Mmm. Cory gets plant magic.

I don't know how long I was in the void. It was suffocating, like I was being pulled apart and put back together the wrong way. Cory's presence had disappeared a long time ago. Just when I thought I couldn't bear the pressure any longer, a surge of energy went through my body. I gasped in shock. It was extremely powerful and unlike anything I had ever felt before. For whatever reason, as the energy coursed through my body, the void turned bright blue.

Then came the sensation of something popping, and once again I fell. I landed hard in what seemed to be...a stream? Was that a lightning strike? Is this a dream? I tried to look around, but my body felt like an overcooked potato. No. This is way too vivid to be an ordinary dream...am I dead? By moving my head side to side, I realized that I was in some kind of forest. It looked to be summer, the leaves were green and there were birds chirping brightly. I was lying in the middle of a quick flowing and shallow stream - if I were able to stand, it wouldn't even be at my knees. My head was lying on the muddy bank, my hair covered in the stuff. More importantly, I was alone.

Where's Cory? I struggled to sit up, my arms trembling with effort as they propped me up. What happened to us? I heard footsteps from far off, but they were rapidly approaching. It sounded like a lot of people. There were shouts and yells too...were they being chased? If so, by what?

Then there was the roar. It was terrible, inhuman...there was a monster on its way. I tried to move as fast as I could, but my body was still stunned from whatever had happened.

"Come on, boys! We're about to lose 'em!" A gruff voice called. "Hurry it up!"

No sooner than the man was finished speaking, the bushes in front of me shook violently, and a band of about eight men emerged. They looked like they had just been in some sort of fight. Some were bleeding, others had red welts...and were those burns? What could be after them?

The band of men was about to push onward and past me, but one of them spotted me there on the ground. He alerted his buddies, and they all turned to consider me. Dread and fear coursed through me. No matter the circumstances, a girl and eight unfamiliar men did not make for a good situation. "Grab her!" The leader ordered. I tried to move, but two of the men were on me in a second, dragging me up by my arms. "Must've wandered away from town. Has to be pretty stupid to go walking about with us on the loose."

I tried to say something, but all that came out was a strangled gasp. The leader laughed, revealing dirty yellow teeth. "What a stroke of luck. It doesn't seem like there's much fight in her, she'll be the perfect hostage!"

At the word hostage panic really began to set in. That terrible roar sounded again, much closer this time. It was accompanied by multiple pairs of footsteps. The bushes rustled again, and the leader motioned the five free men to form a line in front of us. He doesn't want them to get to me easily...whoever they are. I realized, as the grips on my arms tightened. I braced myself, ready for some huge beast to appear. But what hurtled out of the bushes was -

A bunch of kids, two boys and two girls. They couldn't be any older than I was, and there were only four of them! How could they have eight grown men on the run?

"HA!" The first shouted, ramming into one of the men in front of me. I realized that the vicious roars had been coming from his mouth. That's crazy, he almost sounded like a dragon! "That's what you get for running away! Fire -"

"Stop it, you idiot! They've got a girl!" The other boy reprimanded. The ferocious youth paused, and I got the chance to take in everyone's appearance.

The first boy was wearing this weird coat with only one sleeve. His hair was extremely spiky. And pink. For whatever reason, the second black haired boy was shirtless, revealing a dark blue tattoo. There was a blonde girl in some kind of crop top with separate sleeves, and the fourth...her hair was a flaming scarlet red...why the hell was she wearing armor? What was this?

Both groups were silent for a moment, sizing each other up. Then the red haired girl's expression morphed into something terrifying. She would not be denied. "Let her go." The words rang out powerfully, "Or you will feel my blades."

Just as I was wondering what blades she was talking about, the redhead's hands released a flash of light, and from that, two wickedly sharp silver swords appeared. What was that? Magic? How? She pointed the swords towards the men, expression daring them to say no.

But their leader obviously wasn't as intimidated as I was. He grinned evilly. "Ah, but you see, we have blades of our own. Boys?" Once again, out of nowhere, two blades appeared. But this time they were held against my neck. Everything came into sharper focus. I could hear the stream flowing behind me, louder than ever. These men would not hesitate to kill me if it helped them get what they wanted. The shock of my situation had started to wear off, and I tried to pull away.

"H-hey, now." I said nervously, "I'm not part of this. Let me go."

The leader glanced back to smirk at me. "You are now, girlie. And I'd keep my mouth shut if I was you."

"You will not harm her!" The redhead declared.

"You will stay where you are." The leader countered. "You will let us leave with the girl. We might leave her behind eventually..."

"Or we could keep her." One of the men holding me suggested. He leered at me greedily, and I recoiled in revulsion. The leader nodded his approval.

"Either way, you Fairy bastards make a move and she dies." The clearing was silent for a moment. "We're going to retreat now."

The pink haired one tried to lunge forward, but his friends held him back. The redhead whispered something in his ear that should have been too soft to hear, but he nodded grimly and glared at my captors. The men started exiting the clearing one by one, their steps making splashes as they crossed the stream. The leader waited, then nodded and walked backwards across the clearing. My captors walked backward as well, and my feet dragged against the grass.

