Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing. Hooray.
LH: Oh I love those books. I've read every single one to date. I think Acheron is my favorite book and character. Although Savitar is pretty freaking hilarious.
PLO: Oh you should definitely read at least a few of the Dark-Hunter series. They're by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and the first book is Fantasy Lover. Anyway, they're doing a good job so far of keeping themselves happy, but it won't last for long. *evil cackle*
~*~
The next day Belle and Sera checked out while Kate roused everyone else. The half-fae was good at that. Then again, fae did love attention and Kate was very good at getting attention. Which is why everyone else trooped downstairs not more than twenty minutes later.
The four trainers, the two halflings, and a few assorted bishis stayed out as they started their journey. The puppy, who still had no name and who Thomas and Harry had been taking care of mostly, was curled up in Belle's arms, happily wagging at anything that got within range.
"You know, you really should name that puppy," Harry said as he walked next to Sera, Mouse between the two. "With her being a Temple dog and all that."
Belle looked down at the bundle of gray and black fur. "I have no clue what to name her."
"Nightmare?" Thomas suggested helpfully.
"No!" Belle looked rather indignant. "Not Nightmare. Think of something else."
"Fang?" Nyx suggested.
"No. Keep trying." Belle sighed.
Eclipse merely snickered and continued walking with Raenef, taking much smaller strides so the little chibi could keep up. "This is going to be interesting," he murmured to Kenshin, who happened to be close by.
"Indeed it is," the red-headed bishi answered with an amused smile. "But it keeps them happy, that it does."
Eclipse hummed his agreement, glancing over at his trainer, who was rejecting yet another name from the two incubi. Harry sighed and went to go help Belle reject names, leaving Mouse to walk with Sera. The youngest trainer in the group was highly amused by all of this.
"So who do you think is going to get hit first?" Kate asked the other two trainers.
"Nyx," Anna said immediately.
"Thomas," Shadow replied.
Kate laughed. "How about we take a bet?" she asked with a vicious grin. "Or rather, you two do, and I mediate. Shad gets five if Thomas gets hit first, Anna gets five if Nyx gets hit first. Deal?"
The other two trainers agreed before going back to watching the proceedings with interest. Especially since Nyx and Thomas were both still coming up with silly, overused names. Nyx had even gone so far as to suggest Rover, quickly saying he was joking when Belle glared at him.
"Patronus?" Nyx suggested.
"I like it, but it reminds me too much of Harry Potter," Belle said. "So no."
"How about Sylvana?" Sera piped up from the back.
Belle paused and turned to look at Sera. "Sylvana…" She looked down at the puppy, who licked her nose. "I guess she likes it. Sylvana it is."
Sera grinned and patted Mouse on the head. He snorted gently at the puppy and padded over to Harry.
"I still think we should have named her Hctib Elttil," Thomas muttered to Nyx. The other incubus snickered.
Belle set Sylvana on the ground gently before she smacked both males. "We are not naming my dog 'little bitch' backwards!"
The other three trainers and other bishis burst out laughing, their laughter a little dampened by the woods around them. A few birds took off from nearby trees, squawking protest.
They stopped for lunch on the road, looking around rather hopefully for any sign of a bishi. So far, absolutely nothing.
"Then again," Sera reasoned as Shadow pointed this out two hours later, "all the Dark-Hunters are nocturnal and can't come out in sunlight, kinda like the vamps."
"Most of them," Anna interjected.
"Exactly." Sera grinned.
"If we see one during the daytime and he or she is, or used to be, a Dark-Hunter, that bishi has reached Sama stage," Belle said, reading and summarizing from the bishidex. "In chibi and san stages, the Dark-Hunters, Daimons, and Apollites have to stay in the darkness. However, once any of them reaches Sama stage, the effect is that they have regained their soul but they mostly keep their powers. Acheron is the only one different, and that's because he's Acheron."
"Oh fun," Anna said with a grin. "This is going to be very interesting…"
"You can say that again," Sera muttered, glancing around. "I'm not sure I like this. It's too quiet."
"That's because it's the middle of the day."
"No, seriously. There should be birds and animals and things around here. I can't hear a thing." Sera frowned.
Belle shrugged. "I haven't heard anything all afternoon. Maybe the things around here are just too scary for the animals to—" Squish.
Everyone looked at Belle while Nyx half-dragged her back a few steps. The path ended suddenly in marshy, swampy land. Belle wrinkled her nose and shook off her foot.
