[Carlie]

It was around four o'clock and rather dark. Walking through the slums were two Ferrikoons. Leading the way was a Hollow Ferrikoon. She was grinning and looked thrilled to be here. "Come on, Viren! You're slower than a Snicky!" She giggled and moved a bit faster. Walking behind her was a slightly larger male, a Venom Ferrikoon. He looked annoyed. "Calm down, Candy. We'll find one eventually." He rolled his eyes. She slowed down a bit, but it only lasted for a few seconds. Her excitement caused her to quickly pick up speed. Why did I have to do this? Viren thought. Because his sister, Candy, was one of the very few people he cared about, she could get him to do nearly anything for her. Apparently that included hunting for a snicky.

[Carlie]

They reached a wide path. It was surrounded by trees and looked much darker than the area that they were currently standing in. "I bet they're over there!" Candy exclaimed. She looked way too happy for a place like this; their surroundings gave a gloomy, even menacing, feeling. She ran towards the path eagerly. Viren picked up speed. He didn't want to, but he couldn't let Candy get too far away from him. He didn't want her getting lost in a place like this. "Slow down, Candy!" She slowed down a bit, still walking much faster than him. "But...I need to find one! So we should go faster!" Viren shook his head. "Running won't make us find one any quicker. In fact, you'll probably run right past one." Candy sighed. "Fiiiine." She finally slowed down and Viren caught up with her.

[Carlie]

Within minutes, Candy had sped up again. She was walking quickly and whining at Viren to move faster. When he refused (he had given up on telling her to slow down), she decided to climb up a tree. "What are you doing, Candy?" Viren asked, looking confused. "Do you really expect to find one up there?" He spoke louder so she could hear him, as she was already quite high up. "...Maybe." She answered. Viren sighed. She had such a short attention span. Candy grinned. "No, wait! If I'm up here, I have a better view! I can look for a Snicky from here, and you can catch it!" He knew that she had just made that up as an excuse but decided not to say anything. He continued searching the ground on his own.

[Carlie]

Not long after she climbed into the tree, Candy appeared to have forgotten all about finding a Snicky. Viren rolled his eyes. She was the one that wanted to come here in the first place! If all she wanted to do was play in some trees, then why did he have to come? He decided to try and get her to focus...again. He knew that either way, she would remember later. He didn't want to leave and then get dragged back here the next day. "Have you found anything yet?" He called up to his sister. He already knew just what she would say. "No, not yet! I'm looking, though!" "Of course you are." He muttered too quietly for her to hear. She jumped down from the tree and began searching with Viren...sort of. She was speed-walking while saying things like "Hereeee snaily. I know you're over here somewhere..." Viren shook his head. At this rate, she was going to scare them all off instead of finding one.

[Carlie]

It was beginning to get later...and darker. It was now almost five. We better hurry up. Viren thought. Or it'll be too dark to see a snicky. He dreaded the idea of not finding one and getting dragged back by Candy tomorrow. She was walking ahead of him, still walking happily. She seemed to never run out of energy.

[Carlie]

The two of them had been searching for quite a while- it was now getting very dark. Viren was moving the large leaves of a plant aside, scanning for closely. A snicky could be anywhere. Realizing that it was nearly impossible to see, he sighed. "Candy...it's way too dark. I guess I'll we can come back another time. Let's go." ...No reply. That's strange. "Candy?" Viren said again, looking in front of him. There was no sign of his little sister. He couldn't even hear the sound of leaves rustling. Just great.

[Carlie]

"Candy? Come one! Where are you?" Viren yelled, beginning to get frantic. How could he let her get away from him? He had been watching her so closely! The minute he let his guard down, this had to happen. "Candy?!" He called again hopelessly. She had to be here somewhere...but where? Suddenly, he heard some leaves rustling nearby. He jumped slightly and ran towards the sound. He pulled back the leaves and saw a Blackberry Slikey. Great, not Candy.

[Carlie]

The slikey looked up quickly and saw Viren. She had heard him calling for this Candy person. "Hello, sir. Are you...lost?' She asked timidly. Viren shook his head. "I probably am now. But I'm looking for my sister, Candy." He answered. "You haven't seen a hollow ferrikoon, have you?" Usually, when first meeting someone, he acted very flirtatious in attempt to charm them. It seemed he was too tired to do so now. "No, I'm afraid I haven't." the slikey answered. "I could help you, if you'd like...I'm Ari." Viren looked up at her. "That would be great..." Ari smiled. She wasn't used to having company. It seemed that he had walked much farther than the other people that came looking for snikys. She wondered briefly if that was why he and his sister had come here. She decided that it was likely.

