The Summoner and the Enchantress

by OsirusPendragon

When Beast Boy and Raven are sent to another world against their will, their powers stripped from them, and the chances of getting back are akin to winning the lottery. Will the pair survive? Or will they lose their way? BBRae Pairing

45. Chapter 45 - Crimson Snake Bandits

Chapter 45

They travelled for several days across the broken terrain, Drake knew the region well and took them through the best short cuts and around large cliff edges that they would have been running into relentlessly. The journey was mostly a quiet one, the three didn't want to speak of anything personal around their new travelling companion, and Drake wasn't much of a talker unless it was about revenge.

Drake did reveal that he was ambushed by the bandit leader, who had used some weird magical item to knock him out instantly, he couldn't fight at all. He wanted revenge on them for making a fool of him, he was prideful of his abilities, and to be taken out like that hurt his pride.

Pavel spent the entire journey working on the chest, trying every which way to open it. One night, while Rhordan was on night watch, she studied the lock on the chest out of curiosity and found that it was similar to a rune, she wanted to take the time to open it, but reframed from doing so with their new guest present. She let Pavel continue to believe that he could open it by speaking every magical word as a precaution so Drake didn't know she could probably open it if she had time.

It was the fourth day since they left the bandit camp and they were nearing a large flatland that Drake told them they would have to go around, the Crimson Snake Bandits had sentries posted along the plains as a main road that many merchants used passed through it. If Drake was spotted by them then they will warn the leader, and any element of surprise they had would be long gone, so they had to go around through the forest to a crossing not far from them to sneak into the forest on the other side.

Trudging through the forest, Gideon used his nature mystic to send out occasional pulses to track life signs around them, finding only magical beasts in the immediate area. He carefully navigated them around the enemies without alerting Drake to his abilities, though there were a few times he stared at him strangely.

As he was scanning the forest, he felt the presence of two familiar life forms half a league to their right, they wouldn't be going near that location, but Gideon wanted to know why he remembered their presence.

"Hold up, I need to do something real quick." Gideon called out to the group, garnering a few strange stares from them though he was already gone, disappearing into the forest swiftly. Separated from the group, he cleared the path ahead of him, moving bushes and trees out of his path as he made a beeline towards the two life forms.

As he drew closer, he concealed his presence and climbed into a nearby tree, jumping from one to another as he covered the last few metres. He landed onto the second to last tree near the two life forms when he heard a female voice call out in frustration.

"ARGH! Where are they?! They should have been here by now!" The woman cried in anguish, upset that she was standing in the middle of the forest with the man she despised greatly. A gruff voice grunted and grumbled at the woman in annoyance to her antics.

"This region is difficult to navigate, we should expect them to get lost or take a wrong turn occasionally." The man rumbled, he seemed more annoyed at the woman than having to wait for whoever it was they were waiting for. Gideon shifted carefully through to the last tree, reaching the edge and finally able to see the pair, realisation dawning on him as he remembered why their presences felt familiar.

"We all can't be patient like you, Conrad!" Elisa roared, stomping her food in outrage. She wore a dark green leather set of armour and had her hair tied back behind her, she had a beautifully ornate bow and quiver full of glowing arrows attached to her back. Conrad sat on a boulder in full dark grey plate mail, he held his large claymore in his hand, examining it for any deformities.

Gideon don't know what to think when he saw them, they were the ones that forced them into Hell's Abyss after chasing them relentlessly through the forest. He was somewhat afraid that they were here to attack them again, though something told him otherwise. They were sat in the middle of a dense forest, a place where he was at his strongest as he summoned all the nature element energy around him to his command.

He contemplated his next actions, debating if he should leave the pair here while they left, or get some answers from them. He wanted to know what would make those two attack them after they had praised them as they had done so, with his mind set, he commanded the forest to his side after he removed his bracers from his arms.

The pair weren't paying any attention to the ground below them, missing the vines silently sneaking out of the ground and tangling around their legs. Before either of them could react to the sudden appearance of vines, the rest burst from the ground and hoisted them high into the air, casting aside their weapons and a set of vines tangling around their necks, mouths and arms.

Gideon jumped down from the tree, eying the pair carefully as they hung from the air, their eyes wide in shock at the sudden attack. He stood before them, pondering who would tell him the truth before releasing the vines around Elisa's mouth, letting her cough for a few seconds before speaking.

"Didn't think we would survive?" Gideon smirked, though the reaction of the pair before him weren't of shock of their survival, rather they seemed confused slightly. "Now, talk! Why did you attack us?"

"Cause Brutus Ironcore made us!" Elisa struggled against the vines, trying to get her hands on her dagger, she was somewhat baffled why Gideon would be attacking them when a thought appeared in her mind. "Wait! Paylor hasn't told you two yet?"

"Paylor?" Gideon wasn't expecting his name to come out of their mouths, he did suspect that they would know of him since they worked around Bardia for a while, but there was no way they would know that he and Rhordan had ties to him.

"Yes, that old geezer!" Elisa cried out, still trying to break from the incredibly tough vines, she knew the boy before her was a mystic, but never did she think he would be this strong. Conrad grumbled behind the vine, he wasn't resisting nor struggling, so Gideon removed the vine covering his mouth.

"Paylor wants to thank you for the Dark Jade." Conrad grunted, the way he said it made it seem like it was a code phrase, or something that one would use to prove their identity. Gideon thought for a moment before dropping the two to the ground, there was no way Paylor would tell anyone of the metal that he had given him unless he trusted them.

"Talk, though remember where you are!" Gideon didn't fully trust them, he did trust Paylor and if he trusted them then he would give them the benefit of the doubt. He stood there pensively, holding his hands out slightly as he held onto the power of the forest around him.

"Brutus Ironcore is Bob's real name, he's Averia's Special Executioner and close to the king." Conrad explained, starting from the beginning as he noticed Gideon looking confused at Bob's real name being mentioned. Gideon was startled by the revelation, he knew Bob was a bad guy but not to this extent, he remained quiet and let Conrad continue. "He can turn the whole of Averia onto who ever he wanted, and they would be hunted for the rest of their lives. Our only choices were to kill you two, or be hunted for the rest of our lives."

"Trust us when we say that we didn't want to, but Brutus isn't someone you can say no to." Elisa shamefully stated, she hung her head slightly as she spoke. "We couldn't forgive ourselves for what we did, and we don't expect you to forgive us either."

"Mm. When we returned, Paylor confronted us and gave us the chance to make up for our actions by working for him and Baltharn." Conrad grunted his agreement to Elisa's statement before continuing. The mention of Baltharn's name startled Gideon somewhat, he wasn't sure if liked the idea that Paylor was working with Baltharn, or the thought that Baltharn wasn't exactly a bad guy. "When we received news you two survived, we wanted to do what we could to repay for our sins. Though, we were relegated to protecting Baltharn until two weeks ago."

"Baltharn's working for Paylor?" Gideon was still caught up on this part, he didn't know if his mind wasn't able to process the information or if he heard it wrong, he was hoping for the latter as he doubted he could forgive Baltharn for what he had done. The two before him maybe, if given enough time, but the guild director actively sent them to their deaths over and over while the two instructors had tried to reframe from attacking them.

"Baltharn's wife was in a medical institute in Averia, Brutus threatened her life if he didn't cooperate." Elisa sullenly stated, she didn't like the idea that that beast resorted to threatening the life of a mentally ill woman to get his way. "Paylor sent his operatives in to secure her, and of two weeks ago, she has been rescued from the facility."

"What happened two weeks ago?" Gideon asked, at that time he and Rhordan were caught up in the Frostmare family drama before Pavel stripped himself of his surname, but beyond that he wasn't sure what could spark off the Holy Order to burn their operation.

"Don't know, Paylor refused to tell us anything about what was going on, though I remember a mention about the three adventurers that were travelling with you and the tournament." Conrad stated, Paylor had kept them in the dark about the reason for why any of this happened, but he suspected Baltharn knew as any time it was mentioned, he would look deeply ashamed of himself.

"Huh, so they're not as dim-witted as I thought." Gideon muttered aloud, he didn't think they could make the connection between the three adventurers they were travelling with and meeting with Alex in the tournament, either someone had some intelligence behind the Holy Order or Averia, or they got lucky in their findings. "Anyway, why are you two here?"

"After fleeing from Bardia, we were hold up in a secret base until Paylor told us we had to deliver a message and an item to you." Conrad stated, pulling out a void ring he had in his pocket. He held it out to Gideon who took it and slipped it onto his finger. Inside the ring he was shocked to find the Frostmare's Talon, and enough provisions to last them a few months. Silently thanking Paylor, he looked back at the pair.

"What's the message?" Gideon asked, the void ring was immensely valuable, just for the supplies alone. The talon was something he was sure Pavel would relish in having back, though he was somewhat concerned with why they had it which made learning the message from them important.