"Or it could just be that the animals are too smart to show themselves while the gators are up and about," Sera said rather nervously, watching as a pair of eyes swam towards them.
Eclipse snorted. "Oh don't worry about them."
"Yea, they'll only take an arm or a leg off," Belle said, mirroring her sister's anxious look.
"On second thought, back up a bit," Eclipse ordered after a few moments.
Anna gasped. "There must be a Talon around here!"
Sera and Belle both looked at Anna before they set off, finding dry land around the swamp. Nyx and Thomas groaned.
"Why did you have to say that, Anna?" Nyx asked with a whine. "Why?"
Anna merely grinned and set off after the other two, looking around for a Talon. The bishis followed, all of them sighing and/or grumbling and/or groaning. Shadow was the last trainer in, looking around curiously.
Belle was in the front, so she saw the house first. She paused, curious, and then froze as the door opened. Her jaw dropped as the blonde man emerged from the house, looking around with narrowed eyes. Sera's sentence trailed off as she spotted him too. Anna, on the other hand, had no such inhibition and promptly squealed when she saw the blondie. His head whipped towards them and he glared.
"Oh shit," Belle muttered.
"Backtrack!" Sera turned and dragged Anna with her as she hurried away from the pissed-off Talon.
"What's going on?" Nyx frowned as he saw them.
"Running away," Belle said as she grabbed him and Thomas. "Eclipse, find another way around, please!"
Eclipse sighed. Of course. Only his trainer could get into so much trouble. He could vaguely see the blonde bishi debating whether or not to keep chasing them. Eclipse chuckled and found them another way around.
By that night, they had left the swampland mostly behind and found a dry place to sleep. So, of course, it rained on them and they all had to get inside or else get soaked in the sudden downpour. Somehow (Belle suspected Thomas) Belle, Nyx, Thomas, Sera, Harry, Kenshin, Anna, and a few others all ended up piled together on the floor.
Of course, the next morning when one of them wanted to get up, it ended with everyone in a massive pile with lots of yelps and a few cheers from onlookers. Sera managed to extricate herself and watched the others all fight for their lives/modesty/freedom/breathing space. It really was rather amusing, Sera admitted, when she wasn't part of it.
By the time everyone was up and dressed and tempers had cooled down, everyone was more than ready to go. Sera and Anna led the way today, arm in arm as they chatted, walking along and looking for bishis.
Half way through the day, Belle heard movement in the bushes. She looked around, her eyes narrowed, pausing when she saw a flash of black hair. She stood silently and crept into the bushes, silently motioning for Nyx and Eclipse to come along. Another flash of black, this one accompanied by a hint of a shirt made her move a little faster through the forest. She stopped just in time just at the edge of a clearing, her eyes widening at the black haired half-god she saw there. She quickly threw a ball at him while he was looking away and he vanished with a startled yelp. Nyx and Eclipse came up just as the ball settled down and Belle grinned, doing a little victory dance in place. She completely ignored her bishidex and let the bishi out.
Bright blue eyes glared at her from under shoulder-length black hair. The demigod stood taller than her, and tanner as well, with a very well-fitting button-up shirt and pants. "What the hell is your problem?"
Nyx and Eclipse exchanged looks. Oh boy. Another one.
"Solin, right?" Belle grinned as she watched the demigod. "Oh this is going to be fun. My name's Belle."
"Do I look like I care what your name is?" Solin said, glaring at Belle. "I demand you release me."
"Sorry, no can do." Belle merely smiled. "Come on, Solin. We have some lunch and you can come meet everyone else."
Solin twitched. "Everyone else…?"
Eclipse smirked. "I don't pity him," he murmured to Nyx, who snickered his agreement. The two walked back with their trainer and new companion, just to make sure no one did anything stupid. After all, they didn't exactly trust the demigod yet. A demigod was just as bad as an actual god, and they're pretty bad (according to those few who have seen them, anyway).
"Everyone, this is Solin," Belle said when they got back. "Don't tackle him or anything, he's in a perpetual bad mood. These are Sera, Anna, Shadow, Kate, Nyx, and Eclipse. Everyone else you can learn later."
Solin glowered at everyone before he sat, grumbling to himself. He snatched some food and ate sullenly, his bright blue eyes almost glowing as they surveyed everyone. At least the food was good and he hadn't been tackled. Yet, anyway.
They spent longer than usual getting ready to go again, mainly since the girls kept sidetracking to go look at Solin or ask him questions, and the bishis all eyed him warily.
"I don't get this," Kenshin muttered to Harry.
"What?" Harry blinked down at him, confused.
