PBEM-G6

Chapter Five

For several minutes Isianu just stood there, silently glaring at the little human. It was unsettling how strongly the scent of magic was ingrained in him, and she was potentially wary of any wizard she meets. Some of the schools of magic left out here were certainly different from her own, and she didn't know if she could defend against them or not. But she was totally unprepared for what happened next, she had never seen anything remotely like what the little man did, and it slightly unnerved her. Wheeling her head around in shock at the little man, Isianu slightly muttered, "[What in all creation are you!?]" She then went over to the recently summoned house, touched the frame and took several sniffs of the interior, to try and determine if it was real. All of her senses delivered the same message back to her, saying that there was actually a house there. The Lupine stood there for a while just looking at the house, until Kupita went in. For a moment she tried to stop her, but dismissed the idea, if this little man wanted us dead and could do this, they would have been dead already. Bending down, looking around quickly in a subdued state of caution, she entered the house and walked up to the short man.

"Well, I must say," she said dismissing the fear and trying to sound as confident as she could, "This is a rather impressive trick. Oh, I'm sorry I've been rude and haven't introduced myself. I am Isianu Veenous," she stated bowing down a bit but still retaining her regal majesty, "Sorceress extraordinaire. I believe that I might study a path of magic similar to yours, except I have living beings that answer to my beck and call not magnificent cottages. Honestly I am intrigued by you, your powers, and this area I find myself in. I have meet few that would extend the hospitality you have in this land so far removed from my country. If you have the time, would you impart some of your wisdom on to us?"

Kupita has to stop herself from gagging. ^^What a butt-kisser.^^ Kupita thinks. Then she looked at Isianu's snout. ^^Or should I say butt-licker.^^ Kupita laughed out loud at her inside joke. Kupita pretended to ignore the overzealous Werewolf as she looked about the cabin.

The little man smiled good-naturedly at Isianu and Kupita. "A caller, maybe? A caller and a moogle! Oh, I do wish I could stay and talk..."

Kupita nosed around the newly made full-size house. It seemed strangely cramped on the inside. It appeared to consist of four small corner rooms, each opening into the two adjacent rooms. The first past the door had a coat rack with a few coats on it. The room immediately in front of the moogle had a table and cabinets, the room to her right had a few cozy chairs and a smaller table. For some reason, when she peeked to the right she could also see through the next door where a bed lay waiting.

Arias huddled in the trees nearby. All this talk of sorcery was putting him on edge. Now he even imagined that the house he could plainly see in front of him hadn't been there a minute ago. Now that the worst was over, he wondered about setting off on his own. Then again, the house was dry. It might be worth it to put up with these lunatics for a little bit longer if it meant some real sleep. If he could only trust them not to try anything...

The strange little man waved to Isianu and Kupita. "I need to go help the villagers. I hope you'll still be here when I return... I have so many questions. I would love to hear about your homelands and calling and your trips and..." he caught himself and smiled again. "Well, I really must hurry." He scampered away into the dark. The rain was falling harder still, making actual 'thunks' and stinging as it hit the exposed Arias and Isianu.

Kupita sighed. "That man sure does take a lot of time to say absolutely nothing." Kupita went back into the first room and tried on the coats. "Isianu, Arias? Do you guys want a coat?"

Kupita pulled down a coat and tried it on. A perfect fit! In the process she pulled the coatrack over, revealing a staircase tucked away behind it. Her mind on her stomach, she barely noted it as she made her way into the room with the cabinets. It had a sink and range in addition to the table and cabinets. She began pulling the cabinets open, finding them full of cans with pictures of leafy vegetables on them.

H.P. bounded into the house through the open door, shaking his feathers dry in the first room. He made his way into the bedroom and settled himself on the bed, starting to snore almost before he had closed his eyes.

