Man, did this chapter took long. Almost three months. This chapter isn't a complete story like I intended but I wanted to post something after I missed my usual two months chapter posts.

The air was tense as they locked their eyes on one another. They were in fighting stance, their gloved hands up, and curled into fist. They stood a few feet away from each other, standing in the open field close to the village. Sitting in the shades of the trees, Nepgear, Uni and Plutia had their full attention on the two combatants that were at any second will trade blows.

Neptune slid his left foot forward on the grassy ground. Nereus saw the move and prepared to be on the defensive. Neptune went through all kind of different first attacks he could throw at Nereus. He decided to go for body first and then continue. Nereus had his concentration fully on his opponent and won't let anything else distract him.

As the wind blew across the open plains, the grass and branches swayed. And with a small confident smile Neptune rushed at Nereus, whose expression was serious and in focus.

Neptune took three steps towards Nereus. On the third step, he jumped forward and brought his left knee up aiming at his opponent's torso, putting his leg muscle and the forward momentum he build behind his attack.

Nereus took a step back while bringing his hands up, palms open and forward. Neptune's knee and Nereus' open palm made contact and Nereus push the knee down the moment the contact was made. When he had both feet on the ground Neptune quickly threw a right hook at Nereus' head. Nereus brought his hand up and blocked the attack. The purple-hair boy threw another fist at Nereus' body but he patted it away. Then each combatant took a step back, eyes never leaving each other.

Nereus took the offensive next. He took a huge step forward and aimed at Neptune's side with a kick. Neptune brought his arm down and he blocked the side-kick which made contact with his elbow. Nereus followed up with a jab to the face and then a right hook to the ribs. Neptune blocked both the attacks and retaliate three consecutive jabs at the body. Nereus held his hands up to block but left a small window for Neptune to perform a kick to Nereus' side. Feeling the kick making full contact, Nereus counter-attacked with a fist to Neptune's ribs. The purple-hair avoided it by jumping back and followed up two hooks to the body that were blocked and Nereus threw a jab that successfully landed on Neptune's chest.

Nereus threw a hook to Neptune's head but he lean back to avoid it and countered with a right hook. Nereus blocked it with his right hand and immediately took a step forward and when he was right beside Neptune, he punched him in the side three times in a row. Neptune threw a back-hand and Nereus blocked but Neptune punched him in the side of the ribs before he could react. Nereus attempted to front-kick his opponent in the stomach but was blocked. Neptune successfully landed two kicks of his own; one low at the Nereus' hip and another one higher to his side. Nereus knocked away an incoming jab and nail Neptune in the abdomen with an uppercut. Neptune swung two times; one high at the chest which Nereus locked but the second one landed home. Nereus front-kicked Neptune right at the hip but the purplette raised his knee to block it.

And so on they threw punches after punches, kicks after kicks, both not letting up but tried to not seriously harm or wound the other. The girls stood watch under the tree, with Nepgear and Uni silently cheering their brothers on while Plutia sat at the base of the tree, the fight was enough of a distraction to keep her from falling asleep under the cool shade and calm, peaceful weather.

"Neptune is good but Nereus definitely going to win this time. He trains really hard," said Uni.

"No way, I know Neptune can win this time. He trains very hard too and is a great fighter," Nepgear countered.

"Well we will see about that."

"Wait and see."

"They are really soooo good. I'm sure grandpa will be proud," Plutia said behind them, "Hey, are the two of you good at hand-to-hand combat too?"

"Um, well, I practiced as best as I could but Neptune is still better than me."

"Well I have mastered a lot of what grandpa was able to teach me before sending us off," Uni said while giving off an aura of pride.

"Really...?" Plutia asked.

And then Uni's prideful vibe was shattered and replaced with a depressing one, "But Nereus pretty much mastered all of what grandpa taught us and by the time I was done he might as well had rehearse and practice them over and over a dozen times."

"He did...?"

"Yeah, and it also includes weapons and magic as well."

Feeling her friend's depression, Nepgear decided to cheer her up a bit, "Hey, Neptune got there before I did so you and I are in the same boat."

Uni realized what Nepgear was trying to do which she would expect no less from her, "Thanks Nepgear but I don't feel much better with that."

Now it Nepgear's turn to be depress, "Oh, and I thought that would help."

