[Nyxia]

In the dense and misty rainforest, slightly humid from the late afternoon sun which slowly had turned to dusk. A lone figure walked without care pushing thick vines and branches from her self made path. "Your absolutely sure that there are ruins out here?" Came her slightly harsh voice, husky from years of smoking. Her strange sword blinking as she spoke to the inky looking dragon wisp which clung to her arm, the small creature made a girty sound before a squawk and then nodded, the sword then began to vibrate in her hand. "Ok not you too..." She growled deeply at the possessed steel in her left hand. "We're way to far to turn back, and Reima really wants to know about this." She trudged a bit further before sitting down on a damp log, thanking her lucky stars that she'd worn vinyl leather rather than regular. Kimi took from her backpack a large silver canteen filled with cool water and removed the cap, as she lifted the metal container to her mouth she eyed her strange sword. "Tzion, why are you so willing to do this. It's not like you to be so helpful." She questioned before taking a deep drink from the silver container. The sword hummed an eerie melody from it's place leaned against the fallen log, a tune that she understood.

[Nyxia]

Awake, her dark eyes opened in the musty chamber. It was confusing, barely able to breath she sat up on the stone table. Where was she, this wasn't her chamber, this strange place wasn't even close to her burial chamber. Carefully the young woman rose from the table, her boots hitting a stone floor with a quiet clunk to which she still winced. Around her the stone walls were crumbling, roots pushed through cracks between them and bits of light muddled by dust made star like dots on the floor as she walked. This world of stone was not the world she'd slumbered in, but confusion was overwhelmed by curiosity as she padded from the small chamber she'd woken in, through the doorway.

[Nyxia]

As the sun set to a dim evening the forest began to cool a bit, though the sticky feel of the air lingered. Kimi knew she couldn't be wandering about in the forest once it was night, they'd have to bed down somewhere. Pulling her aching body up from the log she stretched her arms and upper back before again picking up the pack and slinging it over her right shoulder, her eyes went back to the wisp dragon on her left arm. Strange as it was, her tattoo was talking to her again, in squeaks and chirps that almost had no sound. Growling at the insufferable little inky wisp, she again picked up Tzion who hummed softly in approval it's glowing citrine eye rolling to take in it's surroundings as the odd little group began to press further into the jungle forest. Kimi was growing and grumbling about the unfairness of this trip and how she didn't need that windbag of a hunter to survive.

[Nyxia]

Deep within the fallen ruins of this temple, the young woman wandered in absolute awe of where she'd woken. Now knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that this place wasn't the world of her father the dark haired woman was simply amusing herself by absorbing all she could of the new world from the faded and broken pictures painted on the walls in the massive temple center room. It was thrilling for her, remembering the stories she'd heard about worlds beyond her own from a priestess of Tsukuyomi when she was much younger. She marveled at the stone paintings for a bit longer, but the sun had long-ago dipped below the horizon and she knew she'd need light in case the nocturnal life wasn't friendly. Reluctantly she made her way from the temple center into another chamber across from her own, fumbling for something she could use as a light source. Oddly she came up with only elongated torches and wood, which might work for warmth in the divot in the temple center. After a silent prayer in the dark which she doubted Ryuu would hear anyway, she picked up one the hollow wood torches and closed her eyes. Her breathing calmed, her heart steadied and after a second she snapped her fingers; smiling as the warmth of the fire danced across her pale fingers, which she carefully put to the end of the wood pole.
It wasn't really cold, but for some reason the warmth of the fire dancing on the several poles around the large room made her smile to herself. This way she wasn't likely to be attacked, ambushed, and she could continue to read the walls. The stone of the front steps and entry way had long been reclaimed by the jungle's foliage, while several rooms were soon to follow they still had a few useful things remaining. Clothing and robes in one room to her left, while the three down that hallway were collapsed, and to her right was a room to which a vine baring fruit had clawed it's way across the remaining stone ceiling.

