NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Just trying something out. Join in if you like with a character of your own. The entire story revolves around the Drekamythian Wilderness, but seeing as I never role played it properly I'd imagine anyone's input is welcome. The thread revolves around the MT Anagonia, but drifting into Fantasy tech with possible mention of magick. As a further note, this post is just intro. Either way I'd like to keep armies or war's out of this, and make this into something like a vision into a normal citizens life with twists and turns.

City of Imperius - Sovereign Province of Drekamythia

The slight breeze came past his face with a satisfying feel. It smelled of spring, of flowers, and of the beautiful scent of water. Around him tall grass that was lush and green swayed with the breeze in a wave-like pattern, reminding him of the ways of nature. His gaze fell upon the lone tree standing tall and proud at the center of the giant meadow. His spirit lifted with the strength it gave him, reminding him of his foundation and purpose. Always there, always present, and ever aging with him. He casually looked to the east, looking in wonder as he witnessed the beauty of the sun reflecting off the ocean. He watched as the waves crashed onto the beach in rythmic unison, hearing the sound over and over for a prolonged period. These sights and sounds gave him a sense of belonging, reminding him of the flow of life and his path within it. Gazing to the west, he witnessed the wonder of the Earth's natural evolution. Mountains as high as the stars reached for the heavens, their snow capped peaks covered with a slight formation of clouds protecting the sight of the end giving him a sense of never ending growth. The colors were beautiful to behold. He noted it was the reflection of the rising sun upon the mountains, a sign that a new day was beginning and that he should always consider the beautiful sides of his daily happenings.

His body straightened as he took in a deep breath, concentrating once again on the tree. Closing his eyes and maintaining his meditative posture, the feelings experienced combined within him to purge the stress of the previous days events. His mind cleared completely, thinking of nothing but the beautiful sights he had witnessed. His emotions flowing over the feelings he experienced. His thoughts surrounding the true purpose of the energies he felt around him. It was at these moments he felt close to truly gaining the last piece of life's great puzzle. So he pondered for a while, the sun rising and setting. The scenery changing as the wind kicked up and died down. Eventually darkness fell upon the meadow and he was left to nothing but the stars. Slowly, his eyes opening, he gazed upward towards them.

So bright and beautiful they were that he nearly lost his breath. He could clearly see the Milky Way, make out a few nebula's and point with his mind where planets in the solar system were. He even saw a shooting star, followed by a stream of them afterward. He slowly fell backward onto his back, feeling the cold dirt beneath his shirt. Hands going behind his head, he pondered the meaning of the sight. Truly something so awesome had to appear for a reason, or by some message. Even then, there could be no purpose to it. Perhaps it was for enjoyment, for amusement, or perhaps it was a giant canvas of wonderful works. In whichever case, he continued to gaze up at them. Sleep crept into his mind and he drifted off from the meadow, waking up somewhere completely different.

* * *
Nelsion Lantern woke from his trance sitting Indian-style on his living room floor. The sun beamed through the three large wall frames, exposing the outside city-scape. Sounds and noises of everyday Imperius life came to him and he cringed. These next few weeks were his overdue vacation day's, his life mostly spent working at a local Manufacturing plant. He enjoyed his job but disliked the constant twelve hour shifts with hardly any holiday leaves, which was why after twenty years on the job he was enormously glad Imperius would be but a dream for four weeks of his life. Summoning the will to stand, Nelsion went about his morning business of hygiene and food consumption, stopping for a couple of minutes for a cup of decaf and the morning news.

After his warm shower and clothing himself in jeans and a red t-shirt, Nelsion placed casual footwear on his feet and acquired all necessary supplies for his upcoming vacation. One suitcase was all that he took with him as he grabbed his wallet and keys and set out of the apartment and down to the parking lot for the building. Placing his baggage in the rear of his Anagonian-made SUV, he entered the driver side and cranked his vehicle. Entering Main Street via a few other streets, he proceeded to the Inter-Regional Highway and headed east for the Drekamythian Wilderness. There, he planned on finding peace from city life, maybe even glimpse a few Dragons from the nature preserve.

The Highway was quiet, trucks and rigs driving past. Occasionally he'd see an Imperial Officer pull over somebody, and even then as he neared the Wilderness the sightings would get fewer and fewer. Humanity touch on nature seemed to be nonexistent after four hours of driving, the highway shifting to a two-lane on both sides with off-ramps every twenty miles or so. Everything from here on would be quiet and serene. Only nature and a few citizens of Anagonia and various foreign nations would be wandering around. He sighed in relief, noticing his off-ramp towards the hotel he planned on staying at. His SUV turned on the road, but not before he glimpsed the glorious view of the dense forests and mountains of Drekamythia. He smiled, the view indescribable, and his vehicle continued on it's way down the long road to no where.

The gentle golden eyes seemed to flicker slightly as the sun began to set, striking the trees and sending the light cascading between them.

The figure sighed softly and then ran his hand roughly through his slightly silvered hair. He looked at the small device in his hand and sighed again, but this time contently. He snapped it audibly shut, causing some birds nearby to be startled and flutter away.

A pair of thin arms silently wrapped around the man’s waist as he looked down at them and smiled. He felt a head press against his back softly as he leant back just a little.

“Still worried? We’re on holiday Gerry. You should relax, Heruss gave you a proper holiday to spend time with me, after all.”

The figure, Gerry chuckled, a deep resonating sound that carried in the failing light, a pair of elongated canines showing what he was, one of Midlonia’s population of vampires. “The last holiday I got was 1955, Linda, and even that was plagued with fending for my life.”

The blonde haired woman stood up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. “Yes, well you forget I wasn’t even born then.” She grinned and giggled. “So don’t complain that you have one that’s relatively quiet, hrm?”

Gerry let his head fall back on his chest and shook his head. “You’re right, shall we head back to the RV? It’s getting dark.”

“I thought you preferred the darkness…” Linda said quietly before she turned him and kissed him gently on the lips.

Gerry sighed again. “Yeah, but it can also be more dangerous at times…”

The slap hit the side of his head quite hard and he winced.

“I’m a Machi-Pagan, Gerry.” She snapped at him, her brows furrowed. “I can take care of myself, and you know what I ultimately want…” she placed a finger against his lips softly and pushed them apart so her finger brushed one of his fangs. “If I wasn’t prepared to take on that kind of danger, do you think I’d ask?”

“I still don’t think you know what you’d be letting yourself in to.” He said to her quietly before he kissed her forehead. “But yeah, I think we should head back to the campsite now.” he slipped an arm with hers and intertwined his fingers and kissed her hand softly.

They walked silently through the woodland, their footsteps barely audible, only broken by the movement of twigs and crushed leaves as the sun rapidly sank below the horizon.

The RV was sat quietly in a small clearing near the end of the roadway, a short dirt-track snaking through some trees and dipping down slightly to where it sat. Spattered in dust and mud it was a basic affair, nothing luxurious and even looked slightly sinister in the failing light, it’s grill and headlamps gleaming slightly as it managed to catch some rays of light. The small round circle with “H” on the side denoted it as a hydrogen powered

Gerry sighed. “So, what’re we going to do about dinner?” He said as he glanced to Linda with a slight smile. “I could connect the gas and we could ha-” he stopped mid flow as he looked at Linda again, who had pulled her blonde hair back to reveal her neck.

“You could always have some neck.” she said quietly with a mischievous look in her eye, she giggled as Gerry turned and pushed her against the RV and sank his fangs into her neck. Mercifully from a distance it’d look more like lovers in an embrace rather than what was actually happening . After a minute or two of this Gerry pulled away softly and licked her neck, closing the wound carefully and stopping the bleeding. He turned and looked away from her with a frown on his face.
“Why did you stop?” She whispered quietly as her now pale face looked at him.

