Mission: Evil Witch Hunting- Prologue. EclipseEx9 and NightdDrivenEn7

Aian had walked to the gates of the haunted village, waiting for his friend Reiki to join him on a mission the two had just taken up. Aian was still unsure of the situation between the two, though he could not continue having this fear within him; Reiki had been there for Aian for years after he joined Eclipse Soul, his first human friend. Even after all of the crap Reiki had to put up with: Aian's insecurity- Kamuy breaking out on random occasions- Having to carry Aian whenever he was injured despite his heavy mass- And dealing with Aian's insufficient human world stupidity- Reiki stood by him without wavering. Aian couldn't think of a better definition of a true friend. The two came over obstacle, after obstacle, and showed no progress of slowing down in an attempt to make their dragon parents proud. The only thing on Aian's mind that drew concern, was the lack of evolution Aian had displayed compared to his partner: Reiki had started up as a lightning mage forgetting about his Dragon's teachings, and recently just re-acquired the dragon magic within him. In a fast pace of growth that took Aian years to gather up; Reiki was now above Aian's level of power and more confident in himself. Aian couldn't help that after all the years the two have been together; he never made any REAL progress as the son of Metallicana. The training he took up with the old woman some time ago; had helped him believe he came a good distance in advancement, but doubt entered his mind when Kamuy broke out once more attacking Reiki despite his attempts. Even though Aian was mentally blocking his real power, he couldn't help but feel as though he had made no progress even with his magic now hidden more advanced than before.

Aian continued to wait for Reiki, going over what the bulletin board stated for the mission: It was to exorcize a witch within the area that was harming the local supply of merchants within the spooky village; taking their caravans and causing them to disappear- a feat that should be more difficult than it is normally occurring. Without supplies, the village won't be able to last long; so the two were in desperate need here to solve the problem and deal with the so believed witch. But first, Aian had to wait to find sign of his partner Reiki; whom he expected was already in the area if not asking the villagers long before Aian got there like normal: in nature of him always arriving to a location first due to his travel speed.

Reiki walked through the Haunted Village briskly, going door to door asking the villagers for any information they could give about the disappearance of the merchants caravans. He felt this was the sensible thing to do whilst waiting for Aian to arrive, though this was mostly due to his impatience of waiting for his friend to actually arrive; despite it being Reiki’s own fault for showing up much earlier than needed.

The information hunt was basically the same as Reiki playing a broken record. The merchant he had spoken to about the job and the entire village seemed convinced that a witch living deep within the nearby forest was responsible for the caravans disappearing. Since the story was that the caravans of the merchants supplies were disappearing entirely, magic being used didn’t seem entirely far fetched. Reiki just wished there was more to go on. There were no survivors from these caravans, they vanished along with the supplies the merchants needed. No one had actually seen a witch do these acts, so there was no description of what she looked like to go by. All that was known was that that the trade route cuts through the nearby forest for it was the only safe passage down from Karakuri City to the village and none had ever ended up making it to their destinations for a few weeks now

Slightly flustered that he couldn’t come up with anything new, Reiki thought over what he knew as he headed towards the villages main gate near the forest to see if Aian had arrived yet. Wildlife in the Phoenix Mountains hardly paid any attention to travelers and the rest of the path from there was rather straightforward and safe, so the forest would be a rather logical place to look for their missing caravan. As he thought this, he saw his friend standing at the gate looking around for him. Bout time you showed up, I’ve already been running around asking for information about the caravans gone missing. Everyone, even the merchant guy, says its a witch living in that forest. Reiki explained, as he jumped over the fence. Other than this started happening a few weeks ago, I got jack shit for more information. No ones seen the witch they believe is responsible, but entire caravans supplies and all go missing, so magic being involved isn’t unlikely. I just don’t know where to go on that other than just search the entire damn forest.

Aian continued to look about for his partner outside the village gate. At first, Aian thought he beat his friend to the location for once; but this was soon dashed when he heard the all too familiar voice call over from the other side of the gate, "Bout time you showed up, I’ve already been running around asking for information about the caravans gone missing. Everyone, even the merchant guy, says its a witch living in that forest." Reiki explained, as he jumped over the fence. Aian let out a sigh knowing that he was late compared to Reiki arriving at the village before him. He was beginning to wonder if taking all the herbs was necessary or not anymore; for they each were now very durable unlike when Reiki was a lightning mage. Aian continued to listen as Reiki's explanation went on, "Other than this started happening a few weeks ago, I got jack shit for more information. No ones seen the witch they believe is responsible, but entire caravans supplies and all go missing, so magic being involved isn’t unlikely. I just don’t know where to go on that other than just search the entire damn forest."

