Joshua had been wondering the magical world, looking for things he was not sure even existed. Despite his travels he had little to show for it though when he approached the forest it seemed to draw him closer, as if something inside was calling to him. He decided to investigate and slowly entered the forest.

He could not describe what he was feeling but just followed the path that seemed layed out for him. After some time of walking he stopped in a small clearing, as if expecting something to happen.

"What is this strange feeling? Why do I wait here?" He thought looking around. Something was telling him to wait where he was, though he was not sure why or what was going to happen next.

Nick had decided to take the day off and relax, it had been awhile since he had done that. He decided to go to the place he knew it would be best for him to relax, the forest. After finishing his latest mercenary mission in a small town, he noticed there wasn't a forest nearby, so he took a broom and flew to the first forest he would see. He noticed a forest up ahead, though to his surprise there wasn't any village near it, but nonetheless it was nature, just what he needed.

The forest had shadowy look to it and an almost ominous feeling. He noticed a small open area surrounded by trees and decided that could be the place to rest. He descended on his broom and jumped off, he took his shoes off and felt the grass below his feet. He saw a big enough rock for him to lie on as he put his back on it and tried to take a nap. The open area could leave him open for an attack from a creature from above, but that would just be a mistake from their part. The weird thing for Nick was that he could not hear almost any sounds coming from the forest.

As Joshua waited he noticed something pass by above him. It wasn't anything he was familiar with and he heard another sound close by. Based on the timing he figured they were connected.

"Ka tora No Vaki Nikada" Joshua said, summoning a human-like figure. "Follow me, I wish to see what that sound was." The shadow nodded and did as told.

Joshua went into the forest and onto another open area. In this space he noticed someone laying on a rock. He decided to send the shadow morph to be safe.

The shadow morph slowly and silently approached the person on the rock, and stood right beside the rock. Everything seemed still at this point.

The moments of relaxation for Nick could only last for a minute as he felt the sun and wind in his face while he had his eyes closed, but he heard someone getting closer to where he was, but the person seemed to stay a sew meters away. But something wasn't feeling right, the person didn't seem to get closer but Nick could feel something getting closer and standing next to him.

Nick jolted up with his eyes wide open and saw a shadow like figure standing next to him, and the way Nick dealt with surprises was burn first and ask questions later. Caught by surprise Nick unleashed his breath of fire on the creature, hoping to destroy it. Was this the person he heard approaching him?

The shadow acted instinctual and jumped away, narrowly dodging the fire. Joshua didn't like where this was going off the get go.

"To Aru No Vaki Nikada." He said summoning another shadow to fight.

The shadows regrouped by Joshua, both of them morphing into tiger-like creatures. If Joshua told them to fight they would show no mercy for this person.

Joshua also had time he summoned his shadow swarm. "To Aru No Vaki Insara." The swarm moved around him, prepared to defend him had he come under attack.

As he noticed the shadow that was next him jump away and go to the side of some stranger, but this one was human, probably the one who had approached Nick. Nick jumped off the rock and got in a fighting stance as the stranger summoned 1 more shadow that merged with the first one to create a tiger, while he then summoned a couple of shadow ball which surrounded him. This guy looked like a strong summoner, Nick couldn't afford to do anything stupid.

"What are you doing here disturbing my sleep stranger? I should warn you that if you're looking for someone to rob then you chose the wrong person." For now Nick had to know if this man was really a threat.

(Couple notes, the summons did not merge, they both changed to shadow tigers separately. The swarm/defense is also more of a rather large swarm of insects surrounding Joshua)

Joshua watched the man get up and after he spoke Joshua deduced that he was not so much a threat as instead he was trying to protect himself.

"I am after nothing you have. I am just curious as to who or what you might have been. Now assuming you are not after a fight I would like to know who you are." Joshua said in his calm, seemingly bored voice.

(duly noted, but your technique says it's small shadow balls, but ok)

For some reason the tone this guy was taking was really pissing Nick off. First this guy startles him, summons some weird shadowy things and then just asks question like nothing. Nick really wanted to beat him up now, but the whole purpose of coming here was just so he could relax. "My name's Nick, a traveler. I came here to relax for a bit since I haven't had a chance to in a while. That's all you need to know." Nick said with a rather angry tone.

"Now why don't you tell me who you are and why you're here. And if you weren't gonna rob me or anything why would you send a shadow to disturb someone who's just sleeping?" Doesn't this guy know how dangerous that could be. Was he looking for trouble?

(They look like balls but act like a swarm of insects while neutral)

"I was curious. I did not mean for my summons to wake you up." Joshua said in the same calm tone. He wasn't one to show emotions nor did he really feel any.

"As for who I am, all you need to know is my name is Joshua." He was aware that Nick felt somewhat irritated but Joshua didn't really care.

