Fosc was surprised to see his camp in ruins with Rosa sulking alone in the midst of it.

"Rosa?  What happened?  Where is everyone?"  he questioned as he came closer to her.

"They ran away.  We were attacked.  They had a Bluefire."

Fosc paused.  "I see...well, looks like we'll have to round them up again."

Rosa nodded.  "I'm sorry.  I'm a terrible leader."

"It doesn't matter.  I'm sure you did your best."

He removed his bandana and mask, putting them away.  His face was still ruined from the attack as a child.

Rosa stared up at him with teary eyes as she wrapped her arms around him in a weary hug.

"I won't let you down again.  I promise."

"I know, Rosa."

He pulled her bandana away from her face and kissed her straight on the lips before pulling away.

"I trust you."

Rosa continued to stare at him, a small blush spreading across her face.  She closed her eyes and leaned against him as he picked her up.

"Come now.  We have work to do."

"Yes... Abiola."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't long before a startled "eep" from Dokusei grabbed Nuclear's attention.

He glanced over to see two creatures enter the room. He immediately averted his eyes and looked back away.

"What do you two stokliers want? Why are you here? You know you are forbidden to enter Hadari until the moonless, starless nights."

"We know. Forgive us, Lord Nuclear, but we have come to tell you something." the female said.

"Yes, and we have an offer you can't refuse!" the male chimed in.

"Alright, what is it? I don't have all day. I'm still trying to conjure up a new plan." Nuclear growled.

"Right, and we have an idea for the plan!" the male stoklier replied.

"If you recall, our magic turns anyone to stone after we absorb enough energy." the female reminded. "And our clan has been starving. We need a good meal."

"What does this have to do with anything!?" Nuclear snapped. "I don't care if your clan needs energy. I'm definitely not giving you any."

"You may not, but the others might."

"...explain?"

"The other Storm Spirits could provide enough energy to last us several moons! Maybe even an entire juni tren!"

Nuclear's interest grew. "So you're saying...?"

"We can kidnap and imprison the Storm Spirits for you in exchange for their energy to feed our clan." the male clarified.

Nuclear smirked beneath his mask. This plan was foolproof.

"Deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kasai gave a startled shout as she tripped and fell. She wasn't sure how far or how long she had been running, but she was thirsty, hungry, and exhausted.

She panted and pushed herself up, brushing off dust from her now even more tattered clothes.

She looked around curiously. She didn't recognize this place. It looked nowhere like any place in Hadari. It wasn't like the separated, stormy regions or the calm, quiet villages or forest.

This place looked more...alive, somehow.

In the forest, there were trees as far as the eye could see and a small clearing only in the middle, with a river spreading all the way from Rainy Prarie to Siren Village. But here, there were only a few trees scattered here and there, with a few rocks spread across the area. She could hear the sound of a waterfall nearby.

Water! She immediately raced in that direction.

Usually, she'd be terrified of any large bodies of water, but now she was in desperate need of a drink.

She found the waterfall pouring into a large lake that narrowed into a river a little broader than the one back in Hadari. Maybe this is the start of that river?

She pushed the thought out of her head. She didn't want to go back to Hadari — not now. She was too dangerous.

She kneeled down and cupped some water into her hands, bringing it up to her lips and taking a sip.

It didn't taste as fresh as the water she drank back home — probably because this was straight from the lake — but it was better than nothing.

She drank a little more before she was satisfied and stood up again. It was at that moment she noticed a cave inside the rocks.

"...huh?"

She curiously went over. It was rather small — barely big enough for a wolf to squeeze through.

Relieved to find shelter, Kasai eagerly crouched down and entered the cave, not expecting what she saw next.

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~