The Land of Chaos: Part III

Batsu heard them speaking to him, but he couldn't focus on their words. He paused for a brief moment and tried to haul himself up, but the effort was pointless. He was becoming tired from all his struggling and the others were holding him down to the point where it was hard to move. When the blue eyed girl came to him he paused. Red eyes turned grey for a brief moment as she spoke to him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he'd saved her. Why was she here though? Batsu shook his head and then lifted himself up with unbelievable force. He went straight for the girl but paused when he was in reaching distance of her. He could have taken her out, but he could not move for the life of him. "I'm sorry," Batsu said almost silently.

The blue eyed girl just watched the red haired man get up and come over to her, but she didn't move or flinch. Instead, she just watched him walk over, wondering what he was going to do. She tilted her head at his apology. She almost asked why, but instead did what she'd seen some parents do to their children when they were scared. She didn't think that this man was scared, just in pain. Regardless, she moved towards him and wrapped her arms around him. "It'll be okay," she said softly. She'd heard the parents say that too. Though, for them it never was. At least, not for the parents. She had never killed children, but the adults never survived when she'd come across their homes.

Cross nearly fell backwards when Batsu pushed himself up and away from them. Boreas had ended up being pushed to the side, but quickly got up, ready to move again. That was, until he saw Batsu going towards the girl. Both Cross and Boreas seemed equally surprised when they saw the girl hug Batsu, and stayed still. Neither of them knew how to handle a situation like this.

DK and Hunter both found themselves I the ground as Batsu got up. DK felt his heart sink as the winged male went for the girl he'd just saved, but instead of hurting her, Batsu had stopped. When the woman hugged him DK almost gasped, but was scared that noise would cause Batsu to revert back to his less sane side.

Batsu's grey eyes were sad as the woman embraced him, telling him it would be okay. No one had ever done that for him. Instead of embracing her back though, his wings stopped burning and he slowly slid to the floor. He was so tired. Eyes half closed he glanced to the other before they shut completely. Behind him the wings that had once been covered in soft black feathers crumbled, leaving his back bare.

The girl with the flame colored hair slid to her knees with Batsu as he sank to the ground. She wondered if he was okay. Had she hurt him by accident? She slowly pulled away when his wings fell off, glancing curiously at the ground before looking back to him. His eyes had closed. She almost backed away when the other winged male stepped forward and picked the red haired male up after a moment. What was he going to do? She quickly got to her feet and followed them. The raven haired guy was taking her savior into the Unknown. When he'd gotten there, he'd slowly and carefully put the now wingless male onto the ground in front of Silence. All the while the girl stayed behind them, looking between Silence and the red haired man.

Boreas stayed standing until Cross picked Batsu up and took him into the Unknown. At which point, he sat heavily on the ground and turned back into his human form, his head bowed. The sides of his arms were still burned from earlier, but there was something different about the ice chakra. On seemingly random spots on his arms and face his skin was darkened considerably. It wasn't consistent enough to be from Madness and they didn't look like burns. The most noticeable of the spots darkened the right side of his neck all the way up to the side of his face, covering his entire cheek up to the bottom of his eye and next to his nose. His orange eyes were narrowed and he was panting, shivering lightly, though it obviously wasn't because he was cold.

Batsu allowed himself to held by the woman. It was nice to be this close to someone, to feel protected from the ongoing madness. Although he wasn't unconscious, he didn't open his eyes when Cross picked him up. Once he was laid down and Silence approached him, he opened his eyes briefly before passing out completely.

DK didn't go inside. Instead he stayed near Boreas. "Are you okay," he asked. His eyes were wide with worry. "Your skin is turning colors," he replied. The purple haired child didn't understand why everyone was changing. "You're not going to die are you?" Honestly, Boreas was the one DK looked up to the most. He was cool and always there too help out. "It's all my fault you got burned."

Silence knelt down next to Batsu and ran his hand over the smaller being. So much madness had left its mark, but there was nothing Silence could do about it. "He needs rest, but he will be okay. I have withdrawn the remaining madness within him." He looked to Cross. "Come." He beckoned the winged male to him. Then looked at the gates. Boreas needed the madness removed as well, but he was out of range.

