N: There was a small amount of muttering that happened shortly after MC spoke, where the word 'American' was briefly mentioned.

"Give me a minute," Wolfgang finally spoke through the door, and after a couple minutes the door was opened, and on the other side was a dishevelled Saxon. Holding his hand was Niko, quiet and looking away, staring into space while his father spoke.

"Although I don't want to leave Niko alone," he said, "Johann promised that he would take care of him, and it's about time he eats, isn't that right, Schatzi?"

The Saxon boy didn't reply, just stared at the floor, silently waiting for them to go.

M: MC's attitude deflated upon seeing Niko, he hated seeing children so upset, it didn't sit right that he should be left behind, so he knelt down and offered a light-hearted smile.

"Hey, would you like to come with us, a bit of fresh air might do ya good, partner," he suggested, "there ain't nothing that says father-son bonding time like hunting with your old man, something I didn't really get to do when I was your age ... assuming you're older than twelve. Adira's gonna be coming with us and I know you two like each other's company, what do ya say, you wanna hang out with the big boys today?"

He took off his hat and placed it on Niko's head as a sign of acceptance, though it was a bit big for him.

N: Niko recoiled a bit when MC placed his hat on him, but then he adjusted it so it wasn't covering his face and looked up to the American, his eyes completely empty.

"MC, respectfully, I don't want my son to be with me- with us when we're hunting," Wolfgang frowned, "he's not in the right state to be around any form of violence, and besides he needs to be taken care of and to eat-"

"Ja, I want to come," Niko muttered, surprising the older Saxon, then the Saxon boy turned to his father, "I want some father-son bonding time."

Wolfgang's face softened at the response, and after contemplating what to do, he sighed, "fine, but first you got to eat."

The boy nodded, almost knocking the hat off him as he took a step closer to his father.

M: "I'm telling ya Wolf, this is just what the doctor ordered, we were gonna stop by McDonald's anyway for lunch," MC smiled, "trust me it's any boy's dream to spend quality outdoor time with their pops, I can't think of any better way to cheer him up."

He whistled for Adira and they all headed to his car, this time Wolfgang got to sit up in the front, but the militant made it clear for him not to touch the dashboard, he also made sure to drive more carefully and kept the music quieter for the children.

They drove to the restaurant first where they met Eclipse and TE, the small dragon must have sensed that Niko wasn't doing well because he immediately climbed onto his shoulders and rubbed his head against the boy's cheek, purring in comfort.

N: Wolfgang smiled at the interaction, but soon the smile disappeared when Niko grabbed TE by its scruff and plopped him on the seat next to him.

"How has your day been, Eclipse," the Saxon asked, forcing a smile.

M: "Same old, same old, you got your usual and you got your tourist, you just gotta hope that you don't have to deal with much of the latter," Eclipse shrugged, "I had my 24th out-of-towner this year bitten because nobody reads signs anymore, I have a sign in big bright letters that says to not pet TE when he's working, that he will bite, but they do it anyway."

"And you don't get in trouble for that, why?" MC asked

"I had TE officially trained and licensed as a working animal, so I have insurance against people who try to interfere with his work, and when he reminds them what happens to those who do that."

N: "I mean...they deserve it for not following instructions," Wolfgang shrugged, and he was going to continue until Niko interrupted him.

"When can we eat," he asked, the boy just staring out of the window.

M: "Just a few more minutes bud, it may be fast food but it's not instant," MC reassured him, "I got our orders in, I put in an extra burger just for you too, it'll be ready soon."

So they waited for a few more minutes, Eclipse getting up to retrieve the meals when they were ready, and everyone happily dug in.

"Whats we hunting today," Adira asked.

"I was thinking deer and maybe a little bit of grouse," he said, "how's your bird hunting, Wolf, any good?"

N: "It's alright," Wolfgang replied, "not as good as terrestrial animals, but good enough." He paused for a moment to take a bite from his burger, "it was my Onkel Ludwig who taught me how to hunt birds, but after learning about what he did, I've been avoiding bird hunts. He wasn't the greatest person."

After a while, the Saxon began to appreciate the burger and chuckled, glancing at the families around them, "you said that this was fast food, is this the norm now?"

