Heres the next chapter, its longer and you'll meet my Ocs in it :)

Disclaimer: I dont own epic, only my characters

It was dark amongst the leafy branches, but Nod and his friends waited patiently for the first light of dawn, for that would be when the fun began.

They were in a tree, on top of what the Jinn called, Hickory Hill, not that there was a single hickory tree on the hill. Of course, Nod didn't care what it was called, nor did he care that it was the perfect place to view the sunrise, and if you turned around, the sunset. The only reason he liked it up here, was because it was the best place to practice the new sport he and his friends had invented.

Said sport was what they called, leaf-bordering. They built their own boards that weren't unlike their Leafmen shields, that were round at the back and streamline at the front. The bottom was curved and rough to help grip the branches. They all had a packed parachute strapped on for emergencies. It was the perfect sport for adrenaline junkies, or in this case, Nod.

Said friends were teenagers that he had met when he became a official Leafman soldier. After the battle against the Boggans, Ronin assigned him to a group that had some people of his own age. Four teenagers to be exact; Ross, Mason, Lex, and Thryn.

Ever since M.K. had left, he and her communicated daily through Bomba's video cameras. A few months ago, she announced that she would attend her local high school, and they would be seeing less of each other for the rest of the year. Nod was sad about that, but they made it work, for M.K. got out of school in the afternoon, and he was let off duty in the early evening, so they talked to each other before turning in for the night.

Now it was spring; second semester, M.K. had called it and in two months, summer vacation would start. More freedom for her, but endless work for him. During which, Nod spent the time with his friends, hoping to fill the gaps with fun, rather than loneliness.

Ross was nineteen and tough-looking. He had short-cropped blond hair, steely blue eyes, and a tall, muscular build. Two years older than Nod, and Ross thought he was the boss, disapproving of Nod's reckless ways of handling things.

He was the poster boy of Leafmen discipline, and Nod sometimes joked that he was a mini Ronin. However, Ross didn't have Ronin's patience, and often lost his temper with Nod's shameless antics. Despite all those muscles, he wasn't very fast, and neither was he good at flying birds. His talent came from wielding a broadsword, which not many Jinn could do, not even adult, veteran Leafmen.

Lex is a sixteen-year-old human/grasshopper girl. She had short, grass-green hair and skin, and gold-and-green eyes. Her arms and legs were covered in a hard exoskeleton, therefore she only wore pieces of the Leafmen armor. She had a fun, easygoing, carefree attitude, and Nod liked her the moment they met.

She had a passion for being the fastest in footraces and often won them. She was also fast with arrows, making her the best archer in the group. When in battle though, her kind self became fierce and protective, like a mother bear.

Then there was Mason, seventeen and short for his age. He had dark skin, with short black hair, and black eyes. He didn't let his shortness get to him, and possessed a sarcastic, dark humor.

He was quick with his words, always ready with a comeback, that would either be as sweet as honey, or sharp like thorns. His tongue was smooth with the ladies, and trouble-seeking with his superiors. His knives were almost as quick as his words, though he always used words first, only drawing out weapons if he needed to.

Finally, there was Thryn, a somewhat strange, seventeen-year-old girl. She had long, brown hair that was always in a pony tail, tan skin, and gray eyes. She was quiet...no more than that, she was silent. She moved with silence and spoke more with body language, so Nod had to decipher her emotions by just the way she stood or carried herself. They would never had met if it wasn't for Lex, who claimed to be Thryn's BFF.

To Nod, most people who were quiet were also shy, but that wasn't the case for Thryn. The moment they met, she held Nod's gaze and didn't look away until she had finished introducing herself. Her voice was full of confidence, and her eyes curious.

She never complained during training, commented once in a while, and pushed herself always. She kicked butt with her twin katanas and quarter staff. Perched on her staff was a large dragonfly, a blue dasher to exact, named Sterling. She used him to carry messages, and claimed no bird could catch him, which couldn't be all wrong, if she had him since she was fourteen.

The first light of dawn had finally broken and washed the land with gold rays. Now there was enough light to leaf board, for they could see the path they would take clearly.

"Who wants to die first?" Mason asked, eyes glinting with unsuppressed glee.

In response, Ross snorted, Thryn rolled her eyes, and Lex...well she took off with a run, leaped for the next tree branch, and tucked her board under her feet, laughing all the way. The grasshopper girl landed on the branch and picked up speed, as she surfed the surface.

"What are you waiting for, come on!" she shouted.

"Why did I agree to this?" Ross asked nobody in particular, then took off on a different branch. Mason, and Nod followed, Thryn bringing up the back.

Nod jumped to a branch above, ran halfway down it's length, then tucked his board under him, pushing off with a kick. Immediately, the board picked up speed, and the world became a green blur.

He could already see himself on the cover of Moonhaven Weekly: The Latest in Exhilaration...Leaf-Boarding! Invented by the handsome, daring, and brave-his thought train was interrupted by an oncoming branch. He ducked and missed it by inches, only to find that he'd come to the end of his branch. He smiled in delight, for leaping to the next tree was his favorite part. As the end came, he bent his knees, putting his weight on the board, and the tip of the branch bent under him. Now it was a matter of timing. As the tip of his board cleared the branch, he jumped, causing the branch to be a spring board and snap him higher and further through the air. He flew across the empty space, whooping with excitement, and landed onto the next tree's branch.

Concentrate Nod, he thought, seeing that he was really flying now, zipping past leaves and branches, ducking and swerving obstacles. He heard the laughter, shouts, and cursing of his friends, but he didn't let them distract him. He learned that the hard way in the early days of this sport.