[Nyxia]

She'd been trudging through this dense vegetation for the last hour looking for a suitable place to make a camp, listening to the babbling of Dov, and Tzion's relentless hummed complaints about the heat, dark, sticky plants she was using him to cut, and she'd lost track of the all the other minor or less heard complaints. This wasn't her idea of vampire hunting, were-creature yes, but even vampires weren't dumb enough to venture into such a horrid place. She had a mind to say it was just his way of trying to pay her back for complaining about her assignment to his newest desire's shop. It was truthfully a boring and pointless assignment that she thought even that brainless Rihos could have done. She was after all a hunter, not a baby-sitter, and that was purely baby-sitting and nothing more. Tzion made a harsh vibrating complaint about the vines she'd just crashed him through, and she stopped in mid-step. "I have heard enough out of you! Tzion if you don't shut up, I will leave you out here to rust!" She yelled. The blade only made a sing-song high pitched hum in response and she growled deeply at it. "Fine, maybe you don't rust, but lets see how well you like being stuck into a mud puddle til the next unlucky soul finds you." The blade was oddly silent to the sweet tone of her husky voice.

Twenty more minutes passed as they moved, now silently through the jungle. She couldn't believe there was this much "stuff" in a jungle and no clear spots. With a groan the huntress found herself tired, wet from the humid air, and lost. She was just about to scream when Dov unwound himself from her arm and floated over a large fallen tree, beyond which a faint light could be seen. Kimi pulled herself and Tzion over the stump of the fallen tree, an easier path. The light was coming from the rubble of an ancient looking temple, and suddenly the hairs on the back of Kimi's neck stood up in a chilled sense. "Maybe the windbag isn't so delusional after all..." She muttered to her companions, raising Tzion to a ready stance as she carefully entered the ruin's perimeter.

[Nyxia]

Having found an old wooden bowl in one of the far rooms within the structure, the young woman had gathered several fruits from the vines growing throughout the two right rooms. Once she was content with her food, she returned to the temple center and set the bowl a little ways off from the fire in the center of the room, dim light flickering about as it devoured another piece of wood. She picked up one of the oddly shaped fruits and trusting it wasn't toxic took a small bit, the sweet flavor juice and flesh of the fruit rushed over her tongue. Well at least she'd die happy if it was poison, she thought as she went back to the far back wall of the temple room, reexamining the pictures painted on the wall of a small shadowy being. It sparked her interests as it reminded her of those strange imps she'd known in her own world, only it seemed darker, more like a shade type than a common if she was correct.

She was in the process of studying the images before her when she heard footsteps on the stone floor outside the room. Pausing in her breathing, chewing, and thoughts she listened to the steps; not possibly an animal, she didn't want to bet that bandits of a type didn't exist in such a world either. Grabbing up the fruit the young woman whipped from the room in a windy fury to meet who ever this was. Much to her surprise she came face to face with a shorter woman carrying a strange sword. "Who...who are you?!" She cried at the other trying her best not to seem shaken.

[Nyxia]

Kimi had expected to meet someone when she entered, a fire didn't just light itself after all; but this woman was strange beyond words. Still she could hear a heart beat coming from the woman before her, meaning she was either not a vampire, or she was very good at pretending to be mortal. Her words though indicated that she was likely alone, maybe just a lost traveler in these parts. "I'd be Kimi D'Aeth, you would be?" She asked calmly. This girl may have been many things but a vampire she was not, she didn't smell like one. Lowering her sword so Tzion's tip touched the stone floor Kimi relaxed, lost travelers were never uncommon in these parts, and this girl really seemed out of her element. Sitting down on the stone benches carved into the sunken floor near the fire and pulled off a silver case from her belt, from which she removed a long white roll of paper.Pulling out of the fire pit a small piece of lit wood, Kimi lit her cigarette and took a long drag from it as she waited for an answer.  

Shocked was the best way to describe the look on the young woman's face as she watched this Kimi, the woman was so calm as she sat there smoking from a hand rolled cigarette. Well at least this seemed less like a bandit attack and more like a traveler, "I'm Ayami." She answered, picking up a fruit and handing it to Kimi. The sword she carried then blinked, startling Ayami, who scrambled back from Kimi and the strange sword. "What is that thing?" She yelped as she landed on her backside, it wasn't normal that was for sure.

