Yoshiya gazed at his audience.

"I don't need any fancy tricks or high class grub. Just simple good honest cooking."

The dish needed nothing more than an occasional stir for all the ingredients to blend together. His cauldron produced warmth, and a great scent, a great scent of home, to remind those that consumed its aroma of days gone by, of more innocent times, if such a thing existed in this world.

The old worn and well loved ladle which was used to stir the stew was brought up to the bearded man's lips as he took a small sip of the concoction.

"Hmm, not quite ready, but its coming along well," he said, with a smile.

Part of him wanted to consume the whole thing himself, though that was beyond his powers.

If a homely scent was coming from Yoshiya's station, then little more than an acrid stench was coming from Sikes'

"No! No! No! No! No!" He hastily flipped over the potato bread which was getting a little too dark on one side, spilling some of his beans in the process.. "Gordon Benett. Still, noting to but press on!"

He was in a deep hole, so deep that the best way out was to keep digging. Eggs were broken. Some were simply fried, others were used to make pancakes. A vast menagerie of pots and pans were sizzling around him.

The beef which had avoided destiny as veggie roll was rolled up into sausages along with a few other scraps from the other dishes. They too were sent to the fryer.

Finally all his prep work was done. All that was needed was to keep a careful eye on the food cooking....

All nine of them...

A secret agent walked through the crowds, observing various stations, taking notes as she did, occasionally asking questions to the cooks in a phony Russian accent.

But whilst walking a smell infiltrated her nasal passages, a smell familiar to her.

"My mother's stew? No. She's dead. It will be Yoshiya. I already know how the dish is made, no information to be gathered there."

Some people would be ecstatic to see a relative they had not had contact with in nearly a millennium. If  the cause for separation were nasty, then they may find anger or distress. But not Kabelja. She did not care. It was of no consequence to her. No emotion was felt from her. She passed his station as she had passed many others.

He did not see her through the crowds.

She could feel her temperature rising? What was this feeling? Was this hot feeling love? Had she found her soul mate? Was he her destiny? She wanted to get closer to him, but she found she couldn't move. A heavy feeling pressed all around her. All she wanted was to be with the man, but some unknown force was keeping her back.

That unknown force was known as the rest of the crowd. Being so transfixed upon the chef she had completely blanked out everyone else, as they crowded around her, the combined numbers of their exothermic bodies made anyone pressed up with them rather warm. Not that she noticed. She was so focused on the cook...

While focused, Haru did noticed there was a bit of a crowd observing him at his work...that was a weird feeling. He had other doctors watching him as he did his job but that was somewhat different... he was pretty sure this crowd wouldn’t feel too timid to point out any mistakes he would make. Still, the seemed genuinely interested I his work, so he gave them a wide grin, before going back to his meal...just in time not to overcook what was boiling in the pot.

A mix of mushrooms, shallots, and peppers finally chopped, cooking in a mix of butter and sauce to form a nice gravy. With a very brief tip of fine red wine, which he brought in a small bottle. He guessed brining a full bottle of wine would be...a bit excessive. While the gravy and its contents were cooking themselves, his hands were busy kneading up a makeshift pastries. A basic one, since the flavor would be coming from the gravy and meat hopefully. After that was done, all the pieces were in place...it was time to assemble.

Before that he would rise up a bit, stretching himself to relax a bit before the final part. As he did so, he would see two familiar faces from his Division, Mai and Koba on looking the competition. He would wave at them with a smile, hoping they would notice their fearless leader, before moving back to his meal. He would flatten the self-made pastry, dripping the sides in a stirred egg to ensure they would stick together. He would then lay down a portion of the filling all across its length, and the placed he cooked slabs of beef on them. Then another layer of the filling and finally a bit of gravy to fill it up. And now, the greatest challenge. Slowly, he would inch the pastry over the filling, rolling it up more and more, creating a nicely wrapped package...and moving back every time the pastry pulled back a bit. Doing this alone was a somewhat complicated task...but it was going somewhat smoothly. Then he would bake the roll and hopefully have a passable meal...There was a lot of mistakes to be had, since this meal usually was prepared with a bit of a heads up...but who dares wins right?

this post brought to you by kitteh:

Much of the same went on; the contestants cooked their meals, some far better than others, the spectators spectated, and the dwarf's converts grew with each passing moment. Those not brave enough to endure the area around Sikes soon found themselves entranced by the short man, who had also taken the indifferent ones from the farmer and his stew. Harupia and Biru, however, found themselves roughly in the same place, people drawn to the doctor's hands and the scientist's toys, respectively.