“There’s a car coming.” he said quietly. “Come on, lets set up the RV properly, get some lights on, maybe the radio or something.”

He moved to open the outer-door before a hand pressed into his chest to stop him. “We’ve been together for 6 years now, Gerry. Will you…” she hesitated for a moment before looking up into his golden eyes which by now really did glow in the darkness like a cats. “Will you make me a vampire too?”

Gerry looked at her for a moment before sighing. “You hesitated.” he said quietly before pulling open the door and flicking on an internal light as the near-silent whirr of an electric motor started. A few moments later the TV inside flickered into life as the MBC news channel quietly carried through the RV.

Linda bit her bottom lip again and wiped a tear from her eye before she followed him inside. Quietly she snuggled up to him on the couch-bed inside.

“It’s a big choice, Linda. One you shouldn’t make lightly.” Gerry said to her quietly.

“I know.”

“It’s taking your life away and changing it completely.”

“I know.”

There was a silence between them at that point that spoke a lot louder than their conversation at that moment. Then quietly Gerry coughed.

“If you still feel the same on the last day here… I’ll do it. For you.”

Linda reached up and kissed him again, passionately and lovingly, before she whispered a quiet ‘thank you’ into his ear, before they both settled down to watch the News, and a movie.

OOC: Map of Anagonia for reference (http://hawk.proboards1.com/index.cgi?board=Diplomacy&action=display&thread=77&page=1#336)

The Wilderness was a vast expanse of forests and mountains that spanned for hundreds of miles in the south portion of the Drekamythian Province, continuing from there beyond the borders to both the Southern Anagonian Plains and the Suda Mountains where the Southern Desert began. Thousands of species protected both by caring citizens and upheld law thrived here, many of which were thought to be extinct eons ago. Both the townships of Ruuda and Jahriin inhabited the Drekamythian Wilderness, with the exception of Ruuda which lawfully lay within the borders of the Nodea Rudavian Province. These townships provided travelers with a resting place during their long ventures into the Wilderness and a place to come back to civilization when the Wilderness got the best of the experienced adventurer. Two-lane roads provided the main mode of travel for most citizens and foreigners heading to these two townships, but more than likely most would make use of the airports stationed just outside the towns as many air charter services thrived on the income from tourism.

If one were to travel eastward in the Wilderness, going outside the known borders of the Drekamythian Province, they would venture to a stretch of mountains that introduced the land to its hilly and beach-like setting. Here many citizens enjoyed themselves by camping and vacationing because of the awesome sight of the Sea of Freedom, where with trained eyes and the assistance of binoculars they could easily spot Anagonian Warships coming to and from the Ocean from various assignments. Many warships came close to the shore to provide a spectacle for the visitors for the region while maintaining that they were merely continuing the last leg of their journey with an added patrol. These occasions were rare, but when they did happen pictures flooded the internet with both peoples viewpoint of what they had witnessed firsthand.

Normally classified as outside the influence of Anagonian Protection, the Drekamythian Wilderness was usually conveyed as a place where individuals placed their lives in their own hands and any assistance from the military would not be provided during emergencies. The actual reality was farther from the truth. The Drekamythian Wilderness was commonly used as a training ground for new recruits in the Anagonian Armed Forces and provided a place to practice jungle-bound warfare training and valuable survival experience. Rarely one could witness various classes of transport helicopters lifting from the Wilderness either transporting recruits from or having transporting them to the Wilderness from various exercises. Due to this, many travelers to the region were given hand-held communication devices that were automatically set to the Military Assistance Frequency for emergencies.

Normally Travelers to the region were encouraged to purchase all the needed supplies to maintain good health and hygiene in the Wilderness at the townships located in the region. Normally citizens and would have enough currency to purchase these supplies for themselves, and often enough tourists would be the first to go all out on expenses. However in rare circumstances wherein citizens didn't have enough currency to enjoy their rightfully due vacation, stores in the townships provided military surplus survival gear for a minimal to no charge. Anagonia had a large arms manufacturing industry that not only produced weapons, but heavily produced the equipment for the survival of its soldiers and homeland defenders, and occasionally produced more than was necessary therefore provided stores and civilian outlets with the excess gear to cycle through the populace.

The Drekamythian Wilderness was also home to various legends and local lore about monsters of myth and occasional sightings of them. Many foreigners and citizens traveled to the region to investigate claims of these mythical creatures and provide scientific proof of their existence. Every expedition to date has always been met with either the military taking supposed photos of these creatures, or nothing of specific value being proved at all. These stories have rubbed an interesting history into the minds of Anagonians, most just content to believe in the reality of the myths rather than investigate themselves. The few that do enter the region to investigate commonly witness more military sightings than most, and speculate that the Anagonian Armed Forces is hiding a dark secret of spectacular magnitude. Other adventures just wandering the region for recreational purposes usually return to civilization with stories of wander that add to the magnificence that is the Drekamythian Wilderness.

***

Nelsion Lantern had just left his SUV in the town of Jahriin about a couple hours before. He purchased some surplus equipment that was needed for his weeks long trip into the Wilderness at a great value, and currently carried a moderately weighed backpack with his tent and other campsite supplies, including a good amount of military rations that would provide his meals. Hiking into the Wilderness was by far the most amazing start of any vacation he had in his lifetime. He already seen plenty of deer and other indigenous animals to last a lifetime. Nelsion had his PDA with him, and with the added camera feature he had taken some images of the local animal species to display on his website when he got home.

Taking a breather after the two-hour long hike he set down his backpack in a clearing and sat on a log. Around him the forest stretched upwards with pine and various other species of trees, adding to the atmosphere for pure nature. The air here was pristine, no smell of fumes of any kind. He took a deep breath of it, savoring the sigh of relief his body gave him, and exhaled feeling quite more pleased with his life in general. The forest did many things for a man, one of them helping him find his roots in peace again. Looking down he opened one portion of his backpack to retrieve a ration. He gazed at it, noticing it was designed to taste like mashed potatoes mixed in with green beans and some kind of meat. He shrugged the initial feeling of believing he might vomit, detaching the plastic spork from the ration and opening it to place the attached segment of water and stir the contents. After about five to six minutes of stirring, he ate, and was surprised to find out that the contents tasted amazingly good.

After about a thirty minute break he retrieved the backpack and began hiking again, more slowly since he just consumed something. A stream was up ahead, and as he checked his PDA for the GPS map and realized he was nearing the Jahrih River. Pleased with his progress, he hiked the extra mile to the stream and made a makeshift camp with his tent for the early night starting to take over. For protection he was issued a fire-arm by the Wilderness Ranger that was stationed in the town, and he kept it at his side in the holster that was also provided. He refilled his water supply from the stream, making sure to purify it with a pot that was heated by his burner. He ate another ration making sure his belly was full for the night of sleep ahead, making sure his tent and campsite was in order before finally relaxing. The stream was deep enough to bathe in, and using a military tool to ensure no containment's were in the water he set about cleaning himself from the days hiking that had come before.

Standing in the deepest part of the stream, which only came above his waist, he looked down at his reflection in the calm water. Nelsion Lantern was of average build, like most Drekamythian's not in the military service. His hair was brown, eyes dark green, and his face didn't catch anything special. He stood about five feet and eight inches which he contributed to his family heritage. Nelsion had gained a tattoo on his right arm displaying various symbols in the Draconic Language when he was in college, now being thirty-seven he found the symbols to be somewhat funny as he had forgotten their meaning ages ago. Finishing his bathing, he retrieved his clothing for washing and hung them to dry while donning the extra set of clothes he brought with him for just this situation. There, noticing the night had fallen on the forest, he relaxed and looked up to the sky while laying on the sleeping mat.