[Carlie]

The two of them began walking and were silent for the first few minutes. Viren because he was deep in thought and Ari becuase she was generally a shy and quiet person. Finally, she decided to speak. "What is your sister like? Maybe if I know about her, it will be easier to find her..." Viren though for a few moments before he spoke. "Well...she's one of the most energetic people you'll ever meet. She's really sweet and caring. She always seems to have way to much energy." He gave a small chuckle. "She loves to be out doors. So she like things like tree climbing, swimming...things like that." Ari's eyes lit up. "Swimming? I think I know where we could look!" She began walking quickly and Viren eagerly followed her. She was trying to find a small pond she knew of. It was surprisingly nice for something in a place like this, she was there all the time. She was pretty sure that a person like Candy would love it.

[Carlie]

Ari turned around and began walking in the direction of the pond. Viren followed. "It shouldn't be a very long walk. I go there quite often and know the quickest way." Viren grinned. "I really appreciate your help." Ari smiled and continued walking. Suddenly, there was a crash of thunder and rain started pouring. "Oh great! No wonder it was so dark!" Viren sighed. Neither of them had noticed the dark clouds because they were barely visible through the trees. The rain seemed to get harder and harder. "We need to find shelter." Ari said. Viren stopped walking. "But...Candy's out there! We can't just...just stop looking!" Ari looked down. She understood how he felt but it would be much safer for them to wait until after the storm. Another crash of thunder and the sky was lit up as lightning shot across. It was even visible where Viren and Ari were, under the trees. "She'll probably find shelter too. We can't stay out here, it's too dangerous." "But...she's my sister. I have to find her." Ari looked into his eyes. "You can't find her if you're hurt or...dead. It's for the best." Viren sighed. "Fine."

[DragonHenge]

The rain hummed off of the dark earth below. Lightning forked the sky once more, sending a splash of color through the slums. As the sky darkened once more, thunder broke free, rumbling the earth. However, the storm didn't seem to effect the three that continued on through it. Two were Shielupes, one Common, one Purine, the other, what looked like to be a extremely hyper Chombones. The little thing was bouncing up and down, his tail going every which way possible, the rain not effecting him at all. "Hey, hey, what are we doing here again? Hmmm?" he asked, his voice somewhat high pitched. With every word he spoke his teeth clattered together, making him have an eerie tune to his voice. "Why do you never listen...." the Common Sheilupe growled, his ears loosing some of their normal perk. The left side of his face was covered in crisscrossed scars, stopping above his brow. A golden chain clung tightly to his neck, almost looking as if it were starting to emerge into his skin. Also, he had a tribal tattoo strapped across his left foreleg, moving with his muscles as he continued to move through the falling rain. "'Cause it's more fun not to listen at the time, yep! Couldn't you tell me, Baku.....pleeeeease!" he begged, moving under the Common Shielupe, large teeth formatted into a creepy grin.

"Why don't you two shut your mouths!" the other Sheilupe snapped, his dark purple eyes void of all emotion, almost dead looking. The sound of his deep voice made the little Chombones skid to a halt, her head tilted to the side as if he had down something wrong. "Aw, come on Marik, give the kid a break. You know this his first time going on a hunt." Baku said, trying to reason with his brother, "You know, we could have gotten stuck with a lot worse." Marik said nothing, his eyes staring straight threw the curtain of rain, lightning forking the sky once more, throwing them back into color, flashing against the golden bands around the Purine Sheilupe's ankles. There was also a thick golden necklace around his neck too, but this one was adorn with an Egyptian Ankh. The charm jingling with the movement of his paws upon the cold earth. It was all too quite now, Baku stopped, looking over his shoulder, thinking that his little companion was still trodding along behind them in silence, but how wrong he was. In fact, the little Chombones was nowhere to be seen. "Great....Marik, look what you did!" Baku snapped, turning to double back, "You scared him off! Axel........Axel!" Marik's eyes rolled, as he turned to watch his brother sprint off into the darkness, which quickly consumed him.    