Boreas only lifted his head a fraction to look at DK when the kid came over. "I'll be fine," he said quietly. Talking any louder felt like it would be a strain on his throat, and he wasn't sure why. "I'm not going to die. You think something like this could kill me?" Honestly, he wasn't even sure what "this" was. Maybe it was because he'd started melting. Obviously he couldn't melt in human form, but it had certainly left a mark on his skin. "The burns will heal. Don't worry about it." Why was DK so worried about him? He was hardly ever what one would call 'nice' to the kid. Despite his efforts to convince DK that he was fine, he bowed his head again, crossing his arms over his legs and leaning forward. He was tired as hell, and it showed when his eyes started sliding closed. Usually his body felt chilled, and that's how it was supposed to be, but now...now he felt incredibly warm. He didn't like it. Maybe it was possible for him to melt in his human form; it certainly felt like he was melting right now, because he felt warm and he was sweating lightly. That's what happened to things that melted, wasn't it?

Cross gave a small sigh of relief after Silence healed Batsu, glancing once to the girl with the flame-colored hair. Why had she come out? Had Silence told her to? Or had she come out of her own accord? Whatever the case was, he was thankful for her intervention, but decided to keep quiet on the matter. He returned his gaze to the Guardian of the Unknown, nodding when he said that Batsu needed rest, stepping forward once he was told to. The girl, on the other hand, went next to Batsu, kneeling down and sitting on her feet, keeping her gaze on him, only glancing to Silence when the guardian looked out of the Unknown. She wondered if she would have to stay here now.

Silence withdrew the madness from Cross and then looked to the girl near Batsu. "Bring Boreas to me," he told her. When she was gone, he looked to Cross. "You may have your own will, but you are still to protect my daughter." Clearly the guardian hadn't found Cross's little stunt of withdrawing all the madness amusing. He then looked to Batsu before he spoke again. "Leave him here tonight. He'll recover faster in within his own domain. What do you plan on doing with the girl, for she seems to have attached herself to him. Enough that she would embrace him while he was engulfed in fire. Letting him know it was safe despite her lack of understanding of what was occurring." Silence paused. "He saved her and she saved him. Does that not build a bond for social creatures." Black eyes were looking at Cross.

The girl looked up at Silence when he told her to go find Boreas. If he wasn't who he was, she would have told him to get him his-self. Or, tried to tell him, rather. Instead she gave another look to the red haired male and stood up, trotting out of the Unknown at a jog. She looked around at the remaining people and frowned. Who was Boreas? She took another looked around, testing the name noiselessly on her lips so she didn't mess up saying it. "B..Boreas?" she asked, looking around. When one of the people looked at her, she pointed to the Unknown. "Si...uh....Si-l-lence," she sounded out, glancing back towards the Unknown. She wanted to get back to that guy.

Cross watched the girl go out of the Unknown, looking to Silence with a small "thank you" after he withdrew the Madness. The winged male inhaled softly at what he was told. "I'm capable of protecting her," he promised. He wouldn't have let the madness cloud his judgement when it came to Alice. Cross nodded when he was told that Batsu was to stay here. "I think she'll stay with him. It's not really our choice. It's his," he said, looking to Batsu. A small frown passed over Cross's face and his eyes saddened a bit at Silence's question. "I wouldn't know."

Boreas looked up at the girl when she spoke his name. He sighed and tried to get up, but couldn't move too well. Couldn't that girl talk properly? Once he was on his feet, he stumbled forward a step. He wouldn't make it on his own. He looked to DK. "Give me a hand, will you?" he asked quietly.

DK looked at Boreas. He didn't care what the guy said, he felt like this was his fault. He knew Boreas was strong, there was no doubt about that, but the guy has practically been melting. When the girl with flame colored hair showed up he stood up. He still didn't trust her. The purple haired kid looked to Boreas when he asked for help. Nodding he went over and helped the guy to the Unknown. When they were inside the gates, DK stayed at Boreas side until Silence had withdrawn the madness from him.