A small herd of unattended children soon found a leader in which they could stalk; they found Kabelja's accent to be most fantastic, her mannerisms well worth emulating, and the hat she wore to be, in fact, 'da bomb.' Several of the larger ones managed to match her stride in a pleasing imitation, while the smaller ones just puttered about behind her. When she stopped to survey the area, so too did they, and any adult not watching the dwarf had found himself chuckling when he discerned the source of the nervous giggling in the super-spy's wake.

Ariadne soon found herself pressed against a girl with an eyepatch as the herd around them surged forward, hoping to get a glimpse of the dwarf as he disappeared from his stool for but a moment; he had, to his shame, dropped a carrot that he needed in his pie, and would any of them want it?

The answer, naturally, was yes, and the crowd soon began vying for the coveted prize.

Yoshiya saw as the numbers around him continued to dwindle.

"Kids these days, all they want is flash and pizazz! Can't appreciate a little honest home cooking..."

He sighed, dipped the ladle into the broth again and took a sip.

"Yep! It's ready! Grubs up!" He yelled those words, banging the ladle against the pot, a loud clang echoing through the immediate area. A few more came to him after that.

The bearded man gave a cynical chuckle, as he retrieved a pile of wooden bowls, graciously pouring a large serving of the broth into one. There was one of the male scouts at his table, a loyal subject who had been watching him all throughout the preparation, even during the waiting. He would be the first to be served.

"Here son," Yoshiya said, handing the boy the bowl and a spoon, "get that in you. And enjoy," he said with a smile.

After this he would turn back to the pot and dish out more of it to those who were around him.

"I have a tail..."

A sense of panic flooded Kabelja. Her mind raced to what she had read. In times like these the characters in Yumi's books would lure them to a secluded place then murder them with a concealed weapon. However Kabelja was completely and utterly unarmed. Her blade was just too large to be concealed under her dressed, so it had to be left at home.

As such her own mind took over. Her primary objective was to protect her goal. That seemed already compromised. As such she needed to look after herself. Her best bet was to stay in an open place where she could easily be seen....

The place was crowded, and anyone could sneak up on her in the crowd unnoticed. Where weren't there people? Ah! In the air! If she could reach an elevated position, then maybe she would be safe, but where?

"Kyahhh!"

Sikes had turned into a venerable octopus, juggling meat, vegetable, eggs... as soon as something made too much noise or smoke it was flipped or the heat was turned down or something. Something. He wasn't quite sure what.

A mass of flailing limbs encapsulated his station. Something hard smacked against his elbow, but he recovered in time just to catch the beans he had just knocked over, and then extinguish the cloth he had set alight during the rescue process.

"Belle, I love you, please rescue me from this!"

His tearful prayer was not answered. The lady and her children were elsewhere, doing a spot of shopping. She had suspected that Ebenezer might be too exhausted and worn out to object if she made a few vanity purchases that day, and sought to take advantage of this fact.

What was this? A gift from the great one? Had he given a gift to Yumi?

She surged forth, hoping to grasp at the root vegetable that had fallen to the ground. It was part of him, and she would make it part of her.

Yet strain as she might, she couldn't move. Dark shadows encapsulated her, making every movement futile. She couldn't get to him. Even with her small frame jostling, she couldn't slip through gaps. Oh, if only she hadn't been injured, perhaps then she may have been able to claim it, to vault over the sea of peoples. But alas, the svelte, athletic Shinigami may as well have been a beached whale, for all the good it did her.

Focusing on the task at hand, Biru smiled as he successfully tuned out the crowd that was watching him cook. Hearing the beef sizzle on the grill as he cut up the assorted vegetables, Biru's smile wavered when he noticed that the distinct sound of a rolling ball wasn't coming the soup. Finishing up the onion that he was cutting, Biru put down the knife and sampled a small sip of the soup. Satisfied with how it was going so far, Biru fished out the ROLLING BALLS OF SCIENCE and put them into a container that was hooked up to a small tank of water. Pressing a button on the device, the container would rapidly fill up with water and clean up the balls. Taking out another ball and winding it up, Biru would drop it back in the soup so it would continue to stir it WITH SCIENCE.

