"Chieftain, the scout has returned."

The old Ape sat motionless in his bamboo and leaf throne. Lightly fingering a rock in his left hand, he nodded from within the shadows. He was a Bossy, blessed with the genetics of a Gali, he was viewed as a decedent from the living gods, the name the Ape tribes had given to the 'Masked Ones'.

The guard, a pure bred Ape, walked on his knuckles back to the skin drape that was hanging for a door, and brushed it aside with one hand. After a few Ape barks and howls, and a few returned, another pure Ape hustled into the room. Landing on his knees, he outstretched his hands forward, and collapsed fully to the ground. He was still breathing heavily.

"What...did you...see?" The old voice trembled from the darkness, as an old monster would.

"Me saw monsters. Me saw lots of monsters, in da forest. Dey walk to 'ity, and dey walk back from 'ity. They nasty, too. They kill all who in da way. All who could see; dey kill."

The shadow leaned forward slightly, his old and wrinkly face slowly pulling free of the binding shadows, and asked simply, "Are you...brave enough...for one more...task?"

Meanwhile, within the forest...

"My trainer is going to be so mad about this..." Lethander moaned lightly.

They had gone several miles into foliage by now, and stopped for a rest at the base of a massive tree. Easily as large as a tower of Languard, it was a living testament to nature's abilities. Harvenger breath out a well deserved sigh as he leaned against the giant trunk. His hair matted from the clear, dry saps that had accumulated to him, now spattered with leaves and other random vegetation. It was daylight, or as bright as it could get in this place from the treetops blocking the sun.

Shilieka's nose crumpled up into what seemed like a curious grimace, as if she had smelt something distasteful.

"Do you hear that?" She spoke softly.

Indeed, he could hear something, like running water. Harvenger stood upright, his ears twitching quickly, then he began walking east. There was a line of seemingly impregnable brush in front of him, but the sound was coming form the other side. One blade came off each hand slowly.

With four quick slashes, Harvenger had cut himself a small hole to look through.

As he did, he spoke with surprise and delight, "Yup, that's a river."

As they cut a path through the wall of plants, they saw an amazing site, one that rivaled the constructive beauty of Languard, but one made by the earth itself. The river was more of a stream, calmly rolling on its merry way as it ducked and turned through huge trees and some scattered flowers. Lily pads filled the banks, but the water was still crystal clear. The canopy overhead was fully grown over, like much of this forest. Sunlight literally fought to punch through it, but did find several small holes, and a few large ones to light the area with a wondrous yellow tint. Even so, the leaf roof was bright green from the sunshine that rained upon the top of it. The stream caught and reflected some of the light, and its slowly rolling waters made the reflections bob up and down the trees. The rippling waves of light seemed to be on everything, even them. It was mesmerizing.

Harvenger wasted no time with the defilement.

The Naga and Pixie both jumped, completely startled as the splash registered in their minds. Shilieka's face contorted, almost violently, at the realization of it all. Her lips puckered from the likes of biting a raw lemon, and her arms straitened out towards the ground, fists clinched.

Before any suitable comments issued forth, a second, massive splash sounded in her ear. Before she could even grasp the concept that Lethander had dove in as well, a giant wave of erupting water nailed her in the face.

She stood there, utterly speechless as the water began to rain on her from its violent thrust upward. She could only gawk as Lethander brutally scrubbed his face with both hands, and Harvenger had already uprooted a long stick that had previously been partially buried in the mud, and proceeded to scratch his back with it.

"You two..." She spoke like a winded Mocchi, but it still caught both monsters' attentions.

"Come on, it feels great. Washing off this coat of squid and mango juice may take a while..." Harvenger said as he squeezed the right portion of his mustache with both hands, which drizzled water.

"Yeah, getting that prison dust off is nice, but I'm tired of smelling like a Zuum's vomit..." Lethander piped up as well. As he spoke, he drifted his torso forward slowly, until he was almost laying in the water, keeping only his head above the surface.

"Unbelievable..." She sputtered as her bottom lip curled under her upper two teeth.

She turned and marched south for a few paces. She stopped suddenly, and turned very quickly. She resumed her stomp marching upstream, obviously disgusted with the thought of bathing in the two monsters' used water.

"I'll be upstream. Do not, I repeat, NOT come up there."

The two monsters gazed, wide eyed, and watched her continue up the bank to the next bend, then disappeared. The Kato's gaze met the Naga's, a bit confused as to the workings of their escape partner. With a simultaneous shrug of the shoulders, the two began relaxing again.

Meanwhile...upstream...

"Ohhhh, that pair is gonna get it." She grunted as the last word left her clinched teeth.

She had thought about giving the water a little jolt, but she wasn't sure how many creatures she'd kill by doing that. She glanced around nervously. She had never bathed in such a way. This place was so...public. She could hear a few birds chirping, and the insects of course. She knew of two monsters around the bend, but other than their noisy splashing, she was utterly alone.