Isianu blinked a couple of times as the little man gave his little speech about what he was doing and seeing that he was already going could do nothing but wave good bye. While their host was walking off into the distance, Isianu bent down and entered the house, shaking the rain off her a bit once inside. Letting out what seemed to be a combination of a sigh and a growl, she addressed Kupita, "I don't know about him. He gives us this house, without telling us whom he is, then leaves us here! I must say that the further I get from Goranathor, the worse the manners of the people I find there..."

She then ducks even lower to get out of the coatroom and into the kitchen Kupita was currently in. The house itself was starting to get on her nerves, while Arias would probably have a hard time getting around was extremely difficult for her. Everything was set so low to the ground and was so tiny to accommodate it's owner's own diminutive size. It gave Isianu the feeling that she was gigantic when she was just a foot or so taller than most races, also making her feel like she was going to crush something underfoot. Not to mention that to reasonably fit between the ceiling and floor she was almost doubled over only made her more miserable. She stood behind, more accurately over, Kupita and tried to help her in her search for sustenance. "Kupita, I don't think it's exactly proper etiquette to steal coats from the man that gives you shelter in a vicious storm. Besides I don't think ANYTHING in this house was made to accommodate my... unique anatomy. What I really want is just to get some rest, I've been spiritually, mentally, and physically drained for the past couple of days. We can plan what we're going to do tomorrow once we regained our strength." As soon as the words left her mouth a savage growl emanated from her stomach, embarrassing Isianu to no end. Looking down at Kupita she said, "That and the fact I haven't eaten anything in days is starting to make me a little irritable. Did you find anything down there?"

"I can easily relate to that my furred friend," said Arias stepping into the house the man had conjured. "I have had a non-stop bad luck day. But perhaps here is where it ends. I sincerly dis-trust strangers though and that man is about as strange as they come!" He looked at the two creatures in front of him. "I believe sleep is the most urgent thing at the moment," Besides watching my own hide he thought to himself. "Where can we rest?"

"Sorry that the coats won't fit you. This one is great! And 'etiquette smetiqette', he made this house for us. I figure that means that the coats are for us. Besides, he's not here to tell me otherwise." As if that would matter... "Well, it looks like his guy is a vegetarian. All he has here are cans of spinich looking stuff. I'm going to fix myself a can. And one for H.P., although he no doubt wants his cold. I don't suppose you want some."

Furred friend? Does that guy always talk like that or is there something going on between those two. Kupita shivered at the thought of little half-wolf-gambler babies. 'Mama, Dada, I bet you 5gp I can howl louder than Timmy.' She shivers again.

Aloud, she said, "Well, H.P. took the bed, but there are some nice easy chairs in the other room, why don't you make yourself comfortable."

Isianu stepped over the coat rack. The coats on it looked very large. Maybe Kupita was right; there did seem to be a size discrepency between the size of these coats and the one the moogle had already put on. The ones remaining looked too large, even for her.

Isianu waved off the moogle's comment about the coats with a shrug, "Do not concern yourself Kupita, my own coat will do just fine." Once she heard the contents of the various cupboards Isianu let out a slight sigh, "Well I shouldn't be too picky about my eating habits at this point. I'll have some of what ever these things are, just make sure to make quite a bit, I'm starving..." Then the sorceress made her way back towards the coatroom but stopped and looked around the kitchen's corner at the stairway. "Hmm, odd that he would put a coat rack in front of a stairway... But like Arias said, the owner of this house is a strange one in his own right." Remembering about the gambler's plight, she turned towards him and pointed towards the right side of the house. "I believe I saw some beds over there, but I don't know if you'll be able to sleep in them judging by the scale of everything else in this doll house..." Taking several short steps forward, Isianu looked up the stairwell and sighed to herself, "Well what ever's up there can't be more dangerous than staying down here and risk getting brained." Taking a cautious step, she began to ascend the staircase.

