"Hah, won't be flying anytime soon like that! C'mon, Hanae, let's kick its ass!"

"No... Naomi, wait! Don't move, it's trying to counterattack!"

The fortress blew her hair out of her eyes and grimaced, eyes going wide as she turned to look at the gigantic, red-plumed bird, which stumbled back onto its talons and brought its wings into the air, waving them forward and sending a mighty gust barreling over the skyship's occupants. The force of the blow managed to swept the beastwoman nearby off of her feet, long blonde hair waving wildly in the wind, strong enough to even dislodge the arrow that had pierced its bones just moments ago. A swordsman, with both sword and shield in hand, hunched low as the ground underneath him started to move somewhat, and he whipped his head around to look at the young girl at the wheel, easing it to the right to keep the entire thing from being blown backwards. He couldn't help but grit his teeth and grin as he watched the winged monster stumble as well, thrown off balance by its own attack.

"Sahra, keep the Procne steady, we've got an opening!" He called over the din of the battle, getting back to his feet and running over to Naomi and Hanae, pulling the latter up off of the deck, and the pilot turned to look at him, orange goggles planted firmly on her eyes, framed by pale bangs that covered her forehead. She nodded, bringing one hand to her mouth to call back.

"Understood, Skylar!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, glaring at their opponent as she notched an arrow to her bow again, firing this one at its face instead of its wings. The sharpened missile glanced harmlessly off of the bird's beak, but it was enough to tip the scales – and, to the sniper's surprise, to spin the monster itself around. Before any of them could react, it collapsed against the side of the skyship with a resounding crash, its talons tearing into the side of one of the tallest peaks.

That was their cue to let loose with an all-out assault, and the other three explorers broke into a sprint across the deck, feet pounding against the wooden planks, and Skylar closed his eyes and focused. After training, practicing, using them so much, imbuing his sword with elemental power had started to become second nature, and after a brief pause, he felt sparks crack alone the flat of the blade. Pulling his hand back, he blinked just in time to find the bird's head right in front of him, looking utterly dazed and confused, and he hesitantly placed his boot on top of it, testing the perch before hopping up fully and running onto the monster's underbelly, pure muscle hidden underneath the down.

Brandishing his sword, he flipped it over in his hand, chose a random spot on the monster's broad chest, and stabbed downward, hearing a grisly noise as metal effortlessly pierced flesh; the electric current running through the weapon moved from the blade to the bird's body itself, sending it into violent convulsions and nearly knocking the swordsman off balance. A quieter cry rang in his ears as the shaking died down, and he forced himself to look away, watching as Hanae's katana slashed into the monster's neck. A lance of linked lightning connected at the end of her swing, and Skylar barely had time to react as it sent the bird into another round of spasms, his backpack jostling noisily all the while.

"Skylar, what the hell are you doing!?" Naomi yelled from the edge of the Procne, rolling her shoulders back and forth and swinging her hammer as if it was a club – which was, in all fairness, not too far off the mark. The explorer grabbed a handful of feathers, his shield vibrating against his wrist from the monster bird's fit, trying to keep from falling off. "Get back here before I sent you flying along with this damn thing!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!" He needed no further urging, and yanked his sword back up from its place inside of the creature's body, pushing into a jog as he closed in on his teammates.

Hanae stepped up onto the bird's neck and reached out a hand, and he took it, smiling gratefully at the bushi, her tail starting to wag as they both climbed back onto the skyship. Sahra kept watching as their feet hit the deck, everyone staying on their toes even as Naomi let out an arrogant snort, raising her tower shield in front of her. The armor-clad woman spun around without warning, not using her hammer, but her shield as a weapon, smashing it into the bird's beak, earning herself both a sickening cracking noise and a screech of pain from the monster in the process. The sheer power behind the attack was enough to tear the bird's beak off completely, sending it skidding across the Procne, and the monster finally regained its senses, getting back to its feet as Naomi swung her hammer downward.

The knight let out an awkward grunt as she nearly lost her balance, righting herself just before she smashed her weapon into the deck instead of her target. Skylar jogged over and pulled the woman back before she lost her balance completely, and her boots clanked as she stared at the monstrous bird, blood dripping from its wounded mouth. "You're kidding me, this featherbrain can take more pain than I thought! I was sure it'd be down for the count after that!"

"I can't believe it's still able to stand... even if it did migrate here from the Sacred Mountains," Hanae remarked softly, brushing at her padded dress and holding her katana low as she ran over to her friends. She glanced back at Sahra as the sniper loosed a couple arrows from her bow, nodding at the young girl before turning towards Naomi again. "What should we do?"

Skylar shook his head, wiping sweat from his brow with his wrist, cleaning the bracer off on his shirt, feeling the brigandine he wore underneath it. He stared thoughtfully at the bird, noticing as both of Sahra's arrows arched up and over the sides of its neck. "We have to wait for Sahra to knock it down again before we can try to attack it. The foodapult's the only other ranged weapon we have, and we don't have time to load a crate or something into it."

"Crap!" Naomi swore, shooting the creature a mean look, and she brandished her hammer high into the air, sunlight glinting off of it, the sudden glare flashing in the bird's eyes and catching its attention. Skylar and Hanae both shared a frown when the fortress noticed. "Hey, you looking at me!? I bet you miss your beak right now, don'tcha, dumbass!? If the Procne had a cannon like the imperial skyships do, we'd blow your whole damn head right off!"

"Sahra! Guys! Hey!" Everyone looked away from their foe to stare at the white-coated man that dashed over from the other side of the skyship, trying and failing to stuff his journal back into his swinging satchel, his expression a mixture of excitement and alarm. He slowed to a stop next to Sahra and wheezed heavily, worn out from his short sprint, but quickly mustered enough energy to clasp his hands on the sniper's forearms and shake her a bit. The young girl flinched, taken aback by the medic's panic, and she reached out and shoved his chest, sending him onto his backside.

The other three explorers ran over in surprise at the scene, and Skylar knelt close to Sahra, who adjusted the fit of her hairband before taking her goggles off, letting them fall onto her overcoat before nodding stoically at the swordsman. Hanae stood behind the two of them, watching the giant bird, tilting her head curiously as it seemed to find itself distracted by something else. She was about to nudge Skylar and point it out to her friends, but she pulled her eyes away from the monster when someone else let out a short yell.

"Ow!" They looked at the medic as Naomi lightly swatted at his head, his messy mop of hair only providing a little cushion as the woman's gauntlet collided with his scalp. She lifted him onto his feet afterward, helping to dust him off.

"Next time don't come running in and shaking other people around, dumbass!" She shot back at the man, folding her arms impatiently. "Where the hell have you been while we've been fighting anyway, Damien? I mean, nobody's hurt that bad yet, but you could be helping us out... somehow!"

"Hold on, what's wrong?" Skylar said urgently, his teammate's panic still fresh in his mind, and he waved Naomi away, sheathing his sword and clapping his free hand on Damien's shoulder, keeping the medic still as he breathed in and out, his panic starting to fade. A cheerful smile popped right back up onto his face, and before he answered the swordsman's question, he slid his book back into his bag.

"Heh, sorry about all that, Sahra, everyone," He began, but just as soon as he seemed to calm down, his eyes widened to the size of saucers again, and he wrung his hands together, knuckles going white as he dug his fingers into his palms. "But wait, nonononono! No we need to get out of here right now as fast as we can, we're in danger!"

"Were you studying the bird during the fight?" Hanae asked in concern, her soft voice gaining a note a firmness as she spoke, ears laying flat against her head as she stared at Damien.

"No, no, no, I'm not worried about that thing, you were doing great, I took a lot of new notes on it!" He swiveled on his heels and pointing out towards the eastern mountains. "I'm worried about that!"

Everyone traced a line past the trembling digit, and Skylar's heart dropped into his stomach.

Soaring majestically over the horizon was a gargantuan dragon, brilliant crimson scales standing out against the cloudless sky, its wings beating audibly despite the distance between them, and it craned its neck high, announcing its arrival with a terrible roar. The sound shook everyone out of their shock, and the group of five explorers all scrambled around the deck, preparing for take-off. Sahra slung her bow over her arm, tightening her belt and putting her goggles back on as she grabbed the ship's wheel, taking charge as she barked out orders.