She wondered if this was a good idea as she placed her shoulder bag, with the disc chip, on a dry patch of grass. She had almost lost it with the first fight with Glory, as she removed her cloak. However, she would have to die to part with it now. They still hadn't seen or heard any search parties, and wondered if they had even bothered yet. Maybe they were checking the roads first, or patrolling the edge of the forest.

She undressed very slowly, always looking about for some random monster to appear, or for one of the other two to come up around the river's curve. She smiled lightly, figuring neither would dare. Harvenger, at least, would never. The Naga was a new acquaintance, and not trusted fully.

As the strap slid off her shoulder, she thought about how Moo had many spies. It would be quite easy to fit one in their group, until he located the fragment. She pondered if Shinku or Rimowa had picked up their trail yet, and even if not, she still wondered where the dangerous duo might be located. She hung her outfit to dry, currently what resembled what a standard Angel would wear, except it had hints of gray and light blue about it. The top went to about her navel now, as it was torn from the fight and the jungle expedition they found themselves on.

She stopped thinking as she glanced down, a bit uneasy as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her dark wings tucked towards her white back, almost trying to pull themselves back in from embarrassment. She slowly walked to the bank, dipping a toe in first. She laughed, realizing she had been doused with the same water, and new it was cool. Slowly, her foot fell in, sending soft ripples across the already active water. Her toes hit the mud, and were encompassed immediately, but it felt so nice. Compared to walking for so long anyway.

The rest of her body followed in to the deeper parts of the river, well, as deep as it got. She was slightly crouched, just bobbing in the water, just over chest level. Wow, this water felt amazing compared to the dirt and grime they all had accumulated. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea for the guys after all.

She smiled. What a couple of battle junkies. Her hand pierced the water, lifting a small portion with it. Rising up, it slowly emptied on her shoulder. The water ran hastily back to its origin as she rubbed her palm over her arm lightly.

Something made a small sound. It sounded like dripping water, but she thought nothing of it really. Perhaps from her hair, it had gotten wet from Lethander's olympics tryout. She smiled again, what a hopeless case. She closed her eyes and laid her head back, dipping her blonde hair into the water slowly, lowering it down to her scalp. She moaned quietly, taking in the refreshing feel of it all, turning slowly in the water.

A drop of water hit her face this time. She blinked confused for a second, then her eyes opened wide at the creature staring down at her.

Meanwhile...downstream...

"You don't see us complaining about bathing in her used water..." Lethander chuckled, no seriousness intended.

Harvenger had no time to continue the discussion as a loud scream sliced the air. He was out of the water instantly, and running down the bank, slinging mud and leaves all over his wet body as he went.

As he made the turn, he first saw her clothes. His eyes fell quickly to the river, and the gawking Pixie, standing in the water with her arms across her breasts. In front of her, some two feet, a long, teal colored neck protruded from the water. Its big, innocent eyes were attached to a half turned head, curious of its new discovery. Behind it, a small light green hump resided, no doubt its body. A flipper could be seen under the water, on each side of the protruding back.

Harvenger laughed aloud, and the Pixie shot a slightly confused look towards him.

"It's all right." The Kato spoke between chuckled laughter, "It's only a Lesione."

"Well, make it go away." She sputtered, returning her eyes to the, for lack of a better term, goofy stare coming from the aquatic dinosaur.

"Why?" Harvenger asked as Lethander appeared behind him.

"Hey, it's only a Lesione." The Naga said, almost disappointed as he raised his right claw towards the monster.

"Need I remind you..." The Pixie spoke, never taking her eyes off the monster, "That all dinosaurs are carnivorous."

"Do what?" The Kato asked sarcastically.

"Nagas, Zuums, Dinos, Dragons..." She sputtered, ever watching the creature, as it cocked its skull the other way, still curious, "All dinosaurs have teeth."

"I'm going back to my bath..." Lethander seemed to giggle as he turned, and couldn't help but add, "I've always been a fan of monsters with tails, but no complaints about you not having one, Shilieka. Very nice."

The Pixie lowered herself up to her elbows in the stream, growing a dazzling tint of red throughout her face as she slowly turned her head towards the snickering, and evacuating, Naga.

"You will pay dearly for that..." She growled under her breath.

As she turned back to the beast, her breathing halted. The Lesione was no less than four inches from her face, goofy eyes and all. A pink tongue slowly emerged from under its head. Suddenly, the face jerked back, slinging the extended tongue up. It hit the bottom of her chin, but not hard, and ran up her left cheek and, eventually, off her head.

She blinked a few times as it backed up a bit, and turned its head to the side once more. It yawned slightly, extending its tongue, and it was readily apparent that the creature did not have teeth. As she glanced back to Harvenger, he was already heading back.

He looked over his shoulder and added, "It is just a baby, by the way. If the mom shows up, then you might need to scream."

She glanced back to the young monster before her, and it was still staring at her. She might have been the first Pixie it had ever seen.

"You're no carnivore..." Shilieka spoke lightly as she lifted her right hand from her chest, reaching towards the creature's head.

