The two didn't know what to do...
Petal and Tulip stood there, looking up at the mysterious human glaring down at them. The human wasn't doing anything except for standing there, glaring down at the both of them, not removing their eyes from either one of them. The person didn't attack yet, but neither elf felt like they were safe with this person yet. To them, at least, the human wasn't attacking them.
There was nothing more but silence throughout between all three of them. There wasn't any sort of movement, nor another word said after Petal asked what the person wanted. All of that changed when the mysterious human stepped forward, landing on the floor onto their own two feet.
"Y-You were looking for us?" Petal asked, backing up, only to bump into the table behind her. The mysterious human stood up from the floor, staring forward at the two girls in front of them. "Why?"
The human didn't move from their spot. They only talked. "I was finding whoever was the leader here." They said. "I recently found myself on this island just last night, and I, unfortunately, am unable to use the communication device in my mask. Since I am trapped here, I believe that it's only right for me to find you..."
"Wait!" Tulip shouts, interrupting the human. "You found yourself here, last night?"
"Yes. I believe I mentioned that."
"Me and Petal have went out into the village, and we have NOT seen you around there all night. If anything, we would've found you on the shore alongside the sword we have found."
The figure grew silent for a couple seconds. They didn't remove their glare from the two elves after that was mentioned to them. They immediately started to question them on the sword.
"You found my village's sword?" The figure said, rather softly.
Petal and Tulip stood there, staring at each other, shocked to hear that this person owns the sword that they had discovered last night. Neither of them knew what to say at this point, feeling rather awkward that this was brought up now. Even worse is that the owner of the sword was right in front of them right now.
"That sword I found...that was yours?" Petal asked.
"Of course it is..." The mysterious figure said, before they stepped forward. "...When I discovered it wasn't with me when I found myself here, I thought it was lost in the ocean for good...but I must say, I must've gotten lucky to hear that one of you discovered it."
"You're acting like finding that thing on our island is an accomplishment." Tulip said, shaking herself, before pointing at the person in front of her. "Look stranger, we don't know her you are or what you do for a living before you found yourself here, but if you haven't noticed, we don't carry items like THAT on our island. Not a single one of us. So if you..."
"Petal! Tulip! I need to talk to you about..." A male voice said, entering the room, catching the three off-guard. It was Pine-Cone who was walking into the room right now.
Upon entering the room from the corridor on the right, he stopped dead in his tracks, only to see that the mysterious figure that he found last night was standing in the room with Petal and Tulip right now. He stopped dead in his tracks, seeing the person standing there. The figure slowly turned their head towards him, right as he was shaking in his spot.
Pine-Cone points at the person, glaring at them. "Y-You! You're that lunatic who almost attacked me last night!" Pine-Cone shouts. "I was trying to save your life last night, and then you tried to let me drown in the most dangerous part on this island!"
Petal and Tulip were immediately shocked hearing this being said out loud. Tulip glares over to the human, who this time, didn't even focused their glare at her and her friend. "You also tried to kill one of the people on our island?!" Tulip said, pointing at her. "I knew you couldn't be trusted." The figure continued to glare at Pine-Cone. "You have nothing to say to this?"
"How can this person defend themselves on that?!" Pine-Cone said.
"I would've saved you myself, if I knew you weren't him..." The figure finally said.
"Sure you would've saved me...you ran away the moment I tripped into the ocean!" Pine-Cone went up to the masked human with anger on his face, shoving the person in the process. "You're lucky that I survived or else..."
Pine-Cone attempted to shove the person a second time. But when he did that, the human grabbed a hold of his wrist, turning the angry look on his face into that of fear. The human then glared at Pine-Cone, not letting go of his wrist in the process.
"Don't even attempt a fight with me, stranger. I have enough trouble to deal with, and the last thing I intend to do is pointlessly fight somebody I barely know." The human said with a stern, yet threatening voice. Pine-Cone just glared back at the human, staring at the eyes on the mask.
"You're not much of a threat." Pine-Cone said in an insulting manner.
"Neither are you..."
The human simply throws the elf onto the ground, not even attempting to fight him, knowing it'll waste their own time if they do so. They focused their attention on Petal and Tulip, ready to continue their conversation. But right before they could even say anything, Pine-Cone stood up, launching themselves at the human, causing the two to get into a fight. Petal and Tulip could only stand there and watch everything happen right before them.
The two really only threw punches at each other, and from the fight alone, it seems like the human actually was tougher than they seem to be. The fight ended sort, as Pine-Cone then grabbed onto the human's wrist, causing a purple light to engulf both himself and the human. The two disappeared seconds after being engulfed.
"Where did they go?!" Tulip shouts.
"I don't know!" Petal shouts back at her best friend. "Wherever they are, I hope they didn't land in the village." Tulip cringed, before she looks over to Petal.
"I'll go investigate. If Pine-Cone and that human appeared, apprehend the human immediately. That person has proven to us that they can't be trusted, just by their actions alone!" Petal nods her head.
"Be careful out there, Tulip."
"I will."
Tulip ran out of the castle, as Petal stood there, watching her friend leave with concern on her face. After Tulip left, she held onto the side of her head, feeling completely worried for her friend's safety. She sat down back in the chair she was sitting on before.