[Nyxia]

Ki studied the girl for a long moment before accepting the fruit, at least she now seemed less tense."Ayami huh? Whatchya doin' clear out here?" She asked around her cigarette, allowing the smoke to drift from her nose and mouth like a tired old dragon. The girl's shocked reaction to her sword almost made Ki laugh, despite Tzion's displeased hums and electric zings. "That's old Tzion, what he was before I can't tell ya. He's harmless unless I'm swingin em at ya." She laughed a deep throaty laugh as she inhaled the smoke deep into her lungs, the nicotine was starting soothing her frayed nerves. Tzion seemed to glare his eerie yellowish eye at Ki who paid him no mind, his protests meant little to her at this point. "Ah hush Tzion. You've said enough now." She grumble in a playful tone exhaling the smoke from her nose once more. Her blood eyes glanced back at the girl, nothing out of the ordinary about her it seemed, other than her clothing.
{5}

[Nyxia]

Getting to her feet once more, Ayami dusted her pants and backside off before looking the sword over once more. By the woman calm attitude she could only assume that this sword was nothing special, still she was leery of such a thing. It was then that she wondered about the magic of this world, it was most certainly stranger than that she'd known, but it's limits were what she questioned. Nodding a bit she turned to look at the imp creature's painting once more, she couldn't explain the feeling she had of being drawn towards it. For that time though she shoved the thoughts away refocusing her attention on the woman behind her and her own curiosity of this world, but she had to carefully mine her information so as to seem like she belonged. "What is this place, I wonder?" She questioned jestering to the ruins around them in a soft dreamy voice that seemed more like she spoke her thought aloud. She couldn't help herself, hoping the woman would have some answers.

[Nyxia]

Curious herself, Ki stood up allowing Dov to release itself from her arm and hover a ways above her flesh. Her eyes too caught on the strange pictures painted in old dyes and carved into the stone above what might have been an alter at some point. The fruit still in hand Ki removed the cigarette from her lips, letting it dangle between two finger as she closed in on the dark colored creature painted straight behind the fire pit. The hand that held the smoking paper rose as if from it's own will to touch the painted beast, before Dov flew at it, the wisp of inky smoke coiled around her fingers before darting quickly to the left. At that second the spell was broken, allowing Ki to step back and watch Dov wrap his body against the stone. To anyone else the fast pace of the small dragon would have been confusing, but she knew what he was doing as she watched him read the stone and paint in a way she never could have dreamed.

At last once he'd made it through two walls, and ten minutes later, Dov returned himself to her arm; a whole chorus  of squeaks, chirps, shrills, and peeps erupted from the small creature once he'd wrapped his tail around her wrist. Laughing Ki listened to the small voice carry on under the watchful eye of her newest companion, Ayami, who was staring wide-eyed at them. "Slow down Dov." She murmured to the creature anchored to her arm as she took another long drag from the white paper that rested in her right fingers. At her words the small dragons sounds become less frantic as it seemed to start from the beginning, it's wings fluttering soundlessly ever now and again to make a point. She listened to him carefully, as he went on about what he'd learned. Once Dov fell silent Ki cocked her head back over her right shoulder to speak with Ayami, "He says this is a temple to somethin called a Moonling." She translated and simplified what had been given to her. "Guess the locals regard it as a mythical thing, I think." She explained, her shoulders rolling in a heavy shrug that suggested she was positive on that front either.

[Nyxia]

Ayami couldn't help herself as she watch the small dragon in awe, it had actually figured all of those symbols out. Creeping a bit closer to Kimi and her pet she was amazed by what he'd come back and told them, so a beast of legend, like her father or Bai's, that just might be her ticket to figuring all of this out. Indeed a creature that was living lore almost always understood about things that most mortal beings couldn't comprehend. Dark silver eyes sparkled in the dying light of the fire behind them as she pondered this whole avenue that had opened to her. She ignored the burn of the mark on her left shoulder blade, it meant nothing at that point; instead her mind whirled with the possibilities of what she could learn from this creature if she could find it. Looking up at the other woman, Ayami could she the fatigue pulling at the other's eyes, the hour by then had to be late indeed. "Maybe we should rest for the night?" Ayami voiced in her usual soft tone that was more like a softly babbling brook that a voice.

Turning away from the painting and the woman, she made her way into one of the rooms which contained fire wood. She returned moments later with an arm load of the dried old wood and threw three more pieces into the dying flames, which immediately began to greedily consume them within the roar of new fiery life. She herself wasn't the least bit tired, having slept for who knew how long before this waking. She could still feel the draw of the mark on her back as she crouched feeding the greedy flames to keep the warmth in the damp room. When Kimi sat down on the long carved out stone bench across from her and laid back some, Ayami only smiled a soft friendly smile. No sense in making enemies off the bat in a new world before you knew everything. The girl had eaten halfway through the odd pear looking fruit and her lit cigarette was all but an ashed end by that point. With a glance to her right she noticed that even the odd sword had closed it's eye and seemed silent, its magic not ringing so loudly from the stones around them.

