine, and no way out, at this realization they tilted their heads, seeing a unnaturally tall and thin form appearing in the shadowy forest, the figure stepped forward, and as this happened Faye and Piper gasp, looking at a creature made entirely of bones, looking vaguely of a deer, with its antlers resembling melted candles on abroken candelabra, its eyes crimson pools of anger and fury, but before it could take another step, Nyx let out a dangerous growl, “Volo Te Necabo”. At Nyxs comment, the horrifying creature sprinted off.
“What did you say to it” Piper asked hesitantly, Nyx twitched slightly and perked her ears, “Nothing you need to worry about”. His response very deliberate, as he seemed rather skittish, his eyes holding a glint of paranoia. After staying silent for a moment, Faye and Piper nodded at Nyx’s previous Proposal to helping them find the way, and Piper nudged Faye with her shoulder, who murmured something. “Perfect” the creature mused silkily. “Now, before I go on some idiotic adventure with mysterious creature, what are you?’’
Nyxs face contorted slightly, as he paced above their heads on the spindly tree branches before replying “I am my own species, obviously not human as you two” he lazily gestured her paw to them.
But his movements were slow and methodical, as if he practiced them many times before, rehearsing this moment till she got it exactly right, his expression portrayed the hint of anxiety almost as if someone would catch him doing something wrong. “You’re lying” Piper said simply. Faye added“You’re a shapeshifter, a clever one at that, but I can understand your hesitation to share it, We must pretend to be something else, in order to survive, or in order to not get caught” She stated diplomatically, though at the last line, she smirked slightly. Nyx watched her for a moment, before dropping down from the tree, landing silently before shifting into a very different form. Piper gasped, at this revealing, like a lucky person at a game show, who had enough luck and knowledge to win, except they figured out their prize was a bathtub full of
Cobra’s.
But unlike Piper, Faye’s expression held no emotion, as if she was at a poker game. The cause of their reaction was due to the fact that Nyx’s features very much resembled Faye, but the more obvious difference between the two was that Nyx’s eyes held much more chaos and paranoia, and Faye’s held slight insanity, witty humor, and kindness.. After a moment, Nyx twitched in annoyance and shifted back into her previous form, mumbling something about humans.
Faye’s expression was now aloof, and haunting, but she kept a wary eyes on Nyx, edging in front of Piper, her protective nature beginning to shine through. Piper spoke up “ShapeShifters can’t change into actual people, they can only change into a purely imaginative creatures…” in response Nyx sneered slightly, “Well I guess your information is a little off” Before Faye or Piper could respond Nyx barked “Now that we have those, extremely awkward first introductions out of the way, why don’t we say a little more about ourselves, How about… Favorite color? Faye replied boredly to Nyx’s run of the mill question with a slight sneer, “Well aren’t you a little Sherlock Holmes, after he got hit by a car, and in answer to your question my favorite colors are black and white,”
Piper shifted slightly. “You must excuse my friend, she doesn’t very much like people or anything for that matter” At this, Faye spoke up “People don’t like other people, they would much rather be alone than socialize, Girls don’t like girls, though they may act like it, backstabbing creatures, excluding you of course Piper. A bit ashamed I am one, but very much happy I am not one of those grubby boyish creatures. Boys don’t like Boys, constantly competing, Personally I just think everyone on this godforsaken planet hates each other, they would much rather talk to themselves than others. The only creatures very much like on this planet are you, Masque, and a few other select beings” As Faye finished her time consuming ramble, Piper grinned, always grateful for her best friend, constantly amused by Faye’s unintentional humor.
Nyx’s nose twitched in blatant annoyance, after a few moments he snapped, “Well, what do you enjoy doing?” Faye answered this, as she had a tendency to respond first “ I like to sit in my bedroom, close all the blinds, turn out the lights, and start indulging myself in the scariest stories ever written. The blood curdling, unexplainable stories, and while reading these stories, I become fear stricken. So after that, I turn on the radio, or pop in my favorite movie. Just for the reassurance I’m not completely alone, for the things that go bump in the night, aren’t always very fond of me.