"Well, what about you Plutia? You said he taught you only how to use magic right?"

"Mhm, I wasn't so good at fighting with fist or weapons. I just don't have the stamina to do so."

Nepgear sweat dropped while Uni gave her an irritated look and both thought back to how many times she had taken naps, whether during the day or night or even when out in the woods after fighting monsters. She would be in bed or on the sofa or e given a piggyback ride on Neptune.

Their attention went back to the pair sparring with each other as they watched with beating hearts, mainly Nepgear and Uni while Plutia sat there; calm and looking at the fight with her usual tired-looking eyes.

"Hey!"

The sudden shout of a child made them turn towards the direction of the village. They saw a group of children, nine of them, running towards them, all drawn by the fight going on in the field.

"Geez it's those kids again," Uni said irritably.

"Oh come on Uni, they just want to see all the action going on."

Neptune and Nereus didn't notice the children coming towards them; both too focus on their fight.

When they reached the girls the boy at the front, the oldest and pretty much the alpha of the group, greeted them, "Hey, we saw the fighting and we want to check it out. So Neptune and Nereus are sparring again? Whoa, they always give the best fights!"

"Man, they are not holding back are they?" said black-haired boy.

"As usual," said a girl who had some of her hair braided.

"But I do hope they don't take things too far like last time," said a girl with sea-green eyes.

"I remembered Neptune got a fractured rib the last time," said a dark-skinned boy.

"Why do they always have to fight each other? It's not right," said the youngest of the children, a girl no more than five years old.

"Well duh, they have to practice their killer moves since they are fighters and monster hunters."

"That's right. If they don't then they won't be about to save you if the night creepers come and get you!" teased a blonde hair girl.

"Hey, I go to sleep and behave as I was told okay!"

Nepgear laughed softly hearing that, "Do they mean the creeplings?"

Uni nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think are any around here. Parents are just using that to scare little kids like her to go to sleep early. Besides, if they are worried about being kidnap by monsters, it would be the spriggans."

"Wow look at them go!"

Everyone turned their attentions to the fight as they saw Neptune performed a back flip to avoid a leg sweep to the leg by Nereus. When he landed he twisted around and attempted to perform a roundhouse kick to Nereus' body. But the black-hair dropped to the ground, avoiding the kick. He placed both hands on the ground and with a leg extended he spun in place at a ninety degree angle and successfully kicked Neptune's leg out from under him.

When Nereus got up Neptune slid towards him, pushing himself forward using his arm muscles. Nereus was caught off surprised. Neptune brought his feet up and kicked him twice; one kick to his right side and another one to the abdomen, all the while on the ground. Nereus wasn't able to block the first kick and barely able to do the same thing with the second kick.

Moving as fast as he was able, Neptune performed a low sweep with both legs and successfully knocked Nereus down. Then he pushed himself off the ground and while side-ways in mid-air he spun twice before landing on his feet. Nereus kicked off the ground and brought his hands up as he turned to faced Neptune again.

Both weren't breathing heavily yet and were only starting to sweat. And as they charged forward again to continue combat they didn't say a word to each other. Only the clear goal of defeating each other settled on their minds. And for one straight hour, they fought non-stop.

The girls and children went to the two combatants, both exhausted, panting and sweating heavily. Nereus was sitting down while Neptune flopped himself on the grass his arms sprawled at his side.

"Ah man that was awesome!" exclaimed the alpha boy.

"The fight went on for a whole hour as usual," commented the dark-skin boy.

"Hey do you think Nepgear and Uni are going to spar? They used to spar," wondered the girl with sea-green eyes."

"Yeah but they haven't for a while now."

Nepgear arrived at her brother's side and went down to her knees, "You're okay Neptune?"

Neptune nodded, "Yeah why wouldn't I?"

Nepgear pointed at his arms with a concern look, "Those bruises look kind of bad."

"Well it had always been like that every time Nereus and I spar."

Nepgear groaned, "But could you two had just go softer? It always had to end with you two with bad bruises over your bodies," Nepgear said and held her hands over the Neptune's left arm. Her palm then glowed pink as she concentrated her SP and channel it all over his body. Slowly the bruises started to heal.