This information got Aian thinking for the village's sake. He was hoping to have joined Reiki in the search but it seemed as though there was no longer any need too. Now they would have to spend their time carefully watching the forest; looking for SOMETHING that would be out of place. An objective that could take a lot of time if Reiki did not just decide to turn the ground floor into ice and skate around at high speeds till he finally found something. But even this would pose a problem. "Magic does seem like it would be the appropriate solution; but we don't know what kind officially is being used...We should take some time to stalk the forest and look for any abnormalities. This forest is close to our guild, and guild city, so whoever is here obviously is being careful to not attract too much attention. Not too mention that this forest is a lot bigger than it appears...Searching the whole forest very carefully might be the exact something we should do." Aian continued to contemplate in his head the scenario at hand; unsure of how Reiki's awareness is of magical boundaries or spiritual ties within an area are sense they last met. "Reiki, as much as it might kill you, you should probably refrain from just barging into the woods and skating around quickly. Again, whoever is here is going to be pretty defensive about their actions and stealthy. We need to find them as fast as possible, but we have to do it carefully. They probably have defenses like traps or barriers in there; we need to take it slow and thoroughly examine the whole forest. It could take us a while before we find anything in this method; but at least it would be safe.

Reiki let out an annoyed sigh as his friend finished explaining how he thought the two should handle their situation. He knew that what his friend said was true, it was just annoying. It would help if there was at least some kind of scent to follow, even a description of the culprit, no matter how vague. It’d be a lot more useful to them than nothing. Then again, no mission Reiki had ever set out on was as easy as it sounded.

That’s just how it is I guess… Ah well. We’ve had worse scenarios. Best place to start searching would be near the middle of the forest. We can split up from there and cover more ground. Best not waste time with this. Reiki replied, as he began to walk towards the forest. The forest was much larger than it appeared on any map, regardless of its detail. Night was only a few hours away and whilst the weather was fair for now, clouds were beginning to form. Reiki could easily sense a storm was not far off, no doubt Aian could as well. Running around during a storm at night on a wild goose chase wouldn’t exactly be the most optimal thing to do.

As the two walked, Reiki decided to initiate a conversation that had come to his mind before the two accepted this mission. Oi, Aian. Reiki called out, looking over his shoulder with a grin. You remember Gragas, right? You think we could take him the way we are now? Reiki asked, wondering what Aian thought of their growth in power since the time they took on the giant moonshiner. Whilst he could already guess his friends answer, Reiki still wanted to know what he thought. With the help of Alye’s training, his own personal training, and the wisdom of Azrael residing in his head, Reiki felt much more powerful than he ever had in his entire life. Yet he knew that in the back of his mind, he could be even stronger. Before now, Reiki had run on little but the thrill of new and challenging fights. Now, he had goals he wanted to achieve and limits blocking those goals. However, to Reiki, limits were just a wall waiting to be smashed into tiny bits.

Aian was glad to hear of his partner's agreement on the plan; and Aian had to agree on splitting up as well. With the two having a greater sense of hearing, they would be able to locate each other if something were to happen suddenly. Before the two broke off however, Reiki looked towards Aian with a smug grin on his face; asking " You remember Gragas, right? You think we could take him the way we are now?" Aian could not forget that mission even if he wanted: Reiki had just recently discovered his dragon slayer magic not long ago, and it was just after a mission within the spooky forest on taking out a gang hideout where Kamuy broke loose and killed the leader. Reiki had to freeze Aian in place and then carry Aian all the way to the mountain so that they could get to the village that morning. When the mission began, it wasn't hard for them to repel the minor minions working for Gragas, but when he himself showed up there was no way the two were in position with Aian being mentally and spiritually weak, and Reiki still new to his own magic to take him down. Gragas essentially knocked the two around like rag dolls, and it took a bargain deal with Reiki taking him on in a drinking contest; which he luckily won. After that day however, Aian had not see Reiki drink a lick of alcohol in a long time. But it was a mission Aian found himself able to remember, if not as one of their overwhelming defeats in battle but as a proud moment for his partner claiming victory if nothing else risking death of alcohol poisoning to complete the mission. Now thinking of how much the two have grown sense then; it helped lift Aian's spirits enough to bring a smile to his face, as he nodded towards his partner confidentially; the most uplifted he had appeared in a long while as he replied, "We are more than a match for him now." With that being said, the two split up into the woods to begin their search.