"There's two actually, Paylor told us that the Frostmare family has gone rogue, that the clan leader has sided with the Holy Order and Jorgan has been critically wounded by the Paladin." Conrad stated, this part of the message was for Gideon only which made relaying it easy, Paylor had told them to be careful around Pavel as he would be still adjusting to his change of circumstances and this news would be harmful to him. Though that didn't apply to the brothers, and green-eyes would be the best person to relay this to. "And the second comes from Jorgan, he uttered this to Beylina before it was passed to Paylor, then us, so the meaning is a little jumbled, and none of us can work out why he said it but… He said for you and your brother to find Navara."

"Navara?" Gideon seemed perplexed by this, he was slightly confused as to why Jorgan would send them a message after what had happened, but after hearing of him being critically wounded and his family joining the Holy Order, Gideon had to revaluate his opinion on him for the time being.

"Don't know, though Paylor said that he wrote a note for you two in the void ring." Elisa shrugged, they had discussed the message between themselves as they travelled here to meet with the brothers and neither of them knew where or what Navara was.

Gideon checked the ring and found the note, he decided to leave it till later when he could discuss it with Rhordan. Though, there was an issue he had on his mind that he wanted the pair of them to clarify for him.

"Do either of you know the name Drake Flamestar?" Gideon asked, if Pavel vaguely remembered him then the two before him might know. His answer came in shocked gasps before Elisa exploded into laughter, Conrad simply stood there with his hand in his face. "I take it you know him?"

"Know him? He was Conrad's best friend in the crown guards, until he deserted them to become a mercenary." Elisa chuckled, loving the idea that someone that Conrad once thought was his best friend turned out to be a deserter. It was a bittersweet irony, especially when Conrad once spoke highly of the crown guard. "How did you find out about that name?"

"He got captured by the Crimson Snake Bandits." Gideon bluntly stated, somewhat relieved that the pair before him didn't react badly to the name. If he was a former crown guard then he was powerful yet had some integrity, or Gideon hoped that was the case. Elisa fell apart laughing again while Conrad went wide eyed again and slammed his hand into his face with far more force, groaning something about an egotistical moron. "We released him after we took out the bandit camp, though we are heading towards their main base right now."

"Wait! You are going after the Crimson Snake Bandits?!" Conrad roared, staring wildly at Gideon as if he grew a second head. His reaction made Gideon second guess his decision to go along with the plan to hunt down the Crimson Snake Bandits, he already had misgivings about the plan, but Conrad looked at him as if he were a madman playing with explosives.

"Yeah, we passed a small village that the bandits were raiding, they had kidnapped their women and we wanted to help them as no one else would." Gideon recalled, relaying the basic premise behind their actions, though he was growing increasingly afraid of challenging the Crimson Snake Bandits, yet he couldn't leave those women to their fate.

"Well, we were going to accompany them if they decided to go to this Navara place anyway." Elisa shrugged, they had wanted to find a way to redeem themselves to the young brothers, and if helping them find this Navara place did that then they would have helped out gladly. "Why not take down some bandits as well."

"The Crimson Snake Bandits have excessive numbers on their side, we won't be able to fight them." Conrad countered, though he agreed with helping to find Navara, he didn't think walking into a certain death like those bandits was in any of their best interests.

"We have that covered, we bought a poison in Larravass for emergency situations, that's how we took out the first camp." Gideon reassured Conrad, getting help from two more powerful fighters would certainly even the odds, though that was only the case if they manage to poison the majority of them.

The pair looked suspiciously at Gideon before shrugging, Paylor had told them to be wary of Gideon's deceptiveness and cunning, he was always finding loopholes through impossible situations. Yet, the thought of the brothers using poison didn't feel right, they felt like they were walking down a dark path, and nobody had been there to stop them. Conrad and Elisa shared a look, if the brothers were left to carry on like this, they feared that they might turn out far worse than any bandit.

"We have a plan to take out the main base… well Drake has a plan, not sure if I like it." Gideon ignored their antics and focused on explaining their current situation, though Drake's plan was the best plan, it was also the only plan they had. "Basically, if our poison takes out the vast majority of the bandits in the camp, then Drake will take out the stronger foes."

"Yep, that sounds exactly like Drake." Conrad sighed heavily and shook his head, he didn't want to slam his hand into his face again in fear of getting a concussion. Drake was the literal definition of loose cannon, his plans always involved him rushing in headfirst without ever taking account of the potential dangers that lied in wait. Conrad couldn't blame Gideon for asking after him, their differing nature would have them conflicting with one another. "I need to talk some sense into that idiot!"

"Alight, I'll lead you, but stay a few paces behind unless you want to find out what a lightning bolt to the face feels like." Gideon chuckled at his joke though the two instructors looked confusedly at him, wondering what he meant by that as Gideon only had the nature element. "Rhordan's element is lightning, oh, and we are using out adventurer codenames, Pavel's Cobalt."

"Understood." Conrad grunted as Elisa nodded, they followed a few paces behind Gideon as he travelled effortlessly through the forest, he dropped the concealment of his life pulse to allow Elisa to track him.

Gideon found the group waiting in the forest, Drake seemed to be impatiently tapping his foot and staring off into space. Pavel redoubled his efforts on unlocking the chest while Rhordan sat reading a book, neither of which were looking towards Drake. Appearing to the group, they all immediately jumped to question him on his actions, but Gideon waved them away.

"Rho, we have a Jinx situation, don't barbeque them." Gideon couldn't have a full conversation with Rhordan without Pavel and Drake asking after his little errand, Rhordan confusedly stared at him for a second until she caught sight of Conrad and Elisa emerging from the forest. Rhordan immediately summoned her power to defend herself and Gideon, when she recalled his words, Jinx had switched sides after a certain speedster convinced her, if Gideon used her name to describe the two instructors, it meant they were on their side. Reluctantly she dismissed her power, glaring at Gideon to talk with her later.

"You knew they were here?" Drake hissed as Conrad grumpily stood before him, the two exchange glares, both flexing their muscles in an attempt to look tougher than the other.

"Why? Are you up to something stupid?" Conrad rhetorically snapped, the two lost their friendship after Drake deserted, though the act itself wasn't what made them enemies, rather it was Drake's failed attempt to convince Conrad to join him before launching him out of a third story window in his escape. Said window was right above the latrine, and he had crashed through it with more than enough force. Though that wouldn't have upset Conrad immensely, however the woman he was trying to court at time had been close enough to the site to be splashed by his impact, she never spoke to him again after that.

"It's not stupid! We have a plan!" Drake tried to counter though Conrad just raised an eyebrow, not buying his words for a second. Infuriated, Drake glowered at Conrad before sighing. "Fine! Okay, it's a dump plan, but their poison took out an entire camp of bandits easily, we get that into the main camp food supply, the fight will be over before it started."

"Not exactly, the plan hinges on the element of surprise as they captured you without a fight, whatever they have cannot be underestimated." Gideon grunted, he had been thinking on what he had said, trying to wrap his mind around what could take down someone like a former crown guard with no warning or even a chance to fight back. Drake winced and glared somewhat at Gideon for switching sides, though he couldn't exactly argue against his words.

"What do you mean, 'captured without a fight'?" Conrad asked incredulously, he didn't believe for a second that this was the case. Drake's ego demanded that people respect him for his abilities, and when his abilities failed, he would create the most insane lie to cover up his blunder. "How could a dual Baron rank like you get taken down without a fight?"

"Like I'd know, I was walking alone in the forest and then suddenly I wake up in a cage several leagues away." Drake roared, he was frantically pacing back and forth as he tried to force his mind to recall what had happened. The three youngsters stared wide eyed at Drake, a dual Baron is an amazing feat to reach, especially for someone that looked around his mid-thirties, though it did explain why they put the binding bracers on him. "I knew it was the Crimson Snake Bandits, they patrol this area, and their leader hates me."

"You should start making a list of people who don't hate you, you might even be able to count it on one hand, if you're lucky." Elise sarcastically quipped, she only knew of Drake by reputation and what little Conrad griped about him when his name made the rounds, it was enough for her to hate him long before she even met him. Drake glared at her, somewhat taken aback by her candid nature, though if she was travelling with Conrad, he couldn't blame her.

"Going out on a limb here, but… if Drake is right, then the Crimson Snake Bandits have a magical item that can knock out a dual Baron rank without effort." Gideon decided to jump into the conversation before it devolved any further, he had to draw the attention back to the threat that they were faced with, if these bandits had such an item, then they were a major threat to merchants and anyone else travelling through this area. "So far, no one knows about it other than us, otherwise this area would have been filled with all kinds of people trying to get their hands on it, though what would an item like that do if it got into a clan's hands?"