At Nereus' side, Uni and Plutia was at his side. Since the two black siblings didn't learned healing magic, Plutia helped in healing Nereus' wounds. As she healed Nereus, Neptune was watching her and he thought, 'I would like to get healed by Plutia'. He didn't know why he wanted her to heal him since it is so trivial but he knew it had something with the fact he had a crush on her. Ever since that night a few days ago he had been thinking about he was going to approach this situation. He knew that he can't just walked up to her and confess to her on the spot. That would too sudden. He only knew Plutia for more than a month but yet again he and his sister may know all there is about her since they both live under the same roof but it still wouldn't be the best approach. And he was grateful to himself for been smart and rational about this. For now he knew he won't be confessing any time soon.

"All done, do you still feel hurt?" Nepgear asked.

"Nope. They're all gone. Thanks sis."

Plutia had also finish with Nereus and when they got up the alpha boy asked, "So who do you think won this time?"

Neptune looked at Nereus who also looked back. The former shrugged but both knew what the other was thinking, "I guess no wins this fight."

"Seriously? Neither of you guys had won any of the fights you all have. Don't you want to keep track or decide a winner?"

"Well I guess most of our fights are just ties then."

"Well that's not interesting," said the black-haired boy.

"If you two don't really win any of your fights then what about Nepgear and Uni? I haven't see them spar for a while now," asked the blonde girl.

"Oh, I don't want to spar with Uni anymore. And I feel much better with a sword in my hands."

"And that's the reason you lose to Uni more than she does to you," Nereus said.

"Eh?"

"Well in terms of the fights when you two fight with hand-to-hand combat. Your swordplay is well-honed but you were never good when using your hands."

"Oh, right."

"But I won't go without saying your martial art skills are pretty decent but Uni is definitely the better one."

Uni suddenly felt surprised at her brother's high regard to her fighting skills, "Y-you really think so?"

Nereus placed a hand on her shoulder, "Yeah. You're really good."

Uni, taking in Nereus' words, felt actually good about herself. She felt so good hearing praises from her older brother…

"But yet again you still have a long way if you want to come up to me or even Neptune though. So keep training hard."

And with those words Uni felt like she got demoted to a third wheel.

"Geez man, you bringing up our sisters' fight when using martial art but you do know that Nepgear still got the homerun when using melee weapons," Neptune said.

"I do know that."

"Yeah. So with Nepgear winning more with weapons and Uni got more on with martial arts, so that would make it 50-50."

"I suppose do."

"So…that means that both of you got equal ground with each other huh?" Plutia said.

"Yeah."

"That's pretty much it Plutie."

"So if you Neptune with Nereus got ties and Nepgear and Uni are pretty so-so. What about you Plutia?" the alpha boy asked the ditz.

"Hmm…I have never fight with my friends before…"

"Well who do you think you are most likely to win against?"

Plutia took in the thought and began thinking, but she went on standing there with a blank expression for a whole minute and made no reply. The kids stared at her while the alpha boy wave his hand over her eyes, "Hello? Gamindustry to Plutia?"

"Don't mind her when she like that. She is pretty much drifting off," ensured Nereus. He walked towards Plutia and shook her by the shoulders, "Hey Plutia, snap out of it!"

Plutia, a bit surprised, got out of her wayward thoughts and looked at the people looking at her, "Oh sorry," she said with a sheepish smile, "I did it again."

"Yeah, ok. So what's your answer? Who do you think you can win against?" Alpha boy asked again.

"Who I can win against…I think…I don't know."

"Really?"

"I'm not for sure who I can win against. But I would never want to help my friends."

"It's just sparring," the dark-skin boy spoke up.

"Yes it is…but still I don't know who can win against."

"Well maybe we can find out when you spar with one of us," Neptune suggested.

"Ok. But not now…I feel like taking a nap."

All with that, Nereus sighed, Uni and Nepgear sweat-dropped and Neptune grin slightly.

"Whatever you say Plu."

"Plu. That short for Plutia," said the little girl.

"Yes. Yes it is you little sleuth," Neptune said politely.

"Can I ask," the little girl asked innocently, "How do you get a name like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well your name is really an interesting name and I was wondering how you get it? Did your parents come up with it?"

Plutia shook her head, "No. I don't remember my parents at all. Someone else gave that name to myself."

"Who?"

"Someone dear to me."

"You don't know your own mommy and daddy? That sounds sad."