M: "Eh, kinda, we still have plenty of traditional restaurants, this is more a place to go if you're in a hurry or don't want to bother sitting down," Eclipse explained, "it's actually more of a popular place for children since the food isn't usually the healthiest."

"Adira asks to come here every time we go out, but I don't want her getting fat off this stuff so it's not common to come here," MC stated, "I just chose this place so we could get little Wolfgang Jr. over there to eat something."

N: "Bitte, don't call me Wolfgang Jr.," Niko requested a bit too quickly, and when he saw his father's concerned face, he looked away, "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine," Wolfgang sighed, and wanting to get away from the awkward pause, he asked, "how is the food?"

The boy took a moment to look at the burger, "it's a bit bland but it would do."

M: "Just put some ketchup on it, or better yet, stuff the fries into it, it's amazing that way," MC suggested, "next time we'll go to Burger King, they flame grill their meat and definitely add seasoning to it."

"It's not actually run by royalty, that's just the name of it," Eclipse disclaimed, "it has a pretty exaggerated king as its mascot but that's about it, there hasn't been royalty here since WWI."

N: "That's weird, so why would they call it Burger 'King'," Wolfgang asked, "unless they're competing for the title, which then makes sense."

"I'll like to try the Burger King burgers," Niko spoke as he stuffed fries into his burger.

"Relax there, Schatzi," the Saxon chuckled, "one burger at a time, ok? If you're hungry after we go hunting, then maybe," he glanced at MC and Eclipse, "we could go?"

M: "Sure, we might be out for a few hours so by the time we're done it'll be dinner time, I don't see why not," MC shrugged, "and although I can't vouch for this, I think it's called Burger King to take the piss out of this place, because the McDonald's mascot is a clown, and one of BK's slogans is 'why eat with a clown when you can dine with a king' seriously major food companies bicker like MA and Mandara, just petty."

With that being said, they finished off their meals and piled back into the truck to head off to the hunting location, unaware that they will be finding much more than they bargained for.

N: Once they had arrived, they gathered their things and got ready, packing necessities and checking that they have everything. While Niko stood further off, carrying a small bag with some snacks if he got hungry, but also some spare equipment, and he just stared at his father as he stared down his scope.

"Vater, I thought you weren't allowed to shoot," the Saxon boy questioned.

"Eh, it's fine," Wolfgang shrugged, shouldering his rifle, "as long as I don't do something stupid I'll be fine, right MC?"

M: "Yep, besides, if there are no cops around, anything is legal," MC joked, "I'm just kidding don't actually follow that logic, no, in Mandara there is a law that states that a dependent can hunt without a license as long as they are accompanied by their legal guardian, and that the guardian tags it appropriately. Since you two and the Mandorians are more or less dependent on us until we can get you sorted into your own lives, we count as legal guardians, so we're all good."

Making sure that everything was situated and no one was forgetting anything, Eclipse declared that they were ready to go, "we're gonna hike a little way to the perfect set-up spot, a treehouse blind that MC and I built a couple years ago, that overlooks a large medow with a creek running along the northern edge of it, perfect deer grazing area, if you guys get tired let us know, I'm usually the pack lion anyway."

With that said, he transformed into a massive mountain lion about the size of a bull, MC strapped some of their bags to him and Adira hopped onto his back, clearly it pays to be able to shapeshift.

N: Wolfgang didn't bat an eye at Eclispse's transformation, although Niko did back a bit, so the father patted his son's head, silently telling him that it's ok.

The group gradually made their way towards the meadow, staying alert of everything around him, and slowly but surely they arrived at the treehouse blind. Once they arrived, Wolfgang helped out with moving stuff up, and when they did, he hoisted his son up and let him comfortably sit against one of the makeshift walls.

"So what now," Niko asked, glancing at all the equipment."

M: "Now we wait, it's illegal to bait hunt but we can use animal calls," MC explained, "there is a major rule that you can not shoot does, as those are the ones that bring the next generation. The only exception is if it is sick or injured and needlessly suffering, then you can put it out of its misery but you have to add onto the tag why you killed it."

"For birds it's a little looser but if you can tell the difference between the genders then you should aim for the males," Eclipse added.

With the hunting lessons taught, MC took a whistle-like object out of his bag, explaining that it was a deer call, and blew through it a few times, then they settled back and waited.