Before the others had come back in Silence had finished speaking to Cross. "I hope you can keep your word, messenger." The guardian shook his head when Cross became saddened about what he'd said. "Then you have learned nothing from them," he spoke simply. He turned his attention then to Boreas and with ease withdrew the madness. . Now that they were all okay he turned to take his leave. "Well done."

Boreas walked next to DK, using the child for support. His legs felt unbelievably weak. He just wanted to sleep for a long while. He felt only a small bit better when the Madness was withdrawn from him, but his skin remained the same, proving that the splotches had nothing to do with the blackness he'd absorbed from Batsu. He glanced to the girl, who had gone back to sit next to his red haired friend, and nearly bristled. If she hurt him, he'd kill her. It was plain enough to see that the girl still had Madness in her. He'd noticed something...odd, when he'd came upon Cross and Silence, and that was a look on the raven haired male's face that he'd never seen before. It was gone before Boreas could fully register what the emotion was, but it at least let the ice chakra know that the winged being wasn't as emotionless as he tried to be.

Cross's face returned to its blank state when everyone started coming into the Unknown, and he said nothing in response to Silence's statements. How could he learn anything from them? He wasn't around them enough to learn from them. He was starting to think maybe he didn't belong here. Not in the Unknown, but in this plane of existence. Or maybe he just wasn't meant to exist at all. He had Alice to protect, and while that gave him a reason to exist, he wasn't so sure that he was supposed to exist anymore. "Where's Hunter?" he asked plainly, looking between Boreas and DK. He left the girl well enough alone. He didn't see her as a threat anymore.

DK hasn't seen the look on Cross face. He had been keeping an eye on Boreas and Batsu. He looked a bit dismayed when Boreas didn't regain his rightful color. "Your skin, Silence didn't fix you,".He spoke sadly. He then looked towards Cross when the guy asked about Hunter. "He's outside. I think he's coming." As if summoned the brown haired male came through the gates.

Hunter glanced down at Batsu as he came in. "What are we going to do about him," he asked. They had surely done enough fighting for today. They could go home now. He turned to Cross for an answer.

Batsu was sleeping soundly. He was unaware of what was going on around him, nor was he aware of how close the girl he'd saved was to him. If anything he was most in the emptiness of sleep.

Boreas glanced at DK when he said Silence didn't fix him. "That's because this doesn't have anything to do with madness," he said, ruffling the kid's hair lightly. "Stop worrying so much. I said I'll be fine, didn't I?" Boreas only glanced at the brown haired human as he came into the Unknown, and stopped leaning on DK for support. He was sure he could at least stand up on his own. At Hunter's question, the ice chakra turned his orange eyes to Cross as well.

"Silence wants him to stay here. He'll recover faster here." He glanced to the girl and Batsu. He wanted to stay and watch over the two, but he had to get back to Alice. Cross's gaze fell to the ground. "I'll stay here with him, but first I have to go get Alice."

"I'll stay here until you get back," Boreas said simply. "I don't think I could walk back to the village anyways." Aside from that, he was in no mood to be surrounded by humans right now. To him, the Unknown was a much more welcoming place, even with all the madness spreading around.

Hunter nodded as Cross spoke. "Okay. DK you should go with Cross. Remember Fara is at the village to and Boreas might need help coming back." He glanced art the chakra before he spoke again, his question now directed at Cross. "What are you going to do about her?" He asked curiously.

DK stuck his tongue out when Boreas spoke to him and ruffled his hair. "You're messing up my hair." He then looked to Hunter. "I forgot about Fara," he said. Looking up to Boreas he saluted the older male. "I shall keep her company until you return." He then hurried to over to Cross. "Ready when you are."

Boreas frowned, his eyes narrowing a bit when Hunter said that he'd stay because he'd be needing help. "Not from you I won't," he said coldly. Even though he normally did pretty well in controlling his disdain for the human, right now he was tired and was not about to accept help from the likes of him. Going over to the closest tree, the ice chakra sat down heavily. He gave a light smile though, when DK gave him a salute and said he'd keep Fara company. "Tell her I said hi then."

Cross looked towards Batsu and the girl. "I'll leave that up to Batsu. For now I don't think she's going to hurt him."

"And if she does she's getting frozen to a tree," Boreas chimed in with a small grin, that faded the moment the girl shot an angry glare at him. She was kinda scary.