"But don't you four said that you all also don't remember your past?" asked the dark-skinned boy, the question for the four siblings.

"Yeah, we all lost our memories of our past," answered Neptune.

"If we even had one," Nereus said softly.

"What does that mean?" the braided-hair girl wondered.

"Oh ah, nothing."

"Hmm, now that I think about it. Nereus," the black-haired boy asked.

"What is it Edgar?"

"Well you see I had read a book I borrowed from Mr. McGuffins."

"Ok," Nereus knew what he meant. Mr. McGuffin was something close to the village's own librarian, with a whole room surrounded with shelves filled with books from top to bottom.

"The book I read, 'The Past before Gamindustry, Of Gods and Monsters', I read half of it and found something interesting."

"Let me guess; you found a chapter in the book that talks about the Olympian sea gods and one of them has the name Nereus. Right?"

Edgar was surprised that Nereus knew what he was going to talk about, "How do you know?"

"Well I read a similar book before and that is how got my name."

"Really?"

Nereus nodded, "Yes. And about Nereus; one of the many sea gods, A minor god at that, known also as the Old Man of the Sea, a natural shift-shaper and has the gift of foresight. He was able to see some parts of the future."

Edgar was surprised a second time. Nereus had explained almost all there is in terms of personal info about the sea god, "You sure read up on him all right. You are correct about what you said about him. So you like…take his name as your own?"

"Yes. I have taken on his name. And I'm sure you know what happened to him?"

"Yeah. According to the book, Nereus died of some unknown means. But it said that he could had died in battle."

Nereus nodded again, "That's right."

"Ok then, what about Uni? How did she get her name?" asked the little girl.

"Well I got my name thanks to someone dear me. To us all," Uni answered.

"Alright, and Neptune and Nepgear?" the blonde girl asked the purple siblings.

"Okay. So I got my name by…myself."

"So you thought of your name on your own. How did you get the idea?"

"Oh simple, it popped into my head."

"Wow, that's pretty convenient."

"Well being the main character I got my name in a different if not special way. But to let in on more, it popped into my mind and you know what? It sounded familiar. Like I heard of it or maybe it is my name."

"All right then what about Nepgear?"

"Oh that's simple, when Neptune officially became my name, we gave Nepgear her name she was happily having fun with some electronic parts and gears and that's when we decided give her the name Nepgear," he said as he placed his arm over his sister's shoulders and pulled her in for hug. Nepgear happily welcomed it with a smile.

"Hey what did you mean by 'we'?" wonder the dark-skin boy.

"Oh it's nothing. Just someone close to us."

"Alright enough with the backstory. So what are we gonna do now?" said the alpha boy.

Everyone looked at each other but no one knew what to do either. It is just early noon and the sun was hanging high at its peak.

"Well there's nothing at all to do," said Neptune.

"You're right. There won't be anything to do out here," the alpha boy agreed.

"Well I want to get back to the village, it's starting to get hot," said the girl with the sea-green.

"I agree with Ayumi, I'm starting to sweat here," said the blonde girl. And so the children went back to the village.

"Yeah I think we should head back too. Maybe we should check on Kain to see if any new quest is available," suggested Nereus.

And all five of them started walking back home.

And just when they reached the village, Nereus' ears picked up something, "Hey what's with those noises?"

"What noises?" asked Neptune.

"I think it's coming from the other side of the village. It sounds like people shouting."

"Seriously man, I don't hear anything but you have been able to hear things we can't. Do you really have some keen senses or something?"

"I'm not for sure but I think we should check it out." Nereus walked on with a faster pace with the rest following behind him.

They walked down the main path of the village. There weren't any along the way. People were minding their own business as the group walked pass. Everything was seemly normal. But Nereus can still hear the slightly audible and troubled voices of people which gets louder as they got closer to the other side of the village.

When they were getting close, the alpha boy from before came running towards them. Seeing his troubled expression Nereus asked, "Hey Sam what is it?"

Sam pointed behind at the direction he came from, "Bad. Some merchants came and one of them was hurt really badly. They say it was a monster attack."

Without another word they followed the boy towards the end of the village. Sam lead them to a house which they recognized it to be the home of the local herbalist, Adeline Moretz.

The front door was open and when they walked down the lane between the fences and the front door they saw people inside crowding around one side of the living room. They entered the house and greeted by Hamilton, "There you kids are."

