Nanna was transfixed by the odd feeling of power, and stayed in a crouched position staring in the direction of the noise. Akani's voice broke the trance, and she didn't need to be told twice. She took off at a sprint, and pulled over a pile of empty wooden food crates as she did. She turned a few feet away and noticed the curious...boy was just standing there. Feeling it unsafe to yell at this point, she hurried back to his side.

What are you doing!? We need to get out of here! I don't have magic, and unless you are hiding something, I don't think you do either. She asked in a hushed voice. She was close enough to touch him now, and had moved against the wall again, resuming her crouched position, ready to spring into action if needed. She knew they had to get away, and she really didn't want to find out what was giving her that tingling feeling all over her body. Her hair stood on end, and her spine felt as if something were crawling down it.

"I--!" He began to protest that he did have access to magic, but it was a moot point; access didn't mean he'd actually do anything. His voice lowered to match Nanna's hushed tone. "I'm observing. But you should not. Shoo shoo." Akani didn't have much of a semblance of an argument, even from his own perspective. He shut his eyes tightly. "Okay, fine, nevermind." He backed away from the wall and shifted back to cat form, stumbling a little before running in the direction Nanna had originally started, careful not to get too far away from the human.

His fur was practically on end. Whoever was using magic, they were likely doing so with violent intentions. The yelling felt more distinct, but less like anger--at least some of that sound was fear. Should be seeing what's going on. Might be able to mitigate some of the damage. The thought was infuriating and futile. Or... maybe not entirely futile. Trying to absorb the energy could actually be good practice.

Akani stutter-stepped to avoid running into a tree. Now was not a good time for getting lost in thoughts; trying to steal energy would be worse.

At his words all Nanna could manage was to sigh and cast him a sideways glance. Really? She shook her head, realizing it was useless,and anyways he was a stranger, and owed him nothing. Why was she protecting him? What did she care? Great, she sounded as lame as he did. She was trained to fight, and more so, to protect. From what she had seen, all he did was run, though she didn't intend to test that fact. He was a shape-shifter after all, who knew what all he had left unsaid? Well other than the obvious, and he wasn't talking.

He seemed to give up, and returned to his smaller form. Without a word she moved to follow him, not wanting to be a sitting duck when the 'thing' got here. She had no idea what it could be, but bad news was a good guess! Just at the thought crossed her mind, there was a bright flash of white light, followed by a cloud of purple smoke. Now I know I'm dreaming! She shouted. Just then Akani stumbled, barely avoiding a near miss with a tree. Nanna wasn't so lucky! She angled, but slammed her left shoulder hard into it, causing her to stumble. Pain shot through her arm, making her slow down. She closed her eyes and took a deep, controlled breath, then let it out slowly. The pain eased enough for her to move. But...when she opened her eyes, something had changed. Namely she now stood in a thickly wooded area, the village no-where to be seen! Did I do that? No, I couldn't...Did they?! She thought, turning as she realized the magic user was still near by. Akani was also there, a few paces ahead. But how? She didn't think Akani had changed the setting, but he also didn't seem bothered, or perhaps he was so focused on running he hadn't noticed? She picked up she speed to keep up, but it was useless, it seemed they were running in circles, not getting anywhere, and not moving away from the magician either. With a sigh she slowed again to a stop. I guess it's better to stand and fight. She mumbled to herself, holding her shoulder, rubbing slightly to try to rub out the soreness.

The first change Akani noticed was the feel of soft ground under his paws. After all the concrete and boxes of the construct, it felt wonderfully cold. Then the lack of sunlight hit him. He stopped running, briefly trying to understand how this strange phenomenon could have occurred before remembering the human. Nanna had halted several feet back, nursing her shoulder, and the air was still filled with energy. Why would she have switched the environment and allow whatever creature to remain? He returned to human form, landing on the ground without much grace. He scrambled to his feet and retraced his steps back towards Nanna, stepping carefully.

"No more running?" he asked quietly, not actually in need of confirmation. If they were going to stay put, now might be a good time to attempt to siphon out magic. Akani set a hand against a tree and let his eyes close partially, trying to block visual distraction. An orb. Or a cube. Or--no, stop that. A hiss of irritation escaped. This wouldn't do. He shook his head and attempted to switch tasks. The scent of their pursuer was... unfamiliar. No, no, he knew this one. It didn't seem to make sense, but he knew what it was. "Silly question. You haven't done anything to upset anyone here, have you? Or..." Confictura was a world of dreams. Could it be that there wasn't a magic-user? He had not yet seen them.