Turning his attention back to the vegetables, Biru would soon find himself done with them. Finding himself at a loss for what to do next, Biru was out of ideas past his soup and noodle dish. Tempted to take some question from the audience on how his SCIENTIFIC DEVICES OF COOKING AND SCIENCE worked, Biru knew he would betoo  distracted and the food would be burnt if he did so. Instead Biru checked on the noodles and the meat to make sure that he didn't need to make any adjustments to how either was cooking.

It took a while, his fingers fumbling one few occasions, but finally it was done. The pastry was wrapped around the meaty-mushroom filling, and it was ready to be baked. Now, as he rose his head, he noticed the gathering was getting steadily larger, even though the crowd around the shorter chef was...well, dwarfing any other crowd. He also noticed that Yoshiya was already giving out his own meal to people. That was one flaw of his meal for sure, it was somewhat time consuming. But now, this was the final phase.

As he was looking around, he saw Mai and her companion notice him, though they seemed to be a bit hesitant to step closer. With a wide smile, he waved over to them, beckoning them to come closer. They wouldn’t refuse a request from their Taicho after all...though really, he wished they would simply come to him as a friend, not their superior. Either way, once he urged them to come to him, he picked up the tray with his mal, and moved it to one of the baking furnaces, closing the lid one it was inside. Turning to the ones observing him he would say "It won’t take long now ladies and gentleman, and me meal will be ready for degustation" a warm smile directed to everyone who stuck around.

Upon a more in-depth glance, the worried pair found their Taichou; neither had known that he planned on participating, though Mai knew of his love for the Citizens. They made their way to him unmolested, save the odd duck or two that was common to these sort of gatherings, but before either of them could offer a word of warning, they saw that he, too, was somehow in the throes of the magical net (or at least, that was how Mai saw it, but she wasn't of the mind to actually make a show out of cooking anything, for anyone). To Yashimaru, things looked normal.

The pull of the impish creature was not as strong here, the sky a dull, washed-out gold, and the spectators were of their own minds. The smell, however delectable, was far less enticing than that coming from the station with the largest crowd, and that probably had something to do with the crisis unfolding. For now, the pair would wait for Harupia to finish his task before alerting him to the problem across the way...surely it wasn't so bad that it could wait a few more minutes....

Time seemed to slow, for all parties involved. Those reaching for things, or even searching for them, would find a sense of anxiety building in their chests as their bodies refused to move normal. They would feel as though trapped in molasses, unable to move as fast as they had moments ago. Slow, lethargic, tired...full. The feeling was intensified in those who had taken to eating anything, be it a sample or an actual helping of things produced; those numerous individuals finding themselves almost comatose immediately after taking one small bite, leaving the cooks and others alarmed.

Only the dwarf appeared unaffected, his smile growing larger as each person helped themself to a small bite of the carrot -- in their mutual admiration, they had unconsciously decided to share, and he had approved with a twinkle in his eye, that it was for the best.

Smiling as he found that the meat would be ready, Biru began to plan how small the meat pieces would be cut into when he noticed SHENANIGANS OF UNSCIENCE. Realizing that he really couldn't move, Biru realized what this meant. HE WOULD BE UNABLE TO TAKE THE BEEF OFF THE GRILL BEFORE IT WAS BURNT...and someone had either uncovered and reproduced one of his old experiments or they were using their power for EEEEEEEVVVVIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLL. Deciding on the latter due to the lack of a lightning rod, loud noises and explosion, Biru soon began to feel extremely sleepy. Unable to move enough to even yawn, Biru struggled to stay awake.

Figuring this had something to do with what was going on, Biru formed a plan of SCIENCE AND STAYING CONSCIOUS. Drawing on his previous experience with sleep deprivation (who needs sleep when you have SCIENCE...and a lot of caffeine), Biru began to go over the periodic table of elements in order to keep his mind busy and alert. However Biru wouldn't just pin his hopes on the noble gases. Figuring that such a power would require a lot of reiatsu in order to work, Biru began to gather up his own reiatsu. While he wasn't able to flare it, Biru knew that it would probably emanate from him and hopefully disrupt or stall the effects of whatever was going on (or maybe this seemed like a good idea because Biru really was that tired). If it was successful then Biru would be able to try and get to the bottom of these SHENANIGANS OF UNSCIENCE. Though if it wasn't then at best Biru could hope that he didn't fall on the grill when he passed out.

