The Land of Chaos: Part III

"Really?" Alice chirped happily. "It's really far away though," she warned him. Her eyes brightened when he said they could all go. "We can? That would be great! We ca-huh?" Alice stopped, blinking when she realized that Saionna had stopped walking. She'd only noticed because she'd been holding onto the older woman's hand as they'd walked, and when Saionna had stopped, her hand had been pulled out of Alice's. "What wrong Saionna?" she asked, stopping to look at the flame haired lady. Letting go of Batsu's hand, she went over to Saionna and looked up at her. Her bright blue eyes were looking around, as if she were looking for something. All of the sudden, she started walking forward on her own, before starting into a jog, looking as if she was searching fr something as she went.

Batsu nodded. "I don't mind distance. I can fly pretty fast, once my wings grow back that is." His grey eyes lost their kindness for a bit when he noticed Saionna had stopped. When Alice asked the girl what was wrong, Batsu started towards the blue eyed female. His eyes widened when Saionna suddenly took off. "Saionna, wait!" He looked to Alice and Fara. "Stay here and don't move." He then took off after Saionna. It would have been so much easier if he could fly. "Saionna," he called after the girl who'd taken off. Why'd she suddenly take off like that and where is she going?

Alice nodded, catching Fara in her hands as the fairy flew over to her when Batsu took off. She wondered what was wrong with Saionna.

When the flame haired girl ran off, she looked around, a certain sense she couldn't explain guiding her way. She knew she was looking for something, something that was how she used to be. Something about the scent of it was enticing. She wanted it. Upon getting closer to the scent, she saw, with disappointment, that the creature was terribly ugly. In that very instant, she lost interest, giving a sigh and coming to a stop. Funny enough, the creature, even though it saw Saionna, didn't attack her, and only gave a low growl.

Batsu had picked up the sense of Madness the longer he followed Saionna. For a moment he thought that it was the girl, but then he realized that this was not coming from her, but something much larger, and as he arrived, much uglier as well. "Saionna, come here," he spoke calmly as he moved between her and the creature. He narrowed his eyes. It was huge and fighting it would lead to no good, but it was too close to the house and too dangerous to just let go. Slowly Batsu moved to the other side, opposite of where Alice and Fara would be waiting. Grey eyes focused, Batsu started for the creature at full speed. He'd have to do this fast because without wings, he'd be damn near defenseless.

Saionna only shrugged and walked over to Batsu when he told her to come here, seemingly unphased by the large creature that snarled at her. In fact, she even made a face at it before turning to walk towards the red haired male. That only seemed to rile the creature up more. She didn't think it was a very big problem, so she'd left it alone, but Batsu seemed to think otherwise. She watched him charge at the creature, taking out the dagger that hung by her hip and thumbing it absently, as if the fight in front of her wasn't even happening. She held her pinky in the hole in the middle of the short weapon, and her other fingers were placed mostly on the shorter end, from which a light blue mist escaped. She had always wondered if those were the souls of those whose lives she'd taken.

The terrible creature, on the other hand, was nowhere near as calm, and charged at Batsu as well, its large jaws opening to try to grasp onto Batsu's leg so it could shake him around like a rag doll.

Batsu wasn't too much worried about Saionna for the time being. He'd deal with her later. Right now he was more or less concerned with the creature in front of him. If he got caught, it was all over. When the creature charged him, Batsu was quick on his feet. He formed a wall of fire between him and the creatures mouth and then stuck his hand straight through the flames, hoping that the creature had been momentarily blinded, and then latched on to draw out the Madness.

Startled by the sudden flames, the large eared creature reared up and shrieked, its front feet pounding heavily on the ground, sending shock waves coursing through the ground around it. Granted, the sudden light had still blinded it for a few moments, allowing Batsu his chance to latch on.

Saionna, while the fight was going on had been running her finger along the edge of the blade. So when the ground suddenly shook under her feet, she stumbled, the blade cutting across her finger, drawing a small yelp of surprise from her. It hadn't much hurt, but it had still pissed her off, drawing a growl from her. The blue mist that had been trailing from her dagger turned into a solid whip that wrapped around the creature's thick neck once she cracked it, and upon the second movement, the thing's head was pulled onto the ground with a audible crash.

Batsu grabbed hold of the creature with outside hesitation. Grey eyes narrowed as he pulled out the madness, consuming it into his own body. For a moment he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to keep his balance with the thing moving around like it was, shrieking as though it had seen a mouse. Batsu didn't remember where he'd heard how elephants were scared of mice, but it was an odd thing indeed. Such a large creature being afraid of something so small. Batsu gave a huff. Digging his nails in, he kept his grip firm, until the thing suddenly crashed to the ground knocking him off. Batsu found himself laying on his back starring up at the sky. What the hell? He sat up and sighed when he saw what was going on. Honestly he wasn't sure if Saionna was trying to help or reverting back to her old ways. Whichever it was he'd better take advantage. Walking over to the larger being he placed his hand on it's head and withdrew the Madness until it was back to normal. He then looked to Saionna. "Let it go."

