Hey guys, guess what? I wrote the next chapter while writing the previous uvu

Originally I was going to combine them together, but then I thought they'd probably be too long so I found a way to split them into two. Yep.

I'll reply to any reviews in the next chapter ahh

"Len! And Lenka!" Miku blurted. "Well… I mean, they both just lost a sibling… And it wouldn't be right to leave them in their cells to cry alone…"

Gakuko nodded. "Yes. It would be better from us than anyone else. And a Solin would probably come in handy. And if anything else, Lenka will be able to help us find shelter if we get out."

"We will get out." Luka nodded, and turned towards Luki. "The desert, rainforest and beach zone. We're looking for a blonde, spiky-haired Solin and a female Earthein, also blonde. Beach zone, you look for a short blue-haired kappa. We'll need at least one of each element. Is there anyone else we should- Where's Miku."

Everyone froze and turned. The teal-haired girl was no longer in sight. "Damnit." Mikuo hissed. "What the hell is she thinking? I'll go find her."

Luka didn't argue.

…

Miku looked around. The guards were still unconscious, but they weren't in a heavy sleep, so anything could wake them. She carefully pawed through the long, empty halls, ducking under every window and hiding at every sound. Finally, she found what she was looking for. There were no bodies on this floor. Why? She peered into the door, scanning the empty room. What the… "Miku?"

She jumped, and only then noticed a small girl standing by her feet, behind the door. How had she moved so fast? The room seemed empty. "Yan?" She asked, crouching to her level.

"Chu. Yan's there." She pointed at a second figure in the shadows.

Miku looked around. This door had no guards around it, and didn't seem to be locked properly. Did they think that the children didn't pose much of a threat? Miku carefully picked the lock and the door swung open, letting the twins hop out of their cell. "Come with me." She said. "We're going to get out of here."

The twins looked at each other excitedly, and followed Miku.

…

"There you are! Where the hell did you-" Mikuo paused and looked down at the twins by Miku's feet. "You brought them? Really?"

"They're kids. They don't deserve to stay here." She gave him a look, but he turned away immediately. "Now shut up. Where are the others?"

"Still inside. Come on."

The two Kins entered the hall, and the twins ran towards the group. Luki was already gone, probably to look for the others they needed. "So… How exactly do we get out?" Miku asked, walking up towards them, not in the mood to argue about where she'd disappeared to and why she didn't ask.

Gakuko looked around. "That you ask Luki when he gets back with the others. He suggested we leave through the front door dressed as the monk, but I'm not so sure we'll be so easily passed by. Especially with our… Body parts." This seemed to be directed to Luka more than anyone else.

Luka appeared to be deep in thought. "Actually, if the magic-dampening spell is weaker in the front part of the castle, we just might be able to make it out."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Lumiere don't always use tails." She said simply. "Kaiko!"

The Kappa and the two blondes ran towards the group. Lenka dropped down in front of them, and as the girls started to try and comfort the Solin and Earthein, Luki walked up behind them. "We have to leave now." He said. "The guards will be waking up soon, and I didn't cast anything on the lower-floor officers. Put on the monk's robes and I'll lead you out."

"Yes…" Gakuko looked concerned. "But will they pass us so easily? I'm rather wary, especially since we don't look completely human, and Luka, well… I'm not sure."

Luki shook his head and sighed. "There is another way out at the back, past the graves. We can take that path, but we'll have to fight our way through the village, and if we do make it out we'll be in the woodland path. West there's Mirkwood, which is a dark and dangerous forest, and to the East I'm not sure, but it's probably equally as dangerous. I don't know my way around there, or how long the forest goes on, but…"

"We'll take the East." Luka cut in. "Mirkwood is too dangerous for our group. We'll find a way out… Won't we?"

"We have to move now."

"Fine. Is everyone ready?"

…

Luki pushed the door open, and ushered everyone out. It was nearly sun down, and the sky was starting to turn a bluish-orangey colour as they stepped out into the cemetery, or rather, a burial grounds. One would expect row upon rows of once white, now moonlit grey obelisks standing at attention, but it was a barren ground, dusty and dry except for the occasional lumps of dirt. But at the furthest end, there were a few wooden signs and four carefully marked graves. Tears stung Miku's eyes, and Lenka bowed her head.

They crossed the graveyard, being careful not to accidentally step into any of the lumps, and in some silent agreement, nobody spoke. Finally they reached the end of the field, and Luki unlocked the gate. The view of a small village lay, spread open like a map on the ground below the hill they were on. "We have to move quickly, and quietly. We'll split up; a large group like this will get noticed."

Luka looked around. "Hold on." She lifted her hands. "Yes…. The magic restraints don't affect this place." She waved her arms just below her tail, and as it was enveloped by a small trail of sparkles, she was left with a long skirt and two, very human-like legs.

"Whoa!" Kaiko gasped. "I didn't know you could do that."