"Skylar, Hanae, Naomi, keep the Procne steady! Damien, I need you on the bellows, now!" The sniper tried to keep her voice level as her teammates moved into position, and soon enough she could hear air being pumped at an even pace, sending waves of heat up into the skyship's balloon. A rumble ran underfoot as the ship slowly rose a few inches off of the ground, propellers spinning smoothly, wind rushing past everyone's ears as they started to take flight.

A pained, defiant squawk caught them all off-guard, however, and they soon remembered the monster bird, which stomped over, blood dripping from its face as it extended its damaged wings out in full, talons tearing clumps of dirt up as it picked up speed. Sahra sucked in a breath, spinning the wheel as hard as she could, but it wasn't enough: the red-feathered beast flung itself onto the deck, slamming hard onto the wooden planks and forcing the ship back down to the top of the hill. The Procne teetered back and forth, creaking dangerously as the team's opponent pinned them down.

Skylar waved his arms up and down, trying to keep his balance, furrowing his brow as he watched the bird shuffle around awkwardly, a sad, dying lump of red and black feathers, unable to even roll itself over or even attack them outright. He sucked in a breath when he noticed Naomi, who was trapped underneath the bird's wing, struggling to get free, and he got to his feet, drawing his sword and carefully stepping over to the fortress. The swordsman shoved his blade next to his teammate, gritting his teeth from the strain as he tried to lift the heavy bone, and Naomi quickly realized what he was doing, helping him out by shoving her hammer into the appendage with all of her might.

"Ugh... I can't... keep this thing up for long!" Skylar grunted, his muscles starting to scream for a rest. He forced himself to ignore the aches popping up from his arms to his legs, staring at Naomi through narrowed eyes. "Do you have enough room to get out?"

"Nrrgh, lemme give it a shot-" The knight hunched her shoulders and fidgeted wildly. She was able to inch out a little bit more, but after a few seconds she started to gasp for breath, and she glanced over at her other arm, hidden even further under the bird. "Aah... nah, that's it. My shield arm's going numb, too... looks like this asshole's got me good and stuck."

Skylar turned away sharply, unable to hold the monster any longer, and he let the wing back down, taking gulps of air as a pang of lightheadedness ran through him. The Procne tilted steeply, and the bird finally seemed to give up the ghost, going completely limp and letting gravity take hold of it, sliding down the deck and rendering their efforts moot as its wing bumped into Naomi's chin. Scanning around, the swordsman couldn't see the rest of his teammates, the bird's corpse giant enough to hide most of the deck from view. Skylar took another deep breath, then cried out at the top of his lungs.

"Hanae! Damien, Sahra! Naomi's trapped, we need help here!" His voice echoed across the plains, yet seemed to fall on deaf ears as nobody answered back. The explorer breathed, a couple tears rolling down his face, and tried again, his throat getting hoarser by the second. "Please, I can't get her out alone!"

He heard a scream in return, and he turned and stared at the other side of the ship, swallowing dryly when he saw the plains spreading out far below, the skyship still balancing precariously on the steeper hill where their opponent had perched. His eyes widened when he noticed both Damien and Sahra clinging to the rails, unable to climb back up to help him. "No... I, I need... need..."

He dropped to his knees as the ship shook again, torn between trying to keep helping Naomi, or risking a fall to pull the others up. He felt energy run through his bones as a wave of adrenaline kicked in, and his racing mind seemed to settle down as he thought aloud. "We can't die... not like this, not after everything else we've fought together! Anyone... anyone! Please, help!"

"Sky... lar..." He looked to his side at the quiet, almost inaudible voice, and his jaw dropped as a lithe figure crawled out from behind the tip of the monster's wing. The cream-furred beastwoman wore a disheveled look on her muzzle, returning her katana to its scabbard and holding her arms around her midsection. Skylar reached out as Hanae padded over to him, easing her down to the deck and rubbing her cheeks with his thumbs, opening his mouth and closing it again, too overcome with renewed hope to say anything. The bushi smiled weakly before glancing at Naomi, who had fallen completely unconscious. "Come on... we need to get her out."

Together, they both shoved their hands underneath the giant blanket of feathers, Skylar taking one side while Hanae held onto the tower shield, and Skylar counted down. "Alright... one, two, three!"

The wing rose into the air, bit by bit, more and more as they bent their elbows, curled their fingers, trying as hard as they could to hoist the bony appendage up. Hanae scrunched her face up, groaning softly, and with her added strength, they were able to bring the appendage a short ways off of Naomi's breastplate entirely. Skylar shifted a leg around, shoving the fortress around until she was out from underneath the monster's corpse, kicking her hammer out as well before letting the wing fall back onto the deck.

The two explorers triumphantly collapsed, taking a few moments to catch their breath before dragging themselves to their teammate's side. Skylar put his fingers against the knight's neck, smiling when he felt her pulse, blood pumping at a slow, but steady rate. Hanae gently grasped the back of Naomi's head, her tail starting to wag as she cradled her teammate, and Skylar glanced over at the rails across the Procne, shaking his head as sweat poured down his furrowed brow.

"We need to check on the others, too," He said, coughing afterward from his sore throat as he stood up on shaky feet. "We need to get them and get out of here before-"

He paused as an enormous shadow fell over the entire skyship, the entire hilltop going dark. The swordsman's blood went cold as he looked at Hanae, her eyes filling with unspoken dread. They both turned their heads upward and stared at the king of the skies, only able to see its arms and wings as it lorded over the Procne. His friend finished his sentence for him. "Before... the dragon finds us..."

The crimson dragon roared so loudly and so indignantly that the two explorers immediately had to cover their ears. Skylar couldn't even hear himself as he yelled. "RUN!"

The swordsman and the bushi moved to opposite sides of Naomi, the former picking up her legs while the latter held up her head and back, and they ran as fast as they could, stomping across wood and feathers alike as they made a mad dash for the flat hilltop, their eyes trained on the marks left by the bird monster's talons on the tip of one of the highest peaks. Skylar let out a cry of surprise as he stumbled over the skyship's railing, Hanae yipping similarly as she nearly lost her hold on their friend, and the trio rolled down the side of the ship, landing in a heap in a patch of tall, dry brush.

Hanae was the first to get her bearings back, pulling Naomi away from the steep drop nearby, and she tilted her neck as far as she could, watching in horrified awe as the dragon spun around, lashing out with its sharp, three-pronged tail. The jagged hooks protruding from the tip tore through the Procne's balloon like a knife through butter, causing the entire thing to come apart in a loud burst of air, the familiar yellow material falling onto the deck and covering up even the corpse of the giant monster bird. The skyship thudded to the ground completely, no longer able to fly, and finally capsized, tumbling off the edge of the hill and quickly vanishing from sight.

"Oh my god." She turned and looked at Skylar, his eyes as wide as saucers as he spoke, barely aware that his backpack had fallen to the ground. He reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder, tears starting to fall again, and she realized that she was crying too, the fur on her face already matted.

The dragon snorted, and both explorers looked at the monster as its face finally came into view, smoke rising from its nostrils as it too watched the team's skyship crash far below, its tail waving around, as if the creature was satisfied. Skylar let out an uncharacteristically hateful snarl, digging his fingers into her dress; Hanae herself curled her fists up, even baring her fangs in sheer anger, and shot a fierce glare at the dragon. It only gave them a sideways glance out of the corner of its eyes, snorting again before flying off, making a wide turn before heading back where it came from.

The Windy Plains grew peaceful once again as light shined down on the western cliffs, a near-unthinkable calm falling over the rolling meadows after everything that had just happened, and Skylar let go of his friend, the rage draining from his face as he sighed in relief. Hanae squeaked softly when she felt the swordsman wrap her in a tight embrace, and she quickly looked over at Naomi. The fortress was still unconscious, but alive, if her quiet snoring was any indication.

"Skylar... we should keep an eye on Naomi," She whispered, though she was already getting drowsy, the exhaustion from battling the bird and escaping the dragon taking its toll on her. The warmth of the late afternoon sun wasn't helping either... "If she... wakes..."

"We're both too tired," He replied with a yawn, not realizing or caring if she could hear him anymore. "But you're... we're alive... that's good enough for now."

They fell to their sides, landing next to their teammate, and drifted off to sleep on the hill.

"Mmmummghnuh..."