Everyone froze for a moment, a bit surprised with Faye’s odd confession, due to the fact of her almost constant anxiety and suspicion. Piper stuttered for a moment before murmuring suspiciously “I like to do things, I like to design things, I like to care for animals, swing on trees and go off on precarious adventures with Faye,” at this Faye jumped up in exaggerated excitement. Nyx growled softly, his fur tinted a slight green do to his obvious envy of the twos close friendship, “Never mind, should we get started,this will be a very long journey” Piper and Faye exclaimed simultaneously “But it took us a three hours to get lost, how is that even possible, why do we have to travel that far?” Nyx shrugged lazily, responded in his smug drawl “No reason, but you must trust me, I am your only way home” “Fine” Piper mumbled, “But we need weapons”, At this Nyx scoffed, before a few weapons appeared in front of them. An unnaturally sharp katana, a few different kinds of guns, a staff, machete and sleek dagger.
Faye pounced and grabbed some sort of futuristic looking glock, and the dagger. Easily knowing what type of weapon Piper felt comfortable with, not that she would really want a weapon at all, Faye handed Piper the katana, and a powerful hand gun. “What about Masque?” Piper asked nervously, “I sent him home, don’t worry, I have sent someone to take care of him” Piper narrowed her hazel eyes in disbelief and shot one quick look at Faye, they didn’t trust him at all, but Nyx was their only way home, and they certainly did not want to anger the testy beast.
Piper and Faye shrugged before walking off, ducking under gnarled branches and roots, jumping over rocks, and slinking through caverns, Nyx leading the way. After a unknown, but seemingly long amount of time, the trio stopped, not of their own will. But because a deep crimson river was already taking up their path. “Crud” Faye hissed, Piper grimaced and Nyx snarled in annoyance, as he was a very capricious creature. Piper and Faye shared a look before securing their weapons to their waist and diving into the cool river, the water soothing their aching bones and many cuts from thorns the trees wore. After swimming around lazily, Piper and Faye lifted themselves onto a large rock, basking in the sun like two heavily armed mermaids. Nyx peered after them in anxiety, his eyes pools of liquid gold as he took a hesitant step forward. “Come on, We have to get going” Piper called. Nyx took a hushed breath before flipping into the icy rapids, darting through the water towards Piper and Faye, who were standing on the bank. In a matter of seconds Nyx was caught in the rapids and halfway down the water, Piper and Faye took a moment to register what happened before they jumped into action. Faye and Piper began sprinting down the bank, desperate to save their curious guide. Nyx got caught on a limb, literally. As he was dangling from a nimble tree branch hanging above the river, Faye lunged forward and gripped the creature by his soaked fur, in a blur of limbs and fur she had flipped Nyx and pinned him against one of the trees. “You can’t swim, what kind of guide can’t swim, you aren’t qualified for this” She snarled violently, a sliver of her vile temper shining through. Piper placed a hand on Faye’s shoulder, in response Faye whipped her head back with a snarl, before noticing it was Piper and calming down. “ Excuse me” A unknown voice rang through the trios ears as they turned, noticing three figures standing next to them. One was a slightly short, lean boy with dark mahogany hair and multicolored eyes, the second was a tall, willowy girl with olive skin and a waterfall of dark hair flowing down her back, the third was a average sized boy with slightly spiky chestnut hair and a crooked smile. Quickly dropping Nyx and instinctively stepping in front of Piper, Faye accused “Who are you?” They all simultaneously shrugged and answered “I followed a small red ball” Faye nodded “We did as well, We only took a step into the forest before we were lost” “What exactly is that” the tall, willowy girl asked in curiosity, pointing to Nyx.
“We don’t know, but he’s the only thing that can help us” Piper murmured hesitantly. “Well, why don’t we all sit in a circle and announce our life stories” Nyx snapped. Everyone turned to shoot venomous glares his way, even the two boys who were on the ground, the smaller one trapped in a playful headlock. “ Jaz” the tall girl muttered, “Peter” the small dark haired boy announced, “Dean” the taller boy added as they turned towards Piper and Faye in expectant curiosity. “Piper” and “Faye” they responded to appease the group, before turning towards Nyx “This is Nyx.” The group narrowed their eyes slightly before turning back towards Piper and Faye. Everyone in the circle seemed to be hesitant, alert, and armed. Except Peter, who was desperately trying to grab the attention of Dean.
blue eyes sparkling in slight amusement, slender, small form twitching and fidgeting, flashing her unnaturally sharp, slightly rounded teeth as a small, slender, triangle eared, sleek brown furred, and lean muscled dog sidled over to her.