"Utter devastation with a side of pure mayhem." Elisa answered as Conrad completely dismissed Drake's account, if any clan got their hands on such an item, they would be able to knock out the vast majority of the major power's forces. That alone could tip the scales against them and upset the balance of Altharia. "Though, the Crimson Snake Bandits are a grunt group under the control of the number one assassin clan on the land, if an item like this appeared, the Darkbane Deathflower clan would destroy the Crimson Snake Bandits for keeping it from them."

"Either way, we have to proceed as if they have this item, if our cover is blown or if we have any doubt that they don't know we are here, the mission is scrubbed, and we leave. No exceptions." Gideon ordered, they couldn't risk getting captured like Drake had, and even if he was lying, they couldn't take the chance of going head-to-head with an entire bandit group. "Drake, how far are we from the main base?"

"We should only be about a league or two." Drake said after staring suspiciously at Gideon, the way he took command and evaluated the situation was eerily like his old captain back in the crown guards. He noticed Conrad staring at the boy in confusion before dismissing it, Drake wondered if Conrad knew something about the boy that he didn't, something that would explain how a youngster had the knowledge and the experience to lead a team. "It's built into the side of a cliff face. It'll be difficult to storm as the bandits are trained in archery and their numbers are vast, but if we can take out the majority of them, then we stand a chance."

"You didn't say that it would be against a in built camp!" Gideon suddenly rounded Drake, startled by this revelation. A camp like that is practically impossible to sneak into, the tunnels and areas will all be enclosed and any chance they had of sneaking in would be insanely difficult. Before, the camp was spaced out enough that they could have snuck in if they bided their time. "Great, just great!"

"What's the problem? This should be easy." Drake chuckled at Gideon's antics, he didn't understand why he was frantically pacing back and forth, unable to stop fretting about the mission.

"Change of plans, we're improvising." Gideon immediately stated, startling everyone in the group as he suddenly stopped pacing. Standing there with his hand on his chin, he realised that whatever plan they make will fail, the only option left was to throw caution to the wind and take a risk. Sending a pulse through the ground, he searched for a bandit sentry, finding one within his league range. "Okay, you guys make your way to the camp. Keep hidden and out of the way until I send you the signal, then attack."

"Wait, what are you planning?" Rhordan immediately snapped at him, she hated it when he did this, bolting off without telling her anything. Gideon was already long gone before she could finish her sentence as he bolted instantly. Exasperated, she turned to the team who all looked just as confused as she did. "URGH! Why are you such an idiot!"

"He seems normal to me." Pavel smirked as Rhordan rounded on him with a death glare, holding his hands up in surrender while trying not to smirk didn't help the situation. "Look, you know him better than I do, his inane plans usually work out… sometimes."

"That's reassuring." Elisa sarcastically stated, they were heading against a large bandit camp and they were relying on green eyes to pull together some stunt that would secure them the victory. "Let's go, we should be ready to fight."

The team headed off with Drake leading them, he didn't know what Emerald was up to, but if he evened the odds then he was willing to wait. Drake knew of a place close to the camp that they could use to hide in while waiting for the signal, it was a small outcropping on the cliff side that looked down onto the camp, it was a spot he used occasionally when he had to deal with the bandits.

However, as they were making their way to the outcropping with Drake yelling once again about his revenge, a soft melody drifted on the wind. The song slowly increased in tune as the team gradually lost consciousness, eventually falling to the ground as they fell asleep.

---

Gideon moved swiftly thought the forest, heading directly to the sentry closest to him. Sneaking up on the man hiding in the tree, he entangled vines around his arms and neck before he could react and strangled him. With the sentry out cold, Gideon took his clothes and dressed himself up as best as he could, storing his clothes, armour and his backpack into his new void ring.

He berated himself for leaving without giving Pavel the talon, but doing so would have incurred a lot of questions that Gideon didn't know if Pavel would be able to take the answers. Though, he was more worried about Rhordan's angry yell as he left, she was not going to forgive him for this. Shaking his head, he would give the talon to Pavel when the attack happens, at least that way he had a powerful weapon to use. As for Rhordan, he would have to beg for her forgiveness later.

After concealing the unconscious body of the bandit, he sent out a directed pulse in the direction of where Drake said the bandit camp was, finding it just outside his field of sense. Taking an alternative route around to the side of the camp, he didn't want to come from the direction of the first bandit camp they found encase any of the bandits got suspicious of him.

The camp was exactly like Drake had said, it was built into the side of a cliff with wooden walkways and outcrops that all lead into the mountain, there were no stairs or paths to the differing floors which meant they were built inside the base. As he approached, some of the bandits milling about the area grunted at him but didn't say anything, letting him walk by without even checking his identity.

Walking through the base, he found several alcoves with bandits inside either sleeping or drinking, some even had bandits crafting or cooking. Gideon thought about poisoning the supply of food, though they were storing them in packs that they set aside, if he poisoned them, it would take hours before the first one dropped and only a few would get hit after the first as they would catch on quickly.

Leaving that section, he scoured through the base, staying far from the top as that area seemed void of people. Gideon reckoned that that area was the boss's domain, and the strongest fighters would be close to the boss to protect them. There wasn't much he could do against the base camp, whoever the boss was had enough of an idea to keep things separate and isolated that if somebody tried to poison them, they would find out long before it even hit more than a few bandits.

Gideon sighed, this was going to be difficult, there was no way he could take out the majority of the camp without alerting them to his presence. The only thing he could see working in his favour was poisoning their supply of water as it was a central reserve inside the mountain that was heavily guarded, though that meant revealing his identity and it wouldn't kill all of the bandits, but if their water supply was unusable, they would be forced from this location.

Though, as he was making his way to the reserve, he overheard some of the bandits talking about the slaves in the lower caves, an area he couldn't get into as they had several guards patrolling the area. Normally he ignored this type of conversation as he couldn't do anything to save the slaves yet, but they spoke of a set of new slaves they caught just moments ago.

Confused, Gideon followed the bandits through the camp towards the front, they stood on a walkway overlooking the flat ground below where a small group of bandits stood in a semi-circle around a group of bandits holding people he couldn't see. Garfield thought about heading back into the base as the bandits weren't paying attention and he could poison the water supply, when he heard a female voice speak up over the crowd.

"Well, looky here, Drake has come back to us." A woman laughed at the front of the pack, she wore a set of bright red leather armour and her crimson hair was tied back into a ponytail, she had two men dressed in pitch-black robes flanking her. From the whispers of those around him, she had to be the boss of the Crimson Snake Bandits.

Gideon focused on the group of captured people, he could make out Elisa's green armour and Conrad's dark grey knight suit. His team had gotten captured because of his brash action, and as much as he wanted to freak out about it, he had to focus on the mission, though now he had to save them as well as taking out the entire bandit camp.

Sighing, Gideon scanned over the group around the boss, trying to work out how they managed to take them down without a fight as none of the bandits were sporting injuries. He noticed an oddity among the bandits, a young blonde-haired girl in a dirty white dress stood not far from the boss with two guards flanking her. She was holding something that the moment he looked in its direction, called to him, begging him to take whatever it was she held.

Using his magical sight revealed the object to be something insanely powerful, stronger than even the talon or even the sword on his back. The object's element was a colour he didn't think could be an element, it shone a bright pink colour much like that of the crystal orb they got from the dungeon. As he was focusing on the girl, he started to notice a disparity, focusing solely on the girl he found he could partially see her magical core. If he had to guess by how weak her core is, she was probably no where near Novice in magical rank, though he couldn't tell her physical rank.

Gideon wondered why the boss would ever allow someone as weak as her to hold such a powerful magical item, but the pink colour to the item had to mean it was an element he hadn't seen before, one that the girl shared with it. Taking a pause, he looked down at his own chest and partially reduced his concealment around his core, he found some patches of pink shining from himself.

The magical item's element was the same as his, which must have been why it was calling out to him. Though, the moment he lowered his concealment, the magical item increased its attempt to call out to him, demanding he wield it. Gideon shook his head and focused on the matter at hand, he partially withdrew into his core to stop the item from messing with his mind.

"Wake them up!" The boss lady glared at the young girl, she had been rambling on about how she was going to enjoy torturing the group which Gideon had to tune out encase his rage got the best of him. The young girl took the item she was holding tightly to her chest and put it to her lips, it looked like some sort of wooden rod or pipe, though as she tried to blow on it, nothing happened. Looking shocked, the young girl tried again, but nothing happened. "What is wrong with you? You useless gutter rat!"

The young girl tried again and again, growing even more frantically with each failed attempt. Tears started to fall from her checks as she wailed in despair, trying hard to get the item to work for her. Garfield checked the item with his vision and found that he had missed something on his first time scanning her, the item had some sort of tether with the girl which was now broken, a new one was trying to form between the item and him.