Nod jumped through nooks in the trees, tearing past leaves and alarmed Jinn. He cleared the space between trees, his board surfing the branches, the wind whipping through his hair. The teen was going faster than he ever had on Bufo's birds, so fast that his eyes were tearing up from the wind, and he had to keep blinking to keep them clear. He made a mental note: make some goggles!

The bottom of the hill was coming up fast. This was the tricky part, and probably the most dangerous. Trying to break with your foot was out of the question, no matter how padded that foot was. The speed would be to much, and a built-in break would unbalance you and throw you off the board. The only way to stop, was to slow down gradually.

Nod quickly checked that his pack was strapped on securely, just in case he would need it. The slope fell into flatter, more level land. Their momentum had to be carried out, until they reached a slower, safer speed. They bent their knees, putting weight on their boards, to increase the friction and help slow them down.

Then Nod glimpsed a gap in the trees, and saw that the land dropped. Oh, dammit. He forgot about the stream at the bottom of the hill. The tree branches were to far apart to leap across the water, and there were no curving branches around to change direction, so if he didn't stop now, he and his friends would fall and crash...possibly to their deaths.

His mind was going as fast as his board. The only way to go without getting killed was to pull the string on his pack, but would it stop him in time? He had experimented with his break system at different speeds, but never this fast. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friends coming up behind him. Now or never.

When they were about to cross the stream, Nod shouted as loud as he could, "Release!" and pulled the drawstring on his pack, hoping it would function. The parachute, made out of leaves, erupted out of the pack, snapping him back hard. Even though he braced himself for the jerk, it still hurt. His momentum carried him across the stream, though he was still going pretty fast, and it would be a hard landing.

A breeze suddenly blew through, pushing the parachute back with surprising force. It left as quickly as it came, and Nod felt himself falling. The parachute had crumpled in on itself and he plummeted to the stream.

He hit the water hard, sinking into the depths. What would be shallow for a stomper, was deep for him. Underwater, he quickly unstrapped the pack and parachute, before they could weigh him down, and swam for the surface. He burst up with a gasp, disoriented, but already feeling the current trying to take him for a ride downstream. Nod swam for the shore, not willing to go on that adventure just yet.

His hands felt scratchy sand and he stood up to walk the rest of the way. He saw that Lex had suffered the same landing he did, and was already on the bank, eyes wide and gaping like a fish. Must still be high on adrenaline. Mason and Thryn had the luck of avoiding the breeze and landing on the bank. Mason was waving and shouting. Thryn looked shaken, but had one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen on her face.

"Did you see that tricked out flip I did on that tree?!" Mason exclaimed. "It was so...awesome!"

"Mason," Lex said patiently. "I'll explain this again...we were to busy boarding to be paying any attention to you. Besides...it probably wasn't as cool as the twist and turn I did to avoid a knot!"

"Wait," Thryn's voice stopped all the chatter, "Where's Ross?"

At that moment, as if on cue, "Nod! I'm going to get you for this!"

They all looked up at the voice, to see Ross hanging by his parachute, which had caught on a branch. Nod and Mason tried and failed to not laugh at Ross's predicament.

"Oh you think that's funny, huh?" Ross shouted angrily. "This is your fault Nod! You talked me into this! When I get down there, your so dead!"

Nod and Mason fell over in laughter. Ross snarled and struggled to get out of his pack, his face red as a tomato. Lex looked up at him, concerned. Thryn rolled her eyes, glared at Ross, then glared at Nod and Mason.

An odd and strange group of friends, one made of very different people. But those were the best around. Maybe even the closest.

All of the sudden, a sound traveled through the forest and reached their ears, making the laughter stop and their blood run cold. It was the low, drawn-out call of a Leafmen horn, the alarm call. They hadn't heard that sound in a year.

Nod whistled, his friends following his lead. Four hummingbirds came out from the green and landed by their respective riders. Ross's bird hovered beneath him as he unstrapped himself from his pack, and he dropped into the saddle.

Now Nod was glad that they had brought their weapons and armor. It had been Thryn's idea. "If we're sneaking off, then at least we can be smart about it. You never know," she had said. Nod made a mental note to thank her later. The teens strapped on their armor and weapons, and before long, they were flying as fast their hummingbirds could go.

Hickory Hill wasn't far from Moonhaven, in fact, it overlooked it, being the highest point in the forest. When they arrived, the rock formation was bustling with Leafmen, about to take off. They had arrived just in time. The patrol was about to leave, yet Nod hoped that they could slip in unnoticed.

And they could've if it wasn't for Ross's habit of saluting every superior they tried to sneak past. One of them had to be Ronin. He looked pretty angry, as he marched right up to Nod.

He spoke through gritted teeth, "I don't have the time for this, Nod, but don't think I'm letting you and your friends off the hook. Get in the patrol, there's Boggans attacking Berry Meadow." Then he left to lead the battalion of Leafmen.

Nod and his friends flew in the back. On the way, the young Leafman grumbled to himself. Why is it that Ronin always thought he was the one at fault? That he caused the trouble? Okay sure, it had been his idea to sneak off to try out the hill, but what if it wasn't? He was willing to bet that Ronin would still think it was his fault.

They flew past some Jinn, who called out greetings and encouragement, and looked up at them with faces full of hope. He couldn't stay angry. So many people, looking to him and his comrades for protection and leadership, and here he was grumbling and complaining. Get over yourself, he thought. You've got responsibilities now. He thought of M.K. In a way, he was protecting her to, maybe even the whole world.

As you can see, Ronin and Nod's relationship is still a bit rocky, cause I believe that no relationship can be fixed in a day (which was the movie)

The next chapter will have some fighting and excitement and im almost done with it, so please review.