The shadow tigers walked around Joshua but still kept and eye on Nick. Joshua just stood in place as the conversation took place, making very little movements in doing so. To him, he had no reason to do any unnecessary moving as he was talking to this person who now claims to be called 'Nick'.

"What would cause you to come to a forest of you are tired?" Asked Joshua, remembering that he was not simply here. He had flown here on purpose.

It didn't seem Joshua had any intention of doing something bad, he just seemed bored with everything. Nick felt a bit more relieved now and felt that he could relax at a little. He dropped his fighting stance and just started to scratch his head and act casually, though it seemed Joshua was still in the defensive with his summonings out "Well Joshua for your information I just came here because I like relaxing in nature. I've been in many towns a lot this past few days so I haven't had a chance to go into any forest for awhile. This was just the first forest that I saw, so it's not like I came here for any especial reason." Nick really had nothing to hide on why he came here

"You on the other hand don't look like much of a nature boy...There must be a special reason on why you came here to this forest, I mean there isn't a town near this forest for a couple of miles. So I'm curious, why are you here?" Nick found himself walking little by little closer to Joshua, he was curious about this man.

Joshua was not sure why he was there, so even if he wanted to tell Nick he had nothing to tell.

"I am not sure why I'm in this forest yet. That's why I am exploring. Had I a specific reason, would I not try and avoid you or anything of potential threat?" He decided it was mellow enough to relieve one of his summons and his defense. One of the shadow cats and the shadow swarm dissipated in an instant.

There wasn't any immediate threat at this time, though he wasn't sure weather to continue talking to Nick or leave and try and find... something in the forest of interest to him.

"So you just wandered into this ominous forest, just out of sheer curiosity. Not the brightest thing to do if you're going alone. Like I said I don't know which forest this is, but I've been to enough to know that there is something dark and ominous here, it's almost as if a shadow is constantly covering this place, metaphorically of course. So you and your shadows must feel right at home. Now, I'm not one to stop you from "exploring" this forest, but...."

Nick knew that what he was about to say was a bad idea. "The people who raised me taught me to protect nature and if there is something wrong with this forest I'd like to help you find it... Think of it as an apology for my first attack, trust that's the closest you'll get to an apology from me."

Joshua wasn't sure what to do, but he figured that Nick could help if worse comes to worst. "I suppose you can come with me, though you have no reason to as the attack was purely instinctual on you're part I'm sure but by all means feel free to follow me."

With that said Joshua turned and started to walk into the thicker parts of the forest. He didn't want to waste too much time talking, he was determined to find whatever was calling out to him. He was sure that Nick would follow him if that's what he wanted but as for the conversation, it seemed pointless to continue seeing as neither of them knew what was with the forest.

Nick followed closed behind Joshua, seeing as neither of them knew what they were looking but since Joshua was the one who came here for some strange reason, then it would make sense to follow him. It seemed Joshua wasn't the type to start a conversation, and Nick wasn't the kind to start a friendly conversation with a stranger, so for now all Nick was gonna hear was silence.

It took him a moment to realize but that was all that Nick was hearing, silence, from all the forest. Not one wild animal could be heard or seen. As they went deeper in the forest the trees seemed to multiply, as there was barely any sunlight from above. Nick could feel the air getting thicker and as if something was glaring at him "Hey Joshua you sent one of you're shadows to spy on me when you found me. Can't you send one of them ahead and see if there's anything ahead?"

"Where do you think my summon went?" Replied Joshua, his shadow summon had been gone for some time now.

The trees were thicker and light was dim but none of this bothered Joshua as he was used to darkness. The shadows seemed still and there didn't seem to be any other sort of life in the area. This could mean one of few things, and Joshua was starting to understand what might be happening.

"Neither of us are safe here." Said Joshua in his everlasting calm tone. "As the shadows become thicker I sense something more and more dangerous ahead." In actuality, he could sense absolutely nothing. This to him was dangerous, it meant that something very powerful was in this forest. It also meant that his summon was somehow gone. This he did not mention to Nick though.

"If there's one thing my travels have taught me is that we're never safe." Nick said as he was cautious of his surroundings. It seemed Joshua was quite reliable for this, as Nick trusted him in the statement of him knowing what was ahead thanks to his shadows, not something Nick would normally do for a guy he just met.

At that moment a strong wind blew from the darkness where the two were headed, the wind was cold and howled through Nicks ears, almost as if the forest was crying out to him. Nick felt a sudden shiver running down his spine as the wind stop. "Well if you're shadow didn't feel that I sure as hell did." Nick said with a serious tone, determined to find out what was causing all this.

"If my shadow did feel it, I wouldn't be able to know." Joshua thought as they continued forward, the darkness continued to grow around them.