Bowls were handed out, food was served, and bellies were filled. They drunk down their broth, and all agreed, it was a mighty fine soup. Yoshiya smiled, happy that he had fed and they had enjoyed their feed.

But *yawn* cooking sure was hard work. He felt more tired than he expect...

THUMP

The Rukon fell to the floor. He had tasted his own cooking as he was making it.

The few around him panicked and rushed to grab him, a few tossing half-full bowls in their efforts to reach him. But none did. A series of thuds came from the direction of Yoshiya's station. And indeed from every direction...

"Just one...final...push"

The food was nearly done. He just had to plate up, to scoop everything up into various piles....but he couldn't. His trousers were lined with lead, his clothes became starched and hard to move in. He quite simply couldn't move, nor be bothered to.

This wasn't right. He was in two minds. He both wanted to move, and couldn't care less, even as big black plumes of smoke started to rise around him. He cared, and he didn't care. And this scared him.

"What...what's going on? What the dickens..."

His empire began to collapse around him. Meat became charred, eggs moulded with the pan, beans bubbled over.

Sikes, hit the ground, still conscious, but choking from the developing smoke, the burning food competing with oxygen for space in his lungs.

Kabelja could not find a place to escape. Her companions dogged her every move. And...something was happening. Every step grew heavier. She found it harder and harder to move. The books had told of poisons and tranquillisers. Darts that could make someone unconscious in seconds. She had to act fast.

Her hands clasped together, and a small, black winged creature came into being. It unfurled a pair of ebony wings, embracing the sun.

"Take this to the office of the Soutaichou. "Operation compromised. STOP. Can't shake tail. STOP. Energy being drained. STOP. Fearing kidnapping. STOP.""

The creature fluttered off to the office of Malik Tanaka. Not to the man himself, for the simple reason that Kabelja didn't know what he looked like. Sure, she had met him on numerous occasions, but as far as she was aware, a face was just a pink blob, his had white hair on top. If he wasn't in, the creature would probably just be fluttering there for a while. She didn't know, normally her message would be to the exchange, where she knew someone would be, but this was a matter of utmost security.

The lady fought the feelings of fatigue. She was a noted insomniac, and her own mental fortitude fought against the feelings of exhaustion. Even then, her limbs were still heavy. Every muscle strained to keep going, her brain working overtime.

Around her people fell to the ground, unconscious. Bodies piled up throughout the area. Some, like her, retained their consciousness, staggering around in panic. But she trudged on. Her hand desperately wanted to reach for her hip, to ready her blade, but even if it had, it would find nothing. If there was actual combat, she would be practically useless.

The dark barriers subsided, waned in weakening at her pushing, her elbowing...but so did her...

Her spunk was gone, her stamina was drained. Yumi found herself to move, to throw away the dark shapes covering the master's gift. She had no power. She felt even weaker than she did in the days after her injury. Nothing. No reserves.

Yet what was this? A shape was offering a fraction of the gift to her? She snatched it up, and did as they did, sliding it into her mouth, chewing on its deliciousness. Whilst it may have just been a raw carrot, it seemed to be the best thing she had ever tasted. Her taste buds exploded at the feel of the vegetable within her maw, teeth softly chewing away, savouring each cell of the delicacy.

Any energy she had was lifted away. Napping seemed like a reasonable idea. One of the dark shapes beside her would do to rest against. It may have been scratched and thin, but it was close. Yumi fell onto Ariadne without any consciousness in her, snoozing away against the Rukon runaway.

One by one, those not immediately affected by the sleeping spell soon felt the welcome lethargy; cooks and spectators alike collapsed into heaps upon the green, some more than gracefully than others. Some paid no heed to which direction they fell, having lost the more finer points of conscious in the opposing order -- Ariadne retained hers, though it was hard-won and, before the shinigami beside her threatened to take her out, the child wheeled backward in a stumble, trying to escape the clutches of the madman who had fed her the carrot. Before consciousness faded, she saw him for what he truly was: an orange creature, horned and fearsome, scared and different.

Instead of hunger, she felt pity. Then the blackness took her, and everyone with it.

Yashimaru felt weak and cold, suddenly starving; without thinking, he plucked one of Harupia's fine presents and swallowed it whole, unaware of the temperature or degree of done-ness. That was his downfall, and as he crashed onto Mai, the world faded to blackness.