Actually, the little Chombones, who goes by Axel had found something much more interesting to follow, the scent of a Ferrikoon. Little paws splashing threw the muck and the water as he quickened his pace, teeth chattering as he went. "Hmmm, yes, this way, this way." he mumbled to himself as he started to run towards the scent, this making his teeth rattle together even more then usual, "It has to be close.....just a little further." It wasn't long until the scent was thick in the air and he knew that the Ferrikoon was around here somewhere. His head tilting to the side, he listened, trying to pick up on any sound that this other might accidentally make, but poor little Axel wasn't paying any attention to where he was going and slipped, falling head first right into a huge pile of mud. His once nice red pelt dripping with the gloop as he tried to pull himself out.

[Carlie]

Candy was a good distance away from Ari and Viren. Ari was right; she had indeed found the lake. She was sitting under a tree, watching the rain fall all around her nervously. She shouldn't have wandered off. If she stayed with Viren, they could be at home dry and comfortable. She saw lightning strike a nearby tree. Why did she have to walk off? She thought that if she went a little bit ahead, she might find a snicky. A little bit turned into a lot. She looked around frantically. Suddenly, she saw something through some trees. She could tell what it was from where she sat. It seemed to be a brownish color; that was all she knew for sure. "Hello?" She called out to it. Maybe it had seen Viren and could help her find him.

[DragonHenge]

"Yucky!" Axel exclaimed, sitting down and wriggling his paw, mud slinging everywhere, then he heard a voice. Ears perking, he jumped to his paws and bounded off after the voice, springing at the Hollow Ferrikoon with a wide grin upon his face, tackling her to the ground, pinning her. "I found you! Hehe! Come on, let's play again!" He said excitedly, tail wagging happily as he looked down at the Ferrikoon, teeth clattering together awkwardly.

"Axel! Come on, we're not playing Hide and Seek again!" Baku bellowed, his paws squelching in the mud, "Why does it have to be raining? Marik, come on, move it!" Baku slid a few feet, catching himself before he fell over, but there was still no sign of Axel anywhere, the rain was coming down too hard to track his scent. Even though, it wouldn't have effected the Chombone's nose, he was always finding things others couldn't track down.
"He's gone. Let's leave him here, he's annoying, anyways." Marik drawled, mud clinging to his white pelt, which he didn't seem to care. Baku shot him a repulsive glare before trying to track down Axel, hoping the little Chombones hadn't gotten himself into trouble.

[Carlie]

Candy laughed. "Alright!" She grinned, glad to have some company, even if it was someone she didn't know. Anything was better than being alone in this kind of weather. "Who are you, anyway?" She asked. "I'm Candy!"

Ari and Viren were in the cave, waiting. The storm only seemed to be getting worse. Ari was sitting against a wall, staring straight in front of her, lost in thought. Viren was pacing back and forth through the small space, worrying about Candy. Suddenly, he thought he heard a voice. It sounded faint- it had to be coming from relatively far away. It didn't sound like Candy. He hadn't seen anyone else in all the time he wandered around, he wondered who it could be. "Hey, Ari, do you hear that?" She looked over at him and remained quiet. After a few moments, she heard it as well and nodded. "I wonder who that is."

[DragonHenge]

He bounded off of her, letting her up, his tail still wagging briskly as he slipped again, face first in another muddy puddle. "I'm Axel, yeah, that's my name." he said, shaking some of the gunk off of himself, spraying the ground with flecks of mud, "What are you doing here? Playing in the mud too?" He seemed to calm down now, sitting before her, his head tilting slightly to the leaf as  he watched her through those dark eye sockets.

"If you don't start looking for him, so help me I'll....." Baku began, his voice turning into an inaudible growl. "Or you'll do what?" Marik teased, trying his brother's patience as the Shielupe steadily grew angrier by the second, "Aw, is little Baku worried about icky wittle Axel? Bwhahahaha!" Marik's laughter ringing out across the rain drenched earth as thunder rumbled. Baku lunged at his brother, but missed, slipping through the muck, sliding on his underbelly for a few feet. Picking himself up, he was now dripping with goo, from chin to stomach, ears plastered to his skull as he glared menacingly at his brother, Marik, as he continued his maniacal laugh.