[SpringsSong]

"I should be asking you why you're so close to the Clan's territory... but apparently our borders are not well-defined enough, so I will spare you that interrogation, but only this once," Aerarnis said.  "As for the reason of you finding us... well, I think it would be more appropriate to say that we found you, considering that this place is my home, as well as home to many other Paragon." Here, Aerarnis paused.  "And I've no idea what a bounty is, but if you so wish, you can explain that to me--and to the leaders of the Clan," she said sternly.

By this time, Zaeyin had reached the entrance to the Clan's nest, and turned back to make sure that Saneol was still following him.  "The Clan's nest--my home--is right down here," he said, swiping a claw above a patch of vines.  "I'm sure that Persephone will be fine with Aerarnis--she hasn't let anyone die on her watch, Clan member or not," he said.  "She might be a bit of a pain to deal with, but she's all right."

[Toon-Souseiseki]

Rolling her eyes, the Placid smiled still.  "Well maybe next time warn me about it AND those damn Battlehearts that tried to attack my hyde and another one's hyde a while back.  "Dunno where she went, but I know she smelled like territorial Clan," she said.  Persephone blinked and her eyes sparkled as she heard the Placid's words.  "So, take me to this so called Clan so I can see if I could be of aid to this little problem too," the Placid continued to speak.

"That's not my concern Zaeyin, it's the fact that I smelled blood in the damn air," Saneol responded and looked back and sighed.  "I just hope she hasn't gotten herself into damn trouble again like last time with a Hollowheart..."  He closed his eyes and continued to follow his brother into the Clan's entrance and looked around.  He was surprised how big it was.

[SpringsSong]

"How did you know about the other Paragon?" Aerarnis asked sternly.  At the mention of the Battleheart clan, Aerarnis' head snapped around.

"Follow me.  We will have our healer patch you up--you know, close up that gash so there's no chance for it to get infected--and then, you can speak with the leaders about the Battlehearts.  Any assistance we can get with them, we are willing to take," she said, turning tail and walking towards the Clan's nest.

"I don't think it was Persephone's blood on the air," Zaeyin said.  "Just before I recognized that scent on the air, I caught the scent of what I believe was another Paragon--and it was that scent that was mingled with blood, not our sister's scent," he added, walking down into the nest, beckoning for Saneol to follow him.

[Toon-Souseiseki]

"Oh joy, I get pampered like a Bitchy queen," the Placid said and chuckled at her own joke as she followed Aerarnis back to the Clan's main area.  Persephone followed right next to the Placid.  She had so many questions for her, what was she like, where was she raised, how did she know about the battlehearts.  So many to choose from for her to ask.

"If you say so bro," Saneol said still following and sniffed the air and looked over at another Clan members nest, recognizing that scent of the unknown paragon's blood and blinked.  "Hey, who's he?" he said pointing to what looked like a pastel colored Nago.

[SpringsSong]

"Oh, him?" Zaeyin asked as the Nago ducked into one of the dens, not even stopping to see the others.  "That's Raloi, our other head sentinel--and Aerarnis' mate and the father of their two unhatched eggs," he said, peering into the den carefully.  The Nago seemed to be fixing up the nest that was built inside the den, being careful not to disturb the two eggs within it.  "I'm thinking that he took egg-watch duty today.  They tend to alternate when they watch the eggs and when they patrol the territory," he added.

Aerarnis followed closely after the brothers once they arrived at the nest, waiting for the two female Paragon to enter before swiping her tail underneath the entrance, covering it in vines.  When she passed a particular den, she peered inside for just a moment, and then, she shook her head and laughed.

"Trying to adjust the nest again, Raloi?" she asked.  "Just leave the eggs be--they'll hatch when they're ready to hatch--there's no need to remake the nest every other day," she said.  The male looked up, smiled at his mate, and then chuckled as he gently nuzzled the two eggs.

"Well, let's make our way down there," Aerarnis said, pointing to the bottom of the den.  "Since most of this construction is new, no flying within the nest is allowed yet.  It takes about twenty minutes to walk down to the leaders' den, and the healer's den is about halfway down from that."

[Toon-Souseiseki]

The Placid looked inside and blinked in surprise.  "Wait a minute, I know that guy," she said.  Saneol looked over and as soon as he saw his sister, he ran over as fast a he could on four legs.  "Persephone, where the he--" he stopped as he saw Persephone looking at the strange Placid with the hood wrap on, "Who the hell are you?"

The Placid stopped looking at the Nago named Raoli and looked over at Saneol, "The name's Espea Chaotic.  I'm the head leader of Chaotic Bounty, a bounty huntress and Sword expert."  As soon as Persephone heard the Placid's name she smiled, "I-I'm Persephone and that's my brother Saneol."  Saneol blinked at Persephone's loud response to Espea and sighed, "she'll never change..."

[SpringsSong]

"Okay, just HOW, exactly, do you know my mate?" Aerarnis said, turning around as the spines on her head seemed to move.  After a moment, she said, "Never mind that.  Just follow me."

She began walking at a fast clip, and Zaeyin sighed as he looked back at his brother and sister, then followed after Aerarnis.  They passed a few other Paragon on the way down; mostly, Paragon that were classified as hunters or fighters.

"Most all of these Paragon have blood that spans back to the original Clan, which was present over a millennia ago," Zaeyin said.  "Some of the younger ones that were found as orphans--Anadella and Ianalnys--don't have any Clan ties, but they were raised by the Clan, so there is no need to turn them away now that they are older."