"Oh, where's Leaf when I need him?" Petal mutters to herself, as she leans onto the table.
Meanwhile...
At Leaf's House...
The portal that Leaf created near James's house appeared in the exact same spot like it normally did. First James flew out of it, landing onto his own two feet. Jenny flew out second, accidentally crashing into her boyfriend, knocking him to the ground. Leaf then flew out last, landing on his two feet upon arriving.
Leaf looks around the forest, happy to be back, but this time with his friends. He turned his head towards Jenny, but didn't see James anywhere around this spot. He looks around, not knowing where James had went off to, before he finally spoke to the geeky girl to his right.
"Hey, where'd James go? I thought he jumped in first." Leaf asked Jenny.
"You're standing on him." James shouts, face down on the ground.
Leaf looks down, seeing that he was standing on top of James's back, while the human boy was face down on the ground. The elf immediately got off of the man, before helping him onto his feet once again. The geek brushes himself off, before turning around to face the forest behind him.
Looking around, James and Jenny decided to take in the location that they were in. The two peered towards the forest that was to the right of the island, then turned to the left, seeing the village, as well as the castle in the distance. The two saw so many animals that were around here as well, such as birds, a squirrel, a couple rabbits, a bear, and a couple raccoons. It was almost breath-taking for the two to see something like this, right before them.
"Wow...I never seen such a place before in my life." James said. "This is like...this is totally awesome, dude." Leaf bows his head, before walking up to his friend.
"I'm glad to hear you like this place so far, James." Leaf said, before patting the boy on his back.
"I can't believe that me and James haven't seen this place before." Jenny said, walking up to the entrance of the forest behind Leaf's house. "I mean...hell, I'm surprised nobody found this place, since this is just in the middle of the ocean." A little curious now, Jenny turns her head back towards Leaf, walking up to him. "Come to think of it...where is this island even located? I don't think you even mentioned it."
The elf shrugged. "I don't know...you asked me." The elf then sat down onto a nearby tree stump, looking at his two human friends. "Also, what you said there, Jenny...about this island not being seen by anyone. We only had one incident, just yesterday when a giant cargo ship had sank into the ocean near our island."
James Jenny were horrified hearing that, "Holy shit! Really?! Did anyone die?!" James asked.
"No. I made sure that everyone on that ship made it off. All of the workers on that ship got into their lifeboats, and they should be heading back to...wherever they have came from." Jenny shook his head hearing that.
"Wow...you said, after literately saying you have no idea where your island is even located at." Jenny said, sounding sarcastically when saying that.
"Chill Jenny. I'm pretty sure they made it home safely."
Leaf then leans back, rubbing his chin. His happy expression turned into one of confusion seconds after he said that. He still was a little baffled about how the cargo ship had sunk in the first place, considering that it still didn't make too much sense to him.
"However, I don't really know what..." Leaf said, before he was interrupted by something that happened nearby the three of them.
The elf stopped talking after the sound of a thud was heard near the forest to the right. Leaf, James, and Jenny turned their heads towards that direction, before running towards that spot to see what was going on. They stopped in their tracks, seeing what was happening.
Pine-Cone had just appeared in this location, back against a tree, while he appeared to be covered in bruises, sticks, and leaves. Leaf's eyes widened seeing this, believing that his friend had falling from a branch on one of the trees, but then another person came into his view. The masked human jumps out of the tree from above, landing on the ground, a few feet away from the elf, shocking Leaf upon seeing them. Not knowing how tough the human really is, Leaf stood by, watching everything play out in front of him.
But just before the person had any attempt to fight Pine-Cone, the masked human looked around the spot they were in. The face on the mask looked like a glare, but from the sound of the person's voice, they appeared to be confused. They didn't expect to end up finding themselves in the same spot from where they were when they first came here this morning.
"This...this doesn't make any sense." The masked human whispers to themselves, before turning their attention back to the elf in front of them. "How did we end up out here?!" Pine-Cone could only sit there and stay silent, as the human was staring at him. "Tell me!"
"Now what? Pine-Cone is in danger?" James whispers to Leaf, as the three of them were hiding behind the nearby bush, keeping from the two's sights. "We can't just sit here and wait for him to just...die."
"Let me handle whoever the hell this guy is." Leaf said, slowly standing up. "Clearly, Pine-Cone teleported himself and whoever that is into the tree above, and now they know about the elf magic." He backs away from the bush, holding out a hand to his friends as he slowly made his way towards his friend and the masked human. "Just stay hidden while I take care of this."
"Be careful, Leaf." Jenny whispers to him.
Leaf made his way over to the spot where Pine-Cone and the person were at, remaining a few feet behind the mysterious figure who was ready to fight his friend. He held up his hands in defense, as he slowly moved closer to them. He continued to move slowly towards the person, seemingly successfully, as neither of them knew he was making his way over. But just when he was almost close enough to them...
The elf accidentally trips on a small rock that was on the ground...
Leaf grunts, feeling pain in his foot after he hits that rock, which ended up alerting the human. The fox mask turned to the left, eyeing Leaf who was kneeling on the ground about five steps behind them. They slowly turned around, now facing Leaf as the elf stood up.