Climbing the stairs, the lupine poked her head into a large room. It was dark, lit only by lightning flashes coming through two windows at the front and back sides of the house and the light from the room below. She could see a chest of some sort, a few boxes, and three rolled objects, possibly bedrolls. She was fairly certain that this room was larger than all four downstairs rooms put together. She detected the faintest hint of scratching sounds.

Arias walked into the bedroom, finding the chocobo messily perched on the lone bed. The bird snorted and wheezed, seeming very comfortable.

^^La, la, la...^^ Kupita sang a little Moogle ditty as she cooked. ^^I'm a little Moogle, and I'm cooking here, I hate to eat the cheese, but I love to drink the beer...^^ it died off into a humming. When Kupita was satisfied that the vegetables are nice and hot, she called the others for Lunch. "Come and get it! Isianu! Arias! Food! H.P. wake up! Time to Eat!"

The odd sense of the mysterious filled Isianu as she entered the attic and found the various things up there. Walking over to the bedrolls, she muttered, "We might need these a little later on..." Then proceded to stack all three right by the stairs so she wouldn't forget where they were. While putting them down, the scratching sounds began to further peek her intrests, but when she took a step towards it the moogle cook called up to her. "My she has quite a set of lungs," Isianu mused to herself. The thought of food was enticing, but not as enticing as finding out what was in that chest, or what was making that noise. She could go without food for a few more minutes. Turning her head in various directions and taking whiffs of the air, she made her way towards the scraching, hoping to find, and maybe catch what ever was making that noise.

Isianu followed her sensitive ears towards the scratching. She passed the chest... nothing. She approached the wall that had been closest to the bedrolls, noting a picture of a flower on the wall... still nothing. It was the front wall. From inside the wall came the sounds of faint scratching. One scratch, then another, then silence, then repeat. As she drew closer, the scratching stopped entirely.

Scouring the attic for the scratching noise she came to a clear spot on the front wall when it stopped at Isianu's approach. Getting down on her haunches she scratched the wall where she thought the sound was coming from. Getting no reaction she shrugged and got up again, "Must have just been mice. Well considering that we know nothing about this guy I guess that's one of the better things one could find in his attic." But still, that chest just screamed to be examined. Delaying her sustenance for a few more minutes she went over to the large container and tried to open it.

Isianu stopped by the iron-shod chest on her way out of the attic. She gave the lid a tug, but couldn't budge it. There was a large, prominent keyhole in the front. She pushed the chest, feeling it give a little bit. It was heavy, but could be moved. Still, it was doubtful that it would open without the key.

Kupita waited for the others reply. No one came for the food. Hmmmm... That's odd, H.P. usually wakes right up when I call him to eat. He must have reall been exhasted. But still, he needs to eat... She wandered into the bedroom with the pot of food. ^^H.P.," she said gently, ^^It's time to wake up and eat.^^ Then she sat the pot on the floor and reached over and shook H.P. ^^Come on! You need to eat to save up your strength!^^ She said, not at all gently.

H.P. groggily awoke. He looked at Kupita and sniffed the contents of the pot. He jumped from the bed, bowling Arias over and began running around the tiny house, warking for all he was worth. The chocobo finally hid behind Kupita. There was a knock at the door.

^^Okay, so you don't like my cooking. All you had to do was say something.^^ Kupita carried the food back to the kitchen, sat down at the table and started eating. She yelled to the others. "One of you wanna get that?! I did the cooking, so someone else has to get the door." She continued to eat; ignoring any further knocking.

Finding that the chest was locked, Isianu got up and dismissed the unattainable contents for a while. She had put off dinner long enough. Going over to the stairs, she picked up the bedrolls in her arms and carefully made her way down the stairs, remembering the negative clearance for her head. Stepping over the still downed coat rack, she turned to the others and said, "I'm sorry I took so long, but I thought that I heard something upstairs. It was nothing but a mouse, but I did find these bedrolls and I think they would come in handy." Then a knock came from behind her, turning around slowly, she said over her shoulder, "Don't worry, I got it!" Putting down the bedrolls, and setting the coat rack up straight again while she was down there, she moved over to the door. Taking the handle in her paw, she opened the door just enough for her to see outside asking, "Who is it?"