Damien stirred, scrunching his face as he felt something strangely smooth resting heavily on top of him, and he reached up to scratch an itch in his hair, only to gasp, blinking awake as an ache ran through his tender palms. His vision filled with a flat, bright yellow, light shining down on him through the odd sheet, and he rolled over onto his stomach, sniffing a few times as the smell of grass wafted into his nose. For a moment the wind picked up, and the end of the balloon flapped, letting him see the numerous trees outside-

"The balloon!" Memories surged back to the surface as the medic yelled out, and he tried to hop to his feet, pushing the ripped material up with his arms, sputtering a series of 'oh's and 'no's as he hurried forward, shoes squelching in the mud. When he managed to escape into the open air, he practically jumped for joy, inhaling the fresh forest air. "Ah! Aha, I'm out, I can't believe I made it!"

His cheer startled some birds out of the higher perches, rustling the branches hanging above his head, and the woods drifted into silence, leaving Damien standing alone. He turned around and cringed at the ruined skyship that had crashed to the ground behind him, one half of the torn balloon caught on some of the trees, the other half spreading far along the ground. He tiptoed around the wreck of the Procne, peeking around for any sign of his teammates in the surrounding wilderness, only to leap into the air and yell in shock when he was met with a gigantic bird corpse instead.

"Hello? Hey, Sahra? Are you around?" The explorer cupped his hands to his mouth as he called out, frowning when he got no response, and he swung his satchel around and opened it up, digging inside for his notebook and pencil. "I remember we got knocked over when the bird hopped onboard, and then the ship was tilting so much that we couldn't get back on... weird. Where could she be?"

Wandering around, something hard sank into the dirt as he walked over it, and he stared down at the splintered plank of wood that he had stepped on. He raised his head back up slowly, inspecting the shards of the broken ship that littered the crash site, ranging from whole chunks like the one underfoot to smaller slivers that could have been mistaken for being bits of tree bark or the like. The doctor shook his head, glancing back at the monster bird splayed out nearby and flipping his journal open to the page of notes he had taken earlier. He hastily sketched the creature's wounded, de-beaked head, looking up every so often to make sure he had gotten the details right.

"Interesting... they look weird without a beak," He muttered to himself, tapping the end of the charcoal stick against his other wrist, and a slight glint of metal caught his eye. He walked over, roughly shoving his book into a coat pocket, and tugged on the pommel of a sword stuck lightly underneath the bird's wing – Skylar's sword! He struggled to hold it up, having to use both hands as he looked over the blade. "I guess it didn't fall on us because we got blown clear when the balloon popped... hahaha, the dragon actually helped save us!"

"Damien!" A voice rang through the forest, accompanied by startled birds fluttering away.

"Huh? Hey, who's there?" The medic spun around on his heels, satchel smacking into his hips as he brandished his teammate's sword, hunching forward a bit from the weight of the weapon, eyes going wide as he heard his name. He stepped back, looking around for the source of the noise. "Is that another explorer? I'm glad you're here, I could really use some help now that our skyship's kaput!"

"Damien, it's me." He felt something fly into his hair and get tangled inside, and he dropped Skylar's blade, reaching up to take an acorn out of his unkempt locks. Looking up, he beamed at the young girl that was crouching on a branch above his head, one arm at her quiver as she held her bow at the ready. Sahra jumped down from her perch, goggles bouncing against her overcoat, and adjusted her red hairband as she walked over to her fellow explorer. "I was doing some scouting around, looking for you and the others. How long have you been awake?"

"Sahra! I was wondering where you were, you should check on this bird, looks like there's a lot of neat stuff we could bring back to sell or examine... er," Damien stopped himself before he started to babble as the sniper folded her arms and looked up at him. He grinned sheepishly, shrugging in response. "I guess I've been awake for a little bit! I haven't seen Skylar or Naomi or Hanae though but I bet they're okay!"

Sahra shook her head, taking a few steps past the doctor to stare at the wreckage of their skyship, letting out a sad, wistful sigh as she waited and watched for a few somber minutes. "Get a warp wire. We need to get back to town and let Ciaran know what's happened. He'll know what to do to recover the Procne so it can get fixed."

Damien nodded cheerfully, crouching down and letting his satchel fall, taking a moment to get his notebook out of his coat to put it away properly before he fully opened the bag and started to rifle through his supplies, bottles of medicine clinking and rolls of bandages brushing against the leather. After some searching, the medic cocked his head in confusion, fully pulling out various knick-knacks until he was able to flatten his palm on the bottom of the bag. "That's weird... I could have sworn they were in here but where are they?"

"What did you say?" Sahra asked, and he glanced over his shoulder at the young girl, scooting sideways a bit to let her take a look for herself. Her expression stayed serious, even as she reached into the medic's satchel.

"I think... we might not have any wires with us?" The man stood up and scratched his hair, blinking in surprise, and he casually slipped his hands into his pockets and peered around the forest as he thought hard. Sahra rooted around for another moment or two before giving up, and both scooped the medical supplies back inside. "After all, we aren't too far away from Tharsis! Why don't we walk? It'll be like an adventure! I've never gotten to see the Windy Plains on foot before-"

"And that's for a good reason," Sahra interrupted, seizing Damien's hand and pulling forcefully; he barely had time to snatch his bag up as the pale-haired girl broke into a brisk stroll, grunting somewhat as he was dragged along. The sniper only slowed her pace to sling her bow back across her shoulder, and she opened up one of her belt pouches, opening up their roll of maps as she sped back up. "Do you know how much ground a skyship is able to cover compared to walking?"

"Huh? Hmm..." The question made Damien pause – in his thoughts, at least, as he couldn't stop walking without ending up face-first in the dirt – and after thinking a bit, he shook his head, smiling cheerfully. "Nope, I never actually thought about that! Lemme get my notes first and then I'd be happy to hear all about it, though, it sounds really interesting!"

"If you want, Damien, I'll tell you later, but not now. Skyships are the same as ships that sail the oceans, they're much faster than hiking or swimming." The trees started to thin out as the two explorers walked through the forest, far fields and meadows visible past the smaller trunks, and Damien turned to check on the Procne, only to find that it was already out of sight. "It took us somewhere around twenty minutes to find that bird's nest, and on the way there, we passed the Old Forest Mine and flew over a river. Since you didn't bring a wire, now we have to walk, and swim, back home, and we still don't know where the others are. We probably won't make it to Tharsis until after nightfall."

The implications of the amount of trouble they were in quickly sank in, and Damien let out a quiet, embarrassed 'oh'. Shaking his hand free from Sahra's grasp, the medic jogged alongside his friend, ignoring his bumps and bruises as he ran, reaching around and holding his satchel close to his side to keep it from bouncing around. He looked back one last time, then grinned, enthusiasm returning. "Then let's get a move on, time's a'wasting!"

When Skylar returned to consciousness, it felt like hours upon hours had passed, unable to shake his tiredness away; he could hear his own breathing in the tranquil silence that settled around him. Even the bounding beasts seemed to be snoozing for the night, and he was tempted to fall back to sleep. Lightly squeezing the beastwoman in his arms, he curled up and rested his head against hers, shivering a little as one of her sidelocks tickled his ear. The sensation proved too much for the explorer before long, and he craned his neck, yawning, blinking as his vision adjusted to the growing darkness.

...darkness?

"What...? Time is?" He mumbled, twisting as best he could to look upward. The stars had winked into existence, bright twinkling spots against the night sky. When he tried to move further, a painful ache ran down his neck, and he took a deep breath of the cool air, tightening his grip on Hanae's midsection before digging his heels into the grass and rolling onto his back. The movement shook the bushi awake, and Skylar took a brief glimpse across the Windy Plains, spotting the moon, which sat just above the eastern mountains, illuminating the waterfall flowing on the horizon.

"O-ooh..." Hanae moaned groggily, bringing her arms up to wipe the sleep from her eyes, ears twitching and tail wagging as she fidgetted on top of her friend. "Oh! Wait... the Procne!"

She sat up straight, perking up almost immediately, and Skylar winced in surprise, eyes going wide as the beastwoman shifted her weight until she was resting on the swordsman's ribs, accidentally winding him. He loosened his grip and patted her belly in distress, each nudge more agitated than the last, and she quickly got the message, blushing as she stood up and stepped away, watching as her friend flopped over and pushed himself to his knees. He chuckled between inhales when he felt Hanae start to gingerly stroke his back, the layered brigandine underneath rubbing against his muscles.