Gideon realised that the item latches onto the strongest source of its own element within range, the moment he released his concealment revealed he was stronger than the young girl, and now it was trying to tether with him instead of her. Retreating further into his core, he hatched a new plan, one that may work in completing all of his objectives and save his friends, but it was a Hail Mary.

Carefully creeping through the bandits, he snuck down to the ground and over to the group of bandits surrounding his team. He concealed his life pulse as he got closer, the two men flanking the woman had a strong magical core presence, one that he assumed had to be around Baron or maybe Lord rank.

"What is wrong with you?" The boss roared in frustration, grabbing the girl by her collar and slapping her hard in the face. Stunned, the girl accidentally dropped the item, though the moment it hit the ground it immediately rolled towards Gideon as if it were moved by some sort of invisible force. The young girl lost her mind the moment she dropped the item, frantically clawing at the boss to let her go. The boss threw the girl away harshly, annoyed by her actions and went to look for the magical item, catching sight of Gideon picking it up. "Oi, idiot! Don't touch that!"

Gideon held the item in his hand, it looked like a gnarled dark brownish pink piece of wood that was shaped into a flute. He felt it call out to him with even greater force, demanding he wield the flute and sing its melody.

"He's not one of ours." One of the men flanking the boss grunted, his words caused the bandits around Gideon to leapt away, all of them desperately flailing for their weapons. "Don't be alarmed, he's weak, and has a similar trait to that girl over there."

The man pointed to Rhordan who was held by two bandits, both of them looked puzzled at one another before one of them went for her shirt, a lecherous grin appearing on his face as he looked down her top. Gideon lost the last of his willpower the moment one of them whistled and high fived each other, pulling the flute to his lips, though his attempt to play it failed.

"Boy, that item is extremely powerful and is only useable by a unique type of people that are ungodly rare." The boss mockingly laughed at Gideon's attempt to use the flute, the other bandits joining in eventually. "You care for that girl, huh? How sweet."

Gideon calmed his mind, the tether had to be what allowed the person to use it, but he didn't know if he could break it later. Feeling inside his core, he searched for the pink element, though it was difficult, he found it and summoned it forward, causing his mind to take a shift in thought process but he ignored it for now.

Pulling the power from within, he created a ball of pink energy in his hands and forced it into the flute. The tether immediately took the bait and the flute suddenly glowed as its tether wrapped around his hand, without waiting the seconds the bandits were laughing, he tried again.

A melody started playing on the air, one that was soft yet beautiful, the boss immediately snapped to attention and tried to say something though her mouth failed her. Gideon didn't know how to play the flute, so his song wasn't perfect, yet he felt the effects of unlocking his new element coming to the forefront of his mind. He felt as if he had two minds, one that was inside his core that he had retreated into, and the other outside of his body, like an external drone hovering close by.

Whatever this element was, it affected the mind as he focused on the boss before him who was struggling to concentrate, he moved his exterior mind to hers and instantly got a snapshot of her mind, her thoughts swirling with ways to kill him slowly.

Using this new knowledge, he locked onto the young girl, hoping to get the song she knew to put people to sleep, though her mind was in utter turmoil, she wasn't able to keep her sanity the moment she lost the item, but she did have parts of the song playing in her mind.

The two men were slowly making their way to him, both angry with how they were being affected as well despite being a higher rank and having fortified their bodies and minds with mana. Gideon realised that it was only a matter of time before they reached him, and from their looks of thunder, they wanted to kill him slowly.

Altering the song with the new information, several of the bandits slowly started to drop, but not enough to shut down the two just metres away from him. He couldn't move while playing as he had to focus intently on supplying the thirsty flute with mana while keeping his mind inside his core and away from the flute's tether.

With the two men seconds away from killing him, Gideon put on an extra burst of energy into the flute, hoping it would stop them, though as his song failed to do what he hoped, he lost hope. He was going to lose, and Rhordan's identity was revealed to the bandits, Gideon didn't know which was worse.

Just as Gideon was about to drop his shield protecting himself from the flute and use it to its full extent, a sudden burst of rain fell over the area. A look of fear and shock appeared in the men's eyes as they immediately turned away from him. There, walking with malicious purpose, was an old woman in a light and dark blue glowing dress, her white hair flowed menacingly like water, and her eyes were covered with a beautifully intricate light blue binding.

Gideon reaffirmed his resolve and played the flute as she approached, her actions were solely targeting the bandits, leaving him and his team unscathed. Whoever she is, she was here to tackle the bandits, which made her the enemy of his enemy, and he hoped a friend to him and his team.

Redoubling his efforts, he focused on playing the flute, using his power to alter the song away from the elderly woman. He knew his attempt was successful as the rain suddenly transformed into shards of hail rocketing down at a deathly speed, with the bandits slowed by the flute, they were slaughtered without effort.

The two men tried to fight back to no avail as the old woman burst forward and ripped them to pieces with an explosion of water erupting from her hand. With the two men dead, she worked her way through the camp, slaughtering every last bandit she could while leaving the boss alive. Once the camp grew silent from the endless screams of anguish, the old woman returned and cut the thundering rain instantly, allowing the blue sky above to shine through as if it hadn't left in the first place.

"You can stop, they are dead now." The old woman curtly stated as she stood beside the boss, holding her arm with a death grip, Gideon gradually retreated from the flute, though he found it wouldn't leave his hand. Gazing at it through his magical sense, he found the tether had wrapped itself fully around his hand, preventing him from dropping it. "Now, Lucy, we can talk."

"Damn you, Hildevane!" Lucy spat, trying to wrench away from Hildevane's iron clad grip without any progress. Hildevane glowered at the boss and tightened her grip, causing Lucy to wince harshly and stop fighting the old woman. "You will regret this!"

"Lucy, you should be grateful that I hadn't called in for reinforcements, otherwise this place would have been levelled in moments." Hildevane calmly stated, her temperament drastically differed from when she was tearing the bandits apart with vicious fury, though Gideon could see she wanted to make Lucy suffer for whatever she did. "Now, where is the Young Lady? I don't sense her in your slave pens?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Lucy spat sarcastically, wincing harshly as Hildevane tightened her grip again. Gideon wanted to thank Hildevane for saving his and his team's life when he brashly blundered into this situation, if he found this Young Lady then maybe it would count as returning the favour. Extending his nature ability, he was suddenly shocked by the flute tying the tether around his hand tighter, he couldn't use his powers with the flute in his hand.

"I can make you suffer in ways you can't even imagine… Now. Tell. Me. Where. The. Young. Lady. Is!" Hildevane drew out her words as she hoisted Lucy off the ground, her anger slowly getting the better of her.

"Most likely sold, I doubt she is dumb enough to keep the Young Lady around if you were on the prowl." Gideon called out as he tried to shake the flute out of his hand, he wasn't paying attention to Hildevane or Lucy who both now looked at him in shock. Forgoing his power, he resorted to trying to peel the flute from his hand to no avail. "Argh! What is with this thing!"

"How aren't you turned into a mindless drone?" Lucy asked after a few seconds, staring wildly at him as if he was some sort of unknown creature. Gideon turned to look at both woman, wondering why they were staring at him. Hildevane immediately dropped Lucy and stormed over to Gideon, placing her hand against his chest and standing there for a few moments.

Gideon felt her magical power enter him and probed around, he retracted from it and shielded his core, though he felt her slowly stop her investigation and wait patiently for him to give her permission to search his core. He didn't want to break the shield he had against the flute but she wasn't threatening and he could do with the help, he covered her power with his own and brought her inside his shield.

He didn't know why he was letting her search his core this intently, but from the way she looked at him meant she knew what the flute was, and if she could help him get it off of his hand and wake up his team, then he would willingly let her search his core. Moments later, Hildevane retreated and stood there in thought, Lucy hadn't run either as she waited for the old woman to speak.

"You're a Hollow, though how you still have your mind and soul… whatever you do, don't let that shield drop or the Eternal Slumber will claim you." Hildevane stated, she had no idea how the boy before her was still operating or even able to control the flute without using his soul, she had expected to have to kill the boy after she was done with Lucy encase he turned on her.

"A Hollow! Are you insane! A Hollow is a soulless corpse, no thought or feeling, and with the single purpose of killing anything in sight." Lucy roared in laughter as she collected herself, she couldn't believe the old woman was going senile, though a part of her did believe that she might be right as it was the only way the flute didn't take over the boy's soul.

"Huh, that would explain why I've been feeling strange." Gideon shrugged, he knew he should be taking this seriously, but after everything that happened between the abyss and now, he put aside finding an answer. Now he knew what he was, and why he had been acting weird, he now had a name he could research. "Is there any way to undo this?"

"Boy, Hollow are killed on sight, no one has ever taken the time to study them, let alone one that somehow has his soul and mind intact." Hildevane chuckled, she found the boy's nonchalant attitude to his condition a little amusing, either he didn't understand the full weight of his condition, or he didn't let it drag his spirits down. "Anyway, what did you mean by her selling the Young Lady?"