N: They sat there for quite a while, nothing much happening while Wolfgang would use his scope to scan the meadow. He did spot a couple does, but just like what MC explained, he didn't shoot and kept on looking.

The Saxon eventually sat back, sitting beside Niko as the younger Saxon snacked, and he was going to say something when they heard some leaves ruffle very close to where they were.

M: Adira's ears perked up, alerting the rest of the hunters that something was coming, MC tried another call to lure it out into the clearing, and out came a buck. It wasn't a very old buck, it only had a couple of points on its head, which disappointed the experienced hunters since it was illegal to hunt spike deer.

Luckily for them, a couple other bucks came out, it must have been a bachelor herd, what joy.

"Here's what we're going to do, we'll let Wolf take the first shot at a stationary buck, and Eclipse and I will try to bag one that runs off, just try to stay away from the yearling one, sound good?" MC suggested.

N: "Fine by me," Wolfgang nodded as he propped his rifle up, and aimed right at one unfortunate buck.

Instinct kicked in as he aimed right behind its shoulder, and once he was sure that MC and Eclipse were ready, he shot.

M: One of the larger bucks fell and the rest scattered, but before Eclipse and MC could even pull the trigger, a loud scream came from the forest, startling the two and causing them both to miss. The woods fell into dead silence, there wasn't any more screaming and it made everyone glance at each other, wondering if they even heard what they thought they heard.

Adira was the first to do anything, she climbed up the tree a bit higher to see if she could see or hear anything else, maybe even try to catch a wiff of something. When she climbed down she had nothing to report, just the general location of the scream, so Eclipse let off another shot in the air, and another startled shout echoed from the timber.

"Ok there is definitely someone out here, they don't like gunshots so they are probably in trouble," MC remarked, "Eclipse, you stay here with Niko, maybe teach him how to tag that buck, Wolf and I will follow Adira to that scream, there's a reason why I don't have a tracking dog, she's better than any canine I have met."

N: The small group climbed their way down the treehouse, with Wolfgang wishing Niko well before they headed off towards the scream.

While they were walking, there was something on the Saxon's mind that was bugging him, but he didn't want to bring it up just in case he annoyed MC. However, after a while, he asked anyway.

"You know," the Saxon spoke carefully, "I know this isn't my place to speak, but you comparing Adira to a tracking dog sort of sounds...I don't know, reductive? She is your daughter after all, and I understand that people would have a strong bond with their dogs, but it sounds weird...if you get what I mean."

M: MC gave him a strange look, but after a moment of thinking about it he visibly cringed at what he said, "good lord you're right, that sounded a lot worse than I meant it to, yikes, what is the matter with me?"

"I'm good tracker, I can find anything," Adira beamed, well at least she was fine with the comparison.

They stayed quiet for the rest of the way, if there was someone out here they didn't want to scare them off, they have been having some issues with drug cartels using the forests to hide their operations, this could be someone who accidentally discovered one, or at least that's what MC was thinking. What they stumbled upon was something they could never have expected, they first could hear the sound of something struggling and the rattling of chains, probably a creature stuck in a trap, but when they laid eyes on it, it wasn't any creature, it was a child, not just any child, it looked like a white satyr eternal with a long tail and scales on their limbs.

N: Wolfgang had zoned out during the walk, but when he saw the child, his eyes widened in shock.

"An Eternal," he wondered out loud, "but how?"

However, the moment he gotten over his confusion, the Saxon slowly approached the child, resting his rifle on the ground and crouching so he didn't threaten the white satyr.

"It's ok, alright," he spoke softly, making sure that there was still plenty of space between them, "we're going to free you, right MC?"

M: MC was still recovering from his shock, but his fatherly instincts kicked in and he also stepped closer, setting his weapon down to show that he was not a threat. Still, the child tried to scramble away but was held back by a coyote trap they were stuck in, the rusty contraption digging into their right deer-like leg, it had been there for a while as the wound wasn't bleeding and quite infected.

"God damn, we've been looking for this poor kid for two months now, her mother was found dead by a couple hunters," MC revealed, "evidently someone was illegally hunting at night and mistook her for a deer, which granted she did look like one, but one of those weird dragon dear from Asia. We haven't caught the poacher yet, but we knew she had a child because we found a makeshift teddy bear and a child-sized shirt nearby, I can't imagine a normal fawn surviving that long on their own, let alone this poor kid. Then again, she's very skinny and filthy, we probably found her just in time."