Another try, a voice in his head recommended. A shiver snaked down his spine as he attempted to visualize pulling magic from the air. Orange. Make it orange. More like tendrils or... yarn. Better. Akani's eyelids drifted open again. He could see the forest still, but it was blurred; overlaid upon the image were wisps of light, some a rich purple while others held the preferred fiery orange coloring, weaving through the growth. That wasn't right, but worrying about it would be a step in the wrong direction.

((So... do you have a solid idea for what the magician is, or shall I make something up?  So many possibilities!  ;^_^))

At his words, Nanna glanced at Akani, then shook her head. We aren't getting anywhere. She said, almost to herself. She knew if it came to a fight, the odds were stacked against them. But it was better to not run all their energy out before they even knew what the danger was. She laughed at this words. Well, you don't seem mad, and I wasn't here long enough to meet anyone else...Have you? She added, realizing he seemed more familiar with Confictura than she was, and he had been running when they met...

She glanced over again, finding Akani doing...well she didn't really know what. She seemed to be concentrating on something, or trying to, so she didn't bother him. A fierce wind picked up, as if a storm had reached them. With the wind a figure had become visible, yet it wasn't clear. It moved slowly now, as if with purpose.


((At first I was thinking something simple like a wizard/mage something with a human appearance, but I would love for it to be a cute bunny or something else unexpected! XD Haha, It doesn't really matter what it is, I just wanted to see what would happen, so if you want feel free to come up with something xD)

Akani hissed quietly, watching as the purple strands before his eyes grew. What type of magic had he associated purple with? It wasn't very common, not like the warmth of orange and red, or the cold blues. Greens and browns to nature, pinks to illusion, yellows to healing, grey to forbiddens... purple? His head tilted curiously as he examined the strands more closely. There were some pink tones to it as well, but only in the sense that there was a hint of pink to his own orange. That pointed to Fae, but the scent wasn't right.

"What are you doing?" he murmured at the unknown figure. The mixture of actual vision and magic-sight had started a dull, bruise-like pain behind his eyes; a bit more practice would likely have been prudent, but that was a mental note to file away for later. What was purple? After a deep inhalation, he spoke up, with a tone that was slightly mocking. "We'd been having such a pleasant conversation 'fore the noise started, and then you seemed to be chasing us for no apparent reason. Is there something we can help you with?"

((Hmmm... humanoid figure doesn't need to exclude cute bunny. Karma could be attacking for Akani's remark about stories of changelings. Too many possibilities still~))

Nanna wasn't sure what was happening, but the 'enemy' seemed to stop, yet it didn't look any less dangerous. It was still impossible to be sure what it was, but somehow it had...changed. Thump! Something smacked the ground, but before Nanna had a chance to look, more objects came her way. She suddenly had the urge to reach out as one barely missed her. She looked down, her hand stinging from catching something heavy... A book? At least it looked like it, but it was in a language she didn't know, it looked old, and hand written. Akani! Look at this! She said a moment later. The attack, or what ever it was, seemed to stop, or at least there was a pause, though Nanna really had no idea what to expect, and all this magic had unnerved her. She glanced back at the strange creature as it started coughing, and seemed to mumble to itself. Fearing magic, she hurried to take cover behind a large tree near where Akani had been standing. She looked at the shape-shifter again and held out the strange book in his direction. Do you know what this is? She asked holding out a faded, plain leather-bound tome. It was plain enough save for a golden shape in the center. She knew by now that he at least had knowledge of magic, and that was better than nothing.

((Haha, You got me picturing a cute little rabbit trying to be all big and scary! Lol

And I had to look, now I kind of want to make this a character! Magic Bunny))

The first 'thump' made Akani jump. In a blink, the magic-sight was gone and the headache pain spiked behind his left eye. With a quiet, brief whimper, he crouched closer to the tree, covering his head with his free arm.

"Do you know what this is?" He stole a glance towards Nanna and her catch. "A book?" he suggested unhelpfully, lowering his arm. The book did look vaguely familiar, though he couldn't quite place it. The creature was mumbling now. Why would it conjure books like that? Keeping an eye on the creature, he carefully reached out and snatched a book of his own from the ground. "Nope," he confirmed, skimming through the pages. "I don't know this one eith..." He reached the front cover and growled quietly. "It's one of Elairid's library books."

