Disclaimer 1: I do NOT own Zoids.

Disclaimer 2: The characters Ibeyla, Obscura, Spectral, Rollo, Rabe, Salca, Playzia, Driacoul, Rika and Avea do NOT belong to me. They belong to ShadowRebirth37.

Disclaimer 3: The characters Atherin, Azel, Eiji, Tyme and Ryoko belong to ME. The towns Redai and Jurei also belong to me. I do not mind if Redai is used without my permission. However, if you use Jurei, please make note of it in your disclaimer.

Author's Note: Here we are; chapter 26 already! I know nothing too serious has happened but what do you expect!? They just got back to Horai from escaping from Driacoul!! Last chapter we found out about Atherin's nightmare, which will be explained in due time to those of you that are wondering about it. ^^; Other than that, nothing too bad has happened…yet…

Thanks to those of you that Reviewed!! They're much appreciated!! ^^

This is a collaboration fic between ShadowRebirth37 and me.

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Ͽ Plans and Weapons Ͼ

Morning came quickly. The sun coming through the curtains woke Raven up. He got up and walked over to Atherin's bed, Avea was still curled up on his chest, still deeply asleep. He shook Atherin's shoulder lightly. "Hey Dracula, wake up..."

Atherin opened his eyes as if he had just had them closed briefly. He sat up slowly, making sure that Avea wasn't disturbed, before putting her back on the bed so he could see Raven more properly. "It looks like you're feeling a whole lot better." Atherin said, noticing that Raven wasn't having any trouble talking today.

Raven nodded. "Whatever you did to me last night worked like a charm. I don't hurt at all anymore..." "Strange... All I did was keep it from advancing any further and repaired the damage... It's the same thing that Tyme did..." Atherin mused to himself. Raven blinked. "Well, you stopped it from spreading. Maybe that was just what the medicine needed to destroy the enzyme; for it to stay in one place..."

"Perhaps, but whatever the case, I'm glad that it's gone." Atherin said as he stood up and stretched out. "Me too... I've never been in that much pain in my life... it was like I had swallowed acid..."

"That's something that I don't want to fancy... But....the question is...now what to we do? We know that Driacoul is alive and well, and probably making good on his promise that he made in the legend. I know we're suppose to stop him, but Tyme's the only one of us that even stands a chance against Driacoul, let alone all three of them.... I think...we some how have to take them out one by one."

"Divide and conquer..." Raven said, "But... how and which one do we take down first?"

"....I already know that it'll be a while before we meet Driacoul again, so I can safely say that he'll be last. We've fought Rabe enough times to be able to predict his moves a little...so...I think going after him first would be good. That in turn will make Rika angry though....as we also have one of her hatchlings...the thing is; we've only seen her this one time and all we know is that she has venom strong enough to keep me grounded..."

"That makes her extremely dangerous..." Raven sighed. All the Vareix were extremely dangerous, and taking any of them down would be risky and dangerous. "I know..... But, as what I just stated would most likely be the better way to go, I have a feeling that we'll be fighting Rika first.... Her mothering instincts will drive her to get Avea back...so...we'll have to be extremely careful..."

Raven nodded. "And with that venom of hers, she could take us both down in five minutes and do whatever she'd like to us..." "Yeah... But...I don't want to fight against her so soon after escaping... We need to brain storm this with everyone else...not just us...." Raven nodded. "I have a feeling Rika is going to be more difficult than Rabe. We haven't even seen her fight, so we don't know what skills or adaptations she has..."

"You're right about that. I don't think her blind rage will make things any easier either...." "Yeah... 'Mommy' won't be happy when she realizes not only Avea is gone, but that we 'took' her... same with Rabe and possibly Draicoul..."

"...'Momma' will come after us first, her parenting instincts are much stronger than Rabe's...but he'd come after us next...followed by Driacoul... At least...that's how I think the order'll be..." Raven nodded. "So basically... we'll have them all on our tails..."

"All already did have all of them on our tails; it was just that Rabe was the one we saw most often... It's even possible that Rabe would pick a fight with us so then Rika or Driacoul...or both of them, could watch us and study us..."