"Woah! Hey! Look, I...see that...you've meant my friend, Pine-Cone...huh?" Leaf asked him, trying to sound friendly to this human, who appeared to still not be happy from the look on their mask. "Listen, I don't know what happened after I left, but...us elves are not really fighting kind of folks, so...if you don't mind...eh...leave him alone."
The person stopped balling their fist, as they started to connect the dots on this entire situation. "You're elves?" The masked human asked Leaf. "Hmmm...that explains a lot of things then..." The person looks behind themselves, seeing Pine-Cone, still sitting by the tree. "I wondered how he was able to teleport me and himself to this spot."
"You were dangerous." Pine-Cone said, glaring up at the masked human. "You almost had me killed back there at that rock in the middle of...the ocean..." Leaf looks at the human.
"Wait, Pine-Cone seeing some random dude on that rock was TRUE?!" Leaf asked.
"I told you I was right! I found them this morning once again, but this time, after they broken into the castle while Petal and Tulip were having breakfast!"
"What?! Why were you at the castle for?" Leaf asked the human again.
"Personal reasons." The human turns around, looking at Leaf once again. "You see, I found myself here while I was traveling back to my own island...but then I found myself here."
Pine-Cone stood up from the ground, holding onto his own arm. He held up his other arm, prepared to throw magic at the human. Leaf was eyeing his friend, shaking his head, signaling to him not to do what he was going to do.
"It's a rather complex explanation of how I got here, but I must go back to your leader in order to..." The human said, before Pine-Cone blasted magic out of his hand at the human while they were unaware.
Leaf reacted quickly to this. He immediately launched himself at the masked human, as magic was glowing out of his hands now. Purple light engulfed himself and the human, before the two of them disappeared before Pine-Cone's eyes.
The magic hits the bush that James and Jenny were behind, causing purple light to engulf the entire bush, but thankfully not the two humans in the process. The plant disappeared right before James and Jenny's eyes, causing them to be seen by Pine-Cone. The elf immediately took notice of the human couple sitting there, looking back at him.
Thankfully for them, they have met Pine-Cone, since he came alongside Petal when they were trying to find Leaf in Canada. James nor Jenny really talked to Pine-Cone back when they first saw each other, as their interactions were rather brief. But despite that, it seems like they were on good terms with him regardless, since the couple was involved in helping Leaf and Petal stop Preston and Esma's plans with him.
"Oh, it's...you two." Pine-Cone said, looking at James and Jenny.
"I'm James." The geeky boy said.
"I'm Jenny." The geeky girl said. "We've met already."
"Well, I can't exactly say we've met...but, either way, my name is Pine-Cone." The elf said, bowing his head. "Leaf brought you here, I take it?"
"Yeah." James said, before deciding to get back into the situation. "Hold on! Why are we talking like this is causal?! We got to find Leaf?!"
"Oh blast! You're right!" Pine-Cone ran in front of the two, as he leads the way for them. "I know one place that they should be right now. Please, come along!"
Inside the castle...
Petal was thinking to herself, all by herself while her friend is out, hoping that the fight between Pine-Cone and the unknown human wasn't out in the village. She just hopes that whatever happens, the fight just stops, and that Pine-Cone wasn't hurt. As for the human, she didn't really know what to do about that person. Clearly, they seem dangerous, after they decided to go and fight her friend.
While she was stuck in her own thoughts, Leaf and the human had teleported into the dining room, catching the female elf off-guard. Petal stood up from her chair, seeing the human kick Leaf off of themselves and into one of the walls. Petal ran over to Leaf, helping him onto his feet, as the human stood there, looking at them.
Leaf glares at the masked human. "No need to kick me off of you, dude! I was saving your life back there." Leaf said. "Pine-Cone reacted the wrong way that time...I don't know what he did to start the fight but..." Leaf stops talking, trying to catch his breath. It was at this point, the human decided to speak once again.
"Are we finished fighting now?" The human asked, stern, yet calm. "I have more personal matters to stay focused on."
"By personal matters, what do you mean?" Petal asked.
"I mean...I need to stay focused on an important task that I had under-control, until the ship I was using had exploded...thanks to him..." Leaf started to realize something about what this person was actually saying. He looks at the person with a shocked look on his face.
"Oh my God, YOU sank that cargo ship?" Leaf asked, sounding horrified.
"It was a personal friend of mine...or now, my enemy."
"Your enemy? Wait...who are you talking about? Come to think...who even are you? Because...all of this is just confusing for me right now." The unknown person just stood there, not saying another word after they said that.
All the human did next was moved their right hand to the collar that they had around their neck, flipping a switch that was on the side of it. The metal fox mask that they had on started to unfold itself back into the collar that they had on. Every single bit of the mask went back into the collar until every inch of it was gone, revealing who this person was.
The mask was back into the collar, revealing a woman with pink hair in a ponytail. Leaf's eyes widened at the sight of the girl who was standing right before him, as the human calmly places her hands behind their back. Petal was just as surprised to see that this person was a woman as well.
"Woah..." Leaf said softly to himself.