//I feel like I'm in a dream, but I can't wake up. The kinds of things I've gone through are the types of things I would expect in a dream. If anyone had told me that this is what would really be happening to me, I might have been too rude to supply a laugh in reply.//

EPISODE 5: ARCHER

The sensation might have been something like a newborn entering the world. Such was the sentiment carried by the poor, sore creature exiting the tent. Gustave staggers a few steps, almost dropping from his awkward gait. Only a few days ago, everything he knew made sense. His largest concerns were the attendance of classes and the appeasement of teachers. He worried about tests. He worried about how he was perceived by others. His worries seemed so important to him then. Actually, his worries seemed important to him now. However, it was the worries themselves that had changed a great deal. Kneeling at the foot of a tree, he stretches out a hand, letting it touch a golden strand gently waving from the petal of a Dellia. Before now, he'd only seen them in books. Such a flower in an of itself, always having only four petals laced with golden strands, was unbelievable enough. Yet, here it was, as real and luxurious a plant as ever graced the earth. With some quiet anticipation, he begins to reach for the base of the flower...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The voice was male, and close.

Gustave blinks, jerking back. His body, unprepared for such a movement, fails him, and he finds himself on his backside, looking around for the source of his fright.

The voice speaks again, "Uh...sorry about that. Up here."

The student looks up, finding a sight so shocking to his system that he can only stare.

There, in the branches of the tree in front of which he sat, was a man. Not just any man, but a man with an unmistakable set of features. Most prominent to the features of this man was his ears, which were long, and pointed. The next most captivating feature was his right eye, which seemed to glow a hue of blue that one could see even in absolute darkness. The other eye, curiously enough, was covered by a simple brown eyepatch. The man himself seemed tall, either by effect of his perch in the tree or by actual genetics, and he was dressed in well-managed and polished brown leathers. Fastened to him by metal loops and designs were many items: A dagger, a Longbow which had clearly seen some use, a large quiver of arrows, a lute, and several assorted satchels of varied sizes and distinctions. The long and flowing blond hair of the man gave illusions to his gender. But for the sound of his voice and certain other feminine features sorily lacking to his build, one may have thought the man a member of the opposing faction. Any woman would have told you the man was considerably attractive. Gustave however lacked such sensibilities of perception in terms of male appearance, and was more taken at the moment with the ears of the creature perched before him. These features, you see were not those of a human, but of a Zephyr.

The Zephyr, as Gustave had read, were a race of people who once were believed to be human. It was believed that through a sheer and absolute devotion to nature, they were blessed by it and granted magics even Mages could not use. As a result of this boon, their bodies changed. Their eyes were sharper and able to sustain perfect vision even in darkness, their ears could hear the footsteps of an approaching creature far before it could be seen, and they were graced with a lithe agility and speed that allowed them to effortlessly do things which any human could only do with some degree of extreme training in the arts of acrobatics. Considered feared hunters, they could easily outrun a human if so inclined, if such a need even came to light given their ability with thrown and projectile weapons of nearly any type.

The other thing that Gustave had read in regard to these creatures was also what he found the most disconcerting to his already strained situation. It was also stated that they rarely travelled any amount of distance from the Continent of Tuskatorae, a land only slightly smaller than the Continent of Varash, from which the fledgling mage hailed. The two continents, you see, are nearly equidistant from the Isle of Yasch, and as such, it would be going considerably out of the way for a Zephyr. While it was true that the Isle of Yasch was a neutral ground between the two races, Gustave had only ever heard of a few human settlements upon the place.

The Zephyr blinks, looking at Gustave, "Well, kinda surprised to see you walking around already. I figured you were just gonna gradually stop moving. I didn't even think it was a good idea to move you, would have been easier to bury you right were you were. But that's why I don't call the shots, eh?"

Gustave rubs the back of his neck, "Uh...sorry...uh...."

The Zephyr smiles, "Aiden. That's my name."

The youth blinks, "Oh! Right... Gustave."

Aiden grins, "So I heard." He glances at the Dellia below, "You know, they say it's bad luck if you pick one of those."

Gustave looks at the flower, then nods, "Oh...I...must have forgotten."

Aiden leans back in the branches of the tree, reclining, "Well, I wouldn't have minded, but it seems like you've had enough bad luck as it is."

Gustave manages a weak laugh, "I'd have to agree..."

Aiden glances at the tent, "Wish it had been me."

The student blinks, "Huh?"

The Zephyr shakes his head, looking to Gustave, "Er! Uh... nothing. So, what brings you all the way out here?"

Gustave slowly starts to stand up, "I'm...not entirely certain."

Aiden chuckles, "Well at least you remember your name. Gotta start somewhere. I'm pestering you now. I'll stop. Anyway, welcome to our ragtag group of mysterious travellers!"

Gustave quirks a brow. It was one thing for a group to actually be what the Zephyr just said, it was another for the creature to actually SAY it that way. Then again, it made about as much sense as everything else that had recently happened to the almost mage, so he shook it off before responding, "There are more of you?"

The Zephyr smiles, "Two. One is creeping up behind you right now, actually."

Gustave freezes, hearing a low, malevolent hissing noise meshed with an unnerving growl...