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Saiph was teetering on the edge of more tears as she stared up at the trees and the creepy talismans in the branches. She’d already spent so much time crying. And her arms were nearly black and blue from all the pinching she’d done, trying to wake up from what she’d originally thought was a nightmare. She was cold and tired and hungry and dirty and stuck somewhere she didn’t know with a lot of strangers. And there was a monster that prowled in the dark when night time came. It wasn’t fair and Saiph was stuck as Saiph, which should have made her feel better, but didn’t really. What if the magic was broken and she couldn’t ever be Esfir again?

Rubbing the back of a small grubby hand across her nose and more tears came, Saiph tried to distract herself by climbing the trees and taking some of the talismans. She wasn’t sure what, if any, good it would do, but it was something to do and any distraction from her woes was welcome right now. As she hunted out one hidden in between two twined branches, a tired giggle slipped out. This was sort of like hunting for easter eggs. Except eggs weren’t creepy. Glancing a second time at the stained talisman in her hand, Saiph gulped a little and felt queasy. Eggs also weren’t splashed with what looked like old, dried blood. But her double glance and subsequent glancing away allowed her to spot another of the things and she climbed further into the trees to fetch it.

The moment her hand touched it, she was sure that something was watching her and that something wasn’t very happy with her. Shivering and trying to press herself into the branches in an effort to hide, the little senshi sniffled a little and then reminded herself that she was supposed to be a hero. And heroes weren’t supposed to hide like a little kid.

Even if they were a little kid.

Slowly and carefully, Saiph hunted out talismans. When she found her fifth, it felt as if something heavy had lifted from the trees and she could breathe a little easier. Of course, climbing around was harder since she was clutching so many little weird and creepy bundles. But there was no way in HECK that she was letting go of what she’d already found. Not when it seemed like the forest wasn’t quite as scary now that she had them.

It was getting close to dark when her tired eyes spied a tenth talisman set back into a little hollow in the trees. By the time she managed to get it and hold it with the others, the dark was still scary, but she felt a little better able to face it. But when it got dark, the monster came out and she didn’t care how brave she felt. She was not ready to try and face a monster. Glancing up at the sky, Saiph bolted as fast as her legs could carry her. The village was safe. Mostly. Sort of.

Okay, it was better than nothing at all or being stuck out in the forest.

She wasn’t sure when she crossed into the village, she only knew that the dark was getting darker and she was so tired. She let out a little scream as a blue of brilliant pink and purple swirled around her and grabbed her. But before she could begin to flail, she realized that the arms holding her were human and warm. And before she knew it, she was whisked into a little hut.

“Sshh, it’s okay kid,” a soft voice cooed. “You’re safe for now. That was one hell of a runner you just did.”

Saiph was just barely aware that she was looking at a girl with a weird hole in her forehead and that she felt wrong. But she also knew that she was indoors with a grown up who had just helped her. She’d worry about head holes later.

(Word Count: 679)

heart

Will post in a moment.

Vela looked at the strange talisman hanging from a tree she tilted her head wondering what it was for. There definitively seemed to be something dark and creepy about them. She could see that with was carved and had stains on it perhaps it was blood. She wouldn't be surprised considering this weird place and its creepy fog and creepy music. She attempted to read the talisman but it was no use she couldn't make anything out on the weird thing. She sighed and reached up and pulled it down from the tree and she reached for her civilian backpack and grumbled realizing she was senshi vela right now and had left her backpack at home.

She felt a gust of wind rush by her when she pulled down the talisman, she figured it was no big deal and thought nothing of it at the time. She continued to look for more of them in the forest. She collected another talisman and she felt as if there were cold eyes on her back. She looked over her shoulder but didn't see anyone nearby watching her. It was likely just her imagination from being in this creepy forest. Vela collected 7 talismans in her first grouping and as she continued to collect them it felt as if the forest was a little less dark, which again she figured was her imagination. After all how likely was it that her collecting these little wooden things would make a difference to the forest?