[Toon-Souseiseki]

"For the record let it be known I saved his ass while he was wounded.  I would've done more saving if that damn Battleheart didn't used it's tail and flung me so far away from him," Espea whispered following behind.  

"So all of these Paragons have a different roles in the caln and do their duties with proud heads.  Must be a nice clan then," Saneol said looking over at Zaeyin.  "What do you think Persephone?"  there was no response from her since she was just looking at Espea with wide eyes and a interested face.  "Oh for the love of Paragons, she's distracted," he said and sighs.

[SpringsSong]

Aerarnis paid little attention to the Placid, instead, walking to the healers' den.  She would at least feel better if this Paragon had her wound examined by the healers.  Within ten minutes, they were at one of the larger dens, and Aerarnis poked her head in to see a familiar pale glow.

"Skarea?  Kyrindor?  Yenaya?" she asked.



"Yenaya's out gathering herbs right now, Aerarnis.  How can we be of assistance, though?" the VoindBringer male, Kyrindor, asked as the Frost Paragon--the one that was emitting a glow--walked around to the side of the male.

"Just assessing a wound, Kyrindor," Aerarnis said.  "Said she was injured by Battlehearts, so..."

"She is in able hands, Aerarnis," Skarea said, beckoning to the Placid.  The den would have otherwise felt dark without the Frost there, who seemed to be giving off a purple-and-yellow glow, but it felt like a healers' den with the various herbs that were hanging about the room.

"We can either wait until they've assessed her condition, or continue on," she said.  "Your choice."

"We'll stay," Zaeyin said decisively.

[Toon-Souseiseki]

Persephone watched as Espea walked inside and sat down, "I don't see what the big deal is, I'm fine.  There's no infection, there's no large gash, it's just a scratch!"  Saneol was actually back mouthing to what Espea was saying and as soon as Persephone say this, she snarled and sparked up.  Saneol fell silent after that.  He never, not even the slightest, ever gotten a response like that from her.  It seemed a bit unnatural to him and it kind of made him worried.

[SpringsSong]

"Just a scratch or no, let's just give it a quick once-over, just to be safe," Kyrindor said.  "Even just a scratch can allow poison to enter your system."

"My brother speaks the truth," Skarea said, ignoring the odd stares she got from Aerarnis and Zaeyin.  "Although no Battlehearts can inherently use poison, I would not be surprised if they could learn such an ability while disguised as the two-legs they enjoy feasting upon, you know," she said.

It did not take long for the two to examine the Placid, and after a moment, Kyrindor nodded.  "It'll be fine.  Just make sure it doesn't open any further, and that it is kept as clean as possible," he said, bowing slightly as he stepped further back into the den.  Aerarnis and Zaeyin rose and turned to continue down the path to the leader's den.

"I never knew that Skarea and Kyrindor were brother and sister," he said to Aerarnis, and the VoidBringer shrugged.

"I had my suspicions, but I never would have actually guessed that they were,"
she said calmly.

[Toon-Souseiseki]

"Heh, siblings that look completely different.  Quite common for me since I see those three together," Espea said pointing to Persephone, Zaeyin and Saneol.  "Seriously, one of those three makes me think what the hell the parents were smoking that day."

Saneol glared at Espea with a not impressed face.  "Okay I do not see how or why you take interest in that girl Persephone," he said.  "Because of her personality San-san!  She's the first ever Placid I've seen that would rather fight then get pampered," Persephone replied.

[SpringsSong]

"I'll have you know, Miss," Zaeyin said sternly, "that we were orphaned at a very young age.  I don't even know if our parents are still alive, or where they are."

"The leaders of the Clan has a son who's a Primal, much like Zaeyin," Aerarnis said.  "When you see the leaders, you'll understand why I say that I mean he's much like Zaeyin in more ways than just his species compared to his siblings."

The walk continued for another several minutes until they reached the flat part of the nest, where a small pond of sorts seemed to be situated.  In a corner, two Ambias and a Pipe Paragon seemed hard at work at digging even lower into the nest, but were experiencing some difficulties.

"The leaders' den is right here..."

[Toon-Souseiseki]

Espea nods and pulled down her hood to show respect to the leaders.  She had stretched a bit to crack her spine a bit.  Saneol made Persephone stop and make her not follow Espea that time.  "Okay, what's wrong with you sis?  why are you so intrigued by that Placid so much?"  Persephone didn't respond and watched Espea head inside.  She didn't want to leave that Placid's side for some odd reason and it made Saneol worried a bit.  "Hey, aren't you going to respond to me sometime in the day?"  She looked at her brother and blinked, but then looked back over at Espea.

[SpringsSong]

"Katalmach, Kalach-cha," Aerarnis said before stepping into the den.  "We encountered some Paragon in the forest.  Two are Zaeyin's siblings, but the third... well, she claims she can aid us in our conflict with the Battlehearts."



"Interesting," Katalmach said, looking at the three siblings.  "It would seem as though the three of you are similar to our sons, although there is admittedly more variation in your markins and colors than in theirs... but that is a trivial manner," he said.  He turned to the Placid, raising his head.  "How, exactly, can you assist us with the Battleheart clan?" he asked.

"Always straight to business with my mate," Kalach-cha said.  "So, these are your brother and sister, Zaeyin?  May I ask your names?" she asked after Zaeyin had nodded that they were, indeed, his siblings.