Raven nodded. "That means we're screwed, big time...." he groaned, leaning back against the wall. "Like I said... We're not gonna get too far just brain storming by ourselves... It'll be easier with the others with us...." Atherin said as he sat back down on his bed. "Yeah... but who else is going to fight them besides us and possibly Tyme? Ibeyla won't fight, and Karl is against violence..."

"...We could have Azel and Shadow help us... They are Organoids after all..." Atherin said referring to the fact that Rabe, Rika and Driacoul were indeed just Organoids. Raven shrugged, "I never thought of that... the only thing is, Shadow's never really fought another Organoid besides Zeke... she won't know what she's up against..."

"...I don't know what to tell you about that... I mean...Azel could help her.... He's....fought other Organoids before...not too many, but...he can turn pretty nasty when I'm in danger....from something that truly wants to hurt me...."

"Same with Shadow... but... I don't want her to get hurt... she and Donnie are all that's left of my family..." "I understand... It was only a suggestion." Atherin replied. "I know..." Raven sighed, "I just can't even think of losing her..." Atherin nodded. For the longest while, Azel was the only family he had. He had met him soon after leaving the village. He had met Eiji about a year ago so he could understand where Raven was coming from.

As if responding to his thoughts, Shadow awoke and lifted her head. She got to her feet and plodded over to them. She licked and nuzzled Raven, purring loudly, before doing the same to Atherin. Atherin knew that Shadow liked him, but she hardly ever let her like for him be known. He was a little surprised when she nuzzled him, as he couldn't really remember her doing that before. He patted her muzzle, something that he would never have done when he first found out that she did like him.

Shadow wagged her tail, licking his face. She growled happily, continuing to lick and nose him... Atherin continued to pet Shadow. He reached up and scratched behind her head. "You're much gentler than Azel is when he wants attention..." Atherin chuckled. Raven laughed quietly. "She isn't normally this gentle. Its just because we were hurt and are recovering... she'd normally pounce and lick you to death... at least, she does that to Karl, Ibeyla and I..."

"...Azel tackles..." Atherin replied quietly... Raven smirked. "Every Organoid I've met seems to tackle, well, excluding Zeke and those demons..." "....Azel's knocked me unconscious before.... I don't know if any of your Organoids would hit that hard..." "No... None of them have hit me or Ibeyla that hard..." Raven said, smirking at the thought of Atherin getting knocked unconscious by his own Organoid.

"It's not funny.... It happened when I was younger and Azel tackled me a little too hard... We had gotten separated and he had yet to understand what I was saying to him even with our mental connection... I hadn't yet figured out how to speak human...."

Raven snickered slightly. "Sorry... it's just funny to think about..." "I'd like to see you snickering when you're the one on the ground trying to wrestle him off you..." Atherin grumbled. "Trust me... what do you think I had to do when I first met Shadow?" "Yeah, yeah... I hear ya...." Atherin said, Shadow still wanting his attention.

Shadow licked him, nuzzling his shoulder and purring. Raven sighed. "She's going easy on you... when I first released her, she absorbed me, which when you're only eight years old is terrifying, and the moment she let me go was all over me like I was her hatchling. I thought she was trying to eat me for the first few minutes..."

"It was the same with Azel... Though...when you're suddenly thrown into a world you have no idea of and meet a giant metal creature you've never seen before.... I think you can guess how panicked I was when Azel absorbed me...."

"Same here... although, Shadow acted aggressive when I first released her. I thought she ate me, for Eve's sake!" Atherin chuckled. "Yeah, I felt the same with Azel... Though after I had released him he disappeared and absorbed me like that...." "Shadow lunged at me. It wasn't until after she released me and I stopped screaming that I realized she was just licking me, and not devouring me..."

"Look at us... Exchanging 'horror' stories about when we first met our organoids." Atherin laughed. Raven laughed as well. "Well... you started it..." "True, but you followed up on it." Raven shrugged. "So?" he asked, looking over at Shadow. She was licking at Atherin's hair now.

Atherin took notice that Raven was watching as Shadow tried to groom him. "I'm not like you Raven. I don't mind if she tries to groom my hair into place. It probably needs it any ways." "Yeah well, you won't be laughing when you try to get that Organoid spit out of your hair...." Atherin shrugged. "Azel does this all the time. I'm use to it, as I learned early on to not fight against it."