Vela couldn't find any more as she searched the forest for a little while, then she finally found 4 more she collected them and hung them from her arm since she didn't have her bag. Which really annoyed her she loved her bag and it was always useful. Sadly she couldn't go around with civilian things as she traveled in Destiny city in her corrupt senshi form. That would just be a dumb move hey look at me I'm Livia Novak come and get me white moon senshi or knights. She shook her head at the foolish thought. Vela didn't really know what made her corrupt rather than a white moon. She had only recently awoken after meeting the guardian cat who had raided her bag for snacks. She was driven and focused so maybe that had something to do with it. Perhaps white moon senshi were silly cheerful do-gooders.

Vela managed to find 8 more talismans and a lot of wind and cold eyes on her back, others searched the forest as well and it really did seem like taking down the talismans was lifting the darkness from this forest. Perhaps if they found enough talismans they would be able to find a way out of the forest and back home. It was weird thinking that order and chaos working together might get them all home but there it was right in front of her. They had to work together or there might be no getting home for any of them.

Aomori, Senshi of Zashiki-Warashi

The efficacious energetic Aomori strolled into the dimly lit forest expecting to find something of interest for the past hour or so. Naturally, nothing of interest came up, which fueled her boredom of staying safe and feeling increasingly tempted to raise the stakes ever so slightly. This could be at the cost of keeping Hokkaido from worrying further whenever they reunite, but, well, she’s always easily worried so no use over crying over spilt milk, right?

To start with, Aomori picked up a stray stick of a measurably decent length... a branch that’s nearly two-thirds as tall as she was. At first, she swung it to test its durability and efficacy. Swish. Swoosh. Stab. ...and repeat over and over. ‘Not good enough,’ she thought, quickly discarding her first stick. Her boredom placated by her newly ascribed task and unabated by the disappointing first stick, she continued her search for a nice and handy sticky to further use in her investigation.

After going through several stick candidates, Aomori nodded in approval over the stick that fit her criteria of being lightweight yet sturdy and durable. Armed with said stick, she began using it to prod around shrubs, grasses, and even the tops of trees. She occasionally whacked it against some dense plant life as well. Initially, nothing of much recordable value occurred, which admittedly, was disappointing to the already increasingly-getting-bored Aomori. She swallowed a sigh and continued along, lost in her languid investigation.

‘Why isn’t there anything interesting happening? Why does this forest have to be so boring in the daytime?’ Aomori grumped to herself, knowing deep down that nothing is happening now, because it was at night when it was most spooky.

She soon reached the foot of a fairly distinguished tree, the first marginally different landmark to date, not that the bar was high to begin with at this point. The tree had a broad trunk and its branches sprawled widely. What caught her attention was the fluttering of a clearly unnatural accoutrement tied to a tree branch nearby. She stared at it for a moment longer before using her stick to rap against some of them. It was a curious sort of object, pieces of paper hewn with an unknown series of script or scrawls. They resembled talismans of a sort, but Aomori didn’t have an inkling of what it could mean. All she knew was that they appeared old and somewhat solemn.

Regardless, it didn’t resemble anything she learned back home, so she quickly concluded that they probably were not terribly important. After all, there weren’t any other notable landmarks or much in the environment that could be deemed as distinguishable. Still, she was curious about them, so after failing to successfully rap against a few with her stick, she set it aside, rolled up her sleeves slightly, and climbed up the tree.

Aomori situated herself beside the nearest talisman and recklessly poked it, not considering the things taht could happen. After all, they were just pieces of mysterious paper hung on a particular tree with abandonment. Yet, something astonishing did happen after she plucked one off.

Without warning, a gust of wind blew past her, which honestly shocked her. She clung to the branch tightly and closed her eyes, fearing that she may fall off from the branch. She wasn’t up terribly high, fortunately, but she knew from experience that it hurt to fall. Soon, the gust abated. Aomori carefully opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She remained safe despite the random gust of wind, but she shuddered when she felt like she was being watched. Meanwhile, clutched in her hand was the telltale mysterious talisman. So far, it hasn’t burned or cursed her so that’s good enough for her. She impulsively pocketed the talisman before climbing back down, wary of what else may happen.

As she was still shaken by the wind, Aomori was convinced that she probably shouldn’t climb anymore trees for a while or pluck anything weird off the tree except for fruit, unless they’re mysteriously cursed or something, too, but that’s not important now. What’s more important to her is that she ought to make her way back, since she was growing hungry, and her investigation/patrol wasn’t netting her anything remarkable to report, which disappointed her.

3nodding