The Tanaka fared better, and as the last dregs of consciousness faded away, she witnessed the orange imp trifling about, prancing from one prone person to the next, positioning them into a specific pattern; the grogginess was too much, and soon she too faded to face the blackness.

She, with only those few people positioned, soon found themselves in a strangely familiar ground. She picked herself up, her only saving grace being that she hadn't eaten any of the beef that Harupia had presented, and she busied herself by rousing first her companions, then the few of normal coloring; those who had been positioned, it seemed, were the only ones she could see, feel, and hear.

With Yashimaru alert, the pair focused themselves on fully rousing the rest. It was slow goings--most of them had been here from the beginning, and had been inhaling the sickly sweet scents as they permeated the air, and the two centric to the dwarf proved to be the most challenging to wake, but it was done. The stood in a circle, close together, watching the signs appear around their necks.

Yashimaru was the first to be labeled as 'The Prince,' and to his immediate left, Yoshiya coined 'The Farmer.' 'The Scientist' was beside 'The Noblewoman,' while 'The Pirate,' and 'The Kid' were watching 'The Shark' with wary eyes. 'The Doctor' and 'The Princess' completed the circle; they all turned as one to face the booming voice from behind them:

"Welcome to the jungle! You must find each other through this:" A thick fog soon covered the green, quenching the fires and separating the bunch. "And return to me to fetch the prize:" A brilliant golden trophy shaped in a magnificent haunch of beef setting wafted above his head. "First pair wins~!"

A clap of the hands later, equal to that of a clap of thunder, sent the nine to the dense forests beyond the green, separated through the fog.

"Hello?!" Mai cried, heart halfway out of her chest as she listened for the nearest response....

Roster:
Prince - Yoshimaru
Farmer - Yoshiya
Scientist - Biru
Noblewoman - Kabelja
Pirate - Yomi
Kid - Lard
Shark - Sikes
Doctor - Harupia
Princess - Mai

Okeydoke, find-and-seek time is go!

Struggling to stay awake, Biru could see that despite his best efforts it was turning into a losing battle. Trying to lean back so he wouldn't find himself face down on the grill, Biru hit the ground with a thump. Managing to make it to Argon in his head before sleep overtook him, the last sight that Biru saw was all of the other people who had also succumbed to sleep.

Opening his eyes to see a shinigami standing over him and rousing him from his slumber, Biru yawned and clambered back onto his feet. About to ask her what was going on, Biru was deprived of the opportunity when she then moved onto one of the other people who was asleep. Taking a few moments to overcome the drowsiness that normally accompanied Biru as he woke up, Biru soon comprehended that he and eight others were the only ones there (not that Biru knew where "there" was, although it did seem familiar). Recognizing some of the others as people who were at the cooking contest, Biru's eyes widened when he saw Ariande.

It was at that point that Biru found any nervousness that he would normally have in such a situation replaced with anger. Whoever or whatever the cause of this anomaly was, they had no reason to involve a child in it and Biru wouldn't find himself to be very sympathetic to whatever it was that caused this to happen. Furrowing his brow in a mix of anger and confusion at the thing's instructions (not to mention the sudden appearance of a sign on his neck), Biru soon found himself transported into a fog covered forest.

"ARIANDE...ANYONE ARE YOU THERE?" Biru shouted through cupped hands as he attempted to find someone. Coming to the conclusion that he needed something more reliable to give away his position, Biru used his ability to make both a defensive and an offensive turret. Firing three blasts up into the treetops (while making sure that he wasn't directly beneath the shots), Biru figured that such a blast might be able to get everyone's attention. Gathering reiatsu to his hand and speaking into it, Biru then formed a flare butterfly which he sent after the three blasts where it then formed a large light.

"Everyone meet over here."

The flare repeated three times as it bathed the foggy area in light. Hoping that Ariande and the others got the message, Biru began to survey the area to find some hint of where the others were and what this place was.

Mmm, yes, delicious beef stuffed in fine pastry, with mushrooms and some fine ham...it would be delicious...and fuelling as well, h could feel how heavy to palter was...he saw his companions come closer to his stand and he smiled brightly, holding up the meal before the crowd...but the tray was getting heavier and heavier...or rather, his limbs were having a harder time...his lids were heavy...something was wrong here...bah, that smell, so sweet...to sweet, made him feel sick...Last he saw was Koba reach for bit of his meal, before he tumbled into unconsciousness...and soon after, the Taicho fell as well, his beef meal falling onto the cooking table before him.

