Axcel: The World.

He shook his head. "I'm not crazy," Maahes assured her, still keeping his eye on the area of the woods that whatever-the-thing-was was coming from. He wasn't going to get distracted just because the girl was screaming at him. "If I was, then Odris wouldn't let me be a scholar."

Zech wanted to say that he knew plenty of scholars who were also a little crazy, but he decided against it. Trying to ignore how tightly the other person was gripping the fur around his neck, he said to Maahes, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yup!" he said, further confirming his decision with a firm nod.

"I- I don't think we should just leave him." Tamika murmured in a low tone next to the tiger's ear. She shifted her position and cursed her immobility.

"If you're insistent on fighting," she said louder, addressing the boy, "I will try to help as much as I'm able to, in this condition."

He frowned. "You'd just get in the way," he said, then immediately looked ashamed at what he said. "I'm sorry! That was really mean." He tried to pay attention to the woods, but now he was distracted - Odris would be so disappointed in him for hurting someone's feelings!

Tamika let out a laugh at the boy's childishness- and, of course, the fact that he was right.
"No, it's okay- it's the truth. I'm sure you're perfectly capable of handling this on your own. But, you see, meddling needlessly is is kind of what I'm good at doing." She smiled. "Is there anything in particular you'd like me to do? Where I wouldn't
be getting in the way?"

"We would get in the way," Zech whispered back. "Or I would. I don't know what either of us can do, though." He still couldn't shake the idea that he'd be abandoning Maahes, though. And leaving Maahes to fight the approaching monster disgusted him far more than running into the forest and getting lost sounded appealing. The tiger didn't move.

Maahes thought for a moment. "Hmmm..." he said aloud, folding his arms and staring back into the forest's growing shadows. "I think it's best if you get as far away as possible. I need a lot of space in case it's big, and i don't want to hurt you two."

Now that his contemplation was over, he quickly unfolded his arms and held his hand out in an offensive position. The air grew hotter around him as fire began to form at the tips of his fingers, accompanied by a steady breeze. He was a being of fire and air, after all! It wouldn't be right if he didn't start with something like that.

Zech nodded and took a few steps back, keeping as close to the trees as possible. He didn't want to be too far away from Maahes. However, if Maahes was going to do something dangerous - and that bizarre combination of fire and wind magic said as much - it was better to keep his distance.

Whatever was approaching, it was approaching fast. The thumping became audible, and within a few seconds, the bushes started rustling.
Out flopped a massive rabbit like creature, with teeth bigger than a person's arm and claws just as long. It wasn't small either. Standing at around about 7 feet, this thing could pass wind and it'd feel like a hurricane.
The rabbit roared at the three puny humans in front of it. Maybe today it'll get some food.



"Uh...no, not with me-" Ryder began, but was cut off by a guttural roar coming from up ahead.
"...where's the other three?" Rose hesitantly asked.
Ryder handed Lorcan a knife - it didn't seem like much, most probably a cooking knife - with an apologetic smile.

"Oooh," Maahes said, perking up and grinning a little bit. "It's fluffy."

He knew that he should still be wary, and he did keep his flames and wind going strong. But a part of him was saddened at the prospect of having to hurt the creature that had just emerged from the forest - its claws and teeth were really, really cool, and he hadn't ever seen something like it before.

"Hi!" he cheerfully said. "I'm Maahes. Are you friendly?"


Lorcan uttered a quiet word of gratitude before turning his attention to the source of the noise. He couldn't tell what it belonged to, but something told him it was one of the things they had been warned about.

Also, he was starting to conclude that the others were probably there.

Which wasn't going to be a good thing, considering the nature of those who had left their makeshift group.

He held up his knife in preparation for some sort of attack, gave Juniper's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and said, "I'm going to guess that they're at wherever that noise came from."

"Uhm... he doesn't exactly look friendly." Tamika commented quietly from over the tiger's shoulder. Wearily, she watched the exchange between the boy and the giant rabbit creature, watching to see how it would respond.

The large bunny monster thing roared in Maahes' face. Seeing as he was closest to it, the monster is going to take a swipe at the human.



"Probably," Rose said. The two adventurers began running towards the sound. Maybe they could help somehow.

"You're not friendly, then," Maahes solemnly decided. Just as the monster would have hit him across the face, he ducked out of the way. The flames returned and grew in their intensity, and the wind began to whip around him much faster than before. The wind was so strong that it was ruffling the fur of the monster.

"I don't want to hurt you!" he shouted over the howling of the wind. "But I will if you try hurting them!"


Lorcan and Juniper hurried after the two, though it was very reluctantly in Juniper's case.

The rabbit monster opened it's mouth, seeing the fire and wind pick up around the boy. Out came some liquid -- acid. It aimed at the boy in front of it with a loud roar.