Luka smiled. "All Lumiere are capable of replacing their tails with legs, for as long as they need if their magic is strong enough. I was too weak to transform in the castle, but even if I could, the guards would probably flip the hell out."

"Great. That should leave us with less attention." Gakuko scanned the group. "Okay. Kins, blondies, with me. You two take Kaiko and the twins."

The group dispersed without hesitation, albeit the two Kins grumbling at Gakuko's decision. Gakuko led her group to the outskirts of the village, crouching behind the fences of the houses and creeping behind the shrubs, hoping no busy villagers would saunter out into their gardens to check for their herbs or other plants. Nobody came. They couldn't wander too far from the fences of the village, for they were blocked by a vast mountain that appeared to be where the castle they had been trapped in rested upon.

A sound came from one of the houses, and the door open. Len squealed in fright, and Gakuko slammed him down onto the forest floor, while everyone disappeared behind the greenery. Plants shot up before them, as Lenka desperately tried to create an entirely new growth of shrubs. A brown-haired woman looked out of the door, curious eyes watching the plants. "Must have grown overnight." She shrugged, and turned back. She entered the house, leaving the door open, where they could still hear her shouting. At first it didn't seem to be English, but then they could make out the words of "Be careful!", "Come back early!" and "Try not to kill too many this time!"

At this they froze. There was a hunter in that house, and no doubt that he was going to come out and hunt for animals, or worse, monsters. If any of them got noticed, they'd be killed on the spot for sure. "Keep moving." Gakuko urged. "Lenka, keep up the cover. We need as much as we can get, but not too fast."

"Right." The group kept moving, slowly but surely as the perceived hunter exited the house from the main door and made his way towards the woods they were heading to. What was going to happen if they ended up in the same place? And Luka, and the others, they didn't know what fate awaited them. Gakuko watched, in a stunned silence at first before it changed to horror.

It wasn't just one hunter.

There was an entire group of them, bows, arrows, swords and all, ready for a day of hard work. They chatted amongst themselves, coming closer to the edge of the woods. Their weapons deemed fit for squirrels and deer, but there was no doubt they'd kill any monster they came across. Donating a body, living or not to the castle seemed like a respectable feat. If the hunters were as strong as they were many, they would never make it out alive.

"What are we going to do?" Miku asked, her voice low and shaky.

"Keep going. If we can get there first, we might be able to outrun them."

Everyone nodded and followed their group leader, until, at long last, had finally reached the edge of the village. The second group, or the pack of hunters was nowhere to be seen. "Did they get here first?" Mikuo asked, looking around.

"Unlikely. They were walking a slow trot." She arched an eyebrow. "Which group are you talking about?"

"The hunters."

"Then what I said before. Keep going, into the woods."

They passed the border of the village and escaped into the woods, stopping at the fork in the road. Gakuko looked around. The others hadn't made it yet. Had they been captured? No… She wouldn't allow it. "Stay in the edges of Mirkwood, but don't enter completely. Do NOT stray from the path, and if there are hunters heading your way… You'll have to fight, unfortunately. Under no circumstances must you enter without me. And do not come looking for me either. If I find that any of you have stepped out to look for me, I will personally drown you. Is that clear?"

The group nodded. "Good. Wait here." They scattered off into the trees, hiding behind the twisted plants and blackened shrubs. Lenka shivered, shielding her eyes, trying to think of the better-looking forest, swarmed with hunters opposite of them. On several occasions she had tried to make plants grow, but they all shrivelled up and died as if they didn't want to be alive in this part of the woods, and it took Len all he could to comfort her.

"She's crazy!" Mikuo cried suddenly. "What is she thinking, going in there by herself? I'm not going to wait in this hellhole. We're only a few metres in and I'm starting to grow crazy. That's it. I'm getting out of here."

"Wait!" Miku tugged on his sleeve, pulling him back. "You can't leave!"

"Oh yeah? Why not?" He shot her an angry glare, one that disintegrated into pain and worry as he looked at her, and she only stared back with an equal amount of sadness.

"Because… She said to stay here…"

Mikuo sighed and grumbled, tracking back into the leaves and seating himself. "Fine. Whatever."

…

Gakuko crept along the edges of the mountain, keeping low, bending behind the fences. Here there were fewer shrubs, and Lenka wasn't there to protect her with extra cover. It wasn't a wonder if they had gotten captured. She didn't have far to walk, she found what she was looking for quite quickly.

…

"She hasn't come back yet." Len said.

"Yeah."

"What if she's dead?"

"I doubt that."

"What if we die!?"

"We won't if you shut up."

Len closed his mouth and looked at the ground sadly. Lenka stirred, opting to reach over and console him, but in the end she decided not to, keeping her hands to herself. Mikuo looked around angrily. Where on earth had she disappeared to? What was taking her so long?

"Guys – you're still alive!"

Everyone looked up, hopeful to hear at least one voice they recognized, hoping to see everyone rush towards them, and then escape together. But it was not to be. Only Kaiko hobbled towards them.

