Tempest paused for a moment to catch her breath. The monster's roar was clearly heard, even at almost half a mile away. You know, when I wondered if anything interesting would happen today, that did not mean I wanted you to send a three headed, fire-spitting hydra after me! She thought as she gasped for breath. Looking around, she saw a black and white blur approaching. "Ok, listen." she told the weasel creature when it stopped, "You've been a real help. Really. But if that hydra finds either of us together, we're both dead. We have to split up. If we both survive, you can come find me. But we have a better chance of surviving if we aren't together. Capire?"

It took Tempest a moment to realize that she'd switched to Italian instead of saying "understand?", but the creature seemed to realize what she was getting at anyway, since he nodded and darted away. Tempest smiled, but was quickly alerted by a fireball hitting a tree to her left. The hydra had come back. "So, you are ok with dying?" Tempest asked it as she pulled out her dagger, "Cause that kinda seems like that's where this is going."

The hydra roared and one of it's heads shot a ball of flame at her. Swiftly, she dodged it and shrugged before charging at it. "Your loss." She got as close as she could to its legs, knowing that the hydra couldn't risk hitting her without getting itself, and tried to cut through its thick skin. It was harder than she'd originally thought, and it was hard to focus when she had to worry about the monster stomping on her.

An idea formed in her mind as she finally managed to make a small cut in the hydra's flesh. Concentrating on the energy around her, she used her abilities as a Astrakinetic or Charger to electrocute the wound. Blue lightning shot out of her hand and made its way onto the hydra, traveling up its body.

The hydra went crazy. It roared in fright and pain as Tempest pulled her hand away. "Time to go." Tempest muttered to herself as the monster shot balls of fire into the air. Putting her knife away, she ran away from the frenzy, trying to cover as much ground as possible before the hydra realized she was gone.

It wasn't easy to avoid a fire-spitting monster, but it was even more difficult for Tempest to avoid all the trees the hydra had knocked down. Not only did it block her path, but the branches would catch on her tunic or leggings, and they didn't provide any cover from the sparks left behind when the fireballs flew overhead. However, they also provided a way to slow down the hydra, so she wasn't about to complain. It did make hiding difficult though. It also made Tempest want to have a nice, civilized chat with the person who she assumed was sending these monsters, and by "civilized" she imagined punching them in the face. Repeatedly.

Tempest suddenly froze from the sudden chill. It was strange, feeling cold when she'd just felt the sweltering heat of the hydra's flames seconds before. No no no no no no no! Not now! Sending a hydra was bad enough, but this? This is just low.

Finally adjusted to the new cold, Tempest continued running, but the growing darkness kept her from going as fast as she had been before. "Stupido signore della notte, che mi fa venire i blackout..." She muttered to herself, not caring about the Italian, "E pensi che stia vincendo ingiustamente? Stai letteralmente barando in questo momento!" she sighed and turned back towards the hydra. From what her vision still showed, it was pretty far away, and she sighed with relief, "Well, at least it won't attaccami durante il blackout..."

A black and white figure appeared in her vision as she sat down, but Tempest couldn't tell if it was actually there, or if the ever-growing darkness was messing with her vision. Gradually, the black consumed her vision, and she was brought back to the void of nothing she knew as her dreams.

__________________________

As the three headed creature left, she sighed. She had spent enough time around Grady, Edaline, and Sophie to know how to care for weird creatures, but she'd never seen one like that. It had destroyed much of the forest where she occasionally went to relax, and she swore she saw someone else there, fighting it. Maybe it's Sophie. Or Tam. Or one of the others, She thought as she examined the damage the creature had caused. Why would any of them be here though?

Carefully making her way around the fallen trees, a rustling in the bushes drew her attention. Slowly, she approached and pushed the large branches away. On the ground a few feet away from where she was standing was a girl she didn't recognize laying on the ground. Around the girl was a large... weasel? Cat? She couldn't tell. Did- did that creature kill her? She thought, panicked for a moment. The girl wasn't moving, and the weird weasel thing was watching her with careful eyes.

As she tried to take a step forward, the creature hissed at her, causing her to step back. Looking back at the girl, she saw her chest rise and fall slightly, and breathed a sigh of relief. So it didn't kill her. So why is she just laying here?...

Carefully, she took a step forward. She sighed in frustration when the hissing began again. "You know what?" she said as she hurried over to the girl, ignoring the creature's hisses. Kneeling down beside her, she batted away the creature's paws. "I'm trying to help her, you stupid...weasel? What even are you?"

When the creature didn't stop, she put a wall of ice around herself and the girl and sighed. She checked her for any serious injuries before carefully picking her up with telekinesis and pulling out a pathfinder to the Neutral Territories . "Let's see what we can do."

Hey everyone! Yeah, I updated again. I just wanted to make up for the missed update on Saturday. So, I hope to maybe update tomorrow, since I have a trip to a Cross country meet tomorrow, but if I don't, then I hope to update on Saturday. See y'all later, and happy Labor Day!

Translation to Tempest's Italian, if you'd like it: Stupid night lord, giving me blackouts...

And he thinks I win unfairly? He's literally cheating right now!

...attack me during the blackout...