"I don't understand why Belle wants to keep him around, that I don't. He's very unpleasant, that he is."
Harry chuckled. "They're fangirls. Fangirls are unpredictable and have minds of their owns and opinions of their own. Very little changes that. Best get used to it. Besides, it could be worse."
And, of course, with Murphy's Law in full effect (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong), something went wrong. Shadow took a wrong step and half-fell into a covered pit. Anna and Kate quickly grabbed her and started trying to haul her up. A loud growl from somewhere to the side distracted everyone, and Shadow nearly fell back in the pit.
"Damn," Solin muttered. "You managed to tumble into Were-Hunter territory."
"Oh great," Belle mumbled sarcastically, looking around. "Just what I needed. Go talk to them."
"What?" Solin blinked, startled.
"Go talk to them. You're the only one that knows them. Go talk to them and tell them not to kill us." Belle looked around nervously.
"I'll tell them not to kill me. You can fend for yourself, wench," Solin growled.
"Watch your tone," Eclipse growled, moving over to Belle protectively. "Lest you wish to lose your tongue."
"I'd love to see you try," Solin said with a smirk.
Nyx pulled Sera and Belle close together in the middle, away from immediate danger. "Fools," he muttered. "I will see if they will leave us alone. Stay right here." He slipped off to the side. Eclipse and Solin remained glaring at each other, with Thomas, Harry, and Aoshi getting in the middle and keeping them from killing one another.
Eclipse paused in his glaring contest which Solin (which he was, of course, winning) when he heard a yelp. He waited until he saw Nyx and raised an eyebrow. Nyx merely smirked and sauntered over to Belle again.
"They'll leave us alone. Come on. We should find another way around," he said, sliding his arm around her waist and leading her away from the angry Were-Hunters.
Half an hour later found them still walking and with no bishis immediately in sight. Of course. When you wanted to find bishis they were nowhere to be found.
Sighing, Sera lagged behind the group, trying to see if there was anything to be found. So far, nothing. Harry stayed in the back with her, his hands stuck in the pockets of his giant leather duster.
"How do you wear that thing?" Sera asked. "Especially in this humidity."
Harry shrugged. "It's hot as all hell, but it has lots of protective spells on it. I'd rather be safe than cool." He grinned. "Besides, I can wear shorts under it if I really wanted to."
Sera laughed at that. "I suppose that is true." She shook her head, grinning at the mental image of Harry in shorts and a guy's tank top and the leather duster.
"I don't want to know, do I?" Harry asked warily.
"No. You don't." Sera grinned at him and kept walking. She looked around one last time and gave up on seeing a bishi.
Which, of course, is when a wolf darted out onto the path in front of her and behind the others. The wolf stared at them for a moment, apparently panicked, and turned to run off to the other side of the trail. A slightly larger wolf emerged from the bushes on the other side, with growls and snaps coming from behind him.
Sera pulled out a bishiball and threw it at the wolf before she could think about it. The wolf was sucked in and the ball rattled violently before it fell still. The other wolf stared at them for a moment before it turned tail and fled. The growling stopped and all was quiet again.
"Well, that was weird," Shadow said after a minute. "So who did you get?"
"No clue." Sera walked over to the bishiball and let the occupant out. Her bishidex started spouting information at her, all of which she ignored. Instead she looked at the tall dark-haired bishi in front of her.
"Who the hell are you and what did you just do?" he growled. Literally growled.
"I'm Sera. I caught you so that the others wouldn't rip you to shreds," Sera said with a grin. "Nice to meet you, Fury."
Fury glowered at her and looked around at the others. He shrugged a little and retreated silently in a flash of red light.
"He's foul tempered too," Sera told everyone, and they all laughed. Except Solin.
"Solin and Fury can be foul tempered together!" Kate said, earning another round of laughter from everyone.
"Nah, just give them food and they warm up to you," Belle said with a grin. "After all, the quickest metaphorical way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
"And the quickest literal way to a man's heart is through his chest," Nyx added with an evil grin.
Eclipse chuckled quietly. "Come along," he said to the trainers. "We should continue walking if we wish to find a dry place to camp for the night. Also, you may have a better chance of seeing some of the bishis of this territory if you go around after nightfall."
"Thanks, 'Clipse," Belle said with a smile. "Come on, kiddies. Let's go." She ignored the instant and loud complaints and grumbles about that last statement and started walking, Nyx following her with a slightly exasperated yet amused look.