"Where are the others?" Miku asked, perplexed. "Gakuko went to look for you."

"She did? Oh no…"

"Why? What happened? Why-" Miku stopped, and only then noticed the blood on her feet. "Why is there blood on your legs?"

Kaiko looked down, rubbing the blood on the grass. "Yeah, we got attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Luckily nobody noticed us, but we had to butcher the entire lot. Luka accidentally lost control of her magic, so when she turned back the dogs went ballistic. One of her fins got cut off, and we had to leave it. I know, it was a stupid idea. We probably should have taken it, but the dogs were still coming after us and we had to silence them before they alerted anyone else. And now Gakuko is looking for us…"

"But that doesn't explain everything. Where is Luka? And the twins?"

"The twins disappeared again. They're looking for them."

"Great."

"Yeah. Is this the path we're taking?"

Miku shook her head. "No. We were going to take the East Woods, but it's full of hunters, and Gakuko said to wait here until she returned."

"I see. And now she's out, looking for us…"

…

"Shit. What did they get themselves into now?" Gakuko looked at the bodies of the dogs, resting atop the bloodied grass, and a pink fin under one of their paws. "I swear, if they're dead I'll-" She gasped and ducked, diving under the cover of several shrubs.

The twins came bounding out of nowhere, looking around and sniffing. They looked at the dogs in disgust, but their interest seemed more directed towards the fin lying under the bodies. They poked and prodded it, but receiving no response they walked on. "Why aren't they with Luka?" Gakuko wondered. Seeing they were allies, she would have stood up, revealing herself and went to talk with them, but something told her to stay down and follow them.

The twins hopped towards the edge of the town, stopping every so often to sniff the air, whisper to each other and then continue hopping. Eventually they reached the fork roads, and they immediately chose the path to the left, as if they knew that someone was waiting for them in the dark woods. Gakuko frowned, but stayed back. She still had Luka and Luki to look for. Unfortunately, with all her concentration placed on the twins, she had failed to notice something else.

…

"There you guys are!" Kaiko held out her arms and the twins ran towards the group. "Where have you been? Where are Luka and Luki?"

The two Kitsune gave each other looks, whispering and chattering. They then turned back to Kaiko, but didn't utter a word.

Kaiko looked confused.

"Gakuko's still not back yet." Lenka bit her lip.

"Well, I am."

Everyone looked up; hope filling their eyes as Luka entered the path to the woods, face scarred and bruised. Luki followed behind her, looking more tired. "Are the twins here?" The Kitsune waved from where they sat. "Oh, thank god. Where's Gakuko?"

Everyone exchanged worried looks. "She went out to look for you. She hasn't come back yet." Miku explained. "And there are hunters in the East woods. What do we do?"

Luka sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Okay. If she doesn't come back within ten minutes, we're going to have to go through the East woods, and stay out of the hunter's sight no matter what, considering they're not too vastly spread and we make it out."

"Alright." Everyone nodded, feeling a little sore that they were going to leave one of their own behind.

Ten minutes passed too quickly. A little worried, the group packed up and was ready to leave. Just as they were about to enter the woods, a voice called out from somewhere, and all of a sudden Gakuko was running at full speed towards them. "Gakuko!" Nearly everyone cried out in response, happy to see she had made it back alive.

But the happiness on their faces didn't match hers. Instead, she looked worried, almost angry. "What happened?" Kaiko asked. "Where were you?"

"Don't go into the woods yet. You need to know this. I-"

A cry interrupted her, and they turned. A hunter stood not too far from them, a look of terror seized on his face as he clutched at his bow. He'd expected a monster to show up, but not a whole group of them. He stood, frozen to the spot while they looked at him in confusion.

"Damnit." Mikuo hissed, and crouched down and ran towards the hunter. He seemed more occupied on the monsters looking straight at him, rather than the one that was coming for him. Mikuo poised himself behind the hunter; ready to slowly strange him until his body fell silent.

But the hunter had other plans. In a flash he set his bow and arrow, and aimed it to the group, trying to see which one he could kill first. If he set fire, they'd all jump at him, so he had to select his prey carefully. Which one seemed like the leader? The purple-haired lady? She looked the most of authority. But a woman wouldn't be able to lead a group like this. The pink-haired man? He looked like it. He pointed his arrow and fired.

Chu hissed, jumping at the man's face before Mikuo had the chance to swipe him down. He screamed and cried, but the Kitsune's small paws were too fast for him. She swiped and scratched and the arrow fell out of his grasp. It whizzed past Luki completely.

Mikuo finally put the hunter to an end as he and Chu silently murdered him, and his body fell without a sound. He stood up. "He's done with. Let's go."

But it was not to be. Everyone had a look of terror and shock fixed across their faces, Mikuo's confused and only Chu's remaining calm. Mikuo ran back to the group, face in a perplexed expression, but as he saw the arrow struck in Gakuko's body, laying on the bloodied ground it changed to horror.

yay new year