Shadow licked him a last time before she wandered back over and curled up at Raven's feet. Raven looked out the window, and saw the sun was nearly over the horizon. "C'mon, let's get something to eat. I haven't eaten anything for at least a day and a half, so I'm starving..."

"Same here... I'm 'starving' too." Atherin laughed when he saw Raven's expression. "I'm joking! I'm fine. That juice that Tyme made me drink yesterday is holding it off." "Good... 'Cuz I don't think I'll be able to let you 'feed' off me for at least another day..." Raven said, turning to walk out of the room. "You coming or what?"

"Yeah I'm comin'. And I wouldn't 'feed' off you again until I knew that you were in good health again. I don't like it when you're hurt and I have to do that...." Raven rolled his eyes. "Just don't go biting someone else..." he muttered, before telling Shadow to stay behind and keep an eye on Avea.

Atherin heard his comment. "What's this I hear? Do you not like it when I bite someone else?" He teased, remembering their conversation the night before. Raven rolled his eyes. "No... It's just that I don't want you biting someone and scaring them by doing that, like Donnie..." "I told you before. I can always ask Karl, as he doesn't seem to mind it." Atherin replied.

"Okay... as long as he's okay with it, I have no problem with it..." Raven said, walking towards the kitchen. Atherin followed him. He was hungry, and he hoped that he could find something sweet to eat for breakfast. They reached the kitchen. No one else seemed to be up yet, and a glance at the clock supplied the answer. It was only half past seven; much earlier than what everyone usually woke up at. "We're on our own... I guess we eat what we can find..."

Atherin didn't need telling twice to raid the place. He was opening the cabinets looking for things while pulling things out. Raven could only stare and make a haphazard guess as to what the vampire was doing. "Atherin! Don't make a mess! Donnie will have our hides if you make a mess of the place!" Raven said, watching him tear through everything.

"I'll clean it up when I'm done! Dear Eve, just calm down, I'm trying to find stuff to make breakfast. If it's there why not use it?" Atherin asked as he finished his raiding of the pantry and fridge. He placed what he had on the counters, before putting away what he didn't need. Raven crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, leaning back against the wall. "Jeez... don't have a DiBison..." he sighed, "You're worse than Silva and Ibeyla combined..."

"If you think I'm bad then you've yet to see Tyme in the kitchen." Atherin replied as he made some sort of batter. Raven chuckled. "I can only imagine what he'd be like, better yet; I'd rather not, seeing the mess you're making..."

Atherin's response was to fling some of the batter at Raven from a spoon he was using to stir the mixture. It hit him, splattering all over his hair, making it sticky. Raven yelped. "Atherin!" he snapped, trying to get it out of his hair and eye. "Ugh! You suck Atherin! That was uncalled for!!" he groaned, walking over to the sink to try and get it out of his hair before it dried.

"You said I was messy. You should have known better than to say something like that to an armed vampire with a bowlful of pancake batter." Raven rolled his eyes, still trying to get the batter out of his hair. He got most of it out, but some still stuck to him. He picked up the wet sponge and threw it Atherin, hitting him square in the face. "Shut it, Atherin!"

"…Sorry… I didn't mean to make you mad." Atherin replied quietly. He sometimes just couldn't understand Raven. Perhaps their cultural differences were just too great to bridge...

"It's alright. I basically asked for it..." Raven said, turning off the faucet. He had gotten the rest of the batter out of his hair and eyes. Atherin only nodded. He wasn't use to getting out of a food fight clean... Especially not one he had instigated.

Raven saw the look Atherin had. "If we weren't in Donnie's kitchen, I'd return fire on you, but since we're inside Horai, I'm going to behave myself, unlike some people..."

Atherin smirked. "I'll remember than when we stay else where. I won't get Donnie's kitchen any messier than I already have it. Though...what do you want in your pancakes? You're not gonna be boring as say plain are ya?" Raven smirked. "I do actually eat mine plain, Dracula..."

