Lori scuffed off the dirt on her knees, tilting her head to look at Ninja. "So, where are we and why are you here?" she asked him, looking him up and down. He seemed to be a young adult, about early 20's, she guessed.
Jason, who Lori decided would be named Ninja to her, shook his head. He adjusted his sword belt while looking at her as well. " It's not important right now, only looking for any leftover war scraps, not that it would mean anything to you," he shrugged, turning his head to look out of the broken window. " Besides, we should get you back to camp once it gets lighter out, luckily we're not in the forest."
"Camp?" Lori questioned, sitting on the trunk. 'Ninja' nodded absentmindedly, striding over to the door and shutting it. " Worried much?" she asked again, but more sarcastic. He didn't respond, but returned back to her. He grabbed her hands and pulled her up, circling around her for some reason she didn't understand.
"So, what signs of powers are you showing?" he murmured, poking her a few times. She flinched, swatting his hand away. "Powers?" Lori turned, a perplexed expression on her face. 'Ninja' simply sighed, rubbing a hand on his face. Crossing his arms, he began muttering to himself.
"Athletic, according to stature which could indicate more physical related powers.. Plus the gymnastics leotard gives it away," he prodded her shoulder, possibly smiling. Lori couldn't tell because of the bandana covering his face.
Pointing to his face, she knit her eyebrows. "I would be a lot more comfortable if you would take your creepy hood and bandana off," she sassed, placing both hands on her hips. 'Ninja' sent her a 'really' look and begrudgingly untied the greyish teal bandana from his lower face and pulled down his hood. She smiled before dropping her arms, getting a good look at his face.
His hair was as dark as onyx, sticking up at random angles from being confined under his hood. It contrasted his pale, hazel grey eyes. 'Ninja' flattened his bangs, sweeping them out of his face. "Better?" he sighed, obviously not used to having his hood down. Lori nodded, giggling a little at a few strands of his hair that stuck straight out of his head, like they had been electrocuted.
"Now that I've revealed all my secrets," he huffed, while Lori rolled her eyes, he looked out the window again. "The sun seems to be rising aga-" he got cut off by Lori making an unbelieving scoff. "There is no way it's sunrise already! It was like, night an hour ago!" she exclaimed, peering over his shoulder.
"Welcome to Aryexia," he grinned at her, going over to the door and opening it.
+++
(Anika's POV)
Feet walking along the forest floor broke the gentle silence of the forest, and two unfamiliar voices woke Anika up from her restful slumber. Fluffing out and extending her wings, Anika glided down to a few branches below, and looked around, attempting to locate the source of the voices. Now, the voices were much louder, indicating that people were closer to her. After waiting a bit more, she noticed a tall man wearing black leading a younger girl in a leotard through the forest.
Excited to finally be able to ask for help, Anika forgot to turn into a human and started squawking madly at the two, getting their attention. She flapped her brown wings desperately at them, and kept letting out shrill squawks. The two started to turn around, but Anika flew up closer to them, crying out desperate chirps. Realizing she was still a bird, Anika morphed back into a human, and fell onto the ground face first. Mumbling, she picked herself back up, wiped the dirt off of herself, noticed that her flower crown was ruined, and looked up to find herself looking up the blade of a sword. She let out a small shriek, held up her hands and took a giant step back, eyes still on the sword, which had gotten closer to her anyways.
The owner of the sword pushed the girl behind him, hissing out a "Who are you!?". Anika, who did not expect to be treated so rudely, frowned and put her hands down. She hesitated for a while before managing to sputter out,
"B-Bonjour. I'm A-Anika. Anika Ettenberg. I got here about yesterday afternoon? And it would be nice if the first person I m-meet wouldn't greet me with a s-sword. So, if you would, k-kind sir, please put it away? I am no threat to you," she whimpered.
The man scoffed, glaring at her. "There is no way a newbie would be able to use her powers so obviously like that, so give it up Dark soldier!" he barked, making Anika wince in fear. The girl stepped out from behind the man, putting a hand on his chest and pushing him back. Anika watched the man growl something under his breath as he submissively backed away.
