[Peridot]

A gleam in Sandy’s eyes appeared at the mention of extra dessert. That puppy was his! The boy immediately pulled out a set of tiger claw gauntlets from his small travel pack and slipped them over his hands. “Alright! Let’s go!” Flicking his feet, two sharp metal blades poked out of his seemingly harmless shoes.

He immediately used the sharp hooked claws and shoe hooks to climb up the trunk of a nearby tree onto a high up and sturdy branch. Sandy leapt from tree to tree, either alighting on branches or simply using the claws to dig into the tree trunks and catch himself, all the while heading deeper into the woods.

Half of his attention was looking at the ground below cautiously. If Miss Bell actually cared for this puppy then it must either be a baby attack dog or something similarly nasty like a hellhound. The other half was scanning his surroundings closely looking for…. Aha! With a leap and a pounce, Sandy speedily eviscerated a harmless squirrel on a branch nearby. He’d need fresh meat to entice the beast. That or a really strong cage. The squirrel carcass was a little to big to stick in his pockets, and he didn’t want the blood to ruin the map and small books he had in his pack, so he simply shoved the squirrel in his mouth and continued leaping from tree to tree, looking for the pet.

[Tsukuyomi “Nichts”]

Reiji watched the cadets carried on with indifference, his arms crossed over his head. His blanked mind seemed to wander, only letting himself mechanically function until sentience returned in a torrent, forcing him to turn his head to Bell. It took him a moment to process, but smirked to himself at the request. So, a look out? Finally something more active for him to do that he can comfortably achieve.

He reached over his back, where he had a special attachment to hold his precision rifle, something he figured he needed to bring once they started to assemble out here. He unclasped it and brought it in front of him, gently running his hand over the slender frame before hooking and unhooking a small latched lever, making distinct clicks.

He smiled softly, only for it to turn into a smirk as he gazed over his commander. “Okay, fine. But this,” he clutched the gun properly with both hands, holding it close to his chest, “is only to be used as a scope.” Maybe. “Promise.” Fingers crossed, not crossed. He ran a finger over his mask visor, the small slits emitting an eerie sort of glow before the officer dashed off in a silent blur of gray. With his trained footwork, he leaped up onto the treetops without much of a trace and he traversed after the scattering cadets from a fair distance, his form and figure cloaked in the churning shadows.

[naga5000]

I could tell someone was following the cadets, but debated it wasn’t a problem seeing as no one even knew about me yet. I sniffed the air, finding prints in the sand that I knew were a dogs, but couldn’t wuite figure out the size yet. I began to follow them based on where the toes were pointing.

[Ickle Wickle Dickle-chan]

A squirrel peacefully noms on an acorn atop a boulder.
…
…
…
…
*WHOOSH*
A shadowy blur rushes out of the treeline and completely jumps over it. The squirrel, once it has time to process the event, runs into the bushes. But alas, the beast is in hot pursuit! The squirrel twists and twirls and climbs up trees, but it cannot shake the large animal snarling loudly just on its trail. In nary a minute the squirrel is trapped between a boulder and the beast. Despair and fear dawn in the rodent’s bright, black eyes. There is no escape. There is no going back to its aunt and baby daughter. It turns its head away. Each soft and slowed thud the beast makes is another painful realization that its sick family wouldn’t get the food and encouragement it needs – much less the medicine it needs because wild squirrels don’t even get no dang medicine! It’s all over…everything is hopeless…soon not just it would be dead, but its entire remaining family as well. If only it had gotten to say goodbye, though all there’s left to do is wait for death at the fangs of this monster…
…
What? Why is it taking so long? The squirrel looks up to see nothing there but the forest. Wait, no… A human. A human is running right towards the squirrel, looking around attentively. Perhaps it is aware of the danger that had been standing there mere seconds ago, but why would it be looking for the beast? …It’s no good to narrowly escape the jaws of one predator just to be snatched into the clutches of another. The squirrel scampers back into the trees before the human can reach it.

[Kit Apparently]

Kissa shifts back into her fox form, irritated by the draw earlier. She had heard Bell say they were looking for a lost puppy but knowing the officer it was most likely a 7 foot tall wolf. The other cadets would probably try sabotaging the hunt but only Max would know to watch out for a fox. She didn’t want to use Queen of Darkness until she absolutely had to. She pads forward,sniffing the air in attempt to catch any canine scent to no avail. Sighing, she continues forward.
She breaks into a run, going deeper into the forest. She hears the shouts of other cadets, but other than that the forest is eerily silent.

[Peridot]

Sandy continued leaping through the trees until he noticed a trail of paw-prints. He veered his course in order to follow them when he came across a tall teenage girl (Crystal) following the same trail. Sandy’s green eyes narrowed as he took in the girl’s appearance. She was alarmingly thin, and wandering around in the woods alone! He took a moment to think, halting his pursuit of the tracks as he attempted to recollect whether the girl had been among the group of cadets earlier. Deciding that he had not, in fact seen her before, Sandy immediately dashed after her.