After generously petting and praising the dog, she twitched, peering over the dog's shoulder, The girl narrowed her sapphire blue eyes, looking off into the distance, searching for something before standing gracefully, but her movements held a nervous, almost malevolent subtext. Faye wrinkled her nose which was average despite the occasional mole and light, almost unnoticeable spray of freckles, she peered down at a small, red rubber ball, that had mysteriously appeared at her feet, coming from the direction of the forest. She hesitantly picked up the ball, gently rolling it back into the forest, after a few moments, the ball rolled back, or more or less flew back, as if it was thrown, but this time the ball was shredded, like shears through a ribbon. At this, she shifted nervously before
looking down at her feet, which were bare, a mostly normal size, though a bit smaller, and she spun round, round and round, before she collapsed to the ground, she did this frequently, as she loved to watch the world spin in disarray. Glancing at the torn ball she sat up dizzily,, Faye began murmuring something “Plants will listen, walls have eyes, Doors have voices, and Beasts tell lies, Fear the rain, the blood, and the snow, but most of all, you must beware the ones you think you know” She glanced towards the forest, this forest was known very well, known throughout the land, known to be dangerous, full of odd, tricky, and violent creatures, this forest was the subject of her twisted mantra .She stopped suddenly before glancing up, noticing as a girl emerged from the house, this girl was a bit shorter than Faye, who was considerably petite herself, she had medium length, soft chestnut hair, enchanting hazel eyes, miniscule feet that many strove to achieve, and a wonderful smile.
Faye giggled, jumping upwards and extravagantly hugging Piper, the girl in question, Pipers silky mahogany hair contrasting greatly with Fayes fair golden hair. looking to her best friend in curiousity. Faye tilted her cranium, looking vehemently at Pipers shoulder, where a cut was waiting for attention, and she silently chastised herself for not noticing earlier. “Who did this?” Faye growled, automatically assuming it was done on purpose, most likely by a threat. “Faye, It’s fine, I ran into a hollow bush” Faye calmed, thinking about the vicious plants, which had a tendency to erupt into anger if anything dare pass by, their sharp thorns serving as daggers.
Though one thing that confused Faye, was the fact that hollow bushes were very rare in general, which was good, considering they enjoyed killing their prey. Which made Faye question Pipers explanation, but she let it be, though she shifted nervously, suspecting something. “I know, Hollow bushes shouldn’t be around here, they were near the forest, about a mile down the styx river” Piper mused, a ball of dread bouncing around both of their stomachs. The feeling quickly faded as Masque bounded forward, his tiny form showing unimaginable strength as he pinned Piper to the ground, excited to see her presence, though his reaction was slightly delayed.
After that quick rejoice, Masque perked his ears, glancing towards the forest, and bounded off with no explanation, disappearing into the shadowy depths.
Faye yelped, in quick reaction she sprinted after Masque hoping to find him, quickly, and at this Piper flinched nervously, but went after her best friend and their sidekick. As the trio entered the forest, they all simultaneously grimaced,. This forest didn’t hold many diurnal animals, and the ones it did, certainly weren’t very friendly. They turned around to the assumed entrance and continued walking, after what seemed hours, they noticed they weren’t even close to where they started and it was getting dark, “ Most things are afraid of the dark, but here the dark is afraid of most things, things that come with the night” Faye …show more content…
murmured.
After a few more moments they peered up into a lanky, gnarled oak which roots were protruding out of the ground, waiting for some naive child to stumble over them. And dangling lazily from an abnormally large branch was an odd sort of creature, lynx like ears with soft blue tufts evident, paws like a very large cat’s and one or two of it’s toes a different color than the others. Some of which were white, one of it’s eyes was suspiciously crimson, and the other a cobalt blue, laced with the most enchanting of golds, it had horns which resembled lighting bolts in their choppy sharp way of forming, the creature’s lean but obviously strong feline like form was adorned with sleek white fur, legs speckled with crimson, almost as the beast had stepped into a bucket of blood, and Jackson Pollock decided to turn the creatures legs into a canvas, at the end of this confusing masterpiece was a whip like tail, which lashed about much like the object it resembled. The oddest part about this creature was that you would assume the beast would look disarming, an eyesore, but the creatures features were perfectly fluid and harmonious, despite the large differences in color and form.
After about a full minute of silence, the creature murmured boredly “Another group of heroes,are you here to be here, or to be here, you have to be here, You have interrupted my nap, I have quite a tedious occupation, I would enjoy some sl…” Faye cut the creature off “Sorry to interrupt your afternoon nap, but we are lost here and if I may ask, what shall we refer to you as?” “Nyx, if you must know”, the creature silkily replied. Masque growled deeply, his champagne eyes glittering with the promise of danger, not taking a liking to the one known as Nyx. “Hush puppy, Go back to your home” and for some unknown reason, Masque silently obeyed, muscles rippling under chestnut colored fur as he took off. “Now, before you have an aneurysm, the pup is fine, he will return, but I would like it, If I could accompany you on this precarious journey” After a few moments of silent communication, Faye and Piper glanced hesitantly around the forest.