"You're so boring." Atherin said as he poured some of the batter onto a preheated pan. While that was cooking he started slicing up bananas. Raven rolled his eyes. "When I was young, my family traveled a lot, so we hardly got fresh ingredients for stuff like pancakes. We just used what we could. So I got used to having plain pancakes."

"Well we have fresh ingredients now, so you're gonna try something new." Atherin said as he flipped the pancakes. Raven rolled his eyes. "Just don't put stuff in all of them, okay Dracula?"

"I won't. This batch will be boring... The next'll have bananas in them...." Raven rolled his eyes and sat down at the table. "Good..." he said, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms.

Atherin finished the batches of pancakes and had cleaned up even before anyone had woken up. He placed a stack of plates and pancakes on the table, he wasn't going to set them out when there was only two of them. He helped himself to some of the banana pancakes, and fixed them to how he liked them. Raven got one of the plain pancakes and started eating. "These are good Atherin..."

"Thanks, but you're not leaving the table 'til you try on of the other ones." Atherin said, after swallowing what he had in his mouth. Raven rolled his eyes, but ate one of the banana ones. "There, happy?!" he said, after swallowing one bite of it. "Yes. But you gotta finish it. I'm not a fan of wasting food." Atherin replied as he started on his second helping.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I don't want to eat too much, Atherin. I'm still recovering from that enzyme, remember?" "Yeah, and as such you need to get your strength back. But...I understand, I won't force you to eat anything if you're feeling sick..."

Raven nodded. He didn't want to risk eating too much and causing more damage to his still-healing body. He managed to finish his plain pancake and another bite of the banana, before he stopped. Atherin continued eating his breakfast. Tyme soon stumbled into the kitchen. "Morning all. It's good to see you up and feeling better Raven." Tyme said as he sat down and started to help himself to some of the pancakes. It was a good thing that Atherin made plenty of food. Now that there were two vampires with just about equal appetites, Raven was surprised that there was any food left.

"Morning Tyme..." Raven said cleaning up some of the mess Atherin had made. If Donnie woke up and saw the mess he had made, he and Atherin both would be in hot water. As Raven finished cleaning up, he heard someone walk into the kitchen. He turned, and saw Ibeyla. "Hey Ibeyla..." he greeted her, sitting back down.

"Morning Ibeyla." Atherin and Tyme said from the table. Atherin had finally finished and went to help clean up as well. "Hi guys..." she yawned, obviously still tired. She looked at Atherin and Raven. "You two seemed to be doing better..."

"Yeah, we're doing better." Atherin replied, as he washed his dishes, drying them and putting them away. Ibeyla sat down next to Raven and got a few of the banana and plain pancakes and started eating. "Mmm... these are really good!"

"Thanks." Atherin said as he sat back down at the table after he had finished cleaning up. She finished eating quickly; after all, she didn't eat much. Raven undid her necklace from around his wrist and gave it back to her and she immediately put it back on. "So Atherin, what do you think we should do now?"

"...We should try to whittle down their numbers one by one. There's no way on Zi we can take all three at once..." Atherin answered. Ibeyla nodded. "But the problem is... they're sticking together. It'll be nearly impossible to get them separated if they don't want to be..."

"I know.... It might be possible that the female will come after us alone...." Ibeyla nodded. "But I have a feeling the male won't be too far behind..." "True... I wonder...if perhaps we could find some sort of silver armor for Raven but make it look like his old armor... It could be a fatal surprise if one of them tried to tear through it..."

Ibeyla shook her head no. "Vareix can smell silver. They'll be able to tell..." "It was just a suggestion... Perhaps you and Karl could go into a town or something and get two more silver weapons of some sort. Raven needs one, and if the hilt of the other one is wrapped up in something then Tyme or I could wield it..."

Ibeyla and Raven nodded. "A silver weapon would help if they attack again..." "Yeah... It'd be best if we all had one...even though we're not too fond of silver... It's better than just relying on our strength and vampire abilities. But...where will we go to find them?"

"There's a town not too far from here that has a large market place. I'm sure there will be weapons down there, possibly silver weapons..." Ibeyla said. "So...who all will be going?" Atherin asked. He knew that there were a lot of fake silver items out there so he or Tyme would most likely be needed to tell the real ones from the fakes.