The first thing that struck him was that the sky matched the exact same sky he saw in his meditative vision. Finding it curiously odd, he shrugged it off as a sign he was where he needed to be. Circumstances where mind's wandered to reveal the exact place of serenity were common these days thanks to the extensive emphasis on mind/body meditation. It wasn't anything unusual, not to him anyway. Noises from the forest included various nocturnal creatures, none he recognized as predatory or anything that would harm a human. He placed his hands behind his head, enjoying the night as it came and seeing a few shooting stars to boot. Later, he would retire into his tent and have dreams that he hadn't experienced in a long while.

The morning broke slowly and sluggishly as Gerry yawned slightly as he finished getting dressed by tying up his sturdy hiking boots. Linda was already moving around impatiently on one foot to the other as she adjusted her backpack for the eighth or ninth time. Gerry chuckled slightly and shook his head.

“Why so impatient?” he called to her as he lifted his own backpack onto his shouldered, before grabbing a long object wrapped in cloth and slid it through the loops on his backpack, adjusting it so it’s weight was carried better.

“Because, I know there’s a river nearby and there has to be some nice scenery around here somewhere. Come on already! You know I love all this nature stuff!”

“Even as a Machine-Pagan?”

“Especially!” Linda called out before she suddenly set off South-West wards, into the trees and undergrowth near to a path which had been worn there by countless other tourists at infrequent times of the year. The sunlight was once again dancing it’s way through the trees as the sun now rose above them.

They both walked in relative silence, taking in the beauty of the place as they moved through nature itself, quietly and respectfully. Eventually the trees thinned out again, and there was a hillside where the ground dropped away fairly sharply, showing more of the wilderness of the woodlands. In the distance, however, was a strange and almost ugly brown scar, where smoke drifted lazily from it, it was a scar in the pristine green , a long thin gash in what was once a perfect view.

“What’s happened over there?” Linda said as she covered her eyes with her hand to block out some of the sun’s light to look down at it. “Is that a forest fire?” she mused for a second before looking at Gerry, who was rummaging in his backpack for a monocular, which was soon produced and bought swiftly to his eye.

“Nah, it’s not burning, it’s been burnt though.” Gerry said after a few moments before he poked a fang out of his lips to chew softly on his bottom lip.

“You want to go look, don’t you?” Linda said as she turned to look at him with her cool hazel eyes. An unusual match considering her fair hair. “It’s mysteeeerious and you want to go take a peek.” She grinned, before promptly jumping down part of the steep hill and sliding downwards.

“Linda, wait!” Gerry said, but he was drowned out by the roar of helicopter blades as one thundered overhead, whipping up loose leaves and dirt as it hammered it’s way over to the burnt area in the distance, a second helicopter soon followed it, with another pair coming at the area from a different direction.

Gerry shook his head and frowned before shrugging and following Linda down the slope, sliding his way down before jogging to catch up with her.

“It’s dangerous, Linda…” Gerry said quietly before she turned around to look at him and smiled.

“I know. I want to know what it’s like, getting into a bit of danger.” She laughed before setting off again.

Gerry sighed slightly before he set off after her, giving up on any chance of talking her out of it.

The four helicopters converged at the burnt area in the distance, all but one landing to unload what looked like military troops onto the soil. To the trained specialist, the Helicopters were the Russian-made Mi-24V HIND E attack helicopters usually thought to be out of service. To the normal Anagonian this situation would not seem at all off balance, but to foreigner's it would certainly be seen as a violation of nature and her natural beauty. Activity picked up as the lone Mi-24V circled the perimeter and proceeded directly where Linda and Gerry stood. On the ground it looked like the soldiers were putting up a makeshift camp of some sort, as supplies from one of the Mi-24V's were being unloaded. The airborne Mi-24V proceeded to circle the duo for about a minute before leveling off above them and a long black cord was lowered. Minutes later a soldier donned in full forest gear and backpack hit the ground with a thump, detaching himself from the Helicopter cord and signaling for the chopper to leave the vicinity. The Mi-24V circled one time before heading towards the burnt area and landing without delay.

The Soldier looked ready for battle, holstering a M-16 and having no official sign of national designation. He kept his weapon lowered as he investigated the two before walking towards them in a casual non-threatening manner. When he moved to his side a patch on his left arm revealed the letters "MP", signaling his authority in the area. He stood about five feet and eleven inches, having a well-built frame around his Anagonian-African features. He smiled, neither revealing it a fake or real emotion, and waved for the two to come near. As he greeted them, he voice rang out deep.

"I'm Sergeant Samuel Keller, Military Police designated in this region. I'm sorry to intrude on your vacation-" he knodded towards Gerry and and Linda "-Sir and Ma'am, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay away from this vicinity until the military finishes its investigation of the site." He stood there for a second or two before speaking again, making sure they understood. "I've been assigned to guide you in a direction that will lead you around the site, but not be too time consuming. If you wish, I can escort you back to your campsite."

***

Nelsion woke up and casually went about ensuring that everything was in order for the next segment of his hiking. Putting everything back into or on his backpack, and eating a nice ration that tasted like eggs and bacon, he washed his face and ensured his water supply was full before beginning a three hour hike eastward. From here he planned on meeting the Sea of Freedom and taking a week to enjoy the coastline while sightseeing naval activity in the area. As he set out Nelsion making sure his PDA worked and the solar charge cell had regenerated the battery, then calculated everything in GPS and went about exploring nature. About an hour into the hike he noted two Mi-24 gunships flying past. Nothing was unusual by the sight, so he considered that the gunships were on normal patrol for some military exercises.

Another hour went past, Nelsion resting as he watched a Fawn and Doe scurry past the stream. He rested for a bit, drinking some water and ensuring he was on the right path. Another hour he'd be near the Jahrih River if he continued following the stream. Rested and ready after a a twenty minute break, he continued. It was at this point that he felt the ground shake, and stood still for a moment looking around. He grasped his holstered hand-gun just in case, after five minutes of seeing nothing but birds flying off he continued at a more hurried pace. Checking the PDA for information, he found that the military had posted notice of its presence in his general vicinity. Concluding it was part of the possible exercise that the two gunships could be joined in on, he relaxed and reserved his running for later.

Turning course to follow the GPS instructions, he found himself not near the Jahrih but heading across a dirt-road. Confused, he checked his settings again confirming that indeed he was on the right path. He noted then that the Military had assigned an alternate course for travelers to follow to avoid a "training exercise". Satisfied that everything was in order, he followed the directions, stopping briefly to observe an RV in the far distance. Wondering if he'd join up with another set of hikers, Nelsion continued with an enthusiastic pace. He wasn't expecting to meet anyone out here, but if his luck kept with him he might meet some foreigner's. It was a favorite pastime of many Anagonian's to get to know the cultures of other nations. The Drekamythian Wilderness was known for founding long-term friendships that spanned across the globe, and Nelsion hoped he might just get the chance. Alternatively, they could be some citizens from another province in Anagonia. In which case if this came about, Nelsion would enjoy either passing them by or briefly taking a break from his journey to make sure everything was in order.

Nelsion made a thirty minute hike as he came to a clearing, noticing in the distance a gentle plume of smoke coming from the forest. Concluding that according to the GPS the military was active in that general direction, he made a split-second decision to choose to observe the military in action, albeit from a distance. It wasn't everyday you got to witness something like this, especially in a forest. He'd just have to make sure to stay low, or if caught to obey the instruction to avoid the area. Making a mental note to not screw up, he continued, taking a sip of water.

“Nah, we’ll go around.” Gerry said as he cooly looked at the MP before looking at Linda. “After all, don’t want to annoy the military, do we dear?” He said with a quick of a smile.

“No, no, obviously. But don’t we get a peek?” She smiled slyly at the MP before tilting her head to the side and leaning to one side to look at the clearing behind him.

