Frostwing and Kyouki followed closely behind Mono as the wolfdea carefully sniffed the windy air. Today, the wind was strong enough to make the trunks of some of the skinnier trees bend slightly and her feathers blow up uncomfortably. But, Kyouki didn't seem to mind, as Frostwing assumed that a Kirin's natural habitat was high up in the mountains where the winds were violently strong. Mono appeared to be having a difficult time sniffing out prey in the high winds, for when she began following a trail, she would pause and turn back around again.

Frostwing decided to wander a but further away to help search a wider area when her incredibly sensitive ears picked up the tiny sounds of an animal moving through fallen leaves on the forest floor. Her large, fluffy ears rotated in the direction of the sound as they perked up, and she immediately lowered herself closer to the ground until the feathers along her underbelly brushed the various twigs and moss underneath her. She stepped slowly forward, her talons and paws barely touching the ground as she made her way towards the animal. She continued like this until it finally came into view: an unnaturally hairless pig (that was very juicy looking as well). What is a hairless pig doing outside in a forest when it is this cold outside? It must have escaped from a human farm, because wild pigs in this area prefer to come out at sunset, not in the morning. Plus, it is basically winter. But, she decided that it would make a good meal nonetheless, so she rushed towards it, her talons outstretched. The pig was faster than she thought, however.

It slipped right away from her claws just as she had almost caught it. She could hear it squeaking and squealing as it ran away. You aren't getting away that easily, pig.

She took off after it, her feet almost silent on the soft floor, her long snow leopard tail streaming out behind her. She had only been chasing it for a few moments when something suddenly caught her eye. She slid to a stop, her breath billowing out in front of her in the cold morning air. She could hear the pig run at full speed as it escaped away.

But, her mind had turned completely away from the prey. She thought that she could vaguely spot the swift swish of a horse's tail behind a large swath of dense foliage. Her ear twitched. Hooves... Centaurs... what are they doing here? But, it didn't sound like there were no more than one. What other creature is there too? She quietly crept up to the shield of plants and found a very small opening that would allow her to see inside with one of her eyes. Aldrudis!

The black and grey speckled Centaur had his back facing her, his long white tail swishing impatiently back and forth. She could clearly make out the long, curved horns on his head. What a weird Centaur... She could tell that he was talking with a creature that resembled a vulture and a human at the same time. A Harpy? She could make out the distinct creature within a heartbeat of spotting it. It had the head and upper body of a human but the lower body, legs, and wings of an eagle. She had long black hair emanating from her feminine head, and she was also wearing a black cloak.

"Well, do you have them?" Asked the Harpy in a raspy yet higher pitched voice. Aldrudis stomped a bit closer and held out a brown, cloth bag with what seemed to have something heavy in it. "The horns you asked for... now give me my half of the deal." He said in an intimidatingly deep voice. He tossed the bag up to the Harpy, who snatched it from the air with clawed fingers. Then, she reached into her cloak and pulled out a simple necklace, threw it at the Centaur, and spread her wings as if to take flight. "Wait, about that prophecy, Arkinda. Is it true?" Asked Aldrudis. The Harpy turned around and glared down at him, "how should I know? Go find the creator and find out yourself... she's near the western mountains, in the Burning City." said Arkinda before she took off into the air.

Frostwing didn't move from her spot as she watched Aldrudis gaze down at the necklace, and then he placed it around his neck. What she saw didn't make much sense to her. Right after the necklace fell under his chin, Frostwing swore that she could see a strange kind of energy spread over his entire body. His horns seemed to grow a bit larger. his eyes seemed a little more red than they were before. Did he just gain more power? I'm not sure what really just happened... but what I surely do know is that he is more dangerous than he previously was when we first saw him. We need to be careful.. And the prophecy.... The Harpy said that it was 'near the western mountains -- also known as the Deathlands -- and in the Burning City, which is one of the most crime filled cities in the entire continent. What makes it even more dangerous is that it is filled with dragons... but, I have a feeling that if Aldrudis reaches the creator of the prophecy, bad things will happen.

Frostwing spun around and began to run quietly back to Mono and Kyouki, her mind filtering through endless possibilities as to what they should do. The Deathlands... that's a long way from here, but we can't let that crazed Centaur get his hands anywhere near that prophecy, and I would like to know what it says as well. I could always ask that Manticore... he may know at least a little bit about it. Then maybe we can travel to the Deathlands to stop Aldrudis.

Frostwing met no troubles as she found her way towards the Wolfdea and Kirin, who were busy eating when she arrived. As she settled down next to a corpse of an elk beside Mono and Kyouki, who was surprisingly a carnivore, Mono stood up and pushed her with her paw, "where were you?!?" She growled, "I thought that I would need to watch over that cowardly Kirin myself after you didn't come back!" She threw a look at the Kirin, whose white and green tipped tail hid automatically between his legs, "I said that I was sorry!" He cried as he lowered his head and drooped his ears. Mono continued, "I can't even remember how many times I lost potential prey because her ran away crying from it. THEY. WERE. SQUIRRELS. AND. DEER! I mean COME ON!" she barked, her tail lashing in an annoyed sort of way.

"I-I'm really s-sorry! I p-promise that I-I won't be af-afraid next time.." He whimpered as he shuffled a little further from the Wolfdea. Frostwing sighed at their bickering and instead decided not to join in, changing the subject. "So, I found Aldrudis." She said quietly. After this statement, both Mono and Kyouki turned to face her with surprised expressions. "What was he doing here?" Mono asked with her ears perked forward. Frostwing shrugged, "I saw him from behind a veil of foliage. He was talking to a Harpy, who gave him some kind of a necklace in exchange for Kyouki's magical heal-y horns. Then, he asked that Harpy about some kind of prophecy and she tild him to ask the creator. So now, he's going to the Deathlands-" she heard a small gasp from Kyouki, who had a very strange expression on his face. "You know about the Deathlands?" Mono asked him. Kyouki suddenly flinched, his eyes stretched wide and his legs shaking, "u-um no- no I-I don't k-know anything a-about drag- I mean the dra- Deathlands.. Go on..." he stuttered nervously. Mono studied him for a few long moments, her ears pinned back, "huh... for some reason I feel like you are kinda a little bit maybe lying to us. I don't know why though, I just have a little tiny wittle weeny puny feeling that you're lying." Mono said in a very sarcastic, monotone voice. Frostwing narrowed her eyes at the Kirin, who looked very uneasy. He knows -or he's been through- something weird at the Deathlands... something including dragons... something he isn't telling us... However, Frostwing continued.

"Aldrudis is only growing in power, and something about him makes me feel very uncomfortable. I feel like he's up to something that we don't know about, and it has to do with the prophecy in the Burning City. We need to stop him, but we need information first. That is why we are going to revisit the human city once more: we are going to find that Manticore and learn more about the prophecy before we can take down Aldrudis."