As Isianu's hand touched the handle, the door rippled like a reflection in a pond. She pulled her hand back, startled, as the door flew open. A floating apparition entered the room. It had purple-blue skin on its upper body, which appeared roughly human in nature, except for its horned head, razor sharp teeth, and orange, glowing eyes. Below its "waist", it had a long, thick, knotted tail. The tail thrashed wildly in the air, giving the appearance that the entity was swimming through space. The room was writhing and twisting as the creature passed through it.

Isianu recoiled. The creature turned to her. It winked. "You wouldn't comprehend my name if I told you. Now bow to your new master," it said. Three rodent-like animals bounded down the stairs and flanked the floating specter. Each had glowing orange eyes. Each selected one of the group and advanced on them.

Isianu instinctively backed away from the thing in front of her until she was in the large common room of the house. "[Dear Malfean, what in the name of creation are you!]" The wink confused Isianu, but eventually things began to fall into place. Drawing her scythe she growled "I should have known this whole set up was a little too convent, finding some benevolent creature giving us free room and board. Well I need to inform you that if you think your horrible visage and your pet rodents are going to have a very unwelcome surprise." Giving the thing a malicious smile she shouted with great flourish, "You have absolutely no idea exactly what you have unleashed. Do you know who I am? Isianu Veenous, Empress of all Lupines and Mistress of the Dark Forces of the Swirling Ethers! I have sent more hideous things screaming back to what ever plane they haled from when I was but a pup!" Staring the creature in the eyes, she growled, "Unless you want to be torn to shreds I would suggest that YOU surrender and serve ME!" Deep down, Isianu knew this probably wouldn't work, this thing was probably as pompous and self- righteous as it was ugly.

Oh, Bugger , Arias thought to himself looks like it's just one of those days. After Isianu's intimidating speech he added: "I don't boast as many terrifying titles or bloodcurdling taunts as she does but I sure do put up a good fight. I suggest for your own benefit you retreat hastily or be slain." He drew his dagger in preparation for another fight.

H.P. warked fearfully. On Kupita's command, he hastily charged her ferret. He kicked his own feet out from under himself and collapsed on the floor.

The entity leveled its gaze on Isianu. "Then perhaps I'll send you screaming back to your plane..." It did seem uncomfortable, however. Its tail swirled and twisted in the air.

Arias lunged with his dagger, stabbing his tiny foe with precision. It squeaked and was still.

The ferret before Kupita ran past her and into the other room.

Seeing nothing else to do, Kupita jabbed the entity with her blade. It pierced the thing's chest with no resistance, making her uneasy.

Isianu drew her scythe and attempted to manuever around her enemy. The being hovered up and back, forcing her to come at it face on. Frustrated in her attempt, she slashed it with her scythe. The blade rippled as it pierced the blue-purple hide.

The ferret chasing Isianu nipped at her heel.

The being growled, "My Minions!" It held its hands up, then cast them at Isianu. She felt as if she was being pushed and pulled in all directions at once. Isianu's form twisted and pulsed, causing Kupita to yelp out of surprise. The lupine fell to her knees, gasping.

"Even you are not immune to my power," cooed the entity.

Angered, Kupita slashed the creature across the chest cleanly. She felt a force coming from the creature pulling at her sword, turning it in her hands.

H.P. climbed to his feet. He craned his neck, looking at the monster once more. He let out a sound that was akin to a wark crossed with a yip.

Isianu stood, staggering. She regained her composure, taking a casual swipe at the ferret that had attached itself to her heel as the entity floated just out of her reach. In her state, she could not quite strike true.

The ferret redoubled its efforts, biting into her thick fur and managing to barely penetrate flesh.