“Oh well.” She smiled before turning and looking across to Gerry. “We’ll have to wander around it I suppose, lead away Mr Military Police.” she shuffled her feet before looking back at the MP and stepped to one side to watch another helicopter buzzing overhead.

Sergeant Keller nodded briefly, "Sounds perfect. Follow m-"

Samuel instantly turned around with his weapon half-way raised in the general direction where Linda had looked previously. He didn't say anything, observing instead as a figure came to from the forest and stood still looking at Samuel with a half-baffled expression. Nelsion Lantern started to stutter something, Samuel instead shutting him off as he raised his free hand. The M-16 was holstered then as Samuel grabbed his military PDA and pointed it directly at Nelsion. With a nod as if confirming something he looked back at Nelsion and lowered his hand. "I believe we already redirected you, but just in case I'll need you to follow us around the site."

Nelsion merely nodded as briskly walked to formation with the other three, smiling towards Gerry and Linda. Sergeant Keller lead the way as they hiked back into the forest heading south east towards the Jahrih River. Behind him Nelsion tried to start a conversation, offering his extra water bottle which he hadn't used to the two. "Names Nelsion Lantern," he spoke softly so the Sergeant couldn't hear, "I tried to get a peak at what was going on, I assume you two tried the same?"

“Gerry Standing and Linda Gold.” Gerry replied quietly. “Holidaying in the wooded wilderness of Anagonia, and generally poking our noses about, yes.” He smiled lightly before shaking his head at the offered bottle.

Linda took it instead and took a short slug of water before shrugging. “Any idea why there’s so much fuss over a burnt piece of forest?”

“Seems like a simple incident, teaching their guys how to control fires properly, probably.” Gerry said quietly with a raised eyebrow.

Eventually they reached back towards the dirt-road that led back to the campsite. “How very very odd.” Gerry said again quietly before looking up and down the dirt road. “That way is our campsite, that way. I dunno… how about you Nelsion, got any idea where the track leads to the other way?”

The Sergeant led the way the entire distance, not caring to listen in behind to the civilians and their excuses for being here. Standard Protocol dictated that he, as the most fit and capable defender of the People, should by all means serve the People during Non-Wartime situations. The problem was at the back of Samuel Keller's mind he was having a huge debate whether this situation warranted War-time or maintained a Peace-time status. Previously his day had been full of him spending time with his wife of eight years and their two kids on Base, occasionally shopping for the upcoming holiday's nearing at the local mega-store. He was taken away from his personal activities when the Military Police Commander assigned him to active duty from his leave time when a strange occurrence happened in the Wilderness. Unlucky for Samuel that he and his comrades were the nearest to ground zero.

His mind drifted from subject to subject, occasionally grasping his PDA to confirm their position so as he could properly guide the foreign and native citizens to a safe course around the situation zone. During the drop-off earlier his Company Commander had ordered him to maintain close contact with any civilians wondering about, issuing orders to three more Military Policemen to scout the area and provide guidance for other unsuspecting travelers. Samuel wasn't given a clear order on when to return, the Company Commander only saying that contact would be made with him when and if the rest of his platoon needed his service. For now, he'd remain with the three behind him, more than likely guiding them towards the eastern sea-board.

***

Nelsion noticed that the entire time Linda, Gerry and he followed the Sergeant that the Military Officer remained quiet and fixed forward. This might be an indication that something indeed was happening behind him, and Nelsion was more than inclined to risk exploring the area. What kept him back was the authority of the MP to detain him if he refused to obey an order of safety, which would then be seen as Nelsion attempting to put himself in harms way and therefore giving the MP power to basically place him in a holding cell. Not wanting to spend his vacation on a Military Base, he concentrated on the two foreign tourists, noting that Linda had taken the water bottle and seemed as interested as he about the situation going on behind them.

He nodded when they introduced themselves, and tried to pine in on their inquiry concerning the incident behind them. He spoke quietly, noting that no matter what was said the Sergeant gave them their due privacy. "I honestly don't know," he said looking to Gerry, "but I do know that the Military doesn't burn the forest. This here is the Wilderness, protected by strict laws and forbidden of any huge development." He looked forward, concentrating for a moment not to trip on a few sinkholes as they walked past them. "I could suspect that perhaps something of national interests is going on, maybe something the military doesn't want us to know about."

He shrugged, leaving the explanation to be as they walked further and further. Eventually they all came to a stop near the same dirt road that Nelsion had passed earlier. He noted that this dirt road angled itself at a different direction than previously, and when Gerry made a verbal comment concerning it and asked Nelsion his opinion, he shrugged while retrieving his PDA. After a few moments of looking over the GPS map, he looked around him with a sigh. "I'm not sure, but it looks like this dirt road directly leads past the Jahrih River and to the Eastern seaboard of the Wilderness." He looked to Gerry, "I'd assume that our guide is leading us in the direction we need to go to get around the site."

The Sergeant stood there while they debated behind him. He seemed to be considering which way to travel after motioning his head towards the trio behind him. After a few moments of debating, he starting to lower his backpack and Nelsion followed suit. Looking to Linda, Gerry and Nelsion he made a motion with his head. "Go ahead and take a rest. I'd assume that Mr. Lantern has additional supplies like I do."

Samuel dug through his pack after making sure his automatic rifle was properly maintained to his side and wouldn't slip. He grabbed two rations, both with water pouches and sporks to mix the food inside, handing them to Linda and Gerry respectfully. He maintained a crouching position while Nelsion preferred to sit, grabbing a ration form his pack. Nelsion gazed at Linda and Gerry, "You need some more water?"

Linda shook her head. “No thank you, we have plenty.”

“I’m not hungry, but thank you for the kind offer Nielson.” Gerry said quietly before stuffing the water pack into his backpack, he removed a thermos instead and unscrewed the top before taking a swig of the liquid inside, he replaced the cap quickly and wiped his mouth before any of the dark red liquid ran down his chin.

He sighed quietly and closed his eyes, crossing his legs slightly as he let the blood seep into his system, it was the only real warmth he felt at times, despite lying next to Linda most days and nights. He breathed quietly, letting the three nearby heartbeats wash into his vision slowly, three red lights near to him.

The forest was just darkness around him, slowly merging and changing shapes. Flickers of light around them showed various energies and life itself.

The world turned gently around him as he sat there, in the relative quiet, then he felt it like a shockwave through the woods as, almost unheard there was a roar, a sound that smashed through his vision like a golden shockwave, he opened his eyes suddenly and clutched his chest, his eyes now changed from their golden hue to one of red.

Linda stopped and looked at Gerry for a minute before she jumped up and helped cover his eyes. “Uh, he…” she started before she came up with an excuse. “Has a slight heart condition. I thought you took your medication, dear.” She hissed quietly at him was “What’s wrong?”

“Something in the woods.” Gerry murmured quietly. “Tried to provoke the predator in me.”

Nelsion Lantern quietly went into a world of his own. The break was refreshing for him, noticing that Gerry had already started to benefit from it. Slowly he allowed himself to dwell on his thoughts. Eating a ration helped to ease his mind about every word crossing through his mind, eventually reaching a point where nothing remained but his will and that of his body. He casually gazed upward noting that it was already midday. The sun's warmth gave him strength as he closed his eyes to enjoy the sounds and feelings of the forest around him.

He entered a mild trance, embracing internal feelings and emotions as his mind explored his surroundings. Every sound gave an image of something familiar and comforting. He felt himself able to manipulate the energies of his body, extending them outward to encompass an area of the forest where he could clearly hear the sounds. He felt life and joy flow through his being, his body taking the short reprieve to its full advantage by loosing tension's experienced by the long hiking. His consciousness began to take to its own, allowing Nelsion to feel as if he was one with his surroundings.

