OOC:
Sounds good to me. XD

IC:
Tyleek watched carefully as Malaktai attacked, well hidden in the trees as he was. He pulled his lips back from his teeth a bit, then dropped downed behind the male Allatik, stave out and ready. He lashed out with the weapon, rapping Malaktai hard across the shoulders before springing back out of reach.

OOC:
Ew shortness. >.>

OOC: Understood, no worries. And my apologies for length.. lol I had to get it all into one. It's happening in the matter of ..maaaybe thirty seconds?


IC:

A small shield of what looked like black shadows rose to protect Malaktai as Tyleek attempted to hit him across his shoulder with his stave. Malaktai looked over his shoulder with deadly eyes at the Allatik and he caught the male's weapon in his hand before he could hide away again unless he gave up his weapon. In a moment, Malaktai would somehow have Tyleek pressed up against a tree, his own stave against his throat. Malaktai's eyes were calm and angry, but not as evil and heartless as one may think. He muttered to the male with quiet haste, so only he would hear.

"I'm giving you this warning now, Tyleek Cree. You will not win. Because you will not fight me. You will not attempt harm to me. You can not, for the sake of Ceona." He paused, staring hard into the other male's eyes. Oddly, his words didn't sound like a threat, but something quite different. "For her sake... do not touch me."

After a short moment of silence, Malaktai's head suddenly whipped around toward the place where he'd left Raitfier, his eyes wide and mouth twisted into a snarl. "Cy Ara!"




Her head shot up, startled as her name was called. Her deer-in-the-headlights eyes met Malaktai's angry ones as she kneeled next to Raitfier and attempted to wake him. She would've lifted him, but he was too heavy for her to carry far just by herself.

When their eyes had met, that had been a bad decision on her part to freeze up. Without warning, Malaktai was standing in front of her, as if he'd teleported. She didn't have time to react.

When Malaktai snagged the back of her shortened hair in his fist and pulled her up, she cried out, instinctively reaching up to grasp his hands in hers. He pulled her face close to hers and sputtered. "Stay away!"

And then Malaktai had his other hand wrapped around her throat, a purplish black glow layering over his skin. All in a matter of seconds, he'd had Cy Ara's life in his hands. But what else was new? Spidery veins worked their way from his hands to her skull quickly, traveling upward towards her eyes as she screamed, eyes shut tight.

But the color faded from his hands and the veins stopped progressing as Malaktai jerked, a protective shield of impenetrable shadow guarding his back. His hands released Cy Ara as she fell into a slump against Raitfier's sitting form, who protectively caught her in his arm. Malaktai's eyes fell to his no longer unconscious prisoner.

Raitfier's other hand was layered in a thick casing of ice, where it thinned and sharpened into a three-foot piercing needle the penetrated Malaktai straight through his side. Raitfier's eyes were ablaze, having the calm angry look before the storm. His words were interlaced with threatening venom. "I admit, I missed my intended target. But that will leave a mark."

Fighting the urge to make a face, Malaktai swallowed the pain and willed the darkness inside him to come to surface. He somehow blistered the ice and caused it to crack at the exact same time a dozen shards shot from the single stem and darted for the male. In the end, Malaktai was stumbling backwards clutching his side, swinging his other hand in an arch, and disappearing before anything else could be said or done.

Before Malaktai had even gone, the ice melted into thin air and Raitfier turned his attention to Cy ara. He pulled her closer to him and shook her hard, her skin pale in comparison to the black veins that webbed up her face. Raitfier could swear they were pulsing. "Cy Ara!"

Her eyes fluttered open hazily, dull, but alive. It took her a moment to focus, before she could weakly stammer out that she was fine. Raitfier looked concerned, eyeing what Malaktai had done to her. "You don't sound fine. You may feel fine.. but doesn't mean something isn't still wrong. I need some healing!" He called out, not entirely sure that would even work. He helped Cy Ara sit up.