Arias turned, triumphant, only to see Isianu being distorted by some horrific magic. He drew the slot machine and hoped for a little luck. The little boxes' wheels clicked merrily... diamond... diamond... diamond... The large monster was floating overhead when the rainbow ribbons tore into it. It seemed to fall in midair, growling, and then righted itself once more...

Eyes wide with terror, H.P. went in for a peck on the horrific monster. He quickly retreated to Kupita's side upon finishing his mild attack.

Kupita defiantly continued her attack, taking a step forward and slashing with a broad stroke that made the air ripple around her blade.

Feeling the pricking of her small foe's bite, Isianu again swept the scythe blade down. She hoped to find ferret flesh but instead found floor.

The monster rounded on Kupita, bringing its magical power down on her. The forces drawn were almost tangible, but Kupita stood her ground and the energies flowed past her and dissipated.

"Augh!" roared the creature. "This is NOT happening!"

Arias took the opportunity to charge the monster, intent on driving his dagger into its side. The thing turned and at the same time the gambler tripped, causing him to not only fall heavily, but also send his dagger skittering across the floor.

With relish, the ferret continued its ongoing effort to chew through Isianu's ankle.

Emboldened, H.P. strode forth once more, leveling a devastating peck at the floating apparition.

Kupita drove her sword deep into the entity, knowing that her attack would be the killing blow. But the being didn't even flinch.

At the same time, Isianu was kicking at the ferret, slapping her scythe down once more to be rid of the annoying, persistent rodent. The menace curled around her leg, untouched.

The being seemed to sit on Arias' prone form. It shifted him with its magical power, twisting the man and the space he occupied. He let out a groan as his body was warped. When it finally ended, he could do nothing but pant. Trying to shake off his dizziness, Arias rolled away from the entity as quickly as he could.

Isianu's ferret assault continued. Now the lupine's kicking fit had finally drawn the attention of her companions to her plight. It might have been laughable if those teeth weren't so sharp.

Isianu lunged, seeing red, at the source of her pain. She brought the scythe down with all of her strength, fully intent on cleaving her tormentor in two. For a brief moment, her eyes locked with its glowing sockets, and then her weapon was dashed to the floorboards. The blade snapped off of the haft and the haft broke from the strain. The creature seemed to chuckle at her pain. At the very same moment H.P. jumped in front of the monster, a look of determination in his eyes.

As the chocobo pecked at the floating entity, it unleashed its devastating attack on the bird. H.P.s head swelled and shrank as he warked in agony. He collapsed to the floor once more, laying very still.

The entity leveled its gaze on Kupita. "I must have better minions." It swiftly floated to the ceiling, spinning, cutting smaller and smaller circles in the air as it seemed to fade from view. In a split second, it was completely gone. Immediately the room seemed to expand to human proportions. It would have been comfortable even for Isianu's height, had she been standing. The sounds of rain pounding on the roof began again and thunder rumbled. The stillness that had settled over the house was dispelled.

Isianu was on her knees before her broken scythe. Arias stood nearby, half-crouched, not sure where his knife had gone. Kupita still had her sword drawn, and she skeptically eyed the ceiling. H.P. opened one eye, looked around the room, then closed it.

The door flew open and the little man strode in. He took off his hat, streaming water, and attempted to wring it out. Seeing the futility, he tossed it aside. He turned and regarded the group before him. "You all look as though you've seen a ghost... or ghosts. I imagine that would be worse than seeing just one." He paused, looking quizzically at the ferret frollicking around Isianu. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. "I'll be... you found Chomper. Where have you been, boy?" He scooped up the ferret, smiling broadly.

Isianu knelt on the ground for several minutes, eyes clenched shut, teeth bared, letting out a low growl of pain; this battle had not went well. She had taken a lot of damage, her weapon broke, and the little bastard had the nerve to come back and act like everything was alright. Turning at the diminutive man she barked, "I would think you would know better than us. We were minding our own business and a great ugly creature came in and tried to kill us. And your [expletive deleted] rat almost gnawed my foot off! So what do you have to say for yourself?!?" This was way too convenient an arrival of the midget and the departing of the monster. She was almost certain they were one in the same and she thought she vaguely remembered something about such a creature back at her father's magical library. For the life of her, she tried to remember anything she could about it.