"What is it?"

"Merchants. They were attacked by some monster and one of them got ripped a bad one. The little fella is bleeding really badly."

"Goodness, can we help? Plutia and I can heal him," offered Nepgear.

"Yeah I think so. Come on." Hamilton asked the crowd gathering to move aside. There were less than a dozen people there, which included Kain, some of the villagers and others they don't recognized, so it was much trouble. When the five got up front they were greeted by a bed with linens soaked in blood.

And lying on the bed, to their surprise, was a gnome.

He was no more than the size of a five-year child. With stubby arms and legs to complement his small body, a brown beard, messy brown hair that points everywhere, caramel eyes and a large nose. It was wearing a gnome size polo shirt plus short pants and boots that were taken off and put at the base of the bed.

Beside him, holding his small hand was a female gnome, and like the former was the size of a five year old child. She was skinnier and has much more colorful hair. Her long hair was red-brown but she had dyed her hair and bangs on the left side of her face pink, blue, green and yellow. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt and jeans which were caked in blood and dirt.

When she looked at them, her eyes were full of worry and fear. Her face had a bit of dirt smeared on it with a cut or two.

"Who are you? Can you help him?" the gnome asked with her tone was fearful.

"We're not for sure. Nepgear, do you think you can heal this kind of wounds?" Neptune asked.

Nepgear examined the wounds with as best she could. She saw whatever monster that attack them had long and sharp claws. The wounds were deep especially one that seems to be a stab wound where a lot of blood was probably flowing out and the only thing holding it back was a piece of cloth.

"I'm not for sure. I've never tried healing wounds these serious before. Plutia what do you think? Do you think healing magic can heal these?"

"These are very bad…I think it will take more than ordinary healing magic to heal it."

"And you are definitely right about that."

Everyone turned as a woman approached and the bed with a handful of fresh cloth, "Here. Keep that wound covered or he'll bleed to death."

The woman, Adeline Moretz, ran off to the back where they were the sound of glass jars, boxes and packages been open and the distinct voice of the herbalist mumbling to herself.

"Come on Plutia, we should at least try to do something about this," said Nepgear.

"Ok."

Nepgear and Plutia went down on their knees beside the bed and together they use healing magic over the wounds.

Nereus turned to Hamilton and asked, "Are these two the merchants you mentioned?"

"No they are not the only ones," a man in his early thirties stepped forward, "William and Maki are our companions. My name is Duke Harham and I'm the one in charge."

"You all were attacked by some monster. What monster is it?"

"I'm not for sure."

"Can you describe it?"

"How do I even begin?" Duke's expression, which was passive, suddenly turned into disgust and frighten like he was recalling something terrible, "I have seen a few monsters close up, others from a safe distance, many in books but this one is unlike anything I have ever seen."

"Care to elaborate?"

"T-the bones were exposed, jarring out like spikes, its inner organs can be seen but they…they were all dried up, flaccid, like the blood in them as been suck up. Its skin was like dead. Dead skin. Insects were crawling in and out of its body through holes in the skin. Large insects and very ugly. And the heads…"

"Heads?"

"It had three heads, all three slightly different from the other. And they were hideous to look at. And the noises it made," Duke shuttered, "I have never heard anything like it. But for a moment it sounded almost human but it's not."

Nereus listened to the merchant's description, taking it all in. He went through all the monsters he knew but none of them matches the description. He turned to Neptune, "Well what do you think?"

Neptune shrugged, "Don't think I heard of a monster like that before."

"Whatever it is, it killed half of our group. Mainly the bodyguards and mercenaries we hired to protect us from monsters," said Duke.

"Everyone excuse me," Adeline Moretz said as she make her way to the bed with a glass of water in hand and small bowl in the other, "So is it working?" she asked the two girls healing William.

"Healing wounds takes time but I'm really sure that we can't heal these on the spot," Nepgear answered.

"But I think we are slowing down the bleeding," Plutia said.

"Well if you girls are slowing it down then maybe it will make these herbs' job easier," she handed the glass of water to Maki. She scooped out a bit of the content in the small bowl, what appears to be different herbs smashed and rolled together, and asked William in a commanding tone, "Here, eat this."

