Pure and Dark: Entering a Divided World

II

 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.

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(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.