Even with the whip around its neck, the larger creature kept thrashing until the whip was so tight that it could do nothing more than squeal frailly. When it was turned into a smaller state after all the Madness was pulled from it, it was still quite large, though considerably less ugly, with large shining black eyes and small fangs that looked almost like a mouse's. In fact, Saionna started thinking that this form was much cuter. She liked its eyes. The whispering in her mind grew louder as she thought this, and the whip tightened even more around the thing's neck until Batsu spoke to her, causing the creature to squirm and squeak almost noiselessly. Blinking her bright blue eyes, Saionna tilted her head in confusion, then looked back to the smaller elephant-like creature. She wanted its eyes. Without releasing the whip, she looked back to Batsu. "Why?" She didn't seem extremely hostile anymore, but her tone almost sounded like that of a defiant child who was being told to give up a piece of candy.

Batsu who was still 'digesting' the Madness that he'd just withdrawn from the creature, so when Saionna didn't release the creature when he'd asked and then chose to ask why in a defiant tone he nearly bristled. "Because I said let it go," he said with an edge to his voice. "It's no longer a danger and we need to take it to the Unknown, so let it go." He didn't feel like arguing with her. "Don't forget Fara and Alice are waiting for us," he said mildly. The grey eyed male was looking rather annoyed. He wasn't sure why so little madness was affecting him in such a way, but it was making him a bit worried. He wanted to get rid of it before something happened.

Saionna nearly huffed when Batsu said because he'd said so, and looked back to the little elephant. She wanted its eyes. She would have its eyes. Its little ears were kind of cute too. Maybe she would take those as well. The whispering in her head only became louder, urging her to do it. And she listened, tightening her grip on the creature until it had fallen unconscious. "No." She couldn't explain it to Batsu, so maybe she could just show him what she wanted of this creature. Showing him would be enough. "Watch," she mumbled, hoping he would let her continue so that she could try to explain to him that she was only trying to get the pretty parts of this little creature.

Batsu blinked in disbelief when Saionna kept tightening her grip until the creature had fallen unconscious. The grey eyed male narrowed his eyes and then formed a ball of fire in his right hand when Saionna told him no and then told him to watch. He would not sit her and watch her destroy this creature. He sent the fireball at her whip and then moved towards her. A second fireball formed in his hand once he was close to her. "If you don't let it go, I'm going to make you let it go and when I do, you're not going to like me very much."

Saionna's whip was yanked back away from the creature when the fireball hit it, and she gave a small yelp of surprise, as if the whip being hit had somehow hurt her. Almost as soon as Batsu had spoke, Saionna's eyes widened slightly and her whip evaporated into the same blue smoke as before. She kept her dagger in her hand, but it didn't seem like she was going to try and use it. Her expression seemed as if she felt she'd been seriously misunderstood in this situation, and she took a step back from Batsu, glancing at the small creature. What had she done wrong? She didn't understand. No, it wasn't her that didn't understand, it was Batsu, and she had no way of making him understand. But...he seemed mad at her. Holding her dagger to her chest like a teddy bear, she cast her gaze down, her eyes flicking up at Batsu before looking quickly back down. "S-so-sorry..."

Batsu let the flame die away when Saionna gave up on trying to kill the creature. His grey eyes had a spark of red in them, but other than that he seemed perfectly fine himself. He turned away from the blue eyed woman and looked to the unconscious elephant-creature. How the hell was he supposed to get this thing back to the Unknown while it was out like a light? He clenched his teeth, frowning when he noticed how sharp they were. Something was seriously wrong. Maybe he'd taken more madness than he'd realized. Whatever the case was, Batsu wasn't going to worry the others about it. Not until he knew exactly what was going on. "Hmm, Saionna, can I trust you to go get Fara and Alice?"

Saionna nodded without a word when Batsu asked if he could trust her to get Alice and Fara. She'd almost wanted to shake her head. He'd gotten really mad at her for no reason and she was rather upset by it. She wasn't going to do anything bad. At least, she didn't think she was. She didn't know exactly what good and bad was. But she did know that it was at least good to stay with Batsu. She didn't know why it was good...only that it was. Turning away with her dagger held to her chest still, she started off to go fetch the two smaller beings. When she returned several minutes later, her dagger was no longer emanating smoke and was hung once more by her side, her white hood pulled over her head. The two children 'spoke' to each other and walked in front of Saionna. Alice had realized very quickly that the older lady didn't want to talk. She smiled and ran over to Batsu. "Is everything okay now?" She looked at the downed creature. "It's not dead, is it?" she asked him curiously. She really had no preconceptions about death and life, so even if it was dead, she believed it wasn't much of a problem. She didn't really think death was a bad thing. Only pain.

Batsu watched Saionna go and then made his way over to the creature. His eyes were kind as he pet the larger being. After a few moments he gave it a nudge in order to wake it up. Of course it was a failed attempt, so he left it alone until Alice came up and asked if it were alive or not. "It's sleeping." He gave the elephant a shove to make it wake up. There was no way he could carry it.