Isianu's head swam with stories of changelings, metamorphs, dopplegangers, and shapeshifters. She had taken particular interest in stories of powerful wizards who had summoned forth shape-changing beings to insert in enemy kingdoms, replacing kings, princes, or high-ranking officials. Such coups were virtually bloodless. Unfortunately, the stories all indicated that the creatures were by nature duplicitous and fickle; they were extremely hard to corral and even harder to control.

The target of her ire was standing there throughout, a strangely mild expression on his face. "I'm sorry if Chomper bit you... he's normally very sweet. He hadn't bitten me for weeks. Although I haven't seen him for weeks. I'm sure he was just excited. He m-- oh dear!" The little old man noticed the other ferret laying on the floor. He gently picked up the limp little animal.

Kupita put her weapon away and stared at the man. Isianu seems to have everything under control. Perhaps I should go back and eat. She looked at H.P. laying injured on the floor, playing dead. ^^Poor H.P.^^ She said. Then she went and got the pot of food, and carried it to H.P.'s side. ^^Come on, eat it. Or at least some of it. I cooked more than I need.^^ Even as she was saying this she ate some more of it. ^^It'll give you strength. Did you see how brave it made ME? I practically took that thing out all on my own. Of course I couldn't have done it without you, H.P.^^ She dangled some of the greens inches from his beak.

"He did it!" Kupita yelled, and pointed at Arias excitedly. "Three ferrets attacked us. I scared one off... But he's still in the house," she quikly added. Then she turned to Arias and scolded him, "How COULD you?! It was just a sweet little animal!" She gave Arias a wink when she was sure that the man wasn't watching her. She mouthed "Play Along" to him.

H.P. took a mouthful of the greens Kupita offered and gagged.

^^You naughty bird. Fine BE that way.^^

Arias turned to Kupita. "Scared one off? That's convenient. How come that thing didn't hurt you, anyway?"

Kupita didn't know why the ferret didn't hurt her. Just like she didn't know why the King of Weeds didn't try to attack her. "Just lucky I guess..." She said then stuck her tongue out at Arias. "You wanna make something of it?!" She said and pointed her sword at him.

"No, that..." he gestured toward the ceiling, "thing... It hurt the rest of us. Lucky?!" Arias was annoyed. If anyone was going to be lucky around here, it should probably be the gambler.

The short wizard was intently focused on his departed pet. With a flash of golden light and a rush of air, the animal perked up. "There we go, good as new!"

"Whew!" Kupita breathed a sigh of relief, and returned the sword to it's holster. At least he wont take it out on us. She took another bite of her greens and then she spoke to the man. "Is this cabin usually haunted? 'Cause it sure is today."

"Well, I'd hardly call it a cabin... it's really a beautiful house. I don't know about any monsters. I certainly didn't let any in." He looked thoughtful, "Although I didn't let any out either... I suppose the house could be haunted. I should never have trusted those contractors." He looked down, noticing the puddle of water he was leaving. "Oh dear, I should change out of these wet robes!"

Get that Moogle!

"Yeah, maybe you should, after all, you wouldn't want to ruin the floors." Kupita told him. She then thought of a plan. While he's changing his clothes, we can all escape! How to tell the others? Kupita waited until the man's eyes were off her, then she motioned at the others. She pointed at the guy, then pretended to take off her clothes. Then she pointed at each of the group and then to the door.

As the old man made his way up the stairs, the moogle frantically gestured and gyrated to her comrades, to no avail. All three ferrets dashed after him, although Isianu was sure one of them stopped and eyed her before following.