"Ibeyla and I will be going, and honestly Atherin, I think some fresh air would be good for you..." Raven said. "Shut up Raven. I know that being cooped up in here isn't the best thing for a vampire..." Atherin replied. "It was just a suggestion..." Raven said, crossing his arms. "I never said that I wasn't going. I just asked who was going as well." "Just us and you I guess..." Raven answered.

Atherin yawned, his fangs prominent, as he stretched. "One of us is needed to stay here anyways. Karl and Donnie would be targets if we left them alone..." "So... is Tyme gonna stay behind?" Ibeyla said, looking over at Tyme.

"Yeah, I'll stay. I assume that you three will be leaving soon to go get them. So, someone needs to be here to tell them where you went." Raven nodded. "Yeah, we don't want Donnie to panic if I'm not here when he gets up..." he said, getting up.

Atherin got up as well. "We might as well head out now while it's still cool and not to bustling with the crowds." Ibeyla and Raven nodded. "We better get going then..." Raven said.

Atherin nodded and followed after them. "How're gonna get there; on our Organoids? I don't think Donnie will be too pleased with us if we were to take the Whale King..." Ibeyla nodded. "Our Organoids would be the best option... they're quicker and quieter than our Zoids..."

"Then I have to go brave Azel and Eiji...." Atherin said quietly. Raven managed to hear that. "You walk in that hanger Atherin, and you're a dead man..." he joked. "I know.... But I have to... Azel isn't listening to any mental commands...." Raven snickered. "Five gold says he tackles you…" "I might as well just pay you now 'cause I know that he will..." Atherin said as they neared the hanger. Raven smirked, before he turned to Ibeyla, I'll go get Shadow..." he said, walking off to his room.

Atherin sighed and braved the hanger while Ibeyla went to get Obscura. As he expected, Eiji rumbled loudly and almost bolted out of his stall; but Atherin ran over to him to keep that from happening. The white Liger instantly dropped down in front of him to so then he could get Atherin's attention. Atherin patted his nose and asked; "Where's Azel, Eiji? You didn't wear him out too badly did you?" Eiji rumbled something and if he could do facial expressions Atherin could have sworn he saw him pouting. "Oof!" His question was answered. Azel tackled him from out of nowhere and the deep blue Organoid nuzzled and licked Atherin to death as he tried to push Azel off and stand up.

Raven returned with Shadow, and Ibeyla returned with Obscura. They waited outside for Atherin to return with Azel. Atherin managed to get Azel off him and convinced Eiji that they'd be back soon and to behave himself. He walked back to where Raven and Ibeyla were waiting for him. Raven smirked. "Pay up..."

Atherin grumbled one thing or other in the vampiric language before handing Raven the five gold coins. "Let's go before we're stalled again." Raven smirked and put the gold in his pocket, before Shadow absorbed him. Ibeyla got on Obscura's back; Obscura didn't like to fuse if it could be avoided. Azel fused with Atherin and the three Organoids and their partners took off toward the nearby town to look for some silver weapons.

The Organoids landed after a few minutes of flight. Ibeyla slid off Obscura's back, and Shadow released Raven. Azel released Atherin and then vanished as he distorted the immediate space around him. "Well...were to first?"

"Let's look around... I'm sure there's a weapons seller around here somewhere..." Raven said. Ibeyla looked around, before she pulled out a bag of gold. She handed a handful each to Raven and Atherin. "That should be more than enough to find a silver knife or dagger..." she said, "You too go look for a weapon; I'm going to get some more supplies..."

Atherin nodded. He and Raven then went on their way looking for a weapons seller. It was only about nine in the morning and he hoped that they found a store that was opened. Raven spotted a small shop selling knives and other weapons. "There Atherin... let's try there..."

Atherin nodded and followed Raven to the small shop. His eyes adjusted quickly to the light difference as outside was really bright but the shop was a little dingy. He looked around, trying to see if anything there could be of use to them. Raven found a small knife in the back of the shop. It had a black blade, but the edge was silver. It was oddly shaped, with serrations on the one edge. "Atherin... can you tell if this is real silver or just metal?"

