Coran found themself running into the Shepherds much sooner than they'd been anticipating. It had only been a few hours since they'd last seen the others in Southtown. Their intention had been to help the townsfolk rebuild, but after helping put out the fires, the people insisted they had already done more than enough to help them. They were instructed to go rest, but they were fearful of the nightmares that plagued their sleep, so they instead snuck off to the forest. The air was a bit warm, but it wasn't too awful despite their large robes. Night had fallen at some point during their wandering, but they felt a bit jittery, not wanting to return to town and sleep. Bugs buzzed about in a somewhat annoying fashion, but Coran ignored them to the best of their ability.

All seemed normal for the majority of their walk. They'd already checked out of the inn they'd been staying at, so they decided they would wander towards Ylisstol Coran kept their eyes on the ground, putting one small foot in front of the other as they wondered why there were no pebbles on this pathway. They hummed idly to themself, cradling a dim orb of light in their hand to fight off their fear of darkness. It cast a pleasant glow about them without disturbing the sleep habits of the nature around them. Coran was often thankful for their specialty in Light magic for the simple reason that it helped fight one of their many fears. They supposed they'd have a rather difficult time getting about, were it not for their magic.

Coran's musings were rudely interrupted as the ground began to shake with an intensity they hadn't anticipated. They attempted to keep their balance, but soon founding themself much closer to the ground than they had been previously. Sitting up wasn't too difficult, thankfully, but they could see what looked like smoke in the distance, as well as the telltale glow of fire. Before they could stand, what looked like a large clock face manifested in the sky, with zodiac symbols instead of numbers. Crystals formed in the center, opening like an eye to reveal a portal of sorts. The ground had stopped shaking, so Coran felt it safe to stand once more. They weren't sure what was happening, and glancing at the portal once more showed figures falling from it. Coran had a moment of debate as they wondered whether they should attempt to make their way back to town, or get closer to the portal.

Before they could decide, they heard what sounded like a horse barrelling through the forest. In their attempt to get out of its way, they wound up stepping on the back of their cloak, falling backwards into the dirt. They saw their life flash before their eyes in those next few moments, and they were convinced they would be flattened by horse hooves. A loud whinny ripped through the air, and the horse stopped, nearly throwing its rider off its back.

"Oi, watch it, short stuff!"

"S-sorry! I-I'm sorry!" Coran yelped, their hands shielding their head. Their light had gone out in their panic, and they found themself shaking violently.

"I coulda killed you!" Whoever this was sounded angry.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry…" Coran repeated, their eyes feeling hot. There was a moment of quiet between the two of them.

"What's a kid like you doin' in this here forest, anyhow?" The rider asked, in a less brash tone. "It's dangerous here at night."

"I'm n-not a k-kid…" Coran mumbled, looking up. "H-hey, aren't you a Sh-Shepherd?" They thought they'd recognized the voice.

"Yeah, the name's Sully." Sully said. "You okay? I got a prince to find."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine! D-don't w-wait up for m-me if you have s-stuff to do!" Coran said hurriedly, getting up and brushing dirt off of their cloak.

"Stay safe, kiddo." Sully said, nodding at them and riding off.

Coran stared after her for a few moments.

"Ahh, what a beauty, is she not?" A foreign voice said from very close to Coran's ear. Coran yelped, nearly falling over for the third time that evening.

"W-w-who in the w-world are y-you?" Coran asked, though they honestly didn't really want to know.

"Why, have you not heard of me? I am the archest of archers…" The man put an arm around Coran's shoulders as he guided them in the same direction Sully had gone.

"I-I don't r-really…" Coran hadn't been intending on following her at all, but the man's grip was surprisingly strong.

It took a rather long time for him to get around to actually saying his name. Coran wondered how they got caught up in this odd situation.

Word Count: 788

In which I forgot to have the masked swords'man' properly enter the fray because I took the plot in a different direction.

This has been sitting unfinished in my drive for a while...

Next time: Coran is disturbed by the undead.