Into the Mystic Wildlands

## Clip One - Lost Connection

The cottony haze disappeared like wool off her eyes.

Night was falling and a hint of the bright beams of the sun streaked into the land. She got up, but something didn't seem right. In her inner instinct, she felt that something was going to go wrong today.

But everything **seemed** normal, that day. Nothing seemed...wrong.

Her brother, Prim, was on edge, as if he knew that there was something that would happen, something that would change their lives, perhaps. He barely spoke to her that day, staying quiet and on the alert.

The note arrived an hour to dusk, addressed to her and Prim. It was from their friend Keres, a wild girl who seemed like the embodiment of chaos. No one could ever remember how they became friends in the first place, but it had happened.

"Mica," Prim said anxiously, "Should we...actually go?"

"I think we have to," Mica answered. "We need to know what's been up with her, and she's our friend, after all."

Prim nodded grimly and said no more as they left at pre-dusk to meet with Keres.

It was almost dusk when they arrived at the edge of the city. Neither Prim nor Mica knew why Keres had chosen this place. It was the darkest and shadiest part of the city, where the rogues lived.

At exactly a minute before dusk, Keres appeared. Like a shadow she appeared in front of the siblings. There was an eeriness to her now that wasn't here before: she radiated power and danger.

Keres dipped her head to signify them. "You have come," she noted.

Prim, surprised by Keres' appearance, was ridged beside Mica. He only nodded stiffly.

Keres went on, her eyes growing excited and bright, "The city's system, we all hate it. I think we all need to rise up and destroy it, now!"

Prim immediately drew his sword out of its sheath and pointed the sharp end to Keres. "What", he asked coldly, "Did you just say?"

Keres's eyes narrowed, "Is this your answer?"

"This isn't the right way," Mica found herself saying, "Keres...no, please..."

Keres whirled to face her, "You too?" she spat, "Are you brainless?"

Mica shied away, "I...I don't think that violently toppling this system is the right path," she mumbled. She was startled by Keres' behavior. This had entered her mind, yes, that Keres might one day think of this and pursue it, but she had never actually thought...

Keres interrupted that thought as she broke into hysterical laughter. "Oh, and what's your brilliant plan to deal with this?"

Prim stepped forward, "We'll find a way."

"REALLY?" Keres leered.

"Yes," Prim answered coldly. He stepped forward menacingly, "Keres, this isn't the best way."

"I'm in charge of my own brain, thanks," answered Keres, sounding slightly more like the Keres Mica knew of.

"If you can think of such a terrible answer to a problem, then I can't be friends with you anymore," Prim growled. He suddenly lunged forward. His sword slashed in the air just as the sun disappeared and the last sunbeam faded.

Mica watched in horror as the sword sliced Keres's horn cleanly in half. Somehow, she managed not to scream, but just watched, silent.

The second blow slashed Keres's face and cut her eye. The blood streamed out and onto her face, and slid down onto the hard stone path where they stood.

Keres gasped. She staggered back, but didn't cower from pain.

Prim raised his sword again but Mica stopped him from going at Keres again. "Stop it!" she shrieked shrilly.

The part of Keres' horn that had been cut off lay in the street but Keres didn't glance at it. Her attention was fixed on Prim. "You..." she hissed, "you...will pay for this." she glared at Mica too. Then she stepped back, and vanished like a shadow.

Prim made a motion to follow but Mica caught his arm and held on tight, "It's alright, let her go." She was still staring at Keres's sliced horn, and the blood on the street.

"It's not alright," Prim growled, but he stopped, staring into the distance where Keres had gone."

Mica sighed, "She won't succeed, trust me."

Prim stiffened, "We never really knew her," he whispered. "Even as a friend...oh, did we make this happen?"

Mica shook her head, "I don't think so. She's not the same...as before."

"Before..." Prim muttered, still staring into the night sky.

"Let's go home," Mica suggested and Prim finally took his gaze away from the sky and turned to walk back.

But before walking back, Mica glanced back down at the horn and the blood. Inexplicably, she took out a piece of cloth and wiped Keres's blood off the stone pathway, and used it to wrap Keres's broken horn.

Prim looked at her curiously as they started home, "What are you going to do with that?"

Mica didn't answer, she just shook her head, "We'll see."

## Clip Two - Disappearance

Two days had passed after Mica had been forced out of the leadership, and Prim hadn't seen a glimpse of her since. If he was honest with himself, he was getting worried.

Staring out at the glowing reddish sunset slowly sinking beneath his windowsill, Prim gripped his quill and wrote a small reminder to himself on a scrap of parchment. It was unlikely that he would forget about it, but it was a habit of his.

Now, wondering how he would ever go to sleep, he continued to stare out the window until a feeling tugged in the corner of his mind. It felt strange and desperate, something he could never miss, and suddenly, Prim knew exactly what to do next.

Time seemed to move slowly as the sun rose but that didn't bother Prim. If he was correct, then Mica had been gone for two days, and she could be almost anywhere.

Prim hoped that his disappearance wouldn't bother anyone. No one cared about Mica anymore after her multiple failures during her time in the leadership, but Prim knew that he was still instrumental in a lot of the village's successes, and his absence without and given reason would be investigated.

But he willed himself not to worry, and pointed himself where the sensation tugged him. He'd never gone out far from his village. Perhaps a few tasks here and there, given out by his superiors during his training. Prim wondered idly how long it had been since he had gone at least thirty footsteps away from his village, but didn't come up with an answer.