They were surrounded by gnarled oaks, odd midnight blue grass, which rustled in the occasional freezing gust, every single kind of animal you could imagine, and no way out, at this realization they tilted their heads, seeing a unnaturally tall and thin form appearing in the shadowy forest, the figure stepped forward, and as this happened Faye and Piper gasp, looking at a creature made entirely of bones, looking vaguely of a deer, with its antlers resembling melted candles on abroken candelabra, its eyes crimson pools of anger and fury, but before it could take another step, Nyx let out a dangerous growl, “Volo Te Necabo”. At Nyxs comment, the horrifying creature sprinted off.
“What did you say to it” Piper asked hesitantly, Nyx twitched slightly and perked her ears, “Nothing you need to worry about”. His response very deliberate, as he seemed rather skittish, his eyes holding a glint of paranoia. After staying silent for a moment, Faye and Piper nodded at Nyx’s previous Proposal to helping them find the way, and Piper nudged Faye with her shoulder, who murmured something. “Perfect” the creature mused silkily. “Now, before I go on some idiotic adventure with mysterious creature, what are you?’’
Nyxs face contorted slightly, as he paced above their heads on the spindly tree branches before replying “I am my own species, obviously not human as you two” he lazily gestured her paw to them.
But his movements were slow and methodical, as if he practiced them many times before, rehearsing this moment till she got it exactly right, his expression portrayed the hint of anxiety almost as if someone would catch him doing something wrong. “You’re lying” Piper said simply. Faye added“You’re a shapeshifter, a clever one at that, but I can understand your hesitation to share it, We must pretend to be something else, in order to survive, or in order to not get caught” She stated diplomatically, though at the last line, she smirked slightly. Nyx watched her for a moment, before dropping down from the tree, landing silently before shifting into a very different form. Piper gasped, at this revealing, like a lucky person at a game show, who had enough luck and knowledge to win, except they figured out their prize was a bathtub full of
Cobra’s.
But unlike Piper, Faye’s expression held no emotion, as if she was at a poker game. The cause of their reaction was due to the fact that Nyx’s features very much resembled Faye, but the more obvious difference between the two was that Nyx’s eyes held much more chaos and paranoia, and Faye’s held slight insanity, witty humor, and kindness.. After a moment, Nyx twitched in annoyance and shifted back into her previous form, mumbling something about humans.
Faye’s expression was now aloof, and haunting, but she kept a wary eyes on Nyx, edging in front of Piper, her protective nature beginning to shine through. Piper spoke up “ShapeShifters can’t change into actual people, they can only change into a purely imaginative creatures…” in response Nyx sneered slightly, “Well I guess your information is a little off” Before Faye or Piper could respond Nyx barked “Now that we have those, extremely awkward first introductions out of the way, why don’t we say a little more about ourselves, How about… Favorite color? Faye replied boredly to Nyx’s run of the mill question with a slight sneer, “Well aren’t you a little Sherlock Holmes, after he got hit by a car, and in answer to your question my favorite colors are black and white,”
Piper shifted slightly. “You must excuse my friend, she doesn’t very much like people or anything for that matter” At this, Faye spoke up “People don’t like other people, they would much rather be alone than socialize, Girls don’t like girls, though they may act like it, backstabbing creatures, excluding you of course Piper. A bit ashamed I am one, but very much happy I am not one of those grubby boyish creatures. Boys don’t like Boys, constantly competing, Personally I just think everyone on this godforsaken planet hates each other, they would much rather talk to themselves than others. The only creatures very much like on this planet are you, Masque, and a few other select beings” As Faye finished her time consuming ramble, Piper grinned, always grateful for her best friend, constantly amused by Faye’s unintentional humor.
Nyx’s nose twitched in blatant annoyance, after a few moments he snapped, “Well, what do you enjoy doing?” Faye answered this, as she had a tendency to respond first “ I like to sit in my bedroom, close all the blinds, turn out the lights, and start indulging myself in the scariest stories ever written. The blood curdling, unexplainable stories, and while reading these stories, I become fear stricken. So after that, I turn on the radio, or pop in my favorite movie. Just for the reassurance I’m not completely alone, for the things that go bump in the night, aren’t always very fond of me.