~*~
"I want a Zarek," Anna repeated for the third time since she, Belle, and Shadow had gone out that evening. Sera had opted to stay behind and babysit, though the way she was bouncing around Belle suspected the bishis would be babysitting her.
"Don't worry. We'll find you a Zarek," Belle said, patting Anna's shoulder. "I promise."
"Really?" Anna looked up at her with big shining eyes. Metaphorically speaking, since it was so dark Belle could hardly see the trees around them and nearly ran into things every other step.
"Yes, really. We will find a Zarek for you if I have to sic Eclipse on him." Belle smiled when Anna squeed and hugged her before skipping off. Vlad pulled her away from a tree before she ran into it.
"This is so amusing," Nyx muttered to Kate, grinning.
"Why? Because they can't see a thing?" Kate asked, also grinning.
"And the number of times the three of them have almost run into things, yes. If Eclipse, Vlad, and Eric weren't looking after them I think they'd all have given up and gone back by now," Nyx said, smirking faintly.
Kate snickered. "That would be amusing," she said. "I can see them all trudging back into camp all bruised and with little cuts and looking forlorn and grumbling." She snickered again at the mental image. Nyx cackled quietly, and quietly only because Eclipse shot them both the look.
Belle nearly shrieked as Fury dropped down out of a tree in front of her, stopping in mid-step and nearly falling over had Eclipse not grabbed her. "Don't do that!"
"Why not?" Fury asked with a small smirk.
"Because… because it's not nice." Belle glared at him.
"I don't have to listen to you." Fury grinned, though it was a rather evil grin.
"Look here, pup," Eclipse growled.
"Much as I would love to cut out his tongue, he's right there, Eclipse," Nyx said. "He doesn't have to listen to Belle. He has to listen to Sera."
Eclipse grinned slowly. "True. What are you doing so far away from her, pup?"
Fury bristled. "I can go wherever I want," he growled. "I don't have to listen to that girl either."
"Well you better learn to respect 'that girl'," Belle snapped. "She's my baby sister and if you so much as think about hurting her I will personally castrate and decapitate you, wolf."
Fury actually paused, considering her for several moments. He nodded his acknowledgement once before he vanished into the trees again.
Belle sighed and continued walking, since Anna and Shadow were up ahead, unaware that anything had even happened. "Between him, Zarek, and Solin, I think I'm going to be losing my temper a lot," she muttered to Eclipse. He merely snickered and pulled her away from a rock.
"Nah, Zarek won't be so bad," Anna said with a grin. "He only kills people he doesn't like. Hopefully he'll like us."
"Meaning he'll only threaten us with death," Shadow said dryly. "Oh yea, that's a huge step up."
Anna stuck out her tongue at Shadow and continued walking, sidestepping when Vlad pulled her away from a tree.
The group walked in silence for several more minutes before a light flared briefly up ahead of them, followed by a stream of swears and curses. Anna grinned and darted off, Vlad groaning and following her. Nyx chuckled and picked up Belle before she walked into a marshy pool and headed after Anna, amused.
Anna had stopped just outside a clearing, watching a tall man with black hair following a path, though it was no more than a game trail. She looked at Vlad and motioned him forward.
Vlad nodded his consent and moved forward silently, his eyes on his opponent. Normally, in an actual fight, he wouldn't approach an enemy from behind. However, this was not a real fight. This was merely helping his trainer temporarily incapacitate another bishi. She would be very happy if she caught this Zarek, and when she was happy, Vlad was happy, even if he did grumble and complain. So he snuck up behind the Dark-Hunter, drawing a knife and holding it loosely. The Dark-Hunter froze and tensed, turning. Vlad whacked him in the back of the head with the hilt of the knife before the Zarek had a chance to attack. Anna quickly threw the bishi-ball at Zarek as he stumbled, and he was sucked into the ball with a flash of red light. It shook furiously for a minute before falling silent and still.
Vlad picked up the bishiball and returned it to Anna with a small smile just for her. "You may wish to keep him in there for a while," he said conversationally. "I doubt he is very happy at current."
Anna nodded and tackled Vlad instead, grinning like a maniac. Vlad picked her up easily and took her back to camp, the others having gone ahead.
Belle and Sera were asleep, curled up on the floor of one of the PD rooms with Nyx, Eclipse, and Kenshin standing guard. Vlad found that amusing as he took Anna back to his own room to let her bounce around for a while before she, too fell asleep. Although half of the bishis were already asleep, the other half stayed up. And the half that stayed up all heard strange noises close to dawn, noises like a hunt being set loose.