Akani closed the cover and set the book down again. That creature was still busily mumbling to itself.

"Hallooo!" Akani shouted impatiently. Ritual-based magic. That seemed correct. "We can't... can't quite hear you." More practice with magic-sight was definitely called for. What happened when beings grew tired in Confictura?

((For some reason, the phrase "mafia bunny" also comes to mind. That honestly strikes me as a little bit frightening.))

Something was off, Akani seemed to be dazed. She knew he was mumbling something about trying to see it was that had been following them, but hadn't thought about what he had meant.
She listened as he tried to place the book. Wait, where is the Elairid's library? She asked, noting irritation in his tone.

She watched as he closed the book and started toward the stranger. As he neared, the figure quickly looked up. Boom! The ground rumbled as a flash of light and smoke exploded. Wait! Did the creature just explode?! She rushed forward, confused, and more than a little shaken. No, there it was. Lying on the ground, motionless yet whole. It seemed to be sleeping, or at least resting.


((Haha, not sure why that would come to mind, but I agree that's a frightening thought XD))

"It's, uhm... 'home', I guess?" No sense in offering unnecessary information. Who knew what might be listening.

The flash of light sent a spike of pain through his head, overpowering the actual sound severely. He paused, waiting for his senses to recover; it wouldn't be polite to stumble forward and trip over their companion, even if said companion had been antagonizing them.

After a few seconds of blinking, Akani's eyes began to adjust well enough to continue moving forward. He came to a crouch beside the creature, watching it warily before poking at it's head with the book.

"Must have been a rather serious ritual. Doesn't actually make sense, though. Why summon books out of the real world?" He shook his head.

Nanna had not idea what was going on, but at least it seemed to have stopped...for now. It was strange, even in stories back home, she never heard of using books as weapons, least not like what they has just endured. Why not knives, or even rocks? Unless you lacked training and skills needed in battle.

Realizing the stranger was likely untested, and probably untrained to fight seemed to fit, but why would they be here? As the thought hit her, she glanced toward Akani. He was also from a strange land, the same, she guessed at this point, as the magician. She also know his instinct was to run, so he didn't seem to be a fighter either.

That still didn't explain why it was so desperate to attack them, and yet it's attacks were more a defense than an attack.
Akani's words broke her train of thought, but she had just wondered the same thing. The people back home lacked magic, at east this kind, but there were plenty of stories about magic, and magicians. Yet none like the one before them. "I don't think it wanted to hurt us...It seemed frightened when we stopped running." She said, realizing that in fact the moment they had turned to face their attacker, was the moment that it's efforts appeared most desperate. Coincidence? She doubted it.

Akani took another look at the book. Its crimson canvas cover seemed dingy and worn. There had been gold colored lettering on it at one point, but not enough remained for identifying any characters. The pages had long since yellowed into a dark shade of cream and felt soft at the edges. Most of the books old enough to look like this were usually kept safe from students who were not actively searching for them. A brief sniff at the cover offered a hint of chocolate and fire. He reopened the book, scanning through the first few pages. Still the only familiar feature was the feathery Elairid crest on the inside cover. There didn't seem to be publication information and this one seemed handwritten as well.

"Maybe because it wasn't quite finished with the spell?" Akani suggested, not bothering to glance up from the book. No, that didn't strike him as correct. Was the ink on the page shifting? He brushed a finger against the page cautiously and immediately regretted the action; the book dropped from his hand, landing haphazardly on the ground. "Bad book, bad!" he admonished it, hopping over the resting creature to put just a bit more distance between him and the offending object. He bit at the little sliver of blood draining from his index finger.

"Uhm..." His behavior probably seemed a bit strange. Humans didn't tend to have magic, and so, they probably didn't have to deal with blood-curse books. "It's... careful with the books. Paper cuts and such." Blood-curses were usually minor, occasionally used as jokes. But then, why would this book have one?

"Wake up," he demanded at the creature as he knelt by it. "Sleeping doesn't really work here, and you probably know it, so quit it." No response. He poked at its head once again. Something gave way. Ears?

((I hope I caught all of the goofy Autocorrect things. >_>))

She didn't trust the strange creature, but she also thought they could take it in a fair fight, so she didn't move toward it as she listened to Akani. She did keep watch as he tried to decipher the book though. She had never seen the flowing script used before, but could tell the book was old and worn. She thought about his words, but even Akani seemed unsure. Then as he yelled, she jumped.