The dream of his earlier meditation came back to him in short bursts of sights and sounds allowing him to dwell on the many meanings it held. As he did so, his trance entered a stage where he could feel the pulses of life around him, every creature not escaping his notice. It was a peaceful experience, something he needed. It also opened his mind to other thoughts, other places, and eventually to something entirely foreign to his mind. The pain started as a mild nudge against his thoughts, then eventually grew to a headache. Nelsion didn't take notice that it could possibly be an intrusion of his privacy, as he had never experienced anything like it before. Theories began to form of why it was happening and what could potentially be causing it. Before he could guess that someone, or something else could be the originator of the pain he was forced into a full-blown trance as all breathing ceased for a few seconds.

A bright flash encompassed his vision as Nelsion stood in the midst of tree's. The surroundings became clearer over the passing of a few seconds, Nelsion gazing around him to get a grip at where he was. He recognized the general area from the GPS map on his PDA. It was a few miles north of where he was currently. Disbelief took hold as he realized that he was actually there, or felt as if he was. The bright sun above was blocked out by the dense forest, only shades of light casting a gentle picture of where he stood. He felt dead leaves underneath him. He heard a gentle breeze graze the tree-tops above. He saw nothing around him but more forest and leaves. No sounds of nature came to him.

A sudden burst of something fast caught the corner of his eye. By the time he reacted the figure had vanished. Turning around slowly in circles he got a good idea of the location before him. He noticed then that nothing was here expect him and nature, and a very real feeling he was being watched. He tried to concentrate on where he believed he was being watched from. His mind directed him towards a set of two large tree's wherein a dark space stood between them. Slowly he dared to venture closer, each step producing the loudest crunching of leaves he had ever heard.

Two red orbs suddenly came to being in the darkness between the large trees. He noted it was about seven to eight feet off the ground, the orb's having what seemed to be a dark slitted area going upwards between each. Nelsions entire body started to shiver as if a sudden coldness had enveloped him. Foreign, unknown, never before felt by his mind or body. The grip was sudden around his mind, swearing up and down that he saw the orbs blink like eyes. He felt the urge to move back, his body not responding to his will. The darkness coming closer and closer at a fast pace, Nelsion noticing a figure out of the darkness about the same height as he assumed before.

He wanted to move, everything inside him telling him to run for his life. The grip was strong on his mind, Nelsion realizing it came from that figure. Because of the grip, he couldn't move. Because the figure came closer, Nelsion realized the thing willed the grip upon him. All too late, he realized suddenly, as two rows of razor sharp teeth opened to reveal a predatory species he couldn't identify in a thousand years. Before he could get a good image of the figure, so clear in the sudden burst of sunlight around him, the jaws shot forth and took up his sight. Pain coursed through his entire being.

Then he was jerked awake, breathing heavily as he realized it was a vision. He didn't mean to go so deep into meditation like that. Gaining his surroundings again he realized Gerry's eyes covered by Linda's hand. Assuming something was wrong, forcing himself to at least kneel on one knee, he looked worryingly towards the two. "Is everything alright?"

“He’ll be fine in a moment” Linda said quietly, moving to block Nielson’s view as she carefully took her hand off of Gerry’s eyes and looked at them, they were still rimmed red, but their golden hue was at least returning.

“He, uh, has a weird eye condition, it means he can’t be exposed to light when it happens.” Linda said, covering for him almost immediately. Well it wasn’t like she could just say ‘yeah, don’t mind him, he’s a vampire.’ could she?

“Yeah.” Gerry said quietly as he rubbed his chest and took a deep breath before looking at Nielson, the red rings around his pupils still blatant in the differing light. “You ok? You seemed to space out quite a bit there.” He said this without properly realising he couldn’t see him at that point and seemed to stiffen ever so slightly at the realisation.

The very real sound of roaring came now from the forest around them, which slowly broke up into the sound of rotor blades as another Hind thundered over them, kicking up some dust and twigs before it vanished again, leaving the odd silence of the forest around them. Which was made it unusual. It was actual silence. No birds or even small insects seemed to be nearby. Linda and Gerry looked at each other with a slight frown before looking to the MP.

"Yea, I'm alright."

Nelsion didn't take note of anything else besides swiftly gazing towards the Sergeant. Samuel Keller had been busy with a crouched stance pointing his rifle towards where the sound of the roaring had come from. He had placed himself between the forest and the three people behind him, just in case whatever it was decided to have someone for lunch. His expression was calm, mind concentrated towards the forest across the dirt road. He didn't even look up as the Gunship flew over, body trained in a position of readiness for whatever emerged from the forest.

Ever so slowly he began to walk sideways to better place himself as a guard for Nelsion and the other two. Standing, he kept his automatic rifle trained in the general direction previously believed to be the originator of the sound. Minutes past by and nothing else was heard, eventually lowering the rifle and turning sideways so he could easily react if the forest gave any surprises. He scanned the three, noting that Gerry seemed to be having some trouble. Samuel made eye contact with Nelsion giving a slow nod of assurance, then looked to Linda finding her over Gerry. Nothing seemed out of order. He heard Nelsion start to studder his speech about something, gazing down to see Nelsion pointing directly behind his own general direction.

Samuel slowly gazed upward with his head, raising his rifle as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He felt a sudden burst of fear as he heard a soft rumbling to his other side. His eyes started to go wide, reacting to turn in that direction. Everything went blurry for a few seconds as his motion instantly came to a halt and he was pushed violently to the ground for a few meters. He slammed hard against the ground, rolling several times, eventually stopping as he a tree stopped him. His chest hurt, gazing at his hands to realize his weapon had been taken from him. Samuel looked back in the direction at where he stood previously to find the last person he'd expect to see in a lifetime.

Standing right above Nelsion with the M-16 pointed directly at his forehead was an individual in a General's uniform. He stood about six feet, gray hair dominate with an aged expression on his face. His eye's were unusually red, but recognizably human. Nelsion had his hands up as the man motioned the rifle as if to order Nelsion to stand. When he did, the rifle was motioned to the side, Nelsion complying by slowly walking sideways away from Linda and Gerry. His eye's shifted from the two to the man, breathing shallow, his face pale white.

The man turned his attention to Linda and Gerry now, holding the weapon with both hands without pointing it in their direction. He tilted his head towards Gerry, then observed Linda for a few seconds. His attention returned to Samuel for a brief moment, then gazed over Nelsion. His eyes turned from red to normal hazel, looking at the four once more as Samuel stood slowly in disbelief. The man nodded slowly towards Samuel, whom didn't react immediately but eventually gave what looked like a salute of some sorts. Satisfied, the man started walking back, giving himself a good angle of all four, speaking. His voice was aged, a mixture of Russian and English.

"It isn't safe in this area," he said with a raised eyebrow towards Gerry, "You just might get hurt."

Somewhere in the Drekamythian Wilderness

In the aged recess of a dark cave a figure stood over a pool of bright liquid. Containing the liquid was a rock formation, circular in construction and having an obviously rocky texture. The floor around it was best described as a mixture of clay and rock with mounds of dirt here and there. The only light coming from the Liquid contained within the rock formation. Barely any of the figures features came into the light of the liquid as he stood over it in observance of something. A brownish cloak hiding his natural form, flowing by some breeze created in a windless cave that surrounded him. The atmosphere in the cave could be best described as warm with high humidity. The figure looking towards the entrance to its cave as a large thud impacted.

After a moment it looked back into the liquid, extending an arm as the cloak revealed a claw to slosh the liquid around. Silent hisses in an ancient language came from the figure as he retracted the claw back into the cloak. The darkness of the hood revealing one blue orb shining brightly down at the liquid as an image came into view. Surprisingly, it was an image of the burnt area where military-style tents and soldiers were currently. Only one gunship remained on the ground, the figure merely hissing again to call away the image as it turned away from the rock formation and headed towards the cave exit. An unnatural walk made the figure seem less human than the cloak revealed it as, a hint of perhaps a tail dragging behind the cloak evident on the dirt below.