Seeing her gestures going unheeded, Kupita whispered loudly, "Let's get outta here!" to the others as soon as she thought the wizard was out of earshot.

Isianu gradually got to her feet, favoring one over the other until she was sure she could walk on it. She then looked sternly at Kupita and nodded at her suggestion. "Yes," she whispered, "Leaving this insane changeling would be the best course of action. If we stay the night, who knows what sort of horrors he would unleash upon us while sleeping." As quietly as she could, she went over to the door and picked up the bedrolls and handed one out to each person, motioning them to go through the door quickly. Isianu would bring up the rear, seeing as she was injured and was best equipped to see if their antagonist was following them.

Kupita poked H.P. and made him get up and go out the door. Kupita followed. Once outside she mounted her faithful companion and glanced around. She pulled her coat up closer to her. "Where to now?" she muttered.

Frustrated that no one had satisfactorily answered his question and tired from all this running around, Arias went to the door but didn't leave yet. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave the warm bed behind. After all, whatever "horrors" were left behind, he was sure Kupita could handle them. Or they could handle her... he didn't care, he felt like a zombie.

The sky was beginning to light at the horizon as Kupita and H.P. spilled out of the house. It was only slightly gray and overcast now, as the thunderstorm seemed to be receding inland. A light, warm rain still fell. Kupita's question hung in the moist air. At least she had eaten some food to keep her going.

Isianu's brow furrowed. She had been relatively sure that there were several more hours of night to be had, but outside it was clear that a new day would be dawning soon.

Isianu looked up at the rising sun and growled, mumbling something too quiet to hear, even if she was speaking Common. Her speach eventually became more clear and understandable until, "I hate changelings..." was said. "The first thing we should do is find a place to rest, I don't know about you but I've been through hell the past couple of days. Plus I am spiritually drained, now I don't know if any of you are blessed with the gift of magic, but when you are brought down to nothing, you feel rather worthless." That being said, she set out towards a forest, both away from the cottage, and away from the town they just escaped from. Once the damnable cottage was out of sight and they found a safe clearing, she unfurled her bedroll and laid it on the ground. Bowing to Arias and Kupita she said, "I do not know where we shall go tomorrow, but I plan to go there well rested. So I say we sleep on it and see what our dreams have to say. With that, I bid you all a plesant sleep." Crawling into the bedroll, Isianu snuggled a bit with the underlying material and soon went to sleep.

Isianu's Dream

The old man watched Isianu go to sleep. He cast a worried glance at Kupita and Arias. "She seems out of sorts to me," he said. He chuckled to himself. He scratched his head, "Not that I blame her. Oh, drat, I left my hat in the house. Well, now, I'm not sure about waiting around here. There seem to be a large number of people who blame you three for what happened back there. Or at least, her. Guilty by association, I would wager." He let out a long sigh. "Nothing to be done for it now. So, you didn't by chance find a parrot in the house anywhere, did you? I suppose not. There's not exactly a lot of cover to be had here. I would recommend a more southerly direction, but then again, I live to the south. But following your dreams is good too."

"I guess I'll take first watch..." Kupita said as she sighed and sat down resting her back on a tree.

Arias snorted in his sleep. The little man looked apprehensively from the two sleepers to Kupita. He reached into his robe and pulled a small object out. He threw it down, where it turned into the house once again. "I'm going to rest inside," he said to Kupita, jerking his thumb in the house's direction. No sooner had he gone inside than H.P. perked up. He warked to Kupita and walked around the house.

Kupita shrugged, then got up and followed H.P. ^^Where do you think that you are going?^^ She said, not really loud enough for H.P. to hear her, just loud enough to be thinking out loud.

H.P. trotted ahead. As Kupita cleared the house, she saw a number of men, mounted on chocobos. They quickly drew near and flanked the moogle and her mount. The leader of the bunch jumped down from his bird and called to the others, "Told ya' I 'd find 'im." He grabbed Kupita and lifted her into the air. "Gotcha!"