Atherin walked over to where Raven was and looked at the knife he was holding. He didn't need to examine it any closer for as soon as he laid eyes on the blade he looked at it with disdain. "Yeah...it's real silver..."

Raven nodded. "Don't worry Atherin, I would never use it on you..." he said, handing the store keeper the gold he owned for the knife. "We still need to find one more. I know Tyme can handle himself pretty well, but it'd be better if he had something to use against them that actually damaged them." Atherin said as he looked around the shop some more. Something, anything silver would be good to have...

Raven nodded and looked around. He saw what looked like another silver knife. "Hey Atherin... I think I found another one..." Atherin looked over to him and studied the knife from where he was. He had to stop himself from growling lowly at the offensive thing, but nodded to Raven, throwing his bag of gold over to him to pay for it.

Raven quickly put the two blades in his pocket, so not to make Atherin nervous. "Okay... do you want to go find Ibeyla and the Organoids?" "Yeah... Let's get out here... I'm not too fond of sharp, pointy objects...." Atherin replied, as he eyed the numerous blades that felt familiar to him...as if he had encountered them before.

"Me either..." Raven said, walking out of the store. "Now... Ibeyla said she was going to get more supplies. I'm guessing Shadow and Obscura followed her..." "Then we should look for her in the marketplace..." Atherin replied as he walked back out into the bright light of day.

Raven nodded. He wanted to get back to Horai as quickly as possible; knowing that Rika or Rabe could be watching their every move. They wandered into the market place, not looking for Ibeyla, but for the Organoids. They weren't that hard to miss. "She's over there." Atherin said pointing to where he could see Shadow and Obscura standing.

Raven saw and walked over. Shadow growled and nosed him and Atherin, as if making sure they hadn't gotten themselves hurt. Ibeyla was finishing up buying some more candied peaches and fruit. They waited for Ibeyla to finish her shopping before leaving town to fuse/climb onto their Organoid.

Ibeyla finished quickly and returned to them. "Atherin... I wasn't sure about how much candy you had left, so I bought you an extra bag..." she said, handing him the blue bag full of rock candy, suckers and pixi sticks. "You didn't have to do that Ibeyla. I still have plenty of candy left... I did kinda empty the last candy shop I was in...." "Then you can share with Tyme..." Ibeyla said, "And I only got the candy you liked best today..." "Thanks..." Atherin said as he followed after Ibeyla and Raven.

"Alright, let's get back before something happens..." Raven said, before Shadow absorbed him. Ibeyla got onto Obscura's back, the pale blue Organoid spreading her wings and roaring happily. Azel stayed invisible, but absorbed Atherin, waiting for his two Organoid companions to take off. Obscura and Shadow took wing and flew off towards Horai... Azel followed after. The flight back was quick and the Organoids landed back on Horai. Azel released Atherin, nuzzling him as he turned visible again.

Ibeyla jumped off Obscura and Shadow released Raven. She nosed and licked Raven, before nosing Atherin as well. Atherin patted the both of them before he, Raven and Ibeyla left to see if anyone else was actually awake and to discuss what they were going to do about their Organoid problem.

They walked to the main living area. Karl and Donnie were sitting in chairs, Karl drinking coffee and Donnie drinking tea. Tyme was also there, sitting on one of the two couches. Ibeyla and Raven sat down on the couch opposite Tyme, their Organoids lying at their feet.

Atherin took the remaining seat next to his brother; Azel had to stay behind to make sure Eiji didn't do anything to cause any damage. He pulled out some candy, Tyme helping himself to some of the pieces. Raven crossed his arms. "Okay... so how are we going to kill those Vareix?"

"With silver." Atherin answered, bluntly, knowing that Raven meant formulating a plan. He didn't specify his question too well... Raven sighed. "That's not what I meant, Dracula..." he said, "I mean what are we going to do to kill them?"

"You should have said that in the first place. As for how we're going to go about this...." Atherin thought for a few minutes. "Well...we know that it's easier to kill them in their 'vampire' form, but they'll most likely be in their Organoid form...so...the best place to aim would have to be their throats... It's unprotected..."

"Slight problem with that plan Atherin..." Raven said, "Their jaws and claws.... we can't get that close. Their throats are well guarded, by their jaws and fangs, and their arms and claws. It'd be suicide to get that close..."