When the sunlight finally hit the figure, a covered arm reached up to hide the hood from the light. For a few moments, the figure stood this way. Slowly he lowered the arm, gazing down at the forest from the mountain where its cave resided. A glitter of reddish color came from the darkness of the hood, mixed with the bluish orb that surveyed below. The figure looking to his side slowly as the head of a massive reptilian beast came into view. The figures hand reached out from the protection of the cloak, revealing scaled skin and claws at the end of aged fingers. It proceeded to pet between the beasts nostrils, as the head was as large as the figure. A soft murring sound came from the beast, the Figure obviously pleased at this response as he lowered his hand and went back to observing the forest. Silent words were exchanged from beast to figure, hissing and growling between detached sentences and unknown words.

Finally a peaceful quiet came over the two. The beasts body easily observed as it curled slowly around itself on the large rocky outcropping. Massive wings folded to large-scaled sides of brownish-clay. Huge fore and hind claws curling into the bulk as the massive reptilian eyes closed. The large chest heaving gently with slow breaths as it napped. The figure watching the beast for a moment, musing over something, then slowly sitting as the cloak continued to hide the frame beneath. He seemed to achieve a meditative position, hands on hidden knee's, elongated head lowered, and the blue orb disappearing. Eventually the figures breathing matched that of the beasts, and the two seemed to slumber in unison. The figure pondering on how to proceed next with its plans.

“I can take care of myself.” Gerry said quietly as he stood, and pulled the thin cloth from the backpack, showing the long katana-like sword in a sheath.

“That’s all I really need around here.” He said before folding the cloth up and tucked it into his jacket, the blade glinting slightly in a ray of light from the trees. Gerry rubbed his temple again as he looked up at the officer nearby.

“But I will take heed of your words and move away from here, if you do not wish for us to see what is going on, even though you’re blatantly a high-ranking officer wandering around a forest that’s a survivalists tourist trap.” He smiled slightly, before looking to Linda, who had simply watched the exchange quietly and warily.

“We’ll head back to our campsite, I think.” She said suddenly. “Get out of the way of the military for the time being, best option for everyone, right?” she looked around. “We can kick back, relax have a drink or two and wait for the military to move on, then go wandering where we like, right?”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Gerry said after a moment and a slight smile. “You with us Nielson?”

Nelsion slowly crept over to where Linda and Gerry stood, preferring Gerry over the obviously inhuman General. What he saw definitely wasn't that man, but he was too afraid to comment on that right now. Having a gun pointed at your head was a frightening ordeal, especially when the person in question masqueraded as someone of importance and protection. On the way he retrieved his backpack and supplies, watching as Samuel continued to stand in disbelief at the shocking ordeal that had just taken place. "I'm with you," he finally said as he casually stood to the side of Gerry, "Let's get out of here."

The man looked at Nelsion the entire time he retrieved his pack and went to the side of Gerry, observing him as if noticing prey. He then uttered a low growl, turning to Samuel as the Sergeant finally got his nerve and approached him. He returned the Sergeant's weapon, speaking in a different language to the Sergeant. Nelsion understood it, eye's widening for a second, then briefly taking a step back as he started to head towards where Gerry's camper was supposedly at. Samuel only nodded during the exchange, giving the man a glare of hatred for some reason as he walked past, pushing his shoulder against the man's in a obvious display of disapproval. The man swiftly turned around, but Samuel was on the ball and pointed the rifle at the man.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Samuel said to the man calmly.

For the longest moment the two stood there. Samuel inches away from pulling the trigger as the man attempted to take a step closer, then finally backed off with both arms spread. "As you wish," the man replied. Calmly the man walked backwards, turning around as he started to walk down the path. Samuel caught up with Nelsion and others in a hurry, looking at the three. "Come on," he said with a hint of fright in his voice, "Let's get out of here."

Nelsion looked to Samuel for a brief second, Samuel returning the look as he nodded back. Satisfied, Nelsion gave a sigh of relief, taking one last look at the man whom continued to walk down the path the other way without looking back at the four. As they started walking the other way, Nelsion came close to Samuel. "You don't actually believe he's him, do you?" Samuel shook his head, "The Chief General is supposed to be in the Anagonian Province right now. That definitely wasn't him." He looked at Nelsion, "He never points at gun at civilians for any reason."

"Who do you think it was?" Nelsion asked. Samuel shrugged, "I have no clue. Probably something that was the reason for the forest fire. Who knows."

OOC: Joint Addition to RP by Midlonia and me over MSN, edited for NS

“Not exactly some of the weirdest stuff I’ve seen.” Gerry said with a wave of his arm for a moment before he headed down the track towards the RV, storming off ahead a little from Linda and Nielson. “Uh, Nelsion. How open minded do you think you are?” Linda said with a slightly concerned look on her face as she watched Gerry storm off, jump down the slight hollow to the RV and flinging open the door.

Samuel tracked Gerry as he stormed off, shrugging to take point and keep an eye on the three. Nelsion looked over to Linda as he matched pace with her, shrugging a bit. "After what I've seen I'm very open minded. Hell, my meditations are full of visions, so nothing can surprise me anymore." He sighed, gently readjusting his backpack. Linda gritted her teeth for a moment as she heard the clashing and clanking of some bottles from the RV followed by Gerry storming back out and throwing the dark red bottle back as he drank. “So, if I were to tell you Gerry was a Vampire you wouldn’t try to kill him?” she said with a raised eyebrow as the one bottle was soon replaced with a second. Nelsion stopped his movement, his eyes distant for a moment as Samuel observed Gerry's display of emotion. For a long while he stood like that, considering something, finally looking at Gerry then to Linda. He had a smile on his face, "No, I wouldn't. Anagonia has a lot of surprises of its own that make citizens aware of Foreign peoples species."

“Well, that’s a relief.” Linda said with a slight smile before looking at Gerry and frowning. “You’re going to run out of those.” she said sternly. Gerry looked at her, his eyes red again and just hissed, a long slow sound that cut through everything around them as his fangs were bared. Linda just slapped him hard across the face. “You do not do that to me, understood?” She shouted at him furiously before snatching the bottle from him and putting it down on the small table outside the RV. “You only have three of those left and I sure as hell won’t give anything to you in that state, understood!” Gerry almost hissed again, but instead went inside the RV and shut the door behind him, the curtains nearby were rapidly drawn, blocking the light out to the inside. Linda put a hand to her temple and sighed , frustrated. “Sorry, he can be difficult.”

Samuel watched the display with detached interest. He stood a good distance from the RV at attention, observing the surroundings as he held his rifle firmly. He didn't seem at all frightened or shock by Gerry's outbursts, merely acting as if it was a natural display for someone in Anagonia. Nelsion, however, went wide-eyed for a moment as he looked to Linda in disbelief. He shook his head, gently patting her on the shoulder. "I've never really seen a vampire, in all honesty. I'd imagine living with him can be extremely difficult." He looked back at the camper, then at Linda again. "Where does he get blood from anyway? Was it in those containers?"

“That's Complex." Linda replied, "There’s a lot of Vampires in The Greater Kingdom, er, Midlonia.” Linda said with a sigh. “To stop them all going crazy, Vampires are given a flat ration of blood per month. They can supplement it with blood from willing people if they so wish.” She pulled her top down slightly to show two puncture marks on her neck before covering them back up. “It keeps everyone happy-ish and they’re permitted to turn willing people too, but can’t do it to unwilling victims due to it being like, well. Rape and murder.”