Isianu awoke, almost feeling more drained than when she had gone to sleep. Arias lay asleep nearby. She looked up only to see the house looming over her. It had followed her.

Waking up with a bit of a yip, Isianu sat up and took several deep breaths to calm her down from the nightmare she just had. It was so odd, why would she assoicate Bernuka with the razing of the town back there? Probably just due to the fact that he was the only person she knew that was heartless enough to do such a thing, or was it more literal? What really affected her was the part about Trent, him staring at her with those glowing eyes, seeking something from her, but what? She had an odd feeling that portained more than simply him being dead.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Kupita said and flailed wildly trying to free herself from their grasp. "Let me go!" She tried to yell to her friends, "HELP! HELP! I'm being Moogle-knapped!"

Kupita was roughly tied and gagged. "Hey Bildur, you check this house out, ok?" said the one who had grabbed her. "And the rest of you, let's get some lunch cooking..." Leaving the moogle uncomfortably trussed, they set about making a fire and breaking out some meats and bread and... cheeses! Kupita's eyes rolled back in horror. After they finished, one of the men offered her some leftover cheese, waving it in front of her, "don't you want some cheesy- wheezy, cutie-wooty?" Kupita shrieked and shrieked, almost frothing at the mouth.

"I don't think you should do that," said the blond leader. "It's a wild creature, might bite yer arm off or somethin'."

Trying to sort out exactly what happened to her, Isianu looked to her side and found the changeling's cabin right next to her. Looking at it with a bit of distain, she growled out, "[Accursed dwelling! Curse your mobility and the master that gave it to you!]" Upon saying that she heard a scream from the other side of the cabin, one that sounded like it came from a moogle. "[Not again...]" she growled getting off of her bed roll and rushing around the side of the house to find her companion held hostage by several men. At this she bared her teeth and took a firm stance facing the soldiers. "Let go of my companion at once human and I shall take no action to harm you, or else I'll smite you with my arcane powers." Isianu stands there, going through her various spells, and hoping that the little rest she got was enough to at least shoot one off.

"Hey, it's that wolf everyone's been lookin' for," exclaimed the leader as his men shifted uneasily. "Get her!" The followers hesitated for a moment, then drew their axes and clubs and began advancing.

Isianu growled at loosely banded humans, "Foolish humans, prepare to suffer..." She remembered several days ago, Niehl saying something like magic was almost non-existant here. She hoped he was right and could use that fact to her advantage, because she had only enough power for one spell. She prayed silently to the Blessed Pack that it was enough. Thrusting her arms out towards the center of the rushing soldiers, Isianu cupped her paws and began chanting one of her oldest and most devastating spells. "Nora aisoth Cerubi, ria zuna uiana uliliac besine pretish nagesh. Feurti riisah nuiemiansh publati huoci demptiau widlo dem uiana varli blirie! [Deepest pits of Hell, I summon your eternal flame to manifest in this world. Give my enemies a taste of what's in store for them in your bottomless furnace!]"

Isianu raised her hands, feeling the familiar surge of power that came with fire. It felt even stronger for having been denied her for so long. She chose her targets carefully, centering the blast on five of the hapless soldiers who were still gathered together. Fire danced around them, bursting forth from her hands. Completely taken by surprise, all of the humans stood aghast as several of their number were blasted by the magic...

The targeted men yelped and danced as the fire burned them. Some rolled on the ground while the others slapped out their clothes and boots, still smoldering from the attack. All of the humans froze, staring at the sorceress. None of them dared move.

"C'mon, you cowards," choked the leader, after shaking off his surprise. "It's just some fireworks, you've seen fireworks before." The five Isianu had targeted shied away from her, but the rest seemed to be emboldened by their commander's words. "Now, wolf thing, you just give up quietly and maybe you won't be hurt..." He motioned for his men to move up. Slowly, they spread out, not coming near Isianu, but intending to cut off any path of escape.