The Invasion of Arias: Ninth S.O.

[Ryu Kurai]

Shirin gestured towards Pende in a matter-of-fact way. "See? These guys all know what's goin' on. That other guy can fend for himself easily, and we can make some good time while he's gone. I'm pretty sure he'll be able to catch up." With that said he turned back to the horses, yawning as he did so. "So the rest of you get some sleep, we should be good."

Karvan nodded a bit at Tantalum's statement and Shirin's. "Hale strong. He stay alive." He said in what he hoped was a re-assuring tone. He couldn't stand the thought of having someone irritable in his group. When people acted that way in Yujiro's restaurants, the people usually spat in their food or served them a drink full of salt. Well, that was mostly just the places he had worked at, but regardless...

Jo shook himself quickly, and mewed softly. Whoa! That guy was even bigger than master! I wanna get picked up again! He conveyed as he began pawing at Vex and mewing.

* * *

Hale finds himself in a burning landscape, the flames reaching over twenty feet high in all directions around him. Shadows of buildings can be seen in between the rising flames, and eventually he hears a pair of screams, both of remarkable agony, from somewhere within the fire. The screams continue for a while, lowering to soft whimpers as Hale finally discovers that he is floating several feet off the ground and feels none of the heat from the flames.