N: Wolfgang nodded, "gut (good), so let's free her," then he turned back to the child, trying his best to calm her down.

"Hey kid, don't be scared," he spoke softly, "we're just here to help." When he reached for the trap, he saw the fawn trying to escape, so he retracted his hand, "We just need to open up the trap so you'll be free, ok? After that you can do whatever you want, but bitte, let us help you."

M: "Wolf look at her, she won't be able to survive another day out here, she's less than skin and bones," MC told him, "I know it's gonna sound harsh but we can't let her just wander off after we free her, we need to first figure out how to keep her here."

While the adults argued about what to do, Adira snuck past them and carefully approached the trapped eternal. The moment the latter saw her she stopped struggling, it was probably the first time she's seen a creature similar to her, or as similar a winged cat can be to a mythical deer. They began to communicate to each other through various animal-like noises, which caused the adults to stop bickering and watch in wonder.

The children communicated for a couple moments until the eternal calmed down and limped closer to the group, sitting down and presenting her trapped leg to Wolfgang to free.

N: Wolfgang just stared at the child for a moment before approaching her and placing both his hands on either side of the trap where the springs were.

"I know we are going to keep her here, there wasn't an option," the Saxon spoke as he pushed down on the springs with all his might, the jaws of the trap slowly opening, "but you need to build trust first. If you saw two large men approaching you while you're defenceless, wouldn't you run away? Let them know that they have a choice."

He stopped talking just so he could focus on pushing the springs down, and he made small hush sounds whenever he child would yelp in pain, and slowly but surely he pushed the springs down enough that the jaws were wide enough for the fawn to slip her leg out.

Carefully shutting the trap again, the Saxon sat back on his legs as he let out a sigh of relief before turning to the child, "so, will you stay?"

M: The child still looked a little skittish, she tried to get up to most likely run away but couldn't put any pressure on her now bleeding leg. Even if her leg wasn't injured she didn't have any fight left in her, mammals were not built to survive on their own at such a young age, it was any wonder how she even survived this long.

With no strength and no will left, she did what any wild animal would do, just lay still and accept their fate to die, figuring that she would at least become food for whatever these creatures were.

N: Wolfgang's expression saddened at the sight of the hopeless child, something he was a bit too familiar with recently, so he sat down next to her and slowly stretched out his hand till it was right next to her head, seeing what she would do.

"MC, could you bring a first aid kit for this one," he asked, his attention on the fawn, "Adira could stay with me since they can talk and could help her. Just be quick."

M: "I'll go as fast as I can, the one time I curse this place for having no cell service," MC declared, "we'll get her patched up then we got to get her to either the estate or the hospital, both have doctors who can help."

He rushed off as fast as he could, shouting for Eclipse and Niko that they had an emergency. Adira did her best to communicate with the faun and tell her that they were going to help but she stopped responding to anything, even when Adira tried to give her a candy bar she had the other wouldn't even open her eyes, only her shallow breathing indicated that she was still alive.

N: There was a small moment when the area around them was quiet and eerily peaceful, so Wolfgang began to stroke the child's head, trying to comfort her.

"Bitte, don't give up hope," he begged quietly, "you're young and have so much life ahead of you; let us take you in and heal. Being out here alone isn't the answer, ok?"

The more he spoke, the more he thought about his own son, and he wished that he would be able to listen. He was so out of it that he didn't notice the others approaching.

M: The two-and-a-half men had come as fast as they could, Eclipse had dragged along the deer because he refused to give up their kill, but set it down farther away when he saw who they were dealing with. MC had a bit of medical knowledge and did what he could to patch up the young eternal, it worried him that she still wouldn't respond when he was messing with her.

"Eclipse, I know it's hard for you, but could to teleport us at least to the car, she's not going to make the trip there," he told the other.

Eclipse nodded and concentrated, managing to get them to the truck in a matter of moments, though it did take a bit out of him. MC had Niko sit up front and Wolfgang would sit in the back with the girls, Eclipse and TE rode in the truck bed with the deer, and once he was sure they were all settled the militant put the pedal to the metal and drove as fast as he could back to civilization.