These men would kill me. That, or keep me for...darker reasons. I couldn't let myself be taken.

But what could I do? I was just a high school kid who had been flung into this madness. I had no idea what was going on. If I had to choose who to trust...it would be the four teens standing in front of me. They would help me. "Let me go." I repeated, the resolve in my voice way more impressive than what I was feeling.

"Shut up, bitch." The man on my left said. Another step and we were in the water. Energy surged through me, like a watered down version of what I'd experienced in the void. Whoever these men were, they needed to be taught a lesson.

I'd had enough. I would make these strangers give me answers. With a deep breath, I ground my feet into the stream bed. "I said..." my voice dripped with venom , "Let me GO!" And then, with a burst of blue light, my energy sprang forth.

The water surged upwards, engulfing me in a pillar of liquid and blasting my enemies away. "Get out!" I screamed at them, and with a motion of my arms, they were lifted onto the opposite bank by twin waves. The energy started to fade. I panted heavily, my back to the other teens. My fingers curled into fists. The leader stared at me in shock. Somehow I knew I would only have the strength to move the water one more time.

I raised my hands above my head. The stream went with them, tons of water swirling in the air. I shoved forward, and forward went the water.

The men were pushed back so far that they crashed into the trees. I looked back to the teens, a question on my lips that I never got the chance to ask.

The world went dark, and the ground rose up to meet me.

Cory felt like crap.

Sure, he'd felt bad before. Breaking his arm when he was twelve, getting mono in his freshman year. But this was way different. He felt like he'd just been run over by a train. There was a surge of energy, a flash of green and white light, and he landed against something hard. Note to self. Never get struck by lightning.

Cory opened his eyes, ready to see the pavement and Raven lying beside him, but that expectation died immediately. Why was he in the middle of a forest? Sitting in a tree? He had to be twenty feet up. Cory moved slowly, his arms aching and head pounding. "Raven?" He called weakly. "Where are you?"

There was no answer. Crap. Whatever is happening, she shouldn't be on her own. Dream or not, he didn't want his best friend by herself.

He heard people shouting. There was also the roar of some crazy beast. I really need to find Raven. Cory inspected his tree more carefully. On any other day, it would have been an easy climb down. But not when his arms felt like noodles. Still, he had to get to Raven.

Cory was glad that nobody was around to watch him struggle down. It was going great, till he heard his friend scream. "I said," her voice was close, "Let me GO!" Cory was so startled he fell the last five feet, landing hard on his back. He scrambled up, grabbing the tree trunk for support. He shuffled in the direction of the voice, just as Raven screamed, "Get out!"

Then Cory started running. It hurt, and he was going slowly, but he had to get to Raven. He had to protect her from whatever she was screaming about. He pushed through a rather tall bush and emerged into a clearing filled with people. He saw Raven standing in the middle of a stream, back to four strangers. She was soaked and her clothes had weird scorch marks. Wait...what's with her hair? She turned around to look at the others, then collapsed.

One of the people, a blonde girl about their age, ran over to look at Raven.

"Hey!" Cory yelled, "Leave her alone! What did you do?"

The four looked over towards Cory. A black-haired boy lifted his hands in a calming gesture. "Take it easy man, we didn't touch her. She lifted that entire stream to get the bandits, probably exhausted her magic energy."

"Magic energy? Bandits? What the hell are you talking about?" Cory demanded. The strangers shared a look, even the blonde looked up.

"Were you with her before? What made those scorch marks?" A redhead asked, gesturing at Cory. He looked down at himself and saw that his clothes had been blackened just like Raven's.

"Yeah, we were together a minute ago..." Cory's words died in his throat. What had happened?

The blonde had pulled Raven out of the water by now. "She's breathing. I think she'll be fine."

"What about those bandits, though?" a pink-haired boy asked. "We can't let 'em get away!"

"I know, Natsu." The redhead answered. "You and I will track them down. Gray, Lucy, help get these two back to town. Bring them to our hotel, I want to talk to them later. There's something going on here and I'm not sure I like it."

"You got it, Erza." the blonde, Lucy, agreed. "See you later!"

Redheaded Erza and pink haired Natsu ran off into the trees. Cory cautiously approached the remaining two. "Where are we? What is this place?"

"We're in the forest on the outskirts of Oshibana." Gray answered. At Cory's blank stare, he turned to Lucy.

"Edolas?" he whispered, and Cory barely heard it. Lucy shrugged, and Gray sighed. "We'll figure this out later. If Erza and Natsu get back to town first, Erza might kill us."

"You're right." Lucy shuddered. Gray walked over, and Lucy helped him get the unconscious Raven on his back.

"Hold up!" Cory ordered. "Why should we go with you?"

"Don't be stupid." Gray shot back, "There are eight bandits in these woods, and all of them can use magic. Your friend's out cold and you look like you're about to fall over. We just want to help."

Cory just stared at them for a moment. I have no idea what's going on...but Raven wasn't facing these guys when she cried out. She's in bad shape and I'm not much better off. He took a deep breath and nodded. I'll have to trust them.

"Lead the way."

And there it is!
In case you were wondering,
I left out descriptions of Raven and Cory on purpose.
You'll find out why next time. Please review!
It makes me write faster!