"...Maybe for you, but not for us..." Tyme said. "Yeah... but Rika has venom that dropped even Atherin. And Draicoul..." Raven trailed off. "...There has to be something we can do to get to them." Atherin sighed through the candy in his mouth. Raven nodded. "They have to have some sort of fault or weakness that we can exploit..." "We just have to find it..." Atherin said, leaning back on the couch. "How? If we get too close, we're dead..." "....I don't know... I don't have all the answers..." "Neither do I..." Raven said, leaning back in the couch.

Atherin closed his eyes. They had run into a dead end and none of them had any ideas about what to do. "This bites..." Atherin sighed. Raven sighed and leaned his head back on the couch. Karl took another sip of coffee, before he spoke up. "Set a trap... a rope around their jaws should prevent them from biting..." he said. Ibeyla had a sudden idea as well. "The herbs! If we blind them, they won't be able to bite properly!"

"...Do you still have the herbs or do we have to go back to Jurei?" Atherin asked. They would have to work out the details to this trap carefully; least one of them still gets hurts to the point of dying. Ibeyla shook her head 'no'. "I still have more than enough to make enough powder to stop all three in their tracks..."

"That's good. But we still need to figure how we're going to set this trap up... The last one didn't work out so good..." Atherin trailed off. "We could either blind them and go for their necks, or bind their jaws shut with the rope, and either blind them or go for their throats right away..." Raven said.

"....Hmm.... If I could remember the fight with Rabe, I might be able to remember how he reacted to the powder. The only reason why I know that I used it was because I found the empty pouch on me... I'm guessing that they're like a DiBison in a china cabinet. If that's the case, restraining their jaws would be best then going for their throats..."

Raven looked over at Atherin. "I was half-dead when you did that... but I remember Rabe screeching like a banshee... that must have been it... he didn't like it..." "...So...how're we gonna set this trap up and where?"

"Not now... you two still need to heal and get your strength back..." Karl said, looking at Raven and Atherin. "I suggest waiting for at least a week, and then we could set the trap here..." "I know that Karl. I was asking how we're gonna set it up. i have no intention of fighting them when I'm only running on 30% of my energy."

"I know..." Karl said, "We could use some sort of bait to lure them in, and then use the powder to blind them. And when they can't see, we can bind their jaws and dispatch them." "....It sounds good to me.... I think...they'd try to have one go after each of us." Atherin said pointing to himself, Raven and Tyme. "I think it'd be safer if we all had some of that powder..."

Karl nodded. "And now that the three of you have weapons to use against them, it helps even the odds..." Atherin nodded. He was starting to feel tired again, considering he only really slept for two hours, and even that couldn't really be counted as sleeping.

Karl was about to take another sip of coffee, but saw Atherin's state. "Atherin... are you alright? Have you been sleeping okay?" Atherin looked over to Karl. He didn't want to worry anyone else with his lack of sleep problem. He had told Raven last night, and he was pretty sure that Tyme knew as well. "...I'm just tired is all... There was a small outburst of the enzyme last night, and as I was in the medical room to make sure that nothing happened, I used the rest of my energy to stop it..."

Karl looked between Raven and Atherin. "Okay... and you managed to get rid of it?" Atherin nodded. Raven would have told him or Tyme if it was still hurting him. "I think it's pretty much gone..." Raven said, looking over at Karl, "Atherin was able to heal it..."

Atherin stood up. He just couldn't take staying in one spot for too long. "I think I'm gonna take a walk..." Raven got up as well. "And I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble..." he said. Atherin noticed that Raven had followed him. "Come to 'babysit' me?" He asked, a smirk tugging at his lips. Raven rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Dracula..."

Atherin lightly chuckled. He didn't know where he was going exactly, he was just walking. It kept him doing something, and not sitting in a room being bored out of his mind. After wandering for a little bit, they wound up in the gardens.

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Author's Note: Again, nothing too bad happened. At least now they have a plan in mind and now both Raven and Tyme have something to use against those Vareix! But you all know that this peace won't last…^^; It's only a matter of time before something happens, but what you'll just have to wait and find out!