The Elixir

~The Woods

Derald isn't scared of much. While the rest of his family nearly fainted when they'd learned about the Warlord's escape, he hadn't felt a single morsel of fear. Sure, there had been nervousness, but also restless excitement. He loves his home, but nothing truly interesting and intriguing ever happens.

But he'd rather become Owain Snagsnout than spend a class period tromping through the mysterious Nyx Woods.

The Nyx Woods encompasses the majority of the island of Ruxnorth, patchy in places and normally stretching miles in all directions. Almost every region is majorly composed of the Nyx Woods, exactly the reason why the main cities are incredibly populated: The Nyx is well-known for the abundance of strange creatures living amongst the trees.

Derald jumps as he's subtly whacked by a low-hanging tree branch, his thoughts vanishing.

Vieva snickers.

"Something funny?" he glowers.

Vieva's a few paces in front of him; Owain and Xara are taking the lead, surprisingly enough. Owain seems spurred on by Derald's obvious discomfort. Normally, he'd be proud of his roommate, but that fact that it's at Derald's expense irritates him.

"It depends." Her eyes widen mockingly. "Are you afraid of the Woods?"

A defensive blush arises on his cheeks. Derald tries to combat the coloring of his face with a glare.

"No. I'm not."

"Tell that to your face."

Derald hurries to the front, Vieva's delighted laughs fading behind him. Xara looks at him sidelong, eyebrows raised.

"Don't ask," he mumbles to her. Instead, Derald turns his focus on the Woods. It's broad daylight, which lessens his wariness slightly, but it doesn't eliminate it. Many of the dwellers of the Nyx Woods are just as active in the day as they are at night. Inhibitors notwithstanding, the Woods are beautiful. Strong, ancient trees, twisting their way towards the sunlight. They're so tall, Derald can't even see their tops, no matter how much he strains.

The forest is dotted with sunlight that has slipped past the eager, yearning fingers of the tree. The floor is littered with leaves and moss, providing a spongy, soft surface for walking. Lenore and Diadys engage each other in the skies, their shadows covering the five of them every so often.

"Are we going to talk about the safe, or what?" Derald asks. Vieva hisses.

"Idiot! What if someone hears us?" She looks around frantically. Derald seizes his moment.

"Why? Are you scared?" he sneers.

Vieva snaps her head back to him, eyes narrowed. Her eyes shine like molten vats of lava.

"I'm not scared of anything." Vieva lifts her chin, a silent dare. Derald grins. She's trapped with nowhere left to go.

He strides up to her, nose to nose. He can feel her breath on his face. In the corner of her eyes, Xara rolls her eyes.

"Want to prove it?" he breathes.

Vieva stares up at him, unwavering.

"No." She stomps past him.

"No?" Derald echoes, jogging to catch up to her.

Xara steps in to intercept him. He starts to groan but she holds up a hand.

"This is ridiculous, you two. We're on a deadline, for Founder's sake, and there is still no sign of a caladrius." First, she glares at Derald. "As for the safe, we are putting it to rest for now. We need to focus on this project. Half of the other groups have already caught their creatures, and we haven't even found ours."