Aian's section began with very slow, almost snail pace compared to what he normally did, of investigation to the nearby plant life. Looking for the smallest sign of invasion or corruption with magic, he scanned the foliage and greenery staying knelt down close to the forest floor as he possibly could. His ears were perked up and open to detect any sudden sound within his area. He took in strong tuffs of air into his nostrils, smelling the air for magic as he slowly crawled about.

Reiki was quite surprised to see his friend actually in joyful spirits for once, responding that he indeed thought they could handle Gragas the way they were now before walking off. As Reiki turned and walked the other direction, he couldn’t help but slightly laugh. Well now that’s a surprise. It’s about damn time you were cheery for once....How the hell long has it been since I’ve seen you like that…. come to think of it...have I ever? he pondered, diverting from the straight cut path and into the trees open arms.

For Reiki, this scavenger hunt would be a bit more difficult than what he was used to. Whilst his normal senses were keener than that of a blood hounds, as was all Slayers, Reiki still struggled with sensing magical powers. However, he had come quite a long ways since his training with Alye; remembering the teachings of both the monks that took him in after he had lost his memories and the teachings of his dragon father, Gellidus. He still had a ways to go before he was on such an acute level with this sense as Alye and Aian were, but he was progressing quite nicely.

Starting out his search, Reiki crawled his way through the thick brush like a wolf on the hunt, looking for the most obvious signs first. Torn pieces of clothing, a remnant of one of the supplies; anything with a scent on it. If the ones responsible were really good, none of that would be left behind. Reiki was willing to take his chances on the basics first. Start with the simplest solution, work your way up to the more complicated solutions. That’s the way the monks taught Reiki to deal with things. How easily he can forget his master's teachings in certains times.

As he proceeded his search, Reiki eventually came to a rather large pond in a clearing not too far from where he had started searching. The pond was rather deep as well, having a depth of what appeared to be several meters. Continuing his prowl around the lake in search of clues, Reiki was oblivious to the fact that within the depths of the pond glimmered the ever so diligent gaze of a guardian.

Aian continued to scrounge around the forest floor; looking for any signs of the missing caravans and or the ones responsible for their disappearance. Aian looked about carefully, his body hunched over as he tried to stay low. While he walked; he would take in large drafts of air through his nostrils; as it was his main method of detecting magical essence. However, he found no such trace of magic. Nor as he walked, he could not see any foot prints. This seemed odd; for the forest was dead silent. Not even a cricket chirped. Silence within such a large area always drew up reason for worry as it means the forest is disturbed. This could be caused by Aian and Reiki looking about; or by a much larger portion of forces moving from one end to the other. Aian kept up his guard as he continued his search.

The time seemed to claw by as slow as he did: fifteen minutes-thirty minutes-an hour. Aian still found nothing as he looked about. Finally, Aian stumbled upon the remains of one of the caravans. There were crates of spoiling food, torn up carriages, bits of clothing laying about, bottles upon bottles of medicine and herbs strung out. Aian carefully examined all the items he could find; finding still no trace of any magic. But when he examined all the wooden pieces of the carriage; he found claw marks simulating that of some form of struggle. Another thing he found with the tarp, was that it was torn at as though pulled. Aian began carefully examining the ground to find tracks of odd foot prints going off in several directions. Most of which were barefooted which was odd. Aian continued to look upon the tracks, almost replaying the scene in his head:
"The caravan was coming back from the city nervously, having known of the previous caravans not returning. About here, was when they stopped. Something was coming towards them form ahead, slowly. Suddenly, more were coming out of the shadows; now they were surrounded. The horse tried to rear back and clear the way; but whatever was blocking them simply continued moving forward. The creatures ripped the tender cloth trying to get inside; the people panicked and tried to escape. One was a woman, who was caught and tried to hold onto the carriage from being pulled away. She was dragged off eventually into the forest. The rest showed signs of struggle; fighting back. But no matter what they did, the creatures still managed to prevail. Soon, they were all dragged off....to the west." Aian rose, looking into the direction where all the drag marks indicated. "So they went into here..." Aian murmered as he tried to peer into the darkness. Unable to see anything, he knew he would require his partner's help into the search. Aian began rushing back to try and find his friend; before anything rose up to attack them.

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