The gnome opened his mouth and Adeline popped the herbs into his mouth and he chewed them weakly.

"Give him water," ordered Adeline to Maki. She slid a hand under her husband's head, hold it up and brought the glass of water up his lips and slowly tilted it as he drank.

"The herbs will help clot the wounds and stopped the bleeding as well as prevent the wounds from getting infected. Hopefully," she said the last word bluntly.

"Hopefully?" asked Maki.

"These wounds are bad and herbs and healing magic won't fix it instantly. You will have to ask divine power for that."

A woman, likely one of the gnome's travelling companions, placed a reassuring hand on her shoulders, "She's right. Just be patience. He will get through this I'm sure of it." Maki made no reply but looked back at her husband with a very worried expression. Nepgear and Plutia walked away from the bed to give them some space. Nereus kept racking his mind to identify whatever monster it is that attacked them.

"I think it is best we go outside," Kain spoke up. He turned to Duke, "Since William will take some time to recover you all can stay here for the time being.

"Indeed, thank you elder."

"Adeline, I trust you will take care of him. You are the closest thing the village have to a doctor."

The herbalist nodded, "I'll do what I can."

Everyone moved out of the house where some of the villagers were crowding around. When asked if there's anything wrong Kain assured them everything was alright. The merchants went to gather their stuff from a wagon that was attached to a car. Among their transport was a jeep and a truck with a trailer attached to it.

As everyone went to mind their business, the five teenagers were discussing about the monster, "Well, anyone got any ideas about what attacked them?" Nereus asked. Everyone shook their heads, "None of us knows what it is then maybe we can check the bestiaries grandpa, I mean, Balthazar left for us."

"Ok then," said Nepgear, "I have the one he left for me and Neptune in my storage. Here we…"

ARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIII!

Everyone stopped dead when the most abnormal shriek they ever heard resonated from somewhere in the forest. Everyone's body shuttered and their spines tingled. Fear for a split moment gripped the heart of those who heard the shriek. No one said anything nor moved for a few seconds before they heard Duke shouting, "That is it! That's is the sound of the monster that attacked us!"

"It's coming from the woods," Uni said. Her heart beating when she realized it sounded close.

"Yeah. You don't think it's coincidental, do you?" Nepgear wondered.

Nereus looked towards the forest, at the direction it sounded the loudest. And then he tried to use his senses. Senses that had recently been very keen. He haven't admit to the others yet but he had to be sure. He searched for any noises aside from the wind, birds flapping their wings, the rustle of leaves and mumbling of people talking in scared voices.

There.

Nereus heard it. The sound of heavy footsteps coming from forest. Coming towards their direction; towards the village.

"Everyone, weapons," Nereus commanded as his short sword appeared in his hands.

"What is it?" Neptune asked as his sheathed katana attached to the sword buckle appeared on his body.

"That thing is coming."

"What?"

"Goodness this is going to be bad," Nepgear said her broadsword appearing in her right hand.

"Hey, what is it?" Duke asked when he saw them drawing out their weapons.

"That monster is coming."

"What!?" the merchants voiced became fearful, "Could it have been this coincidental for it to appear all of a sudden?"

"Don't think so," Neptune answered, "Not of course it sniffed you out."

"It did?"

"Hey, cut with the chit-chat. It's coming."

Everyone stood tense as the seconds passed. Their gaze on the forest a distance away. Neptune noticed a flock of birds flew off and took it as a sign that the monster is getting close.

"There it is."

They all saw it. A large black figure appearing out of the forest and approaching the village. They saw it stopped for a moment to take in the area and sniff the air and when the large figure turned towards the direction of the village it let out the same, scary shriek from before and run towards it on four legs.

The five monster-slayers stood ready as the monster got closer and when it got close enough, they gasped, wide-eyed, shocked at what they saw.

The monster was abominable.

Well this is the shortest chapter I posted. Really. This is also the first time I tried a fight involving martial arts and I hope it pays off. Let me know what do you all think about it. I had experience some writer's block and bad dialogues which led me to revise it. This chapter made my head fuzzy but it is still worth it when I post this.

And also, I would like to thank all of those who read this fan fiction, all those that favorite it and follow it. I really appreciate it the support and good reception it is getting. I hope I can continue to entertain you all with this fan fiction that sits among many other more popular, more professional and more interesting stories in the community.