Tyleek's lips twisted into a snarl as Malaktai blocked the attack, then almost at the same moment gripped his stave and suddenly had him pinned to a tree, his own stave held to his throat so he couldn't move very well. He growled deep in his chest, then stopped, warily listening to Malaktai speak. The male froze, his eyes wide and stunned. Ceona? She was...alive? Melantha had been right? And the way Malaktai said it...it wasn't a threat....almost...a plea. He stayed completely still, stunned out of his mind. He couldn't move. Until he heard Cy Ara scream, then his head snapped up and he growled. His body stiffened to move, but Raitfier was faster. He had enough time to notice that the other male's hand was encased in ice and had pierced Malaktai's side, and then the latter pulled away, twisted, and disappeared. He was already moving toward Cy Ara. Tyleek skidded to a stop on his knees beside her, his entire expression filled with worry and fear. He could not lose her. He just couldn't. His eyes flicked to Natsu, filled with anguished pleading.
"Can you help her? Please, at least try. Please." he begged. He took one of Cy Ara's hands and laced his fingers through hers, very gently stroking her hair out of her face. Javen padded up and laid down behind Cy Ara so she could lean on him if she wanted. Ty glanced at the jaguar, and Sephora, gratefully, but didn't thank them verbally. He was too worried about Cy Ara, and his mind was still in a half lockdown from hearing his sisters name from Malaktai.

OOC:
Hmm...how close would Ceona be to their current position, cuz Ty has a little light thingy that Melantha gave her that brightens the closer he is to his sister. o.o

OOC: She's close... -ish. But very far underground. And Malaktai has done something that consistently keeps her aura and scent weakened as well. I don't know if that would affect his little thingie?


IC:

Raitfier glanced at Tyleek, weariness in his eyes, then looked back to Cy Ara as he helped her sit up.

She wavered slightly, Javen arriving just in time to allow her to lean on him. She linked her fingers with Tyleek's and raised her other hand to gingerly sift Javen's fur through her fingers, looking from one male to another before she murmured. "Honestly.. I feel fine. I don't understand what all the fuss is about.."

When Natsu's hands began to glow, she shivered, a chill running down her spine. She felt her skin tingle around her neck and face where the veins were, but nothing else. She frowned when Natsu said his next words about something spreading. She looked at Raitfier then, and he seemed to understand what she wanted.

"Here.." He raised his hand and a palm sized mirror of water gathered in his palms from the moisture in the air, quickly solidifying into ice with a small crackling noise. Cy Ara could see her reflection and she whimpered once, her eyes growing wide. A hand raised to her slightly tilted face and her finger ran down one of the minorly thicker black tendrils. The first thing that came to mind was that she looked like a demon, or possessed. It made her start to tremble slightly, her lips pursed into a tight line. Her intertwined fingers tightened around Tyleek's instinctively.

"I think, maybe... we should start traveling to some place safer.." Raitfier began to stand slowly, a hand on his knee to help himself steadily stand. He brushed himself off half heartedly, a grim frown on his face. "From what you've told me, the west seems like our best bet - towards the shoreline. Maybe we'll run into someone who can help us fix... whatever this is." He looked towards Natsu, his expression hard, but grateful. "Name's Raitfier. I feel.. like you could lend a good helping hand our way in our fight against this malign influence. You'd be risking your life... but would you come with us?"

OOC:
Nah, I think it's linked to the blood-bond-kin between him and her, so that shouldn't mess with it.

IC:
Tyleek watched Natsu anxiously as he murmured some magic over Cy Ara, and bit his lip when it didn't seem to do much. He squeezed her fingers back soothingly when she saw her reflection, humming softly in his chest. He remained at Cy Ara's side once Raitfier stood, grimacing, though her knew the male Allatik was right. He jumped a bit when he heard a low hiss, and looked up to search for the noise. He raised one eyebrow when he saw Sephora standing guardedly between Natsu and Raitfier. Her position was relaxed but alert, watching the latter warily. Tyleek glanced from Natsu to Sephora, both of his eyebrows lifting high on his forehead.
"Natsu is your mate?" he asked incredulously. Sephora's lips twitched into a very slight smile.
"Yes." she said simply. She closed her eyes, shuddered, then groaned and stumbled backward a few steps. Tyleek sighed slightly with relief as he recognized that she had Reverted. He glanced at Natsu. So it must be Erza that had been taken. Absently, he reached into his bag and pulled out a small vial that resembled a teardrop. Within the vial was a white glow, warm and steady. Tyleek's breath hitched in his throat. Malaktai had been right.
"Ceona," he managed to choke out, his fingers tightening around the vial. "She's nearby." he looked at the others, his lavender-blue eyes wide. He knew they were wondering what he was talking about. He repeated waht Malaktai had said to him, and ended with twirling the vial slowly through his fingers. "A friend of mine gave me this, told me that the closer I got to my sister the brighter its light would shine." he blinked and took a breath, torn. He shook his head and put the vial away, and turned back to Cy Ara. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and helped her to slowly stand up.