"Ah," Nelsion nodded. "Kinda like Anagonia. Drekamythian's are warrior's by heart. If we didn't have fighting arena's we'd be pillaging every province around." He chuckled jokingly, sighing as he looked down. "Although I must admit what I just saw was something entirely new to me." He gazed back, the figure of the man gone from sight, looking back at the RV a second later. “He’s sleeping off his blood lust, don’t worry about him.” Linda said before getting the ration pack Nielson had given her earlier out and sitting down at the small table. “Hey, sergeant! Want to join us?” She called to the MP still some way away. “You look like you could use a drink and a bite to eat.” Samuel looked to Linda as he called out, looking around one more time for something. He holstered his rifle across his shoulder with the strap of the weapon, then headed over to the small table finding a seat as he set down his pack to the side. He gave a smile, "After what happened earlier I believe something good to eat would be nice. Thank you." Nelsion gave a chuckle as he sat across from Linda, setting his pack down. Both Samuel and Nelsion grabbed a ration pack, mixing the insides after opening, and proceeding to take a few bites as they grabbed their water bottles.

“I’d have made something fresh for us all, but you know…” Linda said with a slightly weak smile as she took a bite, winced slightly and ate again anyway. “It’s kind of worrying seeing him like that, you know. Just before that… lizard thing appeared he said something was trying to ‘release the predator inside’ or something.” Samuel gazed at Linda for a moment, Nelsion looking to Samuel, and then both returning to eating for a second before Nelsion cleared his throat after drinking some of his water. "I had a vision about a reptilian creature," he said after gulping the water down. "It tried to eat me or something." Samuel gazed at Nelsion and Linda, obviously confused. "What are you two talking about? That was just some guy disguised as the Chief General."

“So, Mister military man.” Linda said looking to Samuel and pointing at him with her fork. “Why exactly is the military running around stopping people going through land that has been slightly burnt if there’s nothing going on but people messing around dressed up as Generals?”

Samuel took another bite from his ration before speaking. "Really we don't know what's going on either." He sighed, "At first the Ranger's responded to what they described as a forest fire." He took a sip of his water, "Then somehow my unit got involved, stating that possible a foreign military force had staged a landing of some sort." He shrugged, "That's about all I know."

Drekamythian Wilderness - Ground Zero

Oscar Vladinchi stood in one of the make-shift tents that was constructed after the HIND's unloaded the troops and supplies. Before him was a folding table with a personal laptop and map of the region. He was alone in the tent, sitting in a folding chair and typing something up on the laptop. His encounter earlier with the soldier and the three tourists to the wilderness had not gone to plan. He was wanting the Sergeant to lead the tourists out from the Wilderness for the upcoming conflict. However, being the Peoples Protector, the Soldier ordered his Chief General away. He didn't blame the Sergeant, and merely obeyed the request out of respect. There was no use in fighting amongst your men as it showed horrible leadership skills.

The one thing that bothered him was that the man had seen his true form. Oscar's original trip to the wilderness had been a ritual hunt as per his peoples custom. The places he would go were far outside any places that tourists or civilians would venture. He should have been safe. The collapse of military oversight on behalf of the Wilderness Watch had made turned his hunt into a search. When the individual in question had challenged the Military by basically destroying one of it's listening posts in the Wilderness, Oscar had no choice but to search all around the vicinity. It was an unlucky occurrence that he stumbled on the Sergeant and the civilians he protected. Despite the offset, he had previously gained some intelligence on whom might be involved in the destruction of military property.

He finished his typing, clicking on something on the screen to send the message. Rubbing a hand through his gray hair and sighing heavily, he pondered on what to do next. The civilians he encountered were the last group to round up, next to the fourteen that were in the western edge of the Wilderness. The problem was they were in dangerous territory at this point, and after his first encounter with them he wasn't sure they'd respond to military intervention the same way again. Clasping his hands on the desk for a moment, he decided for a cigar. Fetching one from his backpack on the floor, he lit it, and inhaled heavily. As he exhaled, he pondered on a course of action to prevent this situation from escalating to an all-out confrontation.

The deserts always were a horrible, hot place to Gerry, as his feet sank slightly as he moved up yet another dune and looked around him. The sun beat down and glinted off of the sword strapped to his back as he took out a bottle and drank again, with a gasp of breath he looked around and adjusted the bandanna he wore around his face to stop the dust as it kicked up.

A gust of wind kicked the dust and sand up around him as a figure emerged from the strange twilight that it created, placing a hand on his shoulder was Heruss, leader of the Dark Angels, the former leader of the regiment of vampires, now forming nearly a full corps in it’s own right. The face changed into sand as it reformed into Kristian, the present leader, before changing again into a monster, a screaming visage of laughter, torture, pain and horror all at the same time. It reached out a bony arm to grab hold of his shoulder before suddenly, dream logic made him turn in fear before he was standing in the forest again.

It was silent, quiet, calm… no sound at all, he moved around on the spot quietly as he looked at the silent trees around him.

“What is this?” he said quietly as he turned again and looked about him.

“A dream.” a voice replied quietly from somewhere behind him.

Gerry turned to see nobody, the voice continued from behind him.

“And what is this supposed to tell me?” He replied, this time standing still. Looking slowly to his left and his right as he waiting, breathing slowly.

“That you’re nothing but an animal at heart.” The voice hissed.

Gerry’s eyes shot open suddenly as he sat up in the bed and rubbed his left temple for a moment before standing up again and opening the door, the sunlight was right in his eyes, so his hissed involuntarily before covering his eyes and stepping down out of the RV sat heavily in the seat next to Linda, he rubbed his eyes again before grabbing her hand and kissing it. “Sorry.” he said quietly.

Linda smiled and shook her head. “It’s fine.”

"Hope so, I still feel groggy." he said as he looked at her, one eye red and the other the pale gold, he ran his hand through his hair and ruffled it slightly. "I'll have to stay up tonight, I think you sh-" he looked at the other two who he hadn't realized were there. "Uh, private matter, never mind." He shook his head and looked at the ration packs and wrinkled his nose. "What is that slop you're eating? We've got lots of fresh stuff in the RV... I wouldn't have minded."

"Tastes better than it looks." Linda said as she took a chunk of pork and offered it to Gerry, who bit it and winced.

"Urgh." He said before swallowing it. "Not very nice at all." he shook his head.

Nelsion and Samuel were exchanging brief stories of their adventures within Anagonia when Gerry came out of the RV. They politely acted as if they didn't notice anything unusual about Gerry's eyes, waiting until he finally noticed the two as both gave smiles of welcome. Samuel chuckled at Gerry's observation of the Ration packs, finishing his with the last bite as he tucked the waste into his backpack. Nelsion hadn't finished yet, gaining a chuckle from the comment Gerry gave. They both exchanged amused glances as Linda offered Gerry a taste, hiding a laugh as he obviously was disgusted by it.

"It's the best the military has to offer," Samuel said with a mock grin. "Although personally I'd prefer home-cooked meals." Nelsion nodded, "Any day of the week for me too," he gained a smirk as Nelsion finished his ration and tucked the waste in his backpack as well. "Though," Nelsion said looking at Gerry, "we weren't about to bug you. You seemed in need of rest, so we all shared the next best thing."

For a moment, both Samuel and Nelsion shared a look. They smiled, both looking to Linda and Gerry. "I've got to say I haven't eaten anything 'normal' in a while," said Samuel.

“Me either, actually.” Gerry said as he scratched his chin, then looked at the other two. “So, was that a very unsubtle reference to you both still being hungry?” He grinned a slightly toothier grin that time before looking at Linda. “We still have any of that Beef Casserole left?”

“I think so.” Linda said with a nod after a pause. “Unless you ate it all last night.”

Nelsion and Samuel smiled widely, Samuel speaking first. "My wife hasn't cooked Casserole in two years. I'd love a taste of it!" Nelsion chuckled, noting the last thing Linda said and shrugging, "I know how to make Casserole if you two ate it already."

Gerry chuckled as Linda got up and rattled inside the RV for a short while before producing a sellofame covered bowl with the casserole still inside. “I’ll just warm it up.” She smiled before the hum of a microwave could just be heard.