Alice tilted her head and went over to it when Batsu said it was sleeping. "It's really big," she said, petting the creature's head. Fara walked along the length of Alice's arm and up onto the white haired girl's hand, so she could pet it as well. "Was it like that other one in front of the Unknown?" It had been a couple days since then, but she remembered the feeling that the creature in front of the Unknown had given off. It had been sick, Cross had told her. She knew how they were sick, but Cross didn't want to seem to say, even if she knew that he knew that she knew why it was sick.

Saionna stood off to the side, leaning back against a tree. She wanted to explain it to Batsu. That was all she could think of. But she didn't know how to talk to him. Speaking was too hard. She didn't remember a lot of the words, or how to make the sounds. She wondered...she wondered if Silence could help her.

Batsu's grey eyes looked to Alice when she spoke. It took him a brief moment to understand what she meant by was it like the other at the Unknown, but he nodded when he caught on. He wasn't sure if he should explain to her what was wrong with the thing or not. He decided against it. There was no point. Giving the elephant creature another shove he manged to wake it up. "It's time to take you home," he said as he petted the creature. He backed away to give it room to stand. "We're taking it to the Unknown and then heading back to the house." He was hoping they could make it back there before Cross and Hunter came back out. He didn't want to encounter those two while Alice and Fara were under his watch. Stretching his wings lightly he started for the Unknown. His gaze occasionally shifting between Saionna, Alice and Fara, and the creature.

Alice nodded in understanding when Batsu confirmed that this creature and the other one had been the same. She waited for the red haired man to wake the creature up, then followed happily behind him. "Okay! And then we can play hide and go seek, right?" she asked excitedly. She really wanted to play with the two of them, but she could wait until they dropped this larger being off. Once it had been woken up, it followed obediently behind Batsu. Saionna, on the other hand, followed, but stayed behind them all, her gaze on the ground with her white slightly shredded hood still covering her head and her hands wrapped together behind her back. She was starting to wonder if seeing Silence in front of Batsu and Alice and that little fairy was a good idea. Maybe it would be better to make it a surprise. Maybe she'd be able to sneak away later on while everyone was playing around...

Batsu simply nodded. "Yes, we can still play hide and go seek." Even though he was no longer in the mood since the incident with Saionna occurred. He was beginning to wonder if the others were right about her. Saionna was dangerous, no doubt about it, but at the same time, he wanted to give her a chance. He had changed for the better, why couldn't she? Grey eyes glanced towards the woman his thoughts had recently been focused on. She couldn't possibly be more trouble than she was worth, could she?

"Yay!" Alice giggled as she skipped along next to the large creature, occasionally petting its side as they walked. She noticed that they were getting closer to the Unknown after a little while. She loved being by her daddy, and she loved seeing him, but she'd been in the Unknown for so many years before he'd let her go explore the outside world that she now found she only wanted to go into the Unknown when she needed to. She didn't hate it or anything, it was just boring. So this time when they brought the creature back, she'd just wait outside with Saionna. She glanced back at the orange haired woman curiously and fell back to walk with her. "What's wrong Sai?" she asked quietly, tilting her head to look up at the woman's downcast face. That same face blinked in minor surprise at the question before turning embarrassed. Without a word, Saionna looked off to the side, crossing her arms as her face turned a bit red. She hadn't known that either of them had seen the look on her face before.

Batsu was quiet as he walked. There wasn't much to say. The closer they got to the Unknown the more relived he became. He was ready to get rid of this madness and give this creature back its life. When he thought about it, they have made much progress. Maybe not that Boreas could consume madness they could get somewhere. Once at the gates he stopped. "Wait out here." He entered the place were madness originated and then found Silence. The entire process, including getting the madness removed took less than five minutes. Batsu then made his way back outside. He looked at the girls. "Let's play hide and go seek," he said with bright eyes.

Alice waited outside the Unknown with Saionna for Batsu to come back, and tried talking to her during the time they were waiting. She didn't get much of a response, since Saionna seemed rather upset over something. When Batsu came back, the white haired girl smiled at his change in attitude, nodding happily. "Let's go play!" she giggled, jumping happily once before Fara flew over onto Batsu's shoulder for fear of falling off. "Sorry Fara," Alice giggled before starting off back towards the house while skipping.

Batsu followed after Alice with a smile. He looked to Fara. "She's a bit hyper, no?" He looked over to Saionna who was being fairly quiet. He wondered if he should say something to her. Walking over he looked to her. "Hey, listen. I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to upset you, it's just that you can't kill those creatures. They're like you before we helped you. They're sick and I, as well as Cross, and Boreas can help them. You understand," he asked.

Fara nodded when Batsu said that Alice was hyper. She definitely agreed on that one. Saionna, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of Alice right now. She walked with her hands at her sides, her mind wandering. She was having a bit of a conversation in her head with the whispering that was there, but it wouldn't tell her anything useful. It was mostly unintelligible rambling. She looked at Batsu when he spoke to her, her blue eyes a bit sad. She nodded at his question. She didn't really understand, but she couldn't explain to him what she didn't understand, so it was just easier to say that she did understand. She didn't know what she'd done wrong. Why was trying to kill the creatures a bad thing? Why was killing a bad thing? She'd been doing it for a long time now. What was so wrong about it?