Before an issue could arise between the two, DK stepped forward. "I'll stay," he offered. "That way I can just fly him back," he added quickly. He didn't want anyone else to fight today, because Hunter had looked fairly pissed when Boreas made his statement. Why couldn't they all just get along? The little dragon hurried over to Boreas and took a seat. "Tell Fara we said hi," he told Cross with a smile.

Hunter was pissed. What was the deal with Boreas. That guy had hated him since day one and he didn't know why. He frowned and then turned away without a word and walked out of the Unknown. Had it not been for his promise to Silence he wouldn't be putting up with that guy.

Boreas looked to DK when the kid said that he would stay. He was perfectly fine with that. Flying back would be a lot easier than walking, at least, and he didn't mind getting a ride from the kid. He didn't care much about Hunter being pissed off at him. He gave Cross a small wave and then leaned back against the tree. As soon as Cross left, the ice chakra began coating himself in a thin layer of ice, just to keep cold until they got back. He was hoping that if he tried freezing himself over, he'd stop melting entirely. Although, it would be hard not to fall asleep to the cold. He was so tired.

Cross didn't say anything as Boreas insulted Hunter. Instead, he just walked out after the other male. he'd been planning on flying, but he wouldn't if it was only hunter coming with him. DK could've flown, but Cross wasn't about to carry a full grown man.

Hunter had not stopped walking when he'd made exited the gates. Instead he'd stated for the village. He'd only wanted to stop the madness, but instead of his teammates just getting along, the bastard had only wanted to give him hell. This 'team' was ridiculous. They kid, a guy that hated him, an emotionless weirdo, and a leader that thought he could do it all and nearly ended up killing them in the process. What a brilliant bunch they made.

It was only after the others left did Batsu actually start to stir. His movements were show and when he sat up he didn't speak for some time. "What happened?" It wasn't like he'd forgotten, he just needed time to wake up was all. And that did not take long for he soon realized that his wings were missing. Batsu tried to stand which turned out to be a bad idea. The wingless make felt lighter and without his wings his balance wasn't that great. Batsu decided to remain seated.

Boreas kept his seat, the ice that started surrounding him melting a little bit instead of staying frozen. He wasn't in so great of a mood. He kept his head leaned back against the tree trunk, his eyes closed until he heard Batsu speak. He hadn't even known the guy was awake. "You tried to play hero," he said bluntly. "You feelin okay?"

The flame haired girl looked to Batsu as he woke up, tilting her head a bit, but staying quiet. She looked ready to help him when he stood up, but when he remained seated, she relaxed again.

Batsu blinked when he heard Boreas. He turned towards the other male. Boreas wasn't looking so great. "I wasn't playing hero," he replied shortly. "I was saying someone's life." His gaze momentarily landed on the girl next to him before going back to Boreas. "And I'm fine. Where are the others," he asked. He'd noticed DK was there, but not Cross and Hunter. He hoped he hadn't hurt them. His mind was put at ease when DK remained the situation, although he wasn't too happy about having to stay here overnight. "I'm feeling fine so we can go home," he replied. He stood up feeling a bit off balance but he figured he'd manage. He glanced at his back. "My wings...."

DK blinked when Batsu woke up and spoke amongst himself and Boreas. When the grey eyed male asked about the others, he quickly explained. When Batsu said they could go home he looked to Boreas for a response. If Silence said Batsu should stay over night then shouldn't he listen and not argue? DK looked to the flame haired girl. She sure was sticking to Batsu like glue. Then again he'd been doing the same with Boreas.

Boreas nodded lightly when Batsu said that he was fine. "Ah, you're okay? Good." Forming what should have been a snowball in his hand, he threw it right at Batsu's face, though it melted just a bit along the way, so it ended up being more of a slushball than a snowball. "Dick," he growled, leaning back against the tree with a huff. He didn't say a word as DK explained the situation, rolling his eyes when Batsu said he was fine. "You'll be more fine if you stay here for a night. If you push it, how do you think you'd fare if we ran into something on the way back to the village? You can't even fly. We'd all be screwed, because I can't fight right now either, and it would be all because you're being a stubborn ass." Closing his eyes, Boreas made himself comfortable in the wet ice like it was a warm blanket. He didn't really like getting wet, but he had to deal with it if he wanted to freeze himself over again.