"Wait." Joshua said, calm but subtle he stopped moving.

At that moment he could sense everything that was ahead and around them, almost as if the magic had shifted. The magnitude of what he could sense was beyond what he thought. He could sense his shadow and hundreds of smaller things all around them.

"This is not good..." Joshua's voice for once hinted at a small amount of panic but the calm nature he was so attuned to was still ever present.

"There is something big ahead of us... and many many small things around us... What is this? Is it magic?" Joshua thought, trying to think of how to proceed.

For a moment Nick felt as if the world had completely shifted as he stopped looking at his surroundings. He could not see anything in the surrounding area but could feel things, as if hundreds of eyes were watching them. His natural instincts kicked in as he let out a small dragon growl, and his voice deepened.

"Joshua can you see anything around us?" Nick said as he got ready for anything. At least this adventure wasn't boring, but this sure as hell wasn't helping his relaxation problems.

"No, but I can sense more than I should be able to..." Replied Joshua, he decided to move onwards.

"Now the question becomes, what sort of thing is controlling these magical eyes." He paused for a moment. "To Aru No Vaki Insara." He said as the swarm once again appeared. He also called his shadow back silently to find out what was ahead.

"If you give my summon a moment we might be able to get an idea what is ahead of us." As Joshua stood where he was the shadow swarm was attacking what seemed to be nothing but they were clearing the ground and surrounding area of these sensors.

"Yeah take a moment. Just make sure to find whatever it is that is causing all this." Nick said to Joshua while he followed him as the swarm seemed to be taking care of the eyes surrounding him.

"I'd hate to have to burn down the forest just to find this thing." If this was something normal Nick could probably track it down, but this was too abnormal for him to track, so he had to keep relying on Joshua.

(short post. I know.)

(That's okay, there really isn't much to do at that moment)

Joshua and Nick waited a few seconds as Joshua's swarm finished eliminating the sensor eyes in the area. It wasn't long after that when the shadow summon appeared.

"Torki nasa nor shoni?" ("What did you find?") Joshua spoke to the shadow in some unknown language.

The shadow began to describe the creature that was ahead. Joshua wasn't sure what to tell Nick when the conversation was finished.

"I... I'm not sure if it's worth the risks to fight this thing..." Joshua said trying to find the words. "But from what my summon says, it's a very large four legged demon-like creature."

"A large four-legged demon you say.... interesting. You said you were not sure on why you were in this forest, confronting this demon might answer the question on why you came to this forest. And if this demon is causing this forest danger then it is my duty to deal with it." Nick could not help his fighting nature. Even though it would most likely be dangerous, Nick curiosity to find out how strong this demon was caught the best of him.

"So I say we move forward. But if you're not feeling up for it then we could return for now..." Even though he like to fight he was not dumb enough to fight a demon on his own. If Joshua did not want to fight then Nick would have to go and look for someone else.

"Your call"

"You hold a very good point. I am still unsure of why I am here so seeking out this monster might harbor some sort of answers." Joshua said as he started to walk towards where the beast would be.

"Though you must know that the danger is extremely high and fighting this this could easily result in one or both of us dieing." His voice was firm but relaxed.

Neither Joshua, nor Nick knew what the coming battle would bring but their decision was made.

"Like I said before, we're never safe, there's dangers everywhere. What matters is how we deal with that danger, do we run away and avoid it or...." as Nick was continuing the sentence while walking deeper in the forest the surroundings were turning completely dark so Nick took a tree branch off the ground and lit it on fire illuminating the path a little. "...Do we face that danger head on."

Once it was illuminated Nick saw that he and Joshua were again surrounded by the magical eyes from before, however now that Nick could get a clear view at them they were lined up on the sides of the path, while the path itself had nothing in it. It seemed the eyes were just watching and did not seem to be able to inflict any harm or they would've tried by now. "It almost seems as if this demons is inviting us to go even deeper into the forest... It would be rude to turn him down."

"These eyes are not an extension of the demon, but the curse that falls among the forest where the demon corrupts." Joshua said as they walked on.

Joshua's senses were growing stronger and stronger as they walked, he did not need to see what was ahead to know what was there. He could sense everything ahead of him far beyond what his eyes could see. This also included the demon they would soon be facing.

"As for how we face this danger, I have made the decision that I will not run away and avoiding it would be an extension of running."

Joshua could sense how close they were to the demon. He also knew that the demon was well aware of their presence. How he knew these things, Joshua could not explain.

"Now I suggest you prepare for a fight. We aren't far from the demon, and I can't imagine it would give us time to prepare if we got any closer." Joshua said without stopping. He was already prepared for the fight. His defense was up and within a few moments he could quite easily switch from defense to a full on offense.