"Heh, ah, ouch... haah...!" Skylar grunted gratefully, licking his dry lips and getting to his feet moments later, dusting bits of grass and loose crumbs of soil off of his shirt and pants. He turned to his teammate, giving her a reassuring smile, which she returned with a demure smile of her own. "Thanks, Hanae. Are you alright? Nothing's broken or anything?"

"I think I'm okay..." She answered softly, looking at each of her limbs and shaking them in turn, from her arms to her legs, even glancing down at her tail as it continued to wave in the air. Skylar trudged over and grabbed his backpack, and she gazed at the plains below, her dress whipping in the cool breeze. "Yeah, I'm okay. But... how long were we asleep? I thought that Damien would have used a warp wire to bring us all back to the cargo wharf by now."

"Hmm, it must have been a good couple of hours. Sahra was with him too, now that you mention it," Skylar replied, walking up to her side, and he slowly scanned from left to right, extending an arm and pointing at Tharsis when he spotted it; lights shined in the various windows of the far-off buildings, making the city glow in the darkness. Hanae worriedly bowed her head, squatting down and peering at the small forest spreading out from the base of the hills.

"You don't think... that they're-" She whispered, but paused when the swordsman hunched down and peered at the woods himself.

"No. No way they'd die that easily," He said without a trace of doubt, and chuckled afterward, looking embarrassed with himself. The beastwoman looked over, her curiosity piqued. "Heh... though I was getting pretty worried about it during the fight, until you showed up and helped out with lifting that bird's wing up."

"Oh my goodness! That's right, Naomi!" Hanae exclaimed, shooting back up to her feet and spinning on her claws, jogging over to the woman in question. Skylar stood up soon afterward, and quickly ambled over to his teammates, watching as the bushi cradled Naomi's head in her lap, the sound of the knight's breathing getting harder to hear above the strengthening wind. The man pressed his fingers against Naomi's neck again – nodding when he felt her pulse was still there – and focused hard for a moment, a tingle rippling through his nerves, healing magic seeping from his palms to the fortress' body. Once he pulled away, he looked around the plains, eyes narrowed.

"We shouldn't stay here. I doubt there are any other giant birds around up here, since that red one would have driven them all off, but..." His gaze lingered on a patch of trees that wound high into the air, tall enough to rival the highest peaks that rose up from the grasslands, and the swordsman gestured at his friend to look at it as well. "There! That has to be the Dense Bushlands, right?"

Hanae studied the towering forest for a few moments longer, but her expression brightened considerably once she was finished, tail wagging happily as she turned towards Skylar. "Mmhm, it must be. But are you should we should go there? Naomi won't be in any condition to fight when she first wakes up, and..."

She gasped quietly, ears pointing into the air in shock, and reached out, roughly grabbing her friend's scabbard. The explorer tensed, bringing an arm down to rest on his weapon's pommel, only for him to find Hanae's hand instead, and he stared lamely the empty leather. After a few seconds, he sucked in a nervous breath.

"That's... that's not good," The swordsman said. "That's..."

Hanae watched as Skylar shook his head, determination gracing his features.

"No, we should still try and take shelter in the bushlands. We'll have a roof and we might even run into another explorer," He continued, retrieving his backpack and looking inside of it. He frowned in disappointment, closing it just as quickly as he had opened it up, and glanced at his friend. "The only things I've got in here are some extra medicas, the tinderbox, and some cooking supplies, though, so I won't be much help if a frog or something attacks us..."

"Don't... don't worry, Skylar. You can rely on me," Hanae responded, patting her katana before looping her arms underneath Naomi's shoulders and lifting, the fortress' armor clanking noisily as her head drooped, chin bumping into her breastplate.

Skylar smiled warmly at the beastwoman, slipping his backpack on again and grabbing Naomi by her greaves, and the two explorers slowly started to make their way across the hillside, the rising moon providing just enough light to see, gleaming off of their teammate's armor. Gusts of wind whipped around as they went, stopping every so often to catch their breath, the knight's heavy armor taking its toll on them. All the while, Naomi didn't even seem to stir, though Skylar noticed during one quick break that her breathing was louder. Whether it was because the wind had died down or she was simply getting louder, he couldn't tell.

The sense of time seemed to slip away as they hustled across the high plains, the tall walls of dirt and rock giving way to small, sprawling fields, then dropping into deeper, forested canyons down below. As the slopes turned steeper, the cliffs turned smaller, and Skylar and Hanae both couldn't help but occasionally turn to see the sights around them, spotting a familiar spring in the valley spreading out on one side, while the Dense Bushlands on their other side seemed to grow taller with every step. Hanae rapidly nodded at the swordsman to slow down for a moment, and they eased Naomi to the ground, taking another rest.

"I never realized... just how big the Windy Plains were..." Hanae remarked breathlessly, panting as she sat down on her knees, dropping her arms to her lap and twiddling her thumbs. She dug her feet into the soft, loamy soil, drawing tiny lines with her claws. Skylar reached out and playfully tapped the toe of a boot against her pawpads, chuckling when the beastwoman shyly pulled away, then relaxed again and gently nudged him back. "How much further do you think we have to go?"

"No idea, I'm not sure either-" Skylar began, only to find his response rudely interrupted by an abrupt, loud, nasally noise, and then an odd croak afterward.

The swordsman and the bushi both looked over at Naomi, who had managed to snore herself away, reaching up with a gauntlet and rubbing at her armor in a weary daze. The explorers quickly moved to the woman's side, and the woman let out a yawn, stretching out and nearly hitting the her friends in the process.

"What the hell?" Naomi swore in greeting, shaking her head as Hanae ran her fingers underneath the woman's dirty hair to try and lift her up. The fortress' eyes were glazed over, and she stuck her tongue out with a slightly pained grimace. "Goddamn... chest hurts something fierce. Is that you, Hanae?"

"Yeah, and Skylar's here, too," The beastwoman replied softly, glancing over at the dark-haired man as he took a vial of medicine from his pack, pulling the cork and scooting closer. Hanae lifted Naomi's head, firmer this time, and kept speaking gently as Skylar touched the bottle to the knight's lips, emptying its contents down her throat. "Here, don't move... just drink and swallow and you'll feel a little better."

The fortress did so in uncharacteristic silence, too wounded and weary to bother talking, and she gulped down the medica, smacking her lips afterward; Skylar placed his hands on her throat and closed his eyes, concentrating, focusing through the tingling running through his nerves. The sensation faded as the weak healing magic seeped from his palms into his teammate's body, and he sighed, hunching his shoulders in relief, lightheadedness hitting him for the second time that day.

Thankfully, the double effort worked, and when Naomi opened her eyes again, she was much more lively, managing to sit up all by herself and clap the swordsman's back. "Ah, now that's more like it! I still feel like a bison stomped on me, but not quite so hard, hah!"

Hanae smiled small at her friend and helped her to her feet, holding her steady as she wobbled a little bit on shaky feet, but the beastwoman looked over in alarm at Skylar as he exhaled heavily, rubbing his forehead with both hands. She stayed with Naomi for a second or two more before rushing over to the other explorer, tightly grasping his shoulders and watching as he shook his head, though she couldn't help but lean forward some. "S-sorry, you two... after carrying Naomi for a while and then casting that healing spell, now I'm starting to get worn out."

"Carrying me!? Why were- wait, that bird! Shit, I just remembered!" Naomi yelled, and she hastily spun around in a circle, searching in vain for any sign of their skyship or the corpse of the monster, only to end up dizzy. "A-ahhoohwooh... man, I still feel out of it tooooo. Whaat's the deal, then, where were you goiiiing to?"

Hanae felt Skylar lean into her, and she staggered backwards ever-so-slightly, a little tired herself. The two of them plodded over to Naomi, and the beastwoman waited until they had all recovered from their exhaustion before speaking up, her gentle voice layered thick with worry. "Here, let's walk together so we don't leave anybody behind... we can't be too far from the Dense Bushlands now, and we don't have to carry Naomi anymore, so it won't take quite as long. Are you ready?"

Naomi grunted, Skylar nodded, and Hanae drew her katana, pointing it out as they started to march forward, all three of them leaning on each other for support.