"Anika, correct?" the girl asked, extending a hand. Anika stared her hand down, looking back at her as if the hand was going to shock her. " I'm Lori," she coughed, lowering her hand awkwardly. " And this is Nin- Jason.." she corrected herself quickly, smiling at Anika.
Jason made a 'tch' noise, interrupting what Lori was about to say. " You shouldn't be giving out information to a Dark spy," he raised his upper lip in a snarl. Lori smacked his shoulder, sending him a cold look. Anika frowned more, scratching her arm with shaky hands.
"So uh, L-Lori.. where are w-we?" Anika asked, looking around the trees. Lori glanced over at Jason.
"According to Nin- er, Jason, we are on Aryexia." She took another fleeting look at Jason again. "Is that right?" Jason let out a grunt in reply, and Lori faced Anika again. "Yeah. Aryexia." Anika nodded.
"A-Ary.. Something. Exia. A-Aryexia. W-where is that on Earth? I-is it c-close to F-france?" Lori shrugged, turning to Jason yet again to confirm. Jason glared at Anika, still not trusting her, and walked over to Lori.
He whispered something in Lori's ear, glaring daggers at Anika. Lori slumped her shoulder forward in defeat. " He says he'll tell me once we get to the camp, since you already know... being a spy an' all." she repeated to Anika.
Anika frowned, and folded her arms. "But I don't know! Can I-I come with you?" Before Jason could respond, Lori nodded feverishly, and stuck one finger in his face to quiet him. "We would love it if you came, right Ni-Jason?" she asked threateningly. Jason meekly nodded in angry silence.
Anika smiled and clapped her hands like a young child. "Oh, thank you so much, L-Lori! I promise to stay quiet on the way there!" Lori smiled in reply, turning to poke Jason. "C'mon, let's keep going before this freaky day-night schedule throws us into pitch blackness!" she urged, pulling his arm in the direction they were previously going.
"Wait what do you mean freaky day-night schedule- oh, er, o-okay th-then!" Anika started, then sighed and stayed quiet. Lori stopped and looked back at her. "What were you saying?" she asked, beckoning her to walk next to them instead of her just trailing behind. Anika shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing." She waved her hand to dismiss Lori's question.
Jason looked at both of them, narrowing his eyes. "It'll be dark if we don't hurry up and stop chitchatting." Anika looked down. "I did promise I'd be silent."
Lori nudged her, smirking. "Oh he's just a big softie, don't let his icicle outside scare you." Anika giggled a little bit in reply as Jason turned and scoffed at Lori. They both quieted down though when they heard very distant wolf howling. Jason tensed, grabbing both of their arms and ushering them in from of him. "Hurry up," he put a finger over his mouth to shush them.
Anika's instincts kicked in, and she transformed into a bird, and flew above Jason. Lori squeaked a little, as Jason tightened his grip on her arm, pushing her to walk faster. "Okay, bird, just stay quiet and don't fly too far away." he whispered to the bird flying around his head. In response to this, Anika sped up to fly next to Lori and landed on her head.
Jumping a little, Lori had to keep her head straight so she didn't knock her off. Jason tutted and shook his head. "We don't have time for this, and we're almost to the camp, stop messing around." He let Lori's arm go and looked behind them. He turned back and sighed in relief. "Nothing yet..".
Anika fluffed her feathers when she noticed strange buildings up ahead and heard more people talking. She turned her head to look right at Jason, who was muttering to himself. "This way." he mumbled, and grabbed Lori's arm once again, and started to drag her to the entrance. Anika, not expecting this, lost balance, and fell off Lori's head. She quickly got up again and landed on Jason's head this time.
He swatted at her, shaking his head. Anika squawked loudly in his ear, and went back to Lori, flying behind her. Jason entered the camp, groaning loudly at a group of girls staring at him. He pulled his hood over his head again, aiming his eyes at the ground and hissing under his breath. He took both Lori and Anika over to an expensive looking building and made them sit. Anika morphed into a human and sat down, whimpering.
A door creaked open from within the room, an even taller man walking in. A few badges shone brightly on his chest, attracting both of the girls' eyes. Straightening his hat, he looked at both of them before turning his hardened eyes to Jason. "Healer Jason, who might these young ladies be?" The man demanded, his voice quite similar to Jason's. Jason sighed before starting of with "Well, you see..."