She backed up a step, but shot on odd look at the small feline human. He seemed fine, other than what looked like a paper-cut he was unharmed. Had he done that? Or what there something magical about the book? She had never heard of books cutting people on their own, but in this world, who knew?

His warning about the books didn't answer her question, but if that was the worst of it, she wasn't too worried. She started to move toward the still figure, but he beat her to it. She hadn't really thought of it, but since this seemed to be some type of dream world, she realized it was silly of her to not consider sleeping to be useless. Still the strange magician was making a good show of it, having stayed completely still since it hit the ground!

The figure...which Nanna had thought human at first, was clearly not. It had long furry ears, and hands that were more like paws. It wasn't until she raised her head that it was clear, her lapine features undeniable. A rabbit! What's more, she was the size of a small human, larger than Akani, but just barely. Nanna blinked, not expected what seemed a were-creatures, equal parts rabbit and human.

As the magician looked up at them, terror masked her face, and she scurried back on hands and knees. 'I'm sorry! Don't hurt me!' She squeaked! Her voice high and soft, almost mouse like.

(I think you did ^.^)

"Hurt you? Are you saying that we would be correct in assuming that you are hostile?" This was what they'd been running from? Summoning books at them was vaguely offensive, but that was not a usual tactic for attacking. "Nevermind that. What was that ritual? Are the books really here or just temporary copies? Why these books? I don't recognize them, are they from a specific section? Don't seem like decent nap How'd you manage to follow along with--nevermind that one. What happened back in the village thing? Is there another magic user? Did they tag along as well?" Akani's voice had started with an accusatory tone, but that soon gave way to curiosity and worry. This creature did not look threatening, but if there was another one searching for her, there could still be trouble.

Akani looked up towards Nanna, trying to observe how the human was reacting to the introduction of another Durcarian. There was nothing that he could recognize. Probably for the best; weapons would likely frighten the rabbit-being further, although his flurry of questions seemed as though it could easily do enough frightening on its own with just the wrong disposition. But why couldn't he detect any wariness or curiosity? Was it a human ability? Didn't matter.  He returned his focus to the magic-user.

The magician remained silent. Her eyes wide, ears pulled back against her head. She leaned away from the male, as he threw question after question at her. I was scared![/b] she wanted to scream, but something told her that was bad idea. Instead she opted for another version of the truth.

Head down, voice low she opened her mouth to speak, but at first only a squeak came out. Then, taking a breath, she spoke softly. " I... I..." she tried again, but it sounded crazy, even in her head. "...thought you were going to turn me in..." She mumbled, glancing up to see their reaction. Taking another look, she realized the female wasn't one of them after all...she didn't seem to belong to wither court at least, and smelled...weird? What was she?

The male though, she knew that smell. He was some type of shifter, feline she guessed from his appearance and the smell. He didn't seem to be a fighter though, not like he would expect, at least. Though clearly he had a temper!

Now it was their turn to stare at her blankly, clearly both were confused by her words, though the male seemed to be unsatisfied. Or was she imagining that? No matter, she was safe for now. They hadn't attacked,and seemed more intent on answers, instead of any type of retaliation.

" I...found a secret room in the library...and I got caught. Somehow the instructor chased me here...I think? I was running...and went through a doorway, but I ended up in the city...?" She said it almost as if asking a question. How had she gotten here? She had no clue, but guessed it was punishment, either for sneaking around, or running, maybe both?

"And, yes, those were real books, and they were really here...I sent them back. What does it matter?" She asked, suddenly realizing he tricked her into confessing. So many questions had distracted her, and she was already weary from running, and then the spell...[/font]

The whole time, Nanna had been trying to process it...but it wasn't easy. Trying to piece that Akani had said, and now the figure before her. What had she gotten herself into?! She did understand a few things though. First, the stranger seemed to be a student. Second, her curiosity got her into trouble. Third, she seemed to be in a lot of trouble if she was so worried about getting caught...but why? What had been in that room?

She looked at Akani, meeting his gaze for a split second, before looking back at the stranger. She wasn't sure how it was among magic users and such, but she did the only thing she could think of at the moment. Reaching out her hand to help the stranger up, she smiled and introduced herself.