"If I was as cautious as her to set up a base like she did, I wouldn't keep someone around that brought the attention of someone as powerful as you." Gideon replied, using the distraction to draw him away from the fact that he was growing frustrated with the flute, nothing he did removed it from his hand. While he was shaking his hand profusely, he caught sight of Lucy subtly looking towards the top layer of the bandit camp before quickly snapping her vision back to Hildevane, Gideon couldn't say for certain that Lucy's glance was an indicator of anything, but it was a good place to start looking if she had done the opposite of what he said. "Hildevane, is there anyway to get this thing off my hand?"

"No, Eternal Slumber is bound to the host and won't break away from them unless they die…" Hildevane voice tailed off when she caught sight of the young girl that had the flute before. Despite her rampage of death, she only targeted bandits as she thought the girl had to have died for the boy to take the flute, but as she took a closer look, she saw the girl was still alive.

Gideon remembered how the flute went after the pink elemental power, creating an orb in his free hand, he fuelled it with the last of his mana. Ignoring the headache, he waited until the flute's tether sensed the stronger source and started to unwind in pursuit of it. He pulled his hands apart to stop the flute from reaching his other hand, and when the last thread of it unwound from his hand, he flung the ball of pink energy away from himself and towards the ground.

Hildevane watched in shock as the flute literally leapt from his hand and bolted towards the ground in front of him, it stayed there for a few seconds before it floated up into the air, spung around and bolted towards the young girl. Shaking herself out of her stupor she dove into action, Hildevane pulled out a box from a beautiful sapphire void ring on her finger and snapped it close around the flute, containing it inside.

"Well, you are an enigma, boy. I'll grant you that." Hildevane sealed the box, her actions causing a burst of pink energy to puff in the air before disappearing. The moment the box clicked close, Gideon's group immediately started to groan for a second before settling, still asleep from the effects of the item. "They should wake up in a while…"

Gideon stretched his hand, glad to have that thing gone from his hand. He paused for a second before sending a pulse through the plants. Revelling in having his powers back, he directed it towards the upper layers. His power only allowed him to sense through plants, so trying to sense anything in the base was impossible, however the upper layer was close enough to the top of the cliff where a host of trees were collected.

The pulse flowed through their roots and into some of the upper floors, giving him a brief glance inside them. In most, he felt magical items of some type or another, but in a small alcove behind the main and largest chamber, he felt the pulse of a life form.

Leaving Hildevane to do whatever she was doing with the box, Gideon swiftly moved through the base up to the top floor, moving past several frozen bodies and bloody limbs. Entering the top floor, he took a deliberate detour and quickly nabbed whatever he could from the bandit's treasure, though it was mostly stored in locked boxes, except for the differing metals and plants. Storing it all inside his void ring.

Entering the boss's room, he found all sorts of lush items decorating the place, he debated grabbing them, but they would take up a lot of space in his void ring, so he reluctantly left them. Though, his magical sense did pick up a secret box hidden under the boss's bed, Gideon quickly stored it into his void ring after prying it from the floor.

Finally turning his attention to the location where his pulse told him was a living life form, he realised why Hildevane didn't see her, the boss had to be an Earth element user as the wall before him was perfect with no indicators that it hid something behind it. Using his new Novice rank strength, he slowly craved away at the wall until he broke through into a small alcove.

Inside the alcove, he found a young girl tied up in the centre of the room, around her were bags of coins, gems, and even magical cores that Gideon immediately snapped up into the void ring. The young girl had a dirty set of white robes with a few bright green streaks sewing into it, her pale skin gave her a ghostly appearance though this was tempered by her bright green hair.

Picking up her, Gideon carried her out of the base and back down to the ground where he found Hildevane angrily questioning Lucy where she might have sold the Young Lady. Gideon quietly approached and watched rather amusingly as Lucy's eyes went wide at his arrival.

"Seems you aren't very smart." Gideon smirked at Lucy, enjoying the power he had over her, he moved his exterior mind to her and felt the thoughts of shock and fear run through her. Gideon was still having difficulty understanding this exterior mind, it wasn't an actual second mind that he could think with, but it was like an extension of his mind that he could control and use to affect things outside of his body. "Not sure why you would keep the Young Lady…"

"What are you talking about, boy? The Young Lady is not here." Hildevane angrily interrupted and dismissed him as if he were an idiot who shouldn't have spoken keeping her attention on Lucy. Gideon looked at Hildevane until he remembered the bracers they had used on Drake. The Young Lady had a similar set on her, ones that he had to put her down before taking off. The moment both of the braces were removed, Hildevane immediately whipped around and bolted to her side. "Young Miss! You are alright!"

"Yeah, she had Full Binding Bracers on, seems like Lucy was keeping her hidden from you in more ways than one." Gideon had temporarily forgotten her blindness, she could only see through a magic sight or sense which meant she couldn't see the Young Lady unless she was physically touching her.

"Boy… thank you…" Hildevane held the young miss tightly to her side as she groggily woke up, opening her bright red eyes and looking around confusedly at first until she felt Hildevane holding her, she instantly relaxed into her arms and closed her eyes. Gideon smiled slightly, glad that he was able to help them reunite. "I can never repay this debt."

"Don't, you saved me and my friends when I was certain we were going to die… or worse." Gideon shuddered as he said those words, but she didn't owe him anything, finding the Young Lady was his way of repaying Hildevane. As they were having their moment, Lucy decided at that time to bolt towards the forest, though she didn't make it far as an explosion of ice burst from her feet and killed her instantly.

"She should have been cooperative, maybe then she might have survived…" Hildevane coldly glared at the spot where Lucy had been moments ago, she turned to Gideon and sighed. Getting to her feet, she helped the Young Lady stand before pulling out a solid jade token with a pure white jasmine flower from her void ring, she paused for a second before taking out a second one. "This is for you and that girl, keep them hidden and out of sight by anyone and everyone, and trust no one with them."

Gideon gingerly took them, he had thought she was trying to repay him with a magical item, but the tokens only had a small amount of magical power inside them. When she took out another one after looking at Rhordan, he realised they must be some sort of ticket to some event, or an identity card of some sort.

"These tokens enter you into a trial that happens every ten years, only a few people are ever allowed to enter, and only at the recommendation of an elder." Hildevane explained, the Young Lady stood groggily and looked around the area before squeaking and diving into Hildevane's side. "Normally, an elder doesn't hand out more than one per year, but I doubt you would leave that girl behind. However, if you cannot solve your Hollow state, then you won't make it beyond the next six months."

"Oh, great…" Gideon sighed, they already had a lot of issues to deal with and now they had a time limit, though he could see that Hildevane doubted her words. He suspected that her knowledge was based solely on what little information was ever recorded on Hollows.

"The trial is at a dungeon called the Cube not far from here, it opens in less than a year's time, so you're in luck." Hildevane continued, ignoring Gideon's sarcastic as she explained the trial. "At the dungeon's entrance, there will be a set of examiners dressed in similar garb to the Young Lady, though they will have the symbol of a jasmine on their robes. They, and only they, can explain the trial as it changes every ten years."

"I take it that this trial allows someone to enter a clan?" Gideon didn't know why she was offering him this, but if his assumption was correct then he and Rhordan could enter a clan and get taught and trained in their respective elements as well as getting powerful skills and resources.

"I can't say, though there are three trials, this is the first. If you pass it, then you will get to try the second. Only by completing all three will it be revealed what you are working towards." Hildevane answered, though her words caused Gideon to raise an eyebrow at her. "Our group has remained hidden for countless centuries, though we have some of the best resources available. Anyway, I need to take the Young Lady home."

"What's going to happen to Eternal Slumber?" Gideon asked as Hildevane directed the Young Lady out of the area, he walked slowly beside her so she didn't have to stop. He was interested in the item, though its malevolent nature worried him.

"Its an item that was never supposed to exist, it's a fairy tale and it should remain that way." Hildevane replied, she didn't want to answer at first though she could sense the corrupt item on the boy's back, he had it bound with Altharian Binds which impressed her, though it made her question his background. "When I return, its going into the deepest darkest vault I can find. Along with any record of its existence."

"Good, though just to warn you, the flute latches onto the nearest strongest source of the pink element energy, once someone stronger appears it'll break its connection from them. However, if a person shields their core then it can't find them." Gideon offered, he figured that she was going to put a notice on the item explaining in detail how it worked, therefore offering her the intel he had on it meant if it ever gets used again, they would be able to deal with the flute easily. "However, it does not know what a human is, it'll only follow the source of energy. So, you can get it to detach from a person by providing a stronger source of the pink element energy."