A pleasant bubbling sound flowed across the plains as Damien bent down and picked up a small, smooth stone, glancing out at the river as he lightly flicked his wrist a couple times, letting go of his projectile on the third toss, watching hopefully as the pebble spun around. He hunched his shoulders as it dipped and hit the surface of the water... and bounced once before disappearing with a plunking splash, airborne droplets shining in the moonlight. He let out a cheer of success, throwing his arms in the air as his hair bounced along with him. "Hey, look at that! Sahra, did you see that?"

He turned to look at the sniper, only for his enthusiasm to drain away when he noticed that she was all the way near the corner of the river, and he hastily jogged over to his teammate, who was staring across the plains at Tharsis. Her distant expression hidden behind her goggles; she was very lost in thought. The medic awkwardly scratched at his neck, squatting down to the young girl's level and waving a hand in front of her face.

"I'm fine." Damien grinned at Sahra's curt reply, reaching up and ruffling her ponytail, and the explorer pulled an arrow from her quiver and whipped it outward, pointing the tip of the projectile towards a shallow section across the water. The sudden movement made the doctor tumble onto his backside, and he grunted, tugging his coat out from under him as he glanced over the river. "It looks like we might be able to cross the easiest from here. Hold your stuff above your head if you want it to stay dry."

The medic's eyes lit up, and he nodded, grabbing his satchel and sitting it on his hair at Sahra's suggestion. The sniper lightly tossed the arrow into the air, flipping it over and dipping the fletched end into the river, watching as the colorfully-painted feathers ruffled from the force of the flowing tide, and after a moment, she returned it to her quiver, adjusting its fit against her hips and taking a step forward. Her entire foot, boot and all, sank into the river, and the sniper brought her other leg around and fully submerged herself into the stream, beckoning her teammate to follow before launching into a front crawl, her bow rattling against her overcoat.

Damien tightened the fit of his shoes before stepping in as well, yelping in surprise as his foot fell much further than he had expected, and he nearly lost his balance as he hopped into the river, ungainly splashing around before he came to his senses and started to tread water. It took the explorer some time until he kicked off, still holding his bag above the water, shaking his elbows like a chicken in a meager attempt to move faster. He had made good progress before something strange, smooth and slippery bumped into him.

"Huh? What was that?" He blurted out, freezing in place, and he curiously shoved his face into the stream, still keeping his satchel away as he stared below. The sight of a group of oval-shaped animals swirling around him, just as curious about him as he was about them, made him grin excitedly, and he rose up again, shouting out to his teammate. "Hey, Sahra, there's a bunch of fish down here!"

The sniper continued to swim through the river, looking over her shoulder at her teammate. "They're only trout, Damien! Keep moving!"

"Oh. Right right, sorry!" He called back, but when he tried to move forward, he bumped into the school of fish, causing some of them to panic when they swam headfirst into the man's coat. Damien stared down into the water again when he felt the trout tugging and pushing him around, and he suddenly lurched sideways, gasping sharply and nearly losing his grip on his satchel before kicking in the opposite direction.

His efforts worked, but only a little, and he was stuck trying to keep himself from being swept away by the river's current and by the fish that followed it. Carefully bringing an arm down, tilting his head to keep his bag balanced on his head, he grabbed the edge of his coat and opened it wide, freeing his accidental catches. Before he could end up in any more trouble, he hastily paddled the rest of the way across the river, looking sheepish when he smacked a few other innocent fish with his feet.

When he got to the shallow side of the river, Sahra was already there waiting for him, reaching out and grabbing his satchel with both hands to pull him onto the shore. The medic laughed heartily as he crawled onto dry grass, his damp clothes sticking uncomfortably to him, and he glanced over at his teammate, watching as she wrung out parts of his coat, speaking up in the meantime. "You got distracted anyway, didn't you?"

When Damien opened his mouth, a fish, leaping from one of his pockets when the sniper reached for it, answered her question for him, and her eyes widened just slightly before she snatched the trout up by its tail and flung it away. The medic rolled over and sat down, clapping when the fish smacked into the water, then jumped out once or twice, as if it was thanking them. "Good toss!"

"Come on, we're almost back to town." Sahra yanked, more gently than before, on the older man's shoulder, and he grinned, shoes squelching as he got to his feet. The sniper started to walk away again, and he followed along at the young girl's side, the dirt path leading to Tharsis coming into view.

"Aaaaahhh... man, remind me to never try and push big monsters off of me like that again, I feel like shit."

Hanae's ears twitched as she glanced over at Naomi, who rested nearby against the trunk of a fallen tree, most likely having been smashed over by one of the red bears that were native to the Dense Bushlands. Skylar's eyes flicked to the fortress as well, then focused back on the small pile of firewood that the beastwoman had chopped with her katana, holding a curved piece of steel and readying a shard of flint. The explorer brought the sharp stone down, striking it against the steel and sending a few sparks down onto the sticks and dried leaves, and they quickly caught alight, strengthening as more and more of the fuel burned up. The campfire cast a pleasant heat around the secluded grove, and Hanae turned back to her work, slashing a small sapling into a handful of chunks, then picking up the pieces and bringing them over to her friends. As Skylar closed the tinderbox and put it away, she spoke up.

"Are you sure that you're okay now, Naomi?" She asked, setting the small logs down next to Skylar before returning her weapon to its scabbard and sitting down next to the fire, resting on her knees with her hands clasped together on her lap. "We... we were worried. You should at least get a checkup at the clinic when we get back to Tharsis."

"Hanae's right, that's a good idea," Skylar added, leaning close to the burning wood and blowing strongly, smiling in satisfaction as it flickered, sending tiny embers swirling into the sky to be swept up by the wind. It was much colder now, but the bushes and trees that surrounded them helped to block it out somewhat. Naomi groaned dismissively at the suggestion, to which the swordsman looked up from his work. "Frankly, I'm amazed that the wing bone didn't even dent your armor."

"Hah, this? Yeah, I guess it's pretty great, huh? Nothing gets through plate armor this good!" The fortress replied, smirking smugly as she rapped her knuckles against the other arm's pauldron.

The bushi's mouth twisted into a small frown at her teammate's bragging, and she shook her head, long sidelocks splitting unevenly on her shoulders. She reached back to try and brush her long, disheveled hair, running her fingertips from top to bottom. "I really think you should make sure, just in case. We're lucky that the only thing we might have lost was... the Procne..."

The conversation drifted into a melancholy silence as the three explorers remembered their fallen skyship, though Naomi recovered quickly, no doubt because she had been unconscious while the ship had crashed. "How bad was it, anyway? I mean, we've never crashed before, so..."

The scene of the craft, tilting uncontrollably, the dragon's tail lashing out, a loud burst of air as it plummeted over the edge of the hill, replayed itself in Skylar and Hanae's minds, and the former walked over to the latter, gently taking her hair in hand to help to comb the knots and tangles out. Hanae felt herself blush at the affectionate gesture, the somber mood replaced by her usual modest shyness, and she pulled back and let her cheeks fall into her palms.

"We don't know," Skylar said, letting out a despondent sigh, not even looking at Naomi as he instead let his chin rest just behind one of Hanae's ears, which unconsciously flicked back at him. "The balloon is shot for sure, but other than that, I have no idea. The hull's probably wrecked, but I'm really hoping that that's the worst of it. If the black flame and bellows were damaged..."

The swordsman stopped when the shrubs across from the campfire rustled noisily, and the explorers grew tense; Hanae moved from a kneel to a squat, ready to spring to her feet as she grasped her katana. Naomi reached around for her hammer, let out a 'huh!?' when she couldn't find it, and bent around to look for it, utterly dumbstruck when she found no sign of it anywhere. The knight gave up soon after the realization, putting her fists up in front of her face as she stared into the shadowy depths of the bushlands. Seconds passed, then minutes. The plants steadily slowed, swaying less and less until they stopped completely.

The wind whistled eerily through the trees and branches – the campfire wavered from the chilly gust – and soon slowed as well, then swelled up again, carrying a faint scent of honey through the glade. Skylar glanced at his shield, which he had left near his backpack.

His shirt writhed against his brigandine, and his gaze shot down to his midriff... only to find that there was nothing there. He furrowed his brow, reaching over Hanae's shoulder and waving at both of his teammates to get their attention before he tightened his fingers and jabbed down.

He sucked in a breath when he prodded an unseen, slimy something, and then, what could only be a horn gently pressed between his shoulderblades. "It's a jig liz-!"