After some time he would find himself waking up, along with a few others of the contestants, some kind of color appearing on their necks...and the a booming voice explaining about finding themselves...before he could say anything, a loud boom was heard, sending them flying back, a deep fog setting around them. It took a while for him to collect himself after that, but he felt fine if a bit dazed...hearing a familiar, famine voice call out through the fog, he would answer calling out "MAI! Are you there somewhere? Don’t move to far, I’ll try and find you!" going into the deep fog, the voice his only marker, with him calling out her name constantly so they could find themselves easier.

"Ugghh" The Rukon stirred under Shinigami hand. "Wh...what happened? Oh...I remember now..."

Yoshiya rose to his feet, yawning off the dregs of sleep that still floated around him. "Thanks..."

He looked around at the other eight around him. There seemed to be some hostility being shown to his landlord.

"Nononono, don't worry about Sikes, he's a decent guy." It dawned on Yoshiya that he probably wasn't the friendliest looking guy around either. He sighed and gazed around at his fellows during the chef's speach...that woman... could it be.... "Sis?" He lunged at Kabelja, hoping to grab her in a long-overdue embrace. Yet as he went to grab her...she vanished into fog.....

The male Watson fell to the ground. A gloved fist smacked the earth... "I'm sorry..."

He had nothing to do but to press on, to do as he was told in this sick game of cat and mouse, to burst forth and end this charade. A boom of a hell butterfly flare rose up. He would answer it, but not yet obey.

"I hear you. I'm gonna find my soul bound item first though."

Indeed, Yoshiya's staff was still simmering away somewhere, brewing stew. The man focused, trying to sense its presence, to call it to his side, wandering slowly through the fog, looking for any sign of it.

He didn't know what took him in the end. Was it the choking fumes? Or was it the strange spell? He didn't know. And it didn't matter. All he did know was that he was roused by a Shinigami in the middle of a circle, a circle where two of the younger participants were giving him evil eyes.

"Woah! Kids, don't worry about me. Yoshiya me ol' mucker is right. I'm a right diamond geezer, I am. Gyah? What is this thing?"

Sikes stared down, tilting the sign upwards at his face.

"The...shark....... THE SHARK!?!?!"

An angry little man stormed at another little man, rolling up his sleeves as he stomped towards his foe.

"Who do you think you are calling a shark, eh? I'll show you. Come 'ere!"

With a mighty swing, Ebenezer's fist moved in a blur, smacking the orange bloke square in the....mist. A split second before they connected...Sikes found himself...somewhere. He wasn't quite sure where he was. Two flares had gone up, that kid with all the gizmos and one belonging to his tenant. He added his voice to the chorus.

"Aye! I'll come meet ya. The sooner we get together, the sooner I can smack that thing a new one."

And so an angry little man marched towards Biru, moving through the fog like a....shark.

"I am not a shark! I'm an honest businessman! Just trying to make a buck or two."

Yes. He was pretty irked.

Alone in a wasteland she trudged. Around her lay bodies, piles of bodies, plumes of billowing smoke. She wandered through the land of death, as the magic gripped around her. And she fought. She fought it with all her will and strength and stamina. And she saw him...she saw the fiend...

Her fight was a losing one.

"Estimated time until loss of consciousness...Thirty seconds"

That would have been enough time to pick up a blade from a fallen comrade, rush at the being and have one shot at taking him down. Rush being the predominant word. She was having enough problems staying awake.

"Ten seconds....."

All she could do was find a good place to fall

"Five seconds..."

The elderly Shinigami sat down on a verge, removing her hat and laying against the grass.

"Three seconds...Two seconds....One second..."







"Shutdown"

....................

"Initialising start-up sequence"

She had been stirred, by a member of the second division, judging by their emblem, rising in a circle. There was some tenseness with a hairless being occuring in the grouping. And a voice, a voice she had not heard in years.

She readied herself for his lumbering charge, his unwelcome embrace, yet he was but a phantom, vanishing into mist moments before contact......