"Psion, it's the Psion element." Hildevane explained after looking at the boy for a second, not only did he have a rare element, but he also had a magical sense, his background was rather interesting. "The user can not only move objects with their mind, but read others thoughts. Make sure you never tell anyone you have that element, not many people like knowing their mind can be read."

She made a mental note on the information the boy had told her, it would come in handy if the magical research team decided to study the item before locking it away. Though, she did think that his explanation answered a lot of questions behind the fairy tale, they never could figure out why the flute never stayed put for a long time, but if it was actively searching for energy then it explained why it always disappeared.

"What's your name, Boy?" Hildevane asked as she stood in an open clearing not far from the bandit camp, turning around on Gideon.

"Gideon Voidsaber, that's… well… to protect her I've been hiding her as a male under the name Rhordan Voidsaber." Gideon automatically stated though paused when he remembered that Hildevane knew Rhordan wasn't male, he didn't know how to answer the question of her name without revealing their true identity. Though his mind instantly came up with a convince lie. "Her name is Ryiah Voidsaber, she's my twin sister, though…"

"Gideon, I know she isn't related to you, no one looks at their twin sister like you do." Hildevane chuckled, she smiled warmly at Gideon which somewhat threw him off by how sincere she was with her reply. "Early marriage isn't uncommon, actually its rather endearing. Although you can't register her under her false name."

Gideon coughed and spluttered as Hildevane laughed at his antics, he didn't think he could use the wife option due to their age, though now it would be a useful to use as an excuse as to why she was dressed as a male. Yet, that option did require him to actually say it without blushing or stuttering. Shaking his head, he returned his focus to the matter of the jade tokens.

"Are there many elders wandering around the place?" Gideon changed the subject rather quickly, hoping to avoid the subject though Hildevane continued to chuckle at him. Coughing slightly, he focused on speaking rather than his fluttering heart. "I would like to secure a third token for our friend, Pavel."

"Pavel… as in the former first heir of the Frostmare family?" Hildevane immediately turned her attention to the group that lay not far from them, her head snapping to Pavel's sleeping form and a smile appeared on her face. She pulled out a third token and threw it to Gideon who caught it easily. "The chance to get an Ice Dragoon from the Frostmare family, my fellow elders would be green with envy!"

Gideon held the third token he was hoping to find another elder and have Pavel impress them with his skills to gain a third token, though as he was about to thank Hildevane when she sprouted a pair of massive sparkling ice wings and shot into the sky with the Young Lady. Standing there, he wondered what or who the group was behind Hildevane, though what he was more interested in was what they could offer the three of them.

Hildevane's magical core's power had to be at least Princess, though Queen rank seemed more appropriate. For this clan to have a Queen ranked combatant wandering around on their own, they had to have some serious power behind their name.

"Argh! Not again!" Drake's angry voice broke Gideon from his pondering, turning around he found the group slowly coming around from the effects of Eternal Slumber. Quickly hiding the tokens in his void ring, Gideon immediately went to Rhordan's side, helping her up right and quickly fixing her shirt after the bandits had messed with it. "Wait…"

"Err… Emerald… How did you manage this?" Pavel asked after catching sight of the mass of dead bodies that weren't killed by poison, the others all caught on and started looking wildly around, trying to understand how he managed to take out an entire camp by himself.

"Your guess is as good as mine, they caught me sneaking through the base and captured me." Gideon lied, he didn't want to say anything about Eternal Slumber or Hildevane to either Conrad, Elisa or Drake. He didn't trust any of them, even if the first two were vetted by Paylor. "Had me tied up with you guys when some unknown party blew through here, though something knocked me out and I woke up a few moments ago. Thought I'd check the perimeter while you guys woke up."

"Huh… whoever they were, they sure made a mess of the place." Conrad grunted as he looked over the destruction, he completely disregarded the thought that Gideon had any involvement as the place was soaking wet and littered with ice. That, and whoever did this, tackled the bandits head on without them putting up a fight. "Well, at least that solves that problem."

"What?! What about my revenge?!" Drake selfishly retorted, glaring at Conrad who only dully stared back, Conrad didn't take his antics well and usually ignored him though after getting captured like Drake had, he wasn't having his antics and glared harshly at him..

"We should free the women and get clear of this place, I don't want to be around when their bosses get here." Gideon alerted them to the potential danger that may come their way if they didn't hurry, Conrad and Elisa immediately went into action while Drake fretted uncaringly in any direction. Gideon led Rhordan and Pavel after they got to their feet, following the two instructors into the slave pens.

The slave pens were long corridors with segments cut out of the walls, large metal bars were bored into roof and floor. Women filled most of the cells, though there were a few men and even a special cell far from the others that held a peculiar oddity, one that Pavel had found and made a massive blunder in opening the cell abruptly.

The girl inside the darken cell immediately flew into a rage and barrelled into Pavel, knocking him over easily before he could get a good look at her, and bolting down the corridor. She barrelled headfirst into Conrad who had heard Pavel's choice words at the sudden surprise and was heading to check his status when a small girl thudded into his armour. Landing with a thud onto the ground, the girl quickly righted herself and flipped over the knight in dark grey armour, dashing at full speed to the exit.

Pavel had immediately got to his feet and chased after her, he couldn't let her bolt into the wilderness in her state. What little he could see of her, she was more bones than skin despite her speed and strength. Dancing around a confused Conrad that was still trying to piece together what he had just seen, he chased after the girl.

Dashing out of the slave pen area, he followed her to the ground area in front of the camp where he found her standing stock still, her eyes wide in shock at all the dead bodies around her. Slowing to halt behind her, Pavel realised why Conrad had stopped dead in his tracks in shock. Lazily swaying behind her was a long crimson bushy tail, her ears were atop her head and in the form of two large red wolf's ears that flicked occasionally, and her fingers had small claws that had been filed down.

"I thought Beastkin were a myth…" Pavel spoke aloud as he approached her from behind, Gideon stood behind him with a similar amount of shock. He had overheard the commotion and went to check it out when he found the startled Conrad, he spied Pavel bolting out of the slave pens. Following behind, he motioned for Rhordan to follow after he passed her on the way out.

The red wolf girl immediately jumped and turned around, looking confused and scared at their presence. Gideon immediately motioned for Rhordan to move back, he knew that look as it was the same he had when the Doom Patrol stood before him after saving him. She was frightened and alone, unable to think of anything other than personal survival, lashing out at the cruel world that had tortured her. If they crowed her, she could flee into the woods.

Taking a step back, they let Pavel take the lead. The red wolf girl nervously looked between the three of them, though as Gideon and Rhordan backed off, she focused solely on Pavel who stayed closed to her with his hands up in the air. Her small frame made her look somewhat harmless, though that wasn't the case as Pavel knew from earlier when she knocked the wind out of him.

"It's okay, we not going to hurt you, we here to free you." Pavel said carefully and slowly, keeping his voice low to not startle her. Taking a tentative step forward, he tested the waters before retracting it as she took a step back. "It's okay, I won't move. You are safe now."

"Pavel, get rid of your armour and weapons." Gideon whispered quietly, carefully removing his own gear and putting it on the ground, Rhordan followed suit. Pavel watched the red wolf girl nervously eying Gideon and Rhordan put their weapons on the ground and back away from them, she shifted her gaze to him as he started to follow suit.

"See, no one wants to hurt you. We are here too help you…" Pavel softly said, he turned to Gideon and motioned for him to hand him something. Gideon pulled out some dried meat he had in his void ring and handed it to Pavel. His actions startling both Pavel and Rhordan though they put the matter aside for the moment, focusing on helping the girl. Pavel held out the meat to her, hoping it would entice her to trust him. "Here."

The red wolf girl nervously looked between Pavel and the food, slowly she edged forward. She was extremely jittery, lowering down onto all fours as she crept forward, constantly shifting her eyes between Pavel and the food. Standing perfectly still, Pavel waited for the red wolf girl to gingerly take the meat before bolting back a few paces, nibbling slowly on it while watching them.

"Pavel, we're going to head back and help the others, stay here with her. Let her come to you." Gideon advised before slowly walking backwards with Rhordan behind him, they kept their movements deliberately slow and well telegraphed to make sure the red wolf girl wasn't startled. They had to leave their gear behind, though they would return for it later. Returning to the other three who had stopped by the entrance after freeing the rest of the slaves, they were interested in seeing the Beastkin as they all previously thought their kind was a myth. "She's terrified and alone, I don't think they ever unlocked her cage in a long time."

"Poor girl…" Elisa sullenly stated, she had stopped Drake and Conrad from bursting out of the bandit camp and scaring the girl away. She knew how blockheaded those two could be, and judging from Conrad's explanation, she wouldn't survive long in the wilderness in her state. "We need to help her."