His cry was muffled as he felt the tongue constrict around his body, gasping as the air was forced out of his lungs, the flexible scalemail tightening against his stomach. Hanae pounced a few paces away and spun on her toes, cerise eyes widening in shock, and Naomi turned and growled at the feral chameleon as it shed its camouflage, along with two more standing just behind it. Skylar dug his hands into the slippery appendage, his mouth flattening into a line as he held his breath, a prickle of fear running down his spine as he watched the jig lizard's friends leap over his head and into the glade.

Hanae's had her katana halfway out of its scabbard before one of the lizards confronted her, whipping its tongue out and wrapping it around her forearm, tugging strongly to try and pull her off balance. She yelped at the attack, letting go of the handle and trying her best to grab it with her other hand as she was yanked around. Skylar continued to struggle in his opponent's grasp, turning towards Naomi, who had managed to dodge underneath the other chameleon's lashing strike and landed a couple of heavy jabs onto its stomach.

The monster, undaunted, spun in a circle and bent down, kicking its feet outward and smacking them into the armor-clad woman's breastplate, just barely missing her neck. She stumbled backwards as she felt the impact against her already-wounded chest, puffing her cheeks out as she exhaled, eyes going wide, then narrowing into a glare.

"Oh, that's the way you're playing, huh, jackass?" She growled, closing one of her eyes to shield herself from the light of the campfire, but then she paused in thought, grinning toothily soon afterward. As the lizard readied another lash of its tongue, the knight looked from side to side before shoving a gauntlet into the flames, pulling out a burning, ash-coated log and holding it in front of her. "Eat shit!"

The chameleon had no time to re-think his attack once his tongue sprung out, and as soon as it touched the heavy chunk of wood, the monster screeched in dismay, loud enough to startle the sleeping birds out of their perches above. Before it could pull back, Naomi roughly grabbed the tip, pressed the log into it even harder, and dragged, leaving a trail of ashen burns on the flesh. The lizard flailed about painfully, managed to get free from its wild movements, and Naomi grabbed a handful of ashes and threw them into its face. She didn't move, however, still breathing hard from the blow to her chest.

The other two jig lizards somewhat lost their focus on their own prey at the noises of their hurt comrade, and Hanae's foe looked away, pausing in its game of tug-of-war and giving the beastwoman just enough time to safely draw her weapon, holding it in a reverse grip as she slashed upwards. The monster quickly returned its attention to the bushi as it felt the metal sever its hold, but was bowled over as the stumpy remains of the tongue slapped into its face on its return trip to its mouth.

Skylar still dug his fingers into his own foe's tongue, but his vision started to blur as he watched his teammates fight; he couldn't hold his breath for much longer. The swordsman glanced over his shoulder at his own opponent, bending his elbows as much as he could before jabbing them backwards into its eyes, and he did it again, and again and again, until the grip loosened.

The jig lizard whined, taken aback at being temporarily blinded, and Skylar took a haggard gulp of air, managing to turn around a bit more and hitting the chameleon's tiny horn with his bracer. It still covered its face with its hands, too busy trying to see clearly again, and with a shove, the explorer forced the monster away, wheezing as he adjusted his shirt and scalemail. The swordsman jogged over to the campfire and slung his backpack over his shoulders, watching out of the corner of his eyes as Hanae finished one of the lizards off with another deft cut, and picked up his shield, mouth curling into a confident smile at the familiar weight.

"S-Skylar! Behind you!" Hanae called, running up to his side, and he hunched low, wincing slightly when he blocked a glancing blow. He peeked cautiously above the rounded silver, getting to his feet while the jig lizard wildly thrashed its tail around the glade, still unable to see where it struck, but no longer caring, either. The bushi next to him raised her katana above her head, hips swaying as she rhythmically bounced on her feet, and the swordsman gazed, mesmerized, for a few moments, before tearing himself away, trying his hardest not to blush. Shaking his embarrassment away, he instead stared at the lashing green tail, waiting and watching for an opening.

An opening came moments later, when the monster waddled in place to take a look at the glade-turned-battlefield, pulling its stubby arms away from its eyes, enough time having passed that it was able to see again. Before it had even finished turning, Skylar had kicked off, running up to the chameleon and reared back with his shield. The lizard's feet faded into its surroundings as it tried to camouflage itself, but was bashed into the dirt as the swordsman slammed his shield against its head.

Hanae followed up her friend's attack without missing a beat, dancing forward and twirling around, her blade flashing in the firelight as it landed a clean cut through the chameleon's body. The monster gargled as the slash sent it tumbling into the campfire, and it let out a strangled croak before going limp atop the dying kindling, blood leaking onto the ashes. The beastwoman gasped at the pitiful sight, holding a palm in front of her muzzle, and Skylar recoiled as the corpse burned, its wretched smell mingling with the sweeter scent of honey as trails of smoke rose high above the bushlands.

"Hey, could'ja both maybe give me a little hlurk!?" Naomi's voice shook them out of their trance. Hanae bowed her head, wiping her blade on her padded dress, and Skylar looked over at Naomi. The fortress had lurched in pain and dropped her makeshift burning club as the final jig lizard smacked its wounded tongue against her chest again, cutting her off in the middle of her call. "Agh! Little help!"

"Hang on, Naomi!" Skylar replied, wiping beads of sweat from his brow, then running a free hand through his dark hair as he moved to flank the chameleon, one of its eyes trained on him, the other on the knight. Hanae darted behind the monster's back, still stepping to the samba beat that she counted out in her head. Naomi got to her feet, curling her fists and stomping forward as all three explorers approached their opponent. The lizard inched backwards, stopping when it touched the thicker foliage and realized it was cornered.

"Yeah, hahaha! There's nowhere for you to run now, huh?" Naomi taunted, her voice arrogant as she punched the air a couple times, armor clanking and grass scrunching as the monster's eyes flicked between her, Skylar, and the deeper parts of the forest. The fortress threw her arms wide, fists still clenched as she continued to egg the lizard on. "C'mon, just try and hit me, see what you get!"

"N-Naomi, no!" Hanae stammered, and the jig lizard turned around to stare at the bushi that had slunk behind it, leaving its back exposed to the other two explorers. The beastwoman swung her weapon defensively, holding it out from her shoulder. "You're already wounded!"

The bushlands suddenly rumbled, shaking audibly as the trees and bushes rustled from the aftershock, and everyone's eyes went wide in confusion, even the jig lizard's; said lizard dashed into the undergrowth with a frightened noise, and Naomi flinched, taking a step forward and unsuccessfully grabbing at its rapidly fleeing tail. "Hey, get back here! Dammit!"

"No, wait!" Skylar said, reaching out towards the knight, and she froze in place, letting her arms drop back to her sides after a moment. They all took a deep breath, though Hanae coughed a couple times from the sweet-and-rotten smell that had filled the glade. The swordsman looked from her to Hanae, who dropped her arms, the tip of her katana stuck into the dirt, and then furrowed his brow as the forest shook again, standing on the balls of his feet as he glanced down. "What's making that...?"

A heavy, gray paw smashed down in front of them, and the three explorers jumped back, Naomi wincing and bringing her palms to her chest, trying in vain to massage the bruises through her armor. Hanae jogged over to her friends, sheathing her blade and lightly brushing against Skylar's and Naomi's shoulders, beckoning them to move away from the new creature that was plodding into the clearing. Sharp claws, shaped like scythes and stained with blood, effortlessly carved into the grassy loam, and narrow yellow eyes, looking enraged yet also very, very lethargic, shined in the darkness. Hanae let out a muted squeak at the monster, and Skylar felt his heart plummet again, just as unpleasant as it had been hours before. Naomi simply voiced their thoughts.

"Ohhhhh shit."

The bloodbear gave a roar and loped forward, chasing the explorers as they turned and ran.

A voice yelled out over the sound of whirling propellers, air rushing past a skyship as it slowed to a stop. "Yeh're sure that it was around here where everything went down, kiddo?"

"It has to be, teacher- Ciaran," Sahra corrected herself solemnly, gesturing out towards the tall hills with a bare hand; both she and Damien had headed straight for the cargo wharf as soon as they had reached Tharsis, changing into dry sets of clothes and departing immediately after they explained the situation. The red-haired engineer took his goggles off and peeked away from the skyship wheel long enough to follow where the girl pointed, and he squinted at the hillside, just barely able to make out the talon prints in the steep slope. The sniper next to him nodded. "I can't see Skylar, Hanae, or Naomi, though. Before the ship fell, I heard them yell out to run, so they must have escaped onto the cliffs. Damien, can you see them at all?"