[Nyxia]

Ki couldn't have agreed more with the girl; it was late, she'd spent half a day trekking through the jungle to get this far, and she was beat. Laying herself out on the stone bench that amazingly wasn't too bad, then again nothing was too bad to someone trained to fight who slept on the ground more often than not. She could have laughed at that thought, she could have snarled at it too, instead she tossed the half eaten fruit and the end of her now dead cigarette into the flames, closing her eyes as she did. She didn't pay Ayami any mind as she made herself comfortable on the stone and rested, she didn't even care about the soft patter of rain outside the stone ruins. Within a few moments Dov joined her, curling his slightly warm wisp of a body around her wrist to sleep as well. Drifting away she mentally threw one more curse at Reima before she slipped into the dark waves of sleep.

[Nyxia]

Ayami watched silently as Kimi and her strange familiar like pet drifted into the ocean that was sleep, it made her think of Arez and the long nights the two women had spent in the jungles back in her world. Sadly she remember the long nights talking of futures, parents, and lives that hung on threads of magic; the young woman shivered for a second with the memories before she cleared them from her mind. Her head was chaotic, filled with questions that had no answers, regrets, pains of the past, and fearful pondering of her future in this strange place. Ayami reluctantly admitted to herself, as wonderful and fascinating as this world could be for her to explore and learn about, she wanted to go home too. With a light sigh Ayami lifted herself from her place beside the fire, it would be a while before she had to feed it again tonight anyway, and carefully wandered through the room towards the door. Cold wasn't her favorite thing in the world, nor was hot, but the rain outside drew her to sit in the doorway and watch it fall. Fat, heavy drops crashing through the leaves and twig branches of trees to the ground seemed to sooth her, as she looked on, knowing it would likely be several nights before she slept again anyway.

[Nyxia]

Hours ticked away as the rainy night gave way to the clear, cooler morning that Ki awoke to. The fire beside her was little more than a foot high flame starving and withering away, while she watched the flames dance, begging for more food, she listened to Dov and Tzion argue as well in their strange languages. How she'd ended up with two creature that couldn't actually speak she never bothered to explain, even to herself, instead she just thanked the stars that she wasn't stuck with someone like Fyuu and left the rest be. It was some time before she remembered that there had been another person with them, and slowly Ki sat up to look over the flames for her. The bench across from her was empty, but in the bloody mandarin light which spilled through the trees to greet her squinted eyes she could she a figure sitting in the doorway.

Cautiously her body swung around so her boots touched the stone floor, she could tell Ayami was awake leaned against the stone wall. "Well seems someone beat me to the rise." She mused aloud to Tzion, who stopped zinging at Dov and blinked, his pupil turning to catch the figure in the door way. He then gave a soft zing which told Ki that the girl was awake all night, mostly an even sound that held nothing in it. Still Ki was puzzled, maybe the girl was spooked, or home sick. Rolling her shoulders into a stretch Ki brought herself to her feet and smiled to the girl. "Mornin'." She announced around a yawn in her deeply hazy voice. "Seems the rain stopped." She paused on that thought. "Gonna be a muddy hell hike from here...great..." She gave a husky growl with those words, mud wasn't the problem, it was the long hike, already she knew they were lost as it was.

[Nyxia]

At Kimi's voice, Ayami sat up straight and stretched her back some. Morning was upon them and she still wasn't sure what she planned to do now. Rolling to her knees on the stone floor Ayami got to her feet and turn to face the very odd group that was in the center of the room. She considered asking if she could go along with them, but she didn't even know where they were going. Deep in her heart Ayami wanted to spend more time in this jungle, searching for this creature. She didn't want to leave before she had an at least spoken with this myth and learned what she could from it. "Are you going soon?" She asked, her voice soft but confused sounding, betraying the rocky thoughts in her mind. When Kimi tipped her head for a second Ayami could feel the other woman summing her up, ruby colored eyes searched out her own glassy silver.

Finally she heard the other woman's husky voice, "Well, thought you were comin' along. Can't leave a lost dame out here." At first she felt a bit of anger at the woman, she wasn't defenseless after all. The anger rolled away when she realized how petty that had been. With a nod she made her way back to the fire and picked up four of the fruits, which Kimi motioned to the pack as a place to store them. "Where are we going then?" She questioned helping gather a few things from the rooms around the center, a sliver knife in a soft skin sheath which she wrapped around her ankle.