"Leave her to Pavel, she seems to have some sort of rapport with him, and its best not to crowd her after however long she spent in that cell." Gideon knew all too well how easily someone like her could bolt. She wore simple cloth rags which didn't cover her arms, legs and collar, and the parts of her exposed shock white skin didn't have many scars littering them. Gideon suspected that her ferocious demeanour and wild temperament would put the bandits on edge and steer clear of her, especially since she looked seriously malnourished and still managed to knock Pavel on his backside.

Gideon had tried not to laugh when he caught sight of the dust coating Pavel's back, though he did wonder if the Beastkin had the body type that allowed them to still have strength despite being in a weak state. He put the matter aside and walked past the three adults to the slaves huddling together, some of the men and women took to the edges of the group in a protection formation around the group.

"Are you the one in charge?" A young man asked as Gideon approached, he had tried to ask that of the other three with no results, they got caught up in an argument about who was in charge after Drake weighed into the conversation. The young man was around Gideon's age, with short black hair and dark eyes, he had a few scars both fresh and old littering his arms and legs around the cloth rags.

"After my spectacular failure, I shouldn't be… but for now, yeah. Call me Emerald." Gideon reluctantly admitted, he should have planned better, or at least gave his team better orders than to walk right into the enemy. Though, he was sure that there was no way Lucy could have known of the first bandit camp's downfall, so unless she had far more bandits scouting the area, she shouldn't have known about their arrival. "Who are you?"

"Thomas Fellsword, third son of the Fellsword family. We're a small family on the outskirts of Valra City." Thomas curtly stated, nodding to Gideon in a respectful manner. "Our family looks after the villages and towns in the countryside, though we don't have the resources to cover them all… Ulvar village… I was sent there to investigate, but I got capture along the way."

"Sorry to hear that, though we didn't actually fair any better, luckily some powerhouse must have breezed through here." Gideon sympathised with Thomas, he had tried to look out for the villages and still is as he was corralling the former slaves away from the pens and towards one of the open areas of the bandit camp. He even sent some of them to collect the food from the upper floors. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the cell at the far end of the pen?"

"You mean the beast cage?" Thomas asked curiously, he had only been down there a few times to throw meat in there, whenever he got close whatever was in the cell would growl at him. "Not much, only that some of the other slaves feed it. The bandits didn't want to go anywhere near it, to afraid of being attacked. Though its been here longer than most of us which would be about six months ago."

"Huh… Anyway, I have a message for those from Ulvar village, they are to meet with the others at the Crossroads. Supposedly they should know what that means." Gideon relayed the message, Thomas's eyes lit up when he said for the Ulvar villagers to meet them at the Crossroads.

"Excellent! Our family has been trying to get them to leave that location for a while now, glad to see that they are moving closer to our family home." Thomas cheered quietly, he was happy that his family could protect the villagers better now that they would be closer to his home. "I doubt Old Cal would have taken this decision lightly."

"Don't know about Old Cal, but his daughter told me to relay this message." Gideon guessed that Old Cal was the village elder they met with the first time they arrived at the village. Thomas nodded understandably, the only person capable of persuading that old fool to move would have been her. "Though, I doubt he would have reason to stay after his granddaughter was taken."

"Oh… yeah, Patricia would have raised hell if Old Cal stubbornly decided to stay after that." Thomas chuckled, he had met Patricia once before and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, especially when it came to her people. "Well, you can leave them to me, I can take them to Crossroads easily."

"Are you sure you don't need protection travelling?" Gideon asked, a large group of escaped slaves walking through the wilderness on their own would be an easy target to either magical beasts or other bandits. "We don't have to be anywhere anytime soon, we can escort you and the others?"

"Nah, there are a few of my guards among them." Thomas pointed to the few men and women standing around the edges of the group, all of them were making sure the people were fed and clothed after taking clothes from the dead bandits. "Luckily, they kept our gear close to the slave pens, just waiting for my guys to break into the locked case. If you or your team are in the area around my family's home, you are more than welcome to visit, we would love to repay your aid."

"Thank you." Gideon nodded to Thomas, it would be useful to have some local family owe them a favour that they could use to get intel on Valra City, or a place to stay for a night. "We'll be setting off once we solved an issue, you wouldn't mind staying in here for a moment? It shouldn't take us too long."

"Does it have to do with the white-haired boy stumbling out of here?" Thomas asked curiously, Gideon chuckled and nodded. "Alright, I need to see to these people first while we have a moment of peace, the trek back will be difficult but tiring."

Gideon nodded to Thomas and return to the other three who were waiting by the entrance, they had ceased arguing when Gideon walked past them and waited patiently for him to finish speaking with Thomas.

"Drake, what are your plans after this?" Gideon asked, he didn't want to leave Thomas and the others unprotected as they travelled through the wilderness, he had used his new sight ability to gauge their strength and the guards' highest magical rank was Knight, though he didn't know if they had a higher physical rank.

"I was heading out this way to pick up some work in Valra City when I got caught, so that'll be my next stop." Drake shrugged, he wanted to rant and yell about the shame of not getting his revenge, but it was pointless as Conrad tuned him out and Elisa lost interest before he even uttered a word.

"Change of plans, you'll be heading with Thomas as backup." Gideon stated, Drake immediately snapped his gaze to him before laughing manically, enjoying the thought that Gideon was trying to order him about.

"What makes you think I will do what you say?" Drake mockingly laughed, Conrad took a threatening step forward when Gideon held a hand up, staying his hand.

"Drake, I can sit here and try to appeal to your better nature, I could even bribe you with coin." Gideon coldly stated, he now had the coin from Lucy's stash to pay Drake, though despite Drake's constant boasting, he had been relatively useless, and Gideon wanted to get a little payback. "But, you will do this unless you want me to tell every single person I meet that the great Drake Flamestar had to be saved… twice… and by a group of amateur adventurers. I wonder who will hire you if they know a dual Baron rank like you lost twice to the Crimson Snake Bandits?"

"Boy, you are playing a dangerous game…" Drake threatened, he glared at Gideon as red glow started to grow around him, Conrad and Elise looked worryingly at each other before readying themselves for a fight with Drake.

"Am I?" Gideon taunted, he had checked Drake with his magical sight before and he shone with the power he suspected of a dual Baron, however after being able to separate magical items from magical cores, he found something rather interesting that spoke a lot about Drake's nature.

Drake and Gideon exchanged glares, neither moving nor flinching as they sized each other up. Those around them pensively waited for whatever was about to happen, though from the look of Drake slowly backing down from the confrontation, they realised that Gideon knew something they didn't.

"Fine, but not a word to anyone!" Drake grumbled as he stormed off to find Thomas, leaving the others completely baffled by what had happened. Gideon's assumption was right, he did think it was rather weird how Eternal Slumber worked on him, that a dual Baron rank could be easily taken out twice, but this revelation made sense.

"What just happened?" Conrad asked after a few minutes, he never knew Drake to back down, yet whatever Gideon knew had to be something Drake wanted to keep quiet. Rhordan had caught on to Gideon's hint, she had used her magical sense to scan Drake when she noticed what Gideon had. Drake's magical power didn't come from his magical core, rather around his body from several runes.

The only possible explanation for this was a certain secondary core called the Runic Warrior, it allowed the user to imprint runes upon their skin, and even organs, that can increase their power exponentially, so much so that they could match a rank higher than them. Drake's dual Baron rank was a lie, which meant all his boasting was just for show.

"Sorry, Conrad, I need Drake to escort Thomas and the others safely." Gideon held his hands up in an apology, though Conrad and Elisa could do the task without complaint, he trusted them somewhat more than Drake. "I should check in with Cobalt, hopefully that girl has calmed down by now."

Leaving the bandit camp, he walked out and found Pavel bent double holding his stomach, the girl was no where to be seen. Sighing, Gideon moved over to the groaning idiot and coated his hand in his nature element, healing the impact wound to his stomach. Pavel slowly got up from his hunched over form and half-heartedly glared into the distance.

"Never touch a Beastkin's ears, just learned that one the hard way." Pavel groaned after getting his breathing under control, Gideon tried not to smirk though he failed hard as Pavel shifted his glare to him. "Oh, come on! I had her sat beside me eating, and… I don't know… I just never seen a Beastkin before."

"Nice going… do you know where she went?" Gideon chuckled, he was worried about the girl in her current state, but he couldn't blame her for gut punching Pavel, he had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth without thinking.

"How should I know?! I was too busy on the ground after the hit… she has one hell of a punch." Pavel grumbled, he hated the smirk on Gideon's face, though he deserved it for scaring the girl off. Gideon rose and looked around the area, hoping to find her tracks. Getting to his feet, Pavel sighed and tapped Gideon on the shoulder. "Leave it to me, its my fault she ran, I should find her."

"Alright, but don't stray far from the camp, we're heading out shortly." Gideon had debated the offer, though Pavel had been the one to scare her off, and he was the one that got her to actually sit down. Someone in the state like that girl wouldn't sit down, they'd be too afraid to let their guard down for a moment, so she must have some kind of trust in Pavel as he was the one that opened her cell.