The red haired girl stood up as soon as Batsu did, keeping her eyes only on him as he stood up, to make sure he didn't fall over. But when Boreas decided to catch attitude with the red haired man, she shot him an annoyed glare.

Batsu blinked when he suddenly had a snowball in his face. The grey eyed male sighed. "I deserved that." He knew that eventually he would have to address the situation with this girl, but for the time being he was going to finish his talk with Boreas. Grey eyes looked off to the side when Boreas pointed out that he couldn't fly. "Like I don't know that," he growled lowly. Batsu was edgy for the simple fact that he wasn't sure if his wings would ever return. He sighed and then walked over to the gates. This wasn't how he'd expected things to go, but things happened. "I didn't get a chance to say this before I passed out, but thank you." He turned and looked at the three of them. "All of you."

Boreas kept his eyes closed even as Batsu stated that he deserved it. "Yeah, you did." He wasn't particularly mad at Batsu because the guy had melted him. Actually, he was more pissed off that the guy had tried to off himself right in front of him. He only gave a small huff at Batsu's growling. Despite his annoyance now, the red haired male was one of Boreas's best friends. "Stop being stubborn and just rest, will you?" His opened his eyes halfway to look at Batsu when the guy said thank you. He closed them again after a moment and gave a small shrug. "Hey, what're friends for," he stated simply. Even if Batsu was planning on leaving the Unknown, the ice chakra wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The orange haired girl followed the grey eyed male without a word. She still didn't know what his name was, even though she knew the name of the annoying guy covered in ice. She blushed lightly when Batsu turned around and said thank you. She looked down and was quiet for a moment. "Th...tha-nk you," she sounded out without looking at the one who'd said those words to her first.

DK smiled. "What Boreas said," he replied happily. He'd taken to sitting a bit away from the chakra. It was too cold near Boreas. DK liked the warmth. With a small yawn he leaned against the rock he'd been leaning against. He was a bit tired.

Batsu glanced at Boreas. "If I were tired don't you think I'd be sleep," he stated without any hint of anger. He was just being sarcastic. He looked to the gates. Although the others couldn't see it, there was a barrier preventing him from leaving. His grey gaze finally landed on the woman with orange hair as she spoke a broken thank you. He'd noticed the blush as well. It was foreign to the wingless male because he'd not yet become accustomed to everything that people did, but he was sure it had a deeper meaning. "You're welcome," he said with a small smile. "I'm Batsu by the way." He held his hand out to her. "And you are?"

Boreas only gave a small grunt at Batsu's sarcasm. He was too tired to respond otherwise. He wasn't sure if he could freeze himself over being this exhausted. As his mind started putting itself to sleep, Boreas could feel that his ice was melting more. He couldn't focus on keeping it cold. He turned his head, leaning it against the tree trunk, the darkened skin facing outwards. Screw it, he was going to sleep whether he was melting or not.

The girl kept her gaze to the side, even as Batsu responded. She only looked at him when he gave his name, blinking when he held his hand out. She felt like she was supposed to do something, but she didn't know what. "B..atsu," she said slowly, testing his name out. She blinked, her blue eyes confused at his question. "I...am..?" she asked, her gaze curious, as if he should be the one telling her the answer to that question.

Batsu dropped his hand when the girl didn't tell him her name. Okay, that was not what he'd expected. And the way she'd repeated his name was like she was having some trouble speaking. Batsu wasn't sure what to do about that. Maybe she wasn't human after all. The wingless male decided not to think about it at the time. "What's your name," he tried again. He then looked to Boreas who looked like he was going to sleep. "DK, what happened to Boreas," he asked. He didn't want to mess with the orange chakra anymore than he had.

DK looked to Boreas then to Batsu. "He started melting while fighting you. I thought it was the Madness, but he said that wasn't the case." The little dragon child shrugged. "I thought Silence would help him, but that doesn't seem to be the case either. Boreas is still melting and his skin has been that funny color ever since." He gave a small sigh. "I'm just glad he's still alive."