It pulled back at first, just far enough to extend its skull all the way out, to sniff her open palm. The tongue emerged again, and covered the hand with fresh saliva, but she didn't mind. She continued to move her palm toward it, and walked forward as its head slowly retracted, her outstretched hand hovering just in front of the monster's face.

As her fingers and palm ran up its forehead, it blinked a few times, perplexed no doubt. After a few soft strokes, the monster let out something like a purr, echoing from the large, horn like extension from the back of its head. It rumbled gently with pleasure as the monster moved its head forward, pressing against her open hand.

She smiled slightly, and she didn't really mind if it wanted to stay and bathe with her. After all, it was only a baby.

Meanwhile...downstream...

"Hope no search parties were nearby for that scream..." Lethander chuckled as he floated on his back. Well, to say floated, means that his tail propped his torso up, and he was on his back in the water, arms crossed behind his head.

Again, Harvenger didn't get to answer, as he heard muffled conversation suddenly. A twig snapped, and Lethander was on it, too. Harvenger swam quietly to the other side of the river. Slowly, on all fours, he scurried up the bank to the brush line, and could distinctly hear foot steps on the other side now, drawing closer.

Luckily, he found a small hole, so he didn't have to cut one himself. Further into the trees, he could see several figures walking, but some were...bouncing?

Certainly enough, as they drew closer, the wise Kato recognized the purple Gaboo for what they were. Accompanied with them, were three Zan, two Raiden, and a very mean looking Genocider, a Durahan cursed with the taint of a Joker. The cow skull gave him away instantly.

They were marching towards them, yes, but also more south. Thankfully, that was away from Shilieka, but they must have been alerted by the scream, and headed this way. They would over shoot their position though, and end up further downstream.

Harvenger looked toward Lethander, who had just the top half of his head poking out of the water, ready to disappear at the right signal. Harvenger merely held one finger over his mouth.

Meanwhile...upstream...

Shilieka pulled the strap back onto her shoulder, glancing at the now very saddened Lesione. She flapped her wings twice, to remove any water she missed while drying them. They were still wet, and would just have to air out. As Harvenger and Lethander started around the bend, she was about ready to yell at them, but decided not to. It might frighten the Lesione.

When she saw them sneaking though, she forgot the situation entirely. Maybe better to say, she remembered their situation entirely.

As they got closer, she loudly whispered, "Is it a search party?"

"No, not Languard." Harvenger spoke under his breath to the two, gazing south, down the river, "They came from the north east, but it looked like a scout party."

"Bandits?" Lethander asked in a rumbling, low voice.

"No, they had an emblem. Bandits don't worry about stuff like that. These guys looked like terror troops, not bandits."

"Psychological warfare, eh?" Lethander smirked, "Making your opponent fear you before the fight. My specialty."

"Well, aside from the various monsters in the party, the leader was a Genocider." The Kato spoke, growing harsh as he added, "I think there is more of them."

"We better check it out." The Pixie muttered, "Languard might be in a world of trouble."

As they crossed the river, she patted the baby Lesione on the head, quietly saying, "Good-bye, behave now."

Its sad, goofy eyes the only reply.

Later...in the forest...

It didn't take much effort to hear the chopping of trees. All three tried to sneak quietly, but knew that their noises would be masked by the lumberjacks. Harvenger pushed a bush aside slowly, just in time to jump back as a tree slammed into the dirt a few feet in front of him. He pulled the bush back again, to see three black Durahan standing over it. All three had huge, ebony axes. Harvenger had never seen a Durahan wielding an ax before...

They tied several ropes to it, then, the ground trembled as a large Death Dragon approached, grabbed the ropes, and began dragging the fallen tree off, the three Durahan following behind.

Tracking them, the trio followed them back to a makeshift base. Trees had been uprooted and cut down. Monsters of all kind were here, and each breed had the terror advantage. Either from sheer look, or the renown brutality of the breed itself. Five Tigers, with Naga blood coursing their veins, brought two apes into the camp. Both were dead, obviously this was the hunting team. The entire place was amazingly busy.

"That symbol..." Shilieka muttered.

As Harvenger glanced to her, he saw her face was drained of all color. Her left hand tightly clasped the bag with the disc chip inside. The Kato blinked a few times stupidly, then glanced back to the activities.

One Joker floated close enough for Harvenger to get a good look at it. A gold medallion, with a massive, solitary M on the face of it.

The Kato's heart sunk sharply as the name left his mouth, "Moo..."


-Thought about writing more, but I like this cliffhanger. Enjoy.- CHB

That's ok. Good chapter. It was a good cliffhanger. Very nice!

Good story so far, looking forward to your next chapter.

**coughcough**Great story, CHB, I'm still in shock. Love the adjectives. typical of a girl to be scared of a Leslione. Very funny, awaiting with rapt anticipation.

Not harping on girls, just thought a bit of light humor should be integrated.

She was just an easy target this time.