Landing on a the truck of a tree nearby, he used the twin tiger claws strapped to his arms to gouge enormous slash marks into the thick bark of the tree in order to slow his descent as he slid downwards. Once he reached the bottom, Sandy pulled his claws free of the tree and switched the squirrel to his left hand to free up his mouth for speaking, “Hey! Oh hey! Lady! Lady! Lady, are you okay? How long have you been wandering around in here? Are you lost? You really need to eat something!” The young man ran after the girl, waving his free arm frantically, “You really shouldn’t eat dogs! They’re stringy and not yummy. Have this squirrel instead!”

[Max]

Jumping from tree to tree, Max was looking around on the ground for anything related to Bell’s puppy. He could hear trees rustling, when he heard that he knew someone was following the cadets. Which included himself. Then he stopped, hearing soft foot steps from a bush, he saw a black fox come out. “Hey Kissa, how’s your search so far?” Jumping down from the tree, he stood in front of her, grinning. Then without waiting for an answer he raced off, deeper into the woods.

[BlueMoon]

Maylee had been wandering for days. She was hungry and dehydrated, but none of that bothered her. It was a different hunger that ate away at her mind. She finally came across some buildings that appeared to be some kind of a base. Finally, some excitement. She stopped at one of the buildings and smiled. “What do we have here?” she said. She could smell the remnants of many battles. She felt the familiar itch inside of her.

“I think I’ve found a new playhouse.”

[Kit Apparently]

Kissa sniffs, ignoring a taunt from Max and continuing in the direction she was heading in. Suddenly, she freezes. Something isn’t right in these woods. Something watches her, and it isn’t the other officer Bell sent to watch everyone. It’s something or someone else. Kissa shivers and moves on,wondering if anyone else had sensed it. She still could not find even a trace of puppy anywhere. She heads onward.
+the forest grows silent, even the leaves aren’t rustling+

[Bell]

Bell glared at the hole in which Rei disappeared into the woods He better not harm her. Or even come close to my precious darling with that gun. If he does I will tan his own hide and hang it up on my wall She thinks to herself, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the thought of /Homo Sapien/ hanging on her office wall. Well I guess I could just cure it and save it for the rest of the hounds… She mulls the idea over in deep contemplation. But I suppose that would also be bad for the press too. Hmmm Commander Using Human Meat to Feed Troops!!! Nah. M3l would probably kill ME if I did something like that…Ohhh I know!! Lets go drink cocoa and plot it out!!! Turning to go back inside to drink hot chocolate, she hears foot steps and a female voice say: “I think I’ve found a new playhouse.” Whirling around to the voice, she responses hostilely: “Who are you?!!! What is your business here?!!!

[BlueMoon]

Maylee turns to the girl and peers into her eyes. She turns and walks towards her, her grin growing as she gets closer. As she walks over, she says, “Who am I? That’s not terribly important. If you feel the need to talk to me though you may call me Maylee.”

She stopped a few feet in front of her, still staring intently at her. “My business? My business is pain. Yours or anyone’s really. Lucky for you though, I’m quite famished and I need to take care of that first before I tend to my other needs.”

Still smiling, she asked, “Could you possibly help me with that?”

[naga5000]

I turned around to look at the man, almost shocked that I hadn’t even sensed approaching.
“Oh, hey. I’m actually not lost you see.” I told him, with a small wave. “And I’m as much of a cadet as you are, well almost at least. I haven’t really notified her that I’m here yet, so you probably didn’t know I was even coming.” I adjust the pack on my back. “Name’s Crystal, I just arrived a few minutes ago and overheard the thing about the dog. I was trying to find it.” I waved the bacon through the air.

[Kit Apparently]

Kissa stands up, shifting half human. The ground shakes as she turns. A beast stands in the clearing, no, its more of a shadow. It growls ominously, and she turns again, sprinting to the cover of the trees once more. The beast roars and she spins around, grabbing her cross, ripping it off and–
✴ a scream echoes through the forest. At the origin, a beast drops the limp body of Kissa to the ground. There are no wounds, but her breathing is shallow.The beast raises its head, sniffing and setting off in the direction of the boy in its victim’s memory.✴

[Max]

Once the beast was gone, Max jumped down to the forest ground. Looking at the limp body of Kissa, he sighed and picked her up. Setting herself on his back, he started to walk out of the woods. Right at the end of the trail was a giant beast, shaped as a bear. Black like a shadow though. Max put Kissa against a tree, then took out his sword. Standing where he is, the monster moved towards him slowly.

[Kit Apparently]

Kissa stands in an all white room, staring out of a window.
“No…” She whispers.This isn’t right. She shouldn’t be here. She was supposed to be in the woods, fighting that monster. Max was– and it was her fault again. The door creaks open behind her.
“Kissaaaa…. It’s time for your treatment Kissa….”
“No!” She cries, sliding down against the wall and covering her ears. “You’re not real,you’re not real!” She closes her eyes, tears slipping down her face.
✴Kissa moves slightly, murmuring “not real…..” A single tear slips down her face✴