"Huh what? Sorry, I didn't hear you, what did you say, Sahra?" The medic jogged across the deck, wearing a baggy shirt and pants that made him bumble and wobble as he ran over to his friends. Ciaran took the moment to dig out his map of the Windy Plains, marking off the small area they were hovering over, and he grinned widely at the young girl's weary sigh, reaching past her bow and patting her shoulder reassuringly. She nodded at him in response,

"I asked if you could see the others." She grabbed Damien's wrist and led him over to the edge of the skyship, pointing out to the unmistakable markings, the moon hanging in the middle of the sky, softly illuminating the lines scored into the mountain. Both explorers leaned over the railing, surveying around. "I can't see hide or hair of them. Can you?"

"Hmmm... nah, I can't seem them either," Damien said after a moment, shrugging nonchalantly and chuckling lightly. "Heh, if they were able to jump ship, they might have gone to find some shelter somewhere. Maybe they dug a hole further into the hill! See if you can see something like that, Sahra!"

Shelter... Sahra bit the inside of her cheek at the thought, staring over the side of the railing again at the flat-topped hills, scuffed and scraped from their battle with the monstrous red bird earlier in the evening. Despite Damien's excitement, there was clearly nothing dug into the walls of the peaks, but the sniper walked away, one hand clamped firmly to the rails as she moved to the very tip of the skyship, narrowing her eyes at the sight of the Dense Bushland just a short distance away. It was hard to tell, but the light from the moon provided enough light to see a thin trail of smoke rising above the tops of the trees, strong enough to resist – at least somewhat – the raw winds of the plains beyond the forest. There was only one reason someone would light a fire in a forest.

She reached behind her and waved a hand at Ciaran, and the older pilot stood up on his tiptoes, wind ruffling the fur-lined collar of his uniform. "Look at the Bushland! They must have gone to take shelter there for the night. Where there's smoke, there's fire."

"Alright, Sahra. Both of you, get yehrselves over to the bellows!" Ciaran ordered, easing the wheel around to turn towards the hills and circle around to the maze-like forest, and the two explorers did as they were told, jogging past him to their places on the deck. "I sure hope yeh're right about this."

The skyship quickly started to move again, gaining altitude as the whirling fans propelled it forward, and it passed above the forests and flatlands, winds and water, only taking a few more minutes to cross over the deep valley and surrounding cliffside before finally lowering back to a moderate height, just in front of the Dense Bushland. The smoke came clearer into view as they closed the distance more and more, though its source was hopelessly obscured by the wild flora.

Ciaran eased his skyship over the maze until he found what looked like a decent landing site. He whistled at Sahra, who ran over at his call, already having figured out what he wanted. The young girl helped the other pilot keep the ship steady... steady now... until the bottom of the hull gently bumped the tall brush below, its plain, unadorned balloon rippling slightly from the impact. The noise was accompanied by a couple extra pumps of the bellows courtesy of Damien, putting the skyship at a safe few inches off the ground.

Sahra nodded firmly, folding her arms as she strode over to a coiled rope ladder, Ciaran hot on her heels, and they both hefted the rough yarn over the edge of the vehicle, hearing it bounce and bump against the side on its way down. Damien ran up just behind them both, taking a moment to roll up his loose pants and sleeves. The sniper glanced at her teammate briefly before looking back at her mentor, readying her bow with hardened gray eyes. "Keep the skyship ready to go at any time. With luck, this won't take us long."

"Are yeh... sure yeh want to go in searching, Sahra?" Ciaran asked, hesitating at first before shaking his head. "Yeh've grown up a lot since I stopped teaching yeh and yeh started exploring, but yeh're not at your best to be fighting any monsters tonight. None of yeh are, I'd reckon."

"No offense meant, Ciaran sir, but that's why I'm going in! Well it's one reason anyway," Damien interrupted, and both pilots looked at the other explorer, who patted his satchel. "We can't just sit and leave them in trouble! That's what Skylar would say anyway, he'd do the same thing! If we were stuck and they were with you, I mean."

The red-haired pilot smiled wistfully, shaking his head at the medic. "Yeh, I guess yeh're right. No man left behind, eh? I keep hearing from Wiglaf and Kirj' that he's had the lot of yeh fly in to save them if they need saving."

"Damien..." Sahra said coolly.

The sniper's voice helped the two men let the conversation drop, looking around the dark, cold bushlands as they remembered exactly where they were and why. Ciaran stepped back to the wheel, waving goodbye as his passengers climbed over the ship and down the rope ladder.

The two explorers jogged forward into the depths of the forest. The tall trees, leaves and fronds only letting speckles of moonlight inside, too little to even consider navigating by map, and Sahra took a deep breath, letting her eyes unfocus somewhat, instead listening closely as she walked through the grass. Damien simply followed his friend's lead, holding his arms out in front of him just in case.

The sound of a gently-flowing stream drifted into her ear, getting louder and louder, and the young girl was about to turn left when the burbling water was strongest – but stopped in her tracks instead when a light breeze brought a foul smell over to them. Damien was the first to notice it, letting out a loud, disgusted 'ech blech!', and Sahra couldn't help but cringe as well, but she forced herself to stick her nose in the air, mind racing as she tried to figure out just what she was smelling. The mix of sweet, fresh honey, smoke, and what she could only guess was a dead animal was carried across the water by the continuing gusts of wind.

Sahra blinked, rubbing her eyes as her trance faded, and stared across the water as soon as she could see again, the shadowy glade intruded upon by a clump of embers sitting in a pile of ashes, hidden somewhat by the corpse of a jig lizard that had been laid atop the logs. She nudged Damien with the tip of her bow and jabbed the other end at the sight; the medic paused and pulled his shirt over his face, squatting down and looking where his teammate was pointing.

"Aha, so the others must have made that fire earlier! And the smell's from that lizard... so that's what that smells like..." Damien remarked, trailing off halfway through his words as he retrieved his notebook and pencil, taking a split-second whiff of the scent and gagging again before grinning and scribbling a description in his book. Sahra wryly wondered if he could even see what he was doing, but shook the thought away, frowning at the mention of the monster.

"And if there's a lizard, then they got into another fight while they were resting here."

The ground under their feet trembled and shook, and the sniper tensed, instinctively crouching near the grass and notching an arrow to her bow, drawing the string back as far as it could go. Damien yelped in surprise, digging his pencil into his journal too hard and audibly tearing the page, making him whine unhappily. Another little quake shook the bushland again, this time punctuated by a familiar yell.

"Aren't these stupid goddamn things supposed to be sleeping until Emperor rolls around!?"

"Hey, that's Naomi!" Damien blurted out, still holding his notebook and pencil as he cupped his palms to his mouth, a few of the nearby plants shaking as he yelled. "Naooooomiiiiii! Skyyyylaaaaar, Haaanaaaaeeeee! Is that you?"

"What the hell? Damien!?" Naomi's voice called back through the far branches, breathlessly and angrily. Sahra let her grip on her arrow's fletching slacken, and she and Damien both ran away from the stream and abandoned campsite, following their teammate's voice as it called out again. "If that's really you and I'm not just going crazy, tell me why this bear isn't sleeping on its ass right now!"

Sahra grimaced – no doubt they meant a bloodbear – and another voice called out, softer and less crass. "D-Damien, it is us... ah, all three of us! We're glad you're okay. Is Sahra with you, too?"

"Yes, I'm here, Hanae!" The young girl replied, tightening her hairband and brushing a few strands of pale hair out of her face. "We were flying with Ciaran and saw the smoke coming from your campfire! The skyship's not too far away from where we're standing. Where are you?"

As if on cue, Skylar popped up in the clearing on the entirely opposite side of the Dense Bushland, his shield reflecting the occasional beam of moonlight. Soon afterward, Hanae and Naomi burst forth, the latter noisily announcing her arrival thanks to her clanking armor, the former glancing over her shoulder at their pursuer, returning her katana to its scabbard. All three of them sprinted sluggishly over to the water, wheezing from fatigue, but their expressions grew elated when they spotted their teammates. Damien hopped up and down and waved back with both arms, wildly beckoning at them to cross the stream. "Come on come on come on!"