Everyone froze for a moment, a bit surprised with Faye’s odd confession, due to the fact of her almost constant anxiety and suspicion. Piper stuttered for a moment before murmuring suspiciously “I like to do things, I like to design things, I like to care for animals, swing on trees and go off on precarious adventures with Faye,” at this Faye jumped up in exaggerated excitement. Nyx growled softly, his fur tinted a slight green do to his obvious envy of the twos close friendship, “Never mind, should we get started,this will be a very long journey” Piper and Faye exclaimed simultaneously “But it took us a three hours to get lost, how is that even possible, why do we have to travel that far?” Nyx shrugged lazily, responded in his smug drawl “No reason, but you must trust me, I am your only way home” “Fine” Piper mumbled, “But we need weapons”, At this Nyx scoffed, before a few weapons appeared in front of them. An unnaturally sharp katana, a few different kinds of guns, a staff, machete and sleek dagger.
Faye pounced and grabbed some sort of futuristic looking glock, and the dagger. Easily knowing what type of weapon Piper felt comfortable with, not that she would really want a weapon at all, Faye handed Piper the katana, and a powerful hand gun. “What about Masque?” Piper asked nervously, “I sent him home, don’t worry, I have sent someone to take care of him” Piper narrowed her hazel eyes in disbelief and shot one quick look at Faye, they didn’t trust him at all, but Nyx was their only way home, and they certainly did not want to anger the testy beast.
Piper and Faye shrugged before walking off, ducking under gnarled branches and roots, jumping over rocks, and slinking through caverns, Nyx leading the way. After a unknown, but seemingly long amount of time, the trio stopped, not of their own will. But because a deep crimson river was already taking up their path. “Crud” Faye hissed, Piper grimaced and Nyx snarled in annoyance, as he was a very capricious creature. Piper and Faye shared a look before securing their weapons to their waist and diving into the cool river, the water soothing their aching bones and many cuts from thorns the trees wore. After swimming around lazily, Piper and Faye lifted themselves onto a large rock, basking in the sun like two heavily armed mermaids. Nyx peered after them in anxiety, his eyes pools of liquid gold as he took a hesitant step forward. “Come on, We have to get going” Piper called. Nyx took a hushed breath before flipping into the icy rapids, darting through the water towards Piper and Faye, who were standing on the bank. In a matter of seconds Nyx was caught in the rapids and halfway down the water, Piper and Faye took a moment to register what happened before they jumped into action. Faye and Piper began sprinting down the bank, desperate to save their curious guide. Nyx got caught on a limb, literally. As he was dangling from a nimble tree branch hanging above the river, Faye lunged forward and gripped the creature by his soaked fur, in a blur of limbs and fur she had flipped Nyx and pinned him against one of the trees. “You can’t swim, what kind of guide can’t swim, you aren’t qualified for this” She snarled violently, a sliver of her vile temper shining through. Piper placed a hand on Faye’s shoulder, in response Faye whipped her head back with a snarl, before noticing it was Piper and calming down. “ Excuse me” A unknown voice rang through the trios ears as they turned, noticing three figures standing next to them. One was a slightly short, lean boy with dark mahogany hair and multicolored eyes, the second was a tall, willowy girl with olive skin and a waterfall of dark hair flowing down her back, the third was a average sized boy with slightly spiky chestnut hair and a crooked smile. Quickly dropping Nyx and instinctively stepping in front of Piper, Faye accused “Who are you?” They all simultaneously shrugged and answered “I followed a small red ball” Faye nodded “We did as well, We only took a step into the forest before we were lost” “What exactly is that” the tall, willowy girl asked in curiosity, pointing to Nyx.
“We don’t know, but he’s the only thing that can help us” Piper murmured hesitantly. “Well, why don’t we all sit in a circle and announce our life stories” Nyx snapped. Everyone turned to shoot venomous glares his way, even the two boys who were on the ground, the smaller one trapped in a playful headlock. “ Jaz” the tall girl muttered, “Peter” the small dark haired boy announced, “Dean” the taller boy added as they turned towards Piper and Faye in expectant curiosity. “Piper” and “Faye” they responded to appease the group, before turning towards Nyx “This is Nyx.” The group narrowed their eyes slightly before turning back towards Piper and Faye. Everyone in the circle seemed to be hesitant, alert, and armed. Except Peter, who was desperately trying to grab the attention of Dean.