When I wake, Midnight is standing over me, her arms crossed. A lock of blue hair hangs in her face and she blows it out of the way. "This is why you don't go running off," she says. "What were you thinking, attacking three dragons at the same time?"

I push myself into a sitting position and wince. The wound I got is still very much there and it hurts. "I was thinking that I have dragon slayer magic, so it was my job to save those people before the dragons killed everyone," I answer. Then I remember the girl from before. "I was with a girl. Did she make it?"

Midnight points behind her. "She'll be fine. Might take a while to heal fully, but she's not in any immediate danger."

"Good. Where's Lexi?"

"Right here." Her voice comes from my left and I relax a little. We'd all made it out. This time.

I take a moment to examine the girl we'd found. There are bandages on her wounds now, but the wounds themselves appear to have stopped bleeding. Long blonde hair cascades over her shoulders and her expression is peaceful. There's a hint of a smile on her face. I have to admit- she's pretty.

There's a tattoo on her right shoulder that looks like a dragon's claws, which intrigues me. Maybe she's part of a guild I've never heard of. Then I remember we're not in Fiore anymore and she probably didn't come from there. Besides, lots of people have tattoos just to have them. Her's is likely just decoration. "Has she woken up?"

Midnight follows my gaze and shakes her head. "Not since I found you."

She's probably hurt worse than I am. I stand and move to sit beside her. The second I get close, I hear her breathing change. The shift is subtle, but it warns me that she's awake, so I stay back a bit. She opens her eyes and looks around. "Where am I?" she whispers. Her voice sounds raspy, probably because of the wound.

"Um... I'm not entirely sure." I look around. "We're in a forest somewhere, at least."

Her hand goes to her throat and I can see her eyes narrow slightly. "Who are you?"

Midnight steps forward and gently pulls me away. "I'm Midnight and this is Raiden. The cat's name is Lexi. Now listen, I only helped you because of Raiden here." She points to me, her voice sharp. "If I had a choice, I would've left you for dead, got it? My job is to get him out alive and that's it. You're on your own from here."

"Hey, don't be like that, Midnight," I protest. "She's injured and helpless. We can't just leave her."

The girl pushes herself to her feet, supporting herself on her good leg. "I am not helpless," she rasps, glaring at me. "I can handle myself."

I'm about to point out the fact that she can barely stand when a familiar voice shouts my name. "Raiden!"

I turn to find Ayame racing toward me, a grin on her face. "You fought three dragons at the same time!" she exclaims. "And you won! It was amazing! Since when are you so powerful?"

Her arms wrap around me seconds later and I can't help grinning. "Where did you come from?" I ask. Lexi hovers behind us, her tail flicking back and forth as she studies Ayame.

"You don't have much magic power," she observes.

Ayame pulls away from me and tucks a lock of black hair out of the way. "I jumped into the magic after you. It drained my power, but I managed to find you! You managed to find trouble again, as usual." Her violet eyes flick between Midnight and the injured girl. "Who are they?"

"Midnight is the blue haired woman and the injured girl is..." I pause. The girl never introduced herself. "You never told us your name."

"It's Hailey. And can someone please explain the situation?"

"Raiden and I are here because the Fire Lord and the Unseelie King are forcing us to participate in their games. The rest of you don't belong. I suggest you find somewhere to recover, Hailey. As for you..." Midnight pauses in her rant and looks at Ayame. "What's your name?"

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot you guys don't know me. I am Ayame Hashimoto. It's nice to meet you."

Midnight nods. "Well, Ayame, I suggest you leave here immediately. You've no reason to participate in these games."

Ayame coils a lock of hair around her finger and shrugs. "I wouldn't say that. Raiden's playing this game, isn't he? So I'll join you."

"Hold on, I never agreed to this," I protest. "These aren't games for fun, Ayame. Lives are at stake here. You saw, with the dragons. People died and more would've, if I hadn't done something."

She grins. "Clearly that didn't stop you. Anyway, I'm here now and neither of us knows how to get back, so we should make the most of it."

"I agree with Ayame," Lexi decides. "We should have someone we trust on our side. Fighting alone isn't an option."

"Good for you," Hailey mutters. "Have fun. I'm going home. Georgia is waiting for me."

With one last glare in my direction, she begins to limp away. Her face is pale and I can hear her shallow breathing. She won't make it ten feet- not with the way she is now. I move to intercept her, but Midnight blocks my way. "You can't force her to accept your help. Let her do what she wants."

There's a quiet thud and I push Midnight aside and move to help, but someone else has already beat me to it. A brown-haired girl scoops Hailey up like she weighs nothing and walks back to our little camp with her. Hailey's unconscious again, but her breathing has evened out.