Prim took a deep breath, and let his feet take him where his sister had gone.

## Clip Three - Observations

"He's coming," Raven's twin brother, Hawk, whispered. He slowly lifted himself from his crouch between the narrow crevice angling down towards the roughened foot path, and lightly hopped down to join her.

Raven leaned against a boulder to think through their options. Prim was possibly the only one who could find where Mica, and her capturers, were positioned. He could lead them to their real goal. She wasn't sure if they, meaning Hawk and herself, should get involved with Prim's search yet or if they should wait until he found Mica, along with her capturers. They definitely needed to help Prim rescue Mica and interrogate her capturers because they knew full well that they were too strong for Prim to handle for himself.

Hawk gave her a searching look, meaning that he had something to say and was waiting for her to wrap up her thoughts.

"Yes?" Raven asked.

"I've been searching ahead and Prim's former friend Keres is under the control of whoever has our..." he trailed off, obviously uncomfortable about what he had in mind and knowing that Raven knew perfectly well about what he was talking about. Hawk was a psychic though was still exploring his abilities. He tilted his head, his eyes sliding to his left and blinking a few times.

After thinking for a few more seconds, he elaborated. "Keres is in possession of chaos powers and is exceptional at using her dagger. I think it is possible for *them* to call her to their location to toy with Prim's emotions once he finds them. I also believe that Mica will convince Prim to talk sense into Keres, but he will fail."

"She's a chaotic?" Raven asked, meaning Keres.

"Temporarily," Hawk answered, "*They* gave her them in exchange for her help."

Raven nodded slowly, "And I assume they have greater power over her than she realizes?"

"Naturally."

"We should let Prim find his sister's location first," Raven said abruptly. Hawk's gaze traveled over her, his eyes reading her expression. Without telling each other, the siblings could understand what the other was thinking. It came in handy on a few occasions.

"Well then let's go," Hawk concluded.

Tracking Prim through the harsh landscape dubbed "the Wildlands", the pair found themselves tucked into the Northwestern corner of the sprawling canyons that spidered down to the backbone of the Wildlands, Wasp River. Nearly every nook and crevice of the canyons was overgrown with dense plant life. It made one wonder how the now slender rivers that had carved the canyons could support so much vegetation.

There was a thunderstorm brewing on the horizon as Prim and his trackers stopped at last. Raven watched Prim as he surveyed the ecosystem. He seemed to be frowning, perhaps wondering how the river could feed all the plants. She noted that this particular spot felt a lot different than the rest of the earth that they had trudged through, and she thought that Prim could sense it too.

Hawk returned to her side a moment later. He had a slight smile despite the weirdness they all felt. It meant that they were close, and Raven couldn't help but smile too.

They just had a few more problems to deal with.

## Clip Four - Tangled Threads

Keres felt like she had just drifted asleep when her eyelids had been rudely pulled open.

She did not know where she was; it took her a while to get her bearings. They had called her to them, her second time this week.

Keres stiffened. Something was wrong. Slowly she turned in a circle to assess her surroundings. She was outside The Den. That was unusual.

Rubbing her temple, Keres suddenly picked on a new, unfamiliar scent. Wait, it was...strangely familiar.

"Hey, who are you?" a voice barked from behind her. Keres spun around, nearly loosing her balance. In shock, she found Prim, she thought it was him, it had been...a long time since she had seen him, standing no more than a few paces from her.

Keres could tell that Prim was just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. She knew instantly that it was him too because he immediately drew his sword out, but that was all she could register as her mind seized.

Not again! Oh, why now? Her mind landed. Again, she was in a memory. Her own memory, one Keres barely knew she had left.

Prim and his sister Mica had returned to her bedside with a bowl of soup for Keres. No, the Keres that was no more. Keres tried to force herself to look away but she couldn't. The past Keres coughed before accepting the bowl weakly. Prim patted her shoulder, urging her to be slow about it.

Ugh, she couldn't believe that she was watching herself being cared for by that mouse! Keres' rage bubbled and sizzled and the memory was wiped away, replaced with the memory her, the newer her, secretly watching Prim and Mica walk away from her after rejecting her offer. Now Keres' emotions were threatening to burst.

Thankfully she was brought back to the present, just in time as Prim's blade came. Keres used her magic to forcefully shove it away from her before breaking the blade with flick of her wrist.

"Decided to finally come, did you?" she spat.

Prim took a breath and hissed through his teeth. "That's not what I came for. Where's my *sister*?"

Keres tried to play it cool, though she felt a strong urge to suffocate Prim right then and there. "Mica, haven't seen her since...oh, in quite a while. Not since you two walked out on my offer, and quite violently so."

Prim shook his head, "If you want to offer that to me again, the answer's the same. I just want my sister back, that's all, and I know you know where she is!"

Keres tsked and replied, "Why do you think so?"

"Don't placate me! Where is she?"

Keres considered throwing a rock on his head, perhaps that would make him see sense. She threw a glance over her shoulder. There was no one else around. Considering Prim's stare she said, "And if I do know, what will *make* me tell you?"

Prim's reaction made it clear that he hadn't thought things this far.

Keres smirked but knew that she had to finish things off quickly. Who knew what could happen? Prim might not be alone, she'd had to deal with him quickly.

It was just when she raised her arm when *they* took over her. Essentially Keres was no longer in control of her own body. Her head immediately felt like it was going to split apart.

### Author's Note

I'm choosing to write very short segments of this story because if I do too much I will run out of ideas like for Sliced Gems.

(Also yeah, these characters are not human.)