Pavel scoured the area, looking for a set of small footprints among the large boots of the bandits, he eventually found a set leading into the forest that he followed. Gideon stood there watching him bolt into the forest, wondering if Pavel was the right person to send after a traumatised girl, Pavel wasn't what Gideon considered sensitive or patient.

"I hope he can calm her down." Rhordan spoke beside him, she had followed him out after checking with Thomas about their route out of here, she wanted to make sure they wouldn't cross paths. "Anyway, you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Not here, I've underestimated magic more often than naught, I'd rather wait until we are away from this place first." Gideon quietly whispered, he didn't know if the assassin clan had ways to listen in on them, though if they did then they should be heading here as they spoke. "We should get ready to leave immediately, hopefully Pavel will get that girl back and we can send her with Thomas."

"Should we? Judging from the reactions of the others, Beastkin are unheard of. Sending her with them might be far more dangerous for Thomas and the group." Rhordan countered, though she wanted to help the girl, the greed of the rich monsters would drive them to capture her for their own devices. "We should take her with us, that way we can protect her, and we are actively hiding from all of the major powers."

"As much as I want to agree, she needs to be far from combat or pain, otherwise she won't ever heal." Gideon reluctantly admitted, he recalled his own experience and realised that if he was kept far from the fight, then maybe he might have managed to lose his anger and managed to return to a somewhat normal life. "Thomas and the villagers live a peaceful life away from conflict, the most she would ever face would be the odd magical beast or possible bandit, and judging from the way she keeps knocking down Pavel, I'd say she'll be able to handle that."

"I just don't like leaving her on her alone, she needs help, especially from you." Rhordan reluctantly said, she could see that he was using his past to aid Pavel in making the right decisions, though that thought had her wondering just how bad his past got.

"Pavel seems to be getting through to her, I don't know if she connected to him because he freed her from that cell, or because he chased after her to calm her down, but it's the first real connection she had in ages, one that isn't of pain or misery." Gideon sighed, being locked in a cell for so long would destroy any relationship she had, its sad and unfair this happened to her because of how she was born. "Unfortunately, this type of connection is dangerous, she may latch onto Pavel and not let go. If that's the case then if anything happens to Pavel, or if he decides to leave, it may cause more damage than being imprisoned. We have to get her to leave with the others, this way she's able to break away from Pavel and form real connections with a group of people."

Rhordan wanted to argue, though she understood what he meant in regards to the relationship issue. It was how she ended up in the Titans in the first place, they were the first people to show her kindness and she latched onto it. Though now she is able to form some connections with people outside of the group, she didn't know how she would cope if the Titans left her.

Even now, she didn't know if she would have coped as well as she did with Gideon at her side despite her training in survival tactics. Though the same could have been said for each of them, Gideon had skills she never thought he possessed that had saved them on countless occasions. With him at her side, she felt safe and assured of herself, enough so that she was starting to depend on him more so than she would have done back on Earth.

"Emerald! We're heading out now." Thomas called as he left the bandit camp with the others in tow, all of them wearing variations of bandits' attire and the guards wielding weapons they had stolen. Drake grumpily walked alongside Thomas, he glared at Gideon before marching off with the others following him. "Thanks for lending us Drake, he seems like a capable warrior."

"Didn't feel right letting you go without aid, and Drake's a mercenary so he's trained for protection details." Gideon nodded and shook Thomas's outstretched hand, the two had an understanding as leaders of their respective groups, both had failed and got their teams captured, and they knew how the other was feeling. "Anyway, send him away once you get to Crossroads, or close enough. He'll be happy to leave. Also, I have another girl that needs to be taken care of, she's… a bit different from the others, but she needs help and protection."

"We need to get going, but if you bring her our way, we will look after her like she is our own." Thomas agreed to taking the girl before running off to catch up with the front of the procession, Conrad and Elisa took up the rear, guiding the people out of the bandit camp before stopping beside Gideon and Rhordan. Watching the group leave, Gideon slowly walked in the direction of where he saw Pavel last, giving him a bit more time to deal with the girl before the other group left completely.

They found Pavel sat at just inside the forest, leaning against a tree with a look of annoyance on his face. Gideon walked over with Rhordan and the two instructors tailing behind, he knelt down beside him and waited for him to speak.

"She's gone, I lost her tracks and any trail of her." Pavel sighed in shame, he had her in his sights when she pulled off some insane stunt and disappeared far into the distance. "She's fast and powerful, she's long gone now."

Gideon casted out a pulse as far as he could, hoping to find her location and track her down, but somehow she managed to escape his limited range. Shaking his head, he helped Pavel to his feet. The red wolf girl was in the wind, and as much as he wanted to chase after her, it was more likely that she knew of a place that was safe for her kind, somewhere they had remained from the world for centuries.

"Come on, she's probably on her way back to her people." Gideon reluctantly ordered, he didn't want to leave her without knowing that she was safe, but given her strength and speed, she would at least be able to defend herself against people of the Apprentice rank in physical strength.

"No, I won't leave her!" Pavel shouted, he stood up and glared at Gideon. He didn't know if Gideon was right that the girl was going home, but he couldn't let her leave alone, not when he was the reason she was running. "You guys go, I'll look for her."

"Pavel, she is no where within a league of us, where are you going to look?" Gideon countered, his words caused Pavel to pause and stare at him strangely, wondering how he knew that. Before Pavel could think of possible reasons why Gideon knew she left the immediate area, Gideon sighed and reluctantly told him the truth. "I'm a mystic, I can send a pulse through the forest and sense any living thing around us for at least a league. Right now, there is a herd of magical beasts to our right, a large monster to the left, and the girl is nowhere in range."

Pavel tried to counter Gideon, but his mystic ability did explain a lot about the brothers. He couldn't argue with the pulse ability as it was commonly used by nature element users, though not to the scale that Gideon claimed. Turning to look off into the forest, Pavel sighed and reluctantly turned away from it, he wanted to help her, but if she was long gone then he would be following a ghost.

"Sorry Pavel." Gideon sullenly whispered as he passed him, Gideon wanted to help the girl, but chasing after her would be pointless, she knew this area and the forest so there was no way they could go after them.

"No… she should be the one you apologise to…" Pavel glared at Gideon before storming off. The others quickly chased after him to calm him down, though Gideon remained in place. He waited for the others to leave before silently turning and placing a piece of dried meat on ground before following the others, a subtle smile on his face as he reapplied his bracers.

---

Author's Note: I finally have the map uploaded to Imgur (I hate that site, got turned around trying to post it as hidden.) Here is the link to it for anyone who is interested in seeing it:

imgur . com a/Mr2yZce

This is only a basic map, a detailed version exists and was the base version for the basic so as time progresses and the map updates I will change the versions. I will post a link every chapter encase anyone misses it or so they don't have to go looking for it. (Hopefully this works, this site absolutely hates links of any kind)

Shameful self promotion but check out my other story, Titans of the Stars.

AU. SWTOR Universe. A random chance meeting on the sandy planet of Tatooine, sends five strangers on a journey they won't forget. Will they be able to work together against foes that wish them dead? Or will they fall into their clutches and face a fate worse than death? They each have their secrets, they each have their goals, will they trust one another with them? Or go it alone?

Only doing this as its not included in the main list of Teen Titans fanfiction, its in the crossover. I don't know if a lot of them go unnoticed, but I thought I mention it if anyone reading this is interested in star wars fanfiction. Its a slow story, so don't expect it on a scale like this story, but its going well.

Comments:

Eris – Thanks for the comment. I'm glad its not too dark, I want to border onto darker topics but I have to test the waters first.

Not sure what you mean by 'sudden burst of energy', but I'm guessing you mean when Gideon broke into the Novice rank of physical power. People constantly stated that the feeling is indescribable, so I did my best to describe it without making it seem like it was nothing. There is a reason for there fast increase of rank that will be introduced in the next few chapters as I finally get to power structure.

The poison has been interfered with by a mystic and infused with not normal mana (can't say just yet but like I said before it will be explained in the next few chapters), so its far stronger than before, especially as its missing an ingredient. Spoiler – I doubt I'd get into the poison again any time soon so I'll explain it here, the previous poison wasn't enhanced with mana so it only works on normal humans, but this one sparks when mana is introduced. Only mana that is similar to Gideon and Rhordan can resist it, otherwise it consumes it to power itself. End of Spoiler.

Drake's element is fire, and his plans it to become a legend despite his weaker state. A Runic Warrior is able to use runes to increase their power, however since runes are gone, its difficult for them to get runes without finding a scribe.

Can't say what's inside the chest yet, haven't decided it myself, but its loot they stole from other people. There will come a time when they open it, but not now as they are pressed for time.