"Your comrade is injured," the new girl says, gently setting Hailey down where she'd been lying before. "You shouldn't let her wander."

"She isn't our comrade and she was just leaving." Midnight crosses her arms and glares at the new girl. Clearly she isn't too happy about all these people popping up out of nowhere. "And who are you?"

"Destiny Blackwater." She grins and extends her hand. Midnight shakes it.

"I suppose you're going to want to stay too," she mutters.

I step away from the two of them and stare at Destiny. She's tall- nearly six feet by my estimate- and dressed in warrior-like garb that looks like it was meant for a man. She wears no armor, but something about the way she moves tells me she probably doesn't need it. There's a sword strapped to her back and everything about her seems decidedly boyish. Still, little clues jump out at me that make her seem very feminine at the same time. Like the ring on her left hand, or the way her brown hair falls in perfect waves to her shoulders, or how her smile goes straight to her blue eyes.

"You're gawking." Ayame whispers it quietly enough that no one else could possibly have heard it, but I hear her easily enough and my cheeks redden.

She's pretty. I'm sure if I wasn't completely surrounded by girls someone else would be doing the same thing. She'll hear me. She always does. It's part of her magic- the ability to hear someone's thoughts. Although she rarely uses it outside of combat, she'll listen if she thinks I won't want others to hear what I say. It's not a bad method of communication, really.

"You could at least hide it better," she replies, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Maybe this is a good thing, though. I always thought you were blind to beauty. Being surrounded by women must have cured you."

I don't think that's how this works.

"Fine. You can stay. For now, at least." Midnight's words bring my attention back to her and Hailey's conversation.

I grin. "You must have said somethin' right, cuz she was gonna kick Ayame and Hailey out."

Destiny shrugs. "I can be convincing when I want. Besides, I'm not bad at fighting, so I could help you." Her gaze locks on Lexi, who is hovering over Hailey and examining her wounds. Apparently Destiny hadn't noticed Lexi before, because her mouth drops open. "You have a flying orange cat..."

"That's Lexi," Ayame says. "And technically she's an exceed."

"Right..."

And that's when the our next member arrives. Or, more precisely, drops out of the trees and into the middle of the camp. He lands in a crouch and looks up. It actually looks cool. His brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail and his blue eyes are deadly serious for a moment. Then he breaks the shocked silence with a nervous, "Oh... hello."

"Where are you all coming from?" Midnight's jaw sets. "Get out. Get out now. No introductions, just leave. Find someone else to bother! We've already got too many people!"

He blinks. "Uh... I wasn't..."

"I don't care what you were doing or why you were up there spying on us. It doesn't matter, just leave. I am not babysitting anyone else! Things were complicated enough with just Raiden." She walks up to him, yanks him to his feet, and begins propelling him out of the camp. "Goodbye."

"Wait, I'm just looking for my sister!" he protests.

The poor guy looks so confused and lost, I can't resist stepping in. Plus, I'm surrounded by women- having another guy on my side seems like a good idea. "Hang on a minute, Midnight. He hasn't done anything. Why don't you hear him out?"

She scowls. "Fine. He can say why he's here. Then he's leaving."

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" Ayame asks.

"I agree with Ayame." Lexi moves away from Hailey and back over to me. "Besides, the more the merrier, right?"

"No, the more of you there are, the harder it is for me to keep you all alive," Midnight grumbles. She releases him, though.

I guess first impressions can be wrong. She's even harsher than I originally thought. There's sincerity behind her last words, though. She is worried about us getting killed. Not in a touching "oh, she really does care" way, though. It's more of an "I'll keep you alive because I currently have no other choice" kinda thing. She'll probably leave the first chance she gets, but I don't care. She can do what she wants.

"I'm looking for my sister," the guy explains. "We were separated during the fight and I haven't been able to find her. I thought you might know where she was, so I tried to listen in, but I sat on a dead branch..."

"Not much climbing experience, huh?" Ayame shakes her head. "Rookie mistake."

He rubs the back of his neck with a sheepish look. "I wasn't paying much attention..."

"What's your name?" Lexi asks.

His eyes widen. "Y... you talk?!"

"Don't ask for his name! If he tells you his name you'll get attached." Midnight goes to push him out again but he dodges her.

His eyes are still fixed on Lexi, but he moves back to his original purpose quickly. "I promise I'll leave, just... have you seen a girl that looks like me?"

"No, I'm sorry. We'll help you look, though," I offer. "Lexi and I can check from above for you."

"Really?" He smiles. "Thank you! My name is Kanaye, by the way. What about you?"

"I'm Raiden, and this is Ayame, Midnight, Hailey, Lexi, and Destiny." I point to each of them as I say their names. Midnight gives me a look. I ignore her. She might prefer to work alone, but that doesn't mean I have to. "Let's go!"