“You two can stop being a little nervous you know.” he said after a moment. “I’m not going to flip out and try killing you both.”

Nelsion remained quiet, tapping his fingers together on the table. Samuel gazed at Gerry and tilted his head, "Now why do you think I'm nervous about you?"

Samuel chuckled, "I've seen countless species in my lifetime. Hell, my father was in the operation that saved an entire species of animal-like creatures from genocide decades ago."
He shrugged, "I've seen it all, and done it all, so a human being isn't a surprise to me."

Nelsion gazed at Samuel for a moment, realizing he hadn't overheard anything concerning Gerry. He looked at Gerry, shrugging, and smiled. "We have worse creatures here."

“Really, so you have giant lizards the size of office blocks, and things worse than vampires with fast enough reflexes to deflect a few gunshots?” Gerry grinned and chuckled. “It’s refreshing not having to reassure everyone that I’m not going to flip out and kill everyone, especially on my first holiday in… Uh.” He frowned. Well, it’s 595AU, so I’m not sure what year that translates to outside of Midlonia.”

“Oh hush.” Linda said shaking his head at Gerry. “Or do you want me to call you old man again?” she grinned before placing the, now steaming hot, bowl of casserole in front of Nielson and Samuel. “There you go, enjoy!”

Samuel chuckled, "We have elemental Dragons in the Wilderness somewhere, does that count?" Nelsion and him shared a laugh, before Nelsion pinned in. "As for the calender year, it's currently Two-Thousand and Eight Years since the Unification of Anagonia."

Samuel nodded, "Our timeline streams along well with the Scientific standard, so we don't have to worry about mistakes in the region."

Samuel and Nielson looked at the steaming bowl of Casserole, looking around for any plates or forkes. Finally the two decided to take the Sporks from one of their Rations, and Nelsion grabbed something from his backpack. It looked like a frying pan of sorts, and he grabbed one for Samuel. Both exchanged thanks and welcomes, and each grabbing a bit from the bowl, leaving a lot for Gerry and Linda.

“You could have just asked for plates and stuff.” Linda laughed. “Anyway. Nielson what’re you doing out here aside from vacationing? You seemed to space out a bit like Gerry did.” she prodded his temple and looked at Gerry with a smile before kissing his cheek. “Don’t tell me you’re another with the heeby jeebies too?”

"Well," Nelsion said between bites, "I'm here to further my training, basically. Get in touch with nature again to help me." He chuckled, remembering the vision that brought him out here in the first place. Samuel, beside him, remained quiet and ate slowly, listening. Nelsion shrugged as he swallowed more of his meal, "I suppose you can say my meditations reveal things to me. I had a vision of a sky, and when I was laying out before I met you guy's, the skies matched." He smiled faintly, "I was supposed to be here, I guess."

“Ah well. I suppose that’d be fate then.” Gerry said with a chuckle. “We, or rather I chose here simply because our regular holiday places… well. It seems whenever anyone of my kind goes on holiday, our work follows us a little too easily.” He shook his head. “I’d go into examples but you guys aren’t sure about the existence of dragons here, so God knows how you’d react to some of the weird stuff I’ve had to deal with.”

Samuel chuckled at that comment, but said nothing as he continued to eat. Nelsion gazed at him with a smirk, then back at Gerry as he finished his casserole. "I've got to say, after all the things that have happened so far, everything seems to be directing me to something." He tilted his head curiously, "Do you ever get that feeling Gerry?"

“More often than I’d like.” Gerry said with a slight smile. “Like my nice quiet vacation, from the problems I’m now suffering,” he pointed to his eye. “Are making me feel that it’s going to go wrong, and quite badly.”

Samuel finished his casserole, sliding the pan over to Nelsion who nodded in thanks. Nelsion grabbed the pans and looked at Linda, "Got a sink and running water?" Meanwhile, Samuel grinned. "If anything goes badly, I think me and you can handle it well."

“Sure, just in the RV. I’ll give you a hand.” Linda stood up. As they went into the RV Gerry dropped his voice into a slightly low growl.

“What do you know really, Samuel?” he said. “You’re hiding something.”

"I know enough that if I told you, I'd have to arrest you under suspicion." He returned the gaze, a serious expression. "What I can tell you is that something horribly wrong happened to property belonging to the Military. That something is still out there."

“Sounds just about the norm then.” Gerry said as he rubbed his hand against his forehead and then through his hair. “Something very large, breathes fire and probably flies. Also probably has more properties than that because of the ‘heebie jeebies’ as Linda puts it going on with me and Nielson. Hrm?”

Samuel looked at Gerry for a long moment, then sighed as he looked both ways. No one would know, anyway. After what he just encountered, it was their right to know what exactly was going on. He fondled his fingers in a twirl for a bit, biting his upper lip as he thought about the consequences. After a few minutes, he looked up at Gerry. "We think that someones fiddling with the laws of nature, maybe breaking a golden rule of some type of magical force that bonds the Forest." He sighed, "I don't know really, but recently the Dragon's haven't been acting like our peaceful neighbors." He kept his head down, eyes instead looking up to Gerry, "We've had incidents where tourists to the Wilderness have gone missing for days, even months."

“Well that’s just great.” he threw his head back and chuckled, shook his head and hit his hand onto the table flatly. “No rest for the wicked.” he said with another chuckle. “I’m sure my friends would be more than happy to assist with magical stuff like this.”

"Magical?" Samuel shook his head, "There shouldn't be ANY magick involved in any of this. Our treaty specifically states that." Samuel sighed, feeling for his weapon holstered to his back, satisfied it was still there as he casually looked at Gerry again. "Everything about this say's 'impossible'. Recorded history declares that ever since the Unification humans and other sentient species have kept their distance from the lands of the Dragons. Not one case of war in all of recorded history." He opened his hands in a mock display of giving up, "I'm just a grunt, but I have a wife and two kids to worry about, and instead I'm stuck here in the worst possible place."

“Yet there’s dragons running around burning up forests, me and Nielson are getting visions. I’m on the verge of loosing myself to bloodlust that‘s lasted longer than since when I first became a vampire.” he pointed to the red-iris of his eye. “And your Govenor-General is running around snatching weaponry off of you and pointing them at civilians.” He shook his head. “If there wasn’t something magical going on it’d be one hell of a good conspiracy.”

Samuel observed Gerry for a moment, then stood from the table to hold both hands behind his head. He strecthed his arms, exhaling loudly as he paced around a bit. Throwing his hands down he gazed at Gerry, "Well we can't just sit here and expect everything to be peachy keen, you know."

“So what do you propose, Samuel? A little snooping around?” he grinned and chuckled before grabbing his sword and twirling it slightly in his hands. “Or do you now have to go back to your paymasters?”

"Hell I'm going back, they just tried to kill me." He huffed, looking at his weapon, then Gerry. He grinned, grabbing his backpack and situating everything as he held his rifle. "I know where we can follow a lead, probably to the east near the coastal mountains." He looked in that direction, "It's going to be a looong walk."

“How’s the terrain out that way?” Gerry said as a mischievous grin crept across his face. "We have a couple of mountain bikes with us..."

"No shit," he said. Samuel thought for a moment of how he'd accomplish riding a bike with all his gear, then shrugged. "This dirt road should lead us all the way there, with the expection of the few batches of forests along the way." He looked to Gerry, "Bikes could get us half-way at best."

“Half way is better than no way.” Gerry said with a shrug. “You could always drop some of your kit, or is all of it absolutely essential?”

Samuel considered, then took off his backpack. He was trained in the Wilderness and could find plants and bushes that provided the most nutrients. He kept his rifle, standing there. "I believe they'll need this more then me," he said kicking his backpack. "Where's the bikes?"