Dawn. The sun was beginning to sprinkle through the thick canopy of the steamy jungles of Paradwyn. Here and there, Scarletsong Hwits were beginning to wake and belt their shrills songs. Bagalas began to stretch and yawn, preparing for another day of silent hunting, pouncing on anyone foolish enough to try and traverse the jungle floor. As the beasts of the jungle rose from their slumber, so did the Magi of Paradwyn.
"This is gonna be a busy day…" Kioko thought to herself. As she lithely sprung from her bed, the familiar shape of a tall, muscular Magi appeared in her doorframe. "Kioko! You up yet? Goodness, girl, you sleep heavier than an Ormagon!" As she turned from cutting open a mushyfruit, the big Magi let the bag he was carrying slump to the floor. As it hit, the contents let out a funny sort of clunking.
"Still carrying those ridiculous drums around with you, eh, Ookami? You know, as great as you are at playing them, they still make you a horrible stalker. All that thumping gives you away!" She tossed him a half of the mushyfruit and went to stand in the window of her humble hut.
Staring off into the distance, she could see the massive grass sea of the Weave swaying to and fro in the winds. "You know, the Weave is finally sending us a couple of Magi to help defend our borders. They're supposed to be arriving today." Kioko trailed off into thought, still gazing into the distance. "What? How come no one told me about this? Well, whatever. How much help could a bunch of braid-headed grass-folk be when we need people to sneak up on our enemies? I mean, honestly! They aren't even all that tough. Buncha sissy pacifists if you ask me."
"I don't really think you're giving them a chance, Ookami. You shouldn't underestimate them. Just because they don't like to fight doesn't mean they can't. Besides, Bazha himself went to the Weave to hand select the party. Only two made the cut." Kioko had always liked the people of the Weave, ever since she had met Iyori, when all the trouble with the Shadow Magi was brewing. She had proven to Kioko that the Weave was not just a push-over region, capable of holding their own in a fight. She even learned a little bit of stalking and tracking from Kioko. Unfortunately, she would not be joining the Weavers coming to Paradwyn. Gia had requested that she stay behind, in case Cald decided to move on the Weave again.
Heaving himself up from the floor, Ookami picked up his clunking bag, and walked over to the door. "Whatever you say. Let's just hope they've got something up their sleeves to hold of those insane Bograthians." Kioko smiled. "Fingers crossed!"
"Ugh… hey, Bo'Ahsa, I'm starting to not feel so great about this," Rehlya yelled up to her fellow Weaver. "I don't know what I just stepped in, but sure felt pretty nasty… do we really have to do this?" Bo'Ahsa, getting a little tired of Rehlya's whining, twirled on her heel, her long, dark braids flailing in all directions. "Yes. Paradwyn needs help, and, being their sole available ally right now, we need to do all we can for them. Gia should have sent more than just us, but that crazy old girl thinks two is enough to turn the tide of this nutty war. So, in short, yes, we need to keep going." She slowly turned back around, trying to relax; though, in this noisy, mucky jungle, that would prove to be quite the task.
Feeling bad about getting her friend up in a fluster, Rehlya decided that maybe it would be best if she just stopped talking until they got to where they were going. But, still disgusted by the gunk on her shoes, she slipped on a ring with a large piece of Animite, and began to form the image of a massive creature in her head. Channeling her energy into the ring, a flash burst from it, and the huge form of a junjertrug appeared in front of her. The massive, furry beast knelt so that its master could climb up his tusks to get on it's back.
Still trudging on, Bo'Ahsa didn't even realize that her friend had summoned the dream creature. "You know, this is a lot easier if you ride." Rehlya cast Bo'Ahsa a goofy, slanted smile, and helped her friend get up onto the great creature's back. "Thanks. To be totally honest, I was starting to get a little- EEP!"
Before she could finish her sentence, an impressively fit looking Magi was standing on the junjertrug's head, his face so close to Bo'Ahsa's, their noses were almost touching. "It's about time you two showed up! We've been waiting all morning." Feeling off-balance on the swaying dream creature's head, the green-skinned Magi politely looked at Rehlya. "If you wouldn't mind, this big lug isn't going to be able to continue with much ease from here, so if you could just undream it, I'm sure we'd all be very grateful.
"Wha- how did you know I summoned this?" Rehlya was utterly blown away with the fact that he knew exactly who the junjertrug belonged to. "Hmm? Oh, I've been following you since you hit the border. Up in the treetops." Hitting himself in the forehead, the athletic Magi laughed, and realized how rude he'd been. "I'm sorry. I pounce on you then don't even introduce myself! I'm Yricho. And you are?"
"I'm Bo'Ahsa, and this is Rehlya. We're here to provide you with…" Once again, before she could finish, the playful Magi cut her off. "Blah, blah, blah. No need to be so serious. I know you're here to fight, I just wanted to know your names. Well, now that we all know each other, let's head to the Lifekeeper's place, eh? Oh, and no more pack animals. Completely useless in the jungle…"