Hanae nodded at the medic, stepping back to get a running start. The bloodbear crashed into the glade seconds later, and the beastwoman yelped in fright as she dashed forward, springing off of her heels and landing next to Damien and Sahra, eyes scrunched shut as she planted both feet firmly into the grass. The bushi, sniper, and medic all ran over to the stream as Naomi went next: the armor-clad woman jumped and dropped like a rock, splashing knee-deep into the water and gasping from the shock that ran through her nerves.

"C-Crap! That was stupid, why did'ja let me jump!?" The fortress asked, not expecting an answer and not getting one in turn, as she waded forward. Sahra readied an arrow again as Hanae and Damien helped to pull Naomi across.

Skylar was about to make the last jump, smiling broadly at his teammates, but everyone's attention shot up as the bloodbear roared, having closed in on them in the meantime. The feral animal raised a paw and swung, bloody claws cutting a gash through a nearby tree trunk along the way. The others gasped and braced themselves for an inevitable impact, but Sahra stood up, aimed for the bear's shoulder, and let her arrow fly, gritting her teeth as the bowstring twanged.

A huge arm blocked the monster's face from view, just in time to keep the arrow from hitting its mark, lodging deep into the bear's wrist instead. It reared back a tad and howled in pain, and its claws barely missed the group of explorers, instead digging into Skylar's raised shield, which the swordsman hastily let go of as the bloodbear yanked its arm away, taking the rounded metal with it. Counting his blessings, Skylar jumped into the stream and ran over while their foe was distracted.

"Thanks, Sahra," He said to the sniper, hoisting himself onto the grass and cradling his arm, which still smarted. Damien walked around to give him a quick once-over, but the swordsman waved him away dismissively. "Let's get moving. Did Ciaran land where we usually do?"

"Yes." Sahra nodded in response. "Follow me!"

The five explorers dashed for the skyship, turning the corner and sprinting as fast as they could, adrenaline coursing through their veins. Skylar looked behind them, his smile returning when the bear roared again – it sounded just as tired as he and his teammates felt, he thought to himself – and he skidded to a stop when they reached the rope ladder.

Sahra had already boarded the ship, and Skylar watched as Damien went next, with Naomi following close, grunting crabbily when she bumped her head against the medic's shoes. Hanae glanced at him worriedly, and the swordsman shook his head, urging her to go first; the beastwoman's tail wagged happily as she made her way up. Skylar sighed heavily, aches and pains twinging, and he took one final look around the forest before joining his friends, helping to coil the rope ladder back up.

"Ciaran, time to go, and fast," Sahra called to her mentor, and the red-haired pilot nodded, gripping the wheel tight as everyone moved to position. The bellows pumped hot air into the skyship's balloon, the propellers spun around, and they lifted off, rising over the tops of the Bushland's trees within moments.

"No worries, yeh're all here. Time to go home and get some proper shut-eye!" The wharf master quipped, not even needing to look away from the wheel to know that his passengers were relieved.

"Well, I've got some pretty good news for yeh, and I've also got some bad news for yeh, too. Which one do yeh want first, then?"

Naomi, wearing plain clothes instead of her usual armor, sneezed in reply, letting out an enormous yawn afterward, for once not making noise as she stretched out her arms, and the other explorers found themselves yawning as well. Skylar held his back for as long as he could before it finally escaped his lips, and he brought his hands to his mouth when he noticed Hanae doing the same. The swordsman stepped forward, shaking his head as he looked past the wharf master, taking in the wreckage of the Procne that lay just behind the red-haired man.

In hindsight, as important as their crashed skyship was, waking up at the crack of dawn to check on it had been a poor idea, and Skylar made a mental note to apologize for even suggesting it when they had gotten back to Tharsis the night before.

"I guess... let's start with the bad news," He said, resting a palm on the pommel of his recovered sword as he looked at Ciaran and nodded expectantly. Hanae walked up next to him, shyly looking over and studying the Procne, her ears drooping sadly. "We know there's hull damage, that's obvious, and the dragon cut the balloon, so what else did you find?"

"Yeh... huh." The pilot blinked, seemingly surprised. "Eh, I guess I'll start with the good news instead, because to be honest with yeh, that's the worst of it."

"Really!?" Sahra blurted out, brushing past Damien and Naomi and jogging up to her mentor, a note of excitement in her voice, startling Hanae out of her reverie. The beastwoman smiled in mild embarrassment, and Skylar chuckled as Ciaran reached out and patted the sniper's head. She blinked, becoming aware of her outburst, and a light blush flared up on her cheeks, which she tried to hide behind her gloves as she returned to her usual stoic demeanor. "Ah... are you sure, teacher?"

"I'm sure as sure can be," Ciaran replied, smiling in amusement at the young girl. "I dunno if the dragon wasn't paying attention to yeh or if it didn't hit yeh as hard as it was wanting, but the damage is mostly external stuff. The hull, the balloon, might be a good idea to check and see if anything else needs to be reinforced..."

"And that means the bad news is just that it'll take a while to fix things?" Damien asked, interrupting the wharf master's musing, fiddling with the various things sitting in his coat pockets. Naomi grunted at that, reaching out and grabbing the medic's messy hair, fixing him with an annoyed glare, though her half-lidded eyes made it look much more tired than she probably was wanting, causing the man to sheepishly shrug at her.

"Yep, I'm afraid so. If the bellows or the propellers were broken or knocked off, yeh'd be looking at sitting out the rest of the month, maybe even longer-" Ciaran began, holding up a hand when Naomi turned her glare towards him. "But since they aren't, and with the extra hands I've got around the wharf to help out, yeh should be back in the air in a week or two."

"But... how will you..." Hanae said softly, shrinking back a little as all eyes went to her, but she stood straight again after a moment, curiosity written on her muzzle as her tail wagged back and forth. "How will you get the Procne back to Tharsis for work? I think we brought some warp wires with us... do you want us to use one?"

"Well, personally, I was just gonna ferry some folks out here, rope off this area, that sort of thing." The wharf master scratched the back of his neck and turned halfway, gesturing lamely towards the wreckage of the skyship behind him. Hanae replied with a quiet 'oh', and Naomi let out an unhappy groan, bringing her hands to her face and dragging them down, pulling on her eyes and cheeks. She yawned afterward and shook herself awake.

"If you're gonna be working out here, then I'm coming with you! There's monsters out in the wild, and I know what that means," The fortress replied, grinning toothily through her tiredness as she pounded a fist into an open palm, and she cracked her knuckles, doing the same with her other hand afterward. Damien couldn't help but chuckle, yelping when he received a yank on his hair.

"Yeh'll be disappointed, that's what," Ciaran bluntly shot right back at Naomi. The short-haired woman gave him a skeptical look. "Find some of the city soldiers and ask them, if yeh're really that interested in helping with guard duty. They'll either set yeh on the right path or tell yeh not to do it."

"It's an idea, at least!" Damien piped up, pulling his hands out of his pockets as he gestured around the small trees, wind whooshing through the boughs, making the edges of the Procne's torn balloon ripple and flap against the ground. The group of explorers took in the calm atmosphere of the forest, as less monstrous birds woke up and cheerfully flew down to the dirt, chirping as they hopped around the crashed skyship searching for their morning meal. Hanae coughed almost inaudibly to clear her throat.

"I think... that might be nice. We do owe you for saving us, Ciaran," The beastwoman remarked, and the red-haired pilot laughed good-naturedly.

"Yeh don't owe me nothing, none of yeh, Zephyrus Guild," He said, reaching around to scratch an itch on his arm, the light glinting on his flight goggles, and he lowered a hand and ruffled Sahra's ponytail. The sniper waved him away for a moment, tugging on her hairband, and looked up at the man, a contented smile gracing her features; her teammates smiled as well, and walked up in front of the wharf master in a huddled group. Ciaran held out a hand. "Just as long as you don't get into another shipwreck, at least not anytime soon. Keep yehrselves and the Procne safe, and I'll be happy."

Skylar smiled, letting his arm drop from his sword as he took Ciaran's hand in his, giving him a firm handshake. "I think we can do that for you, no problem. I might be by later to help anyway, I'd like to learn about how these things get built and fixed."

"Suit yehrself, then. C'mon, let's get back to Tharsis," Ciaran replied, striding past them all and bounding up onto a rung of his skyship's ladder, and the explorers, after a mutual nod, followed after the engineer, spirits lifted and birds singing.