The fog deepened and three flares erupted into the sky. She headed towards the red one, to Yoshiya's. They had grown up together. They had trained together. They were designed to work together. She may have been unarmed, and her brother may have gone astray, but the Watson siblings were raised as a unit. Together, they could dominate.

"Wh...what happened?"

Yumi rose to her feet, to see the face of Kobiyashimaru staring down at her. He offered her a hand up, which she accepted.

"Hello again."

Her mind raced... What HAD happened?

...

"Oh no...I didn't!?!"

Now free of the enchantment, it seemed so unnatural. That man to captivate her so much like he did... She felt shame and embarrassment at being so easily sucked in... though there was no time to dwell on that, for a being spoke in the voice of the chef of before. Some ruckus emerged between her fellow participants. Her eyes darted between them, taking the appearance of each of them in, registering them so she may dispense butterflies to them as needed...but...that lady in the dress... was it?

"Kabelja?! So...that's why she wanted my spy novels.."

And then Yumi was alone... The air erupted with several blasts. Scout training had taught her that these were the Rukon Citizen's Hell Butterfly Flare....SCOUTS!

How could she have forgotten? What had happened to her troop? She had to find them.

A loud high pitched peep echoed through the forest as she blew her whistle....

There was no response.............................................................................

Nothing........none of her scouts responded. She may have heard a shout or two, but they would have been from someone else.

She had failed. She had failed in the fight of the walls and had ended up injured. She had failed to look after her flock...she was at a loss of what to do.

To be able to send Hell Butterflies would be useful, but as far as she was aware, there was no-one to establish two-way communication with. Save for Kabelja, there was no-one from the First Division that she recognised, no-one who could return Hell Butterflies. Kabelja was the only other being capable, but because of prosopagnosia, she couldn't send any back to Yumi...

The young girl was at an absolute loss. Only one course of action seemed to be available. To wander aimlessly in the fog, peeping her whistle to give her location, using her walking stick to probe the ground ahead. It was ironic. She had an eye patch, a symbol of partial blindness. Yet now she was practically blind, all vision obscured by a dense fog.

So much happened at once; first, she was falling into the darkness, then, she woke by a strange hand in a stranger circling full of strangers. Then, everything went white and cold and she was pushed away from everyone and there was yelling and screaming and shouting.

She couldn't take it.

Ariadne sat primly on her haunches, hunkering down and refusing to move; if someone wanted her, they would come find her. If someone found her, she would go with them. She would not move from her spot unless pain of death threatened her. A shrill whistling came ever closer, and the girl turned her head to face the direction it presumably came from; due to her hunkered position, Yumi would stumble over her if she had not happened to look down before the immediate collision; likewise, the shark stalking through the fog would also find the girl if he kept his course and, too, responded to the whistling by the eyepatched girl.

Yashimaru, prone to panic in prickly situations such as these, ran helter-skelter toward the farmer's voice as the latter searched for his weapon; instead of it, however, he would find the blonde shinigami stumbling around, panting and searching for his female companion. The pack had been transported to a wooded area, with none of the items that were not on their person upon the moment they lost consciousness--Yoshiya's attempted would bear fruitless, and he would have sooner luck using the trembling Shinigami beside him as a weapon before he found his own.

Mai gravitated toward her left, as her nature often intended, and her voice called out for either pair of Shinigami in her division. It was soon matched with Harupia's, and to her utter relief, she came through the fog to his right. She ran toward him, seeking the comfort of another's presence, and was more than eager to continue the trek toward the now-pulsating light somewhere ahead in the dense white.

It had started pulsating around the moment each of the groupings had completed themselves: When Yoshiya and Yashimaru nearly crashed behind a gnarled oak, Biru had come into the sights of the now-poorly dressed woman; likewise, by the time the 'sea-farers' disentangled themselves, Mai had come into contact with Harupia. Soon, to the more astute members of each grouping, a path would begin to appear to weave throughout the tendrils of the fog, drawing them toward the goal.

Though by now, surely none of them cared for the gilded haunch awaiting their arrival.

A soft tapping echoed through the dense fog, as young Konno-chan walked through the forest, her rod probing the thick mists, its resistance giving her a precious extra foot of sight. Yet this tapping was drowned out by her shrill whistle, futilely seeking out her scouts.

There was no response.

Yet, something here. The walking stick had gently poked...something. From the height it had intercepted the thing, it seemed to be a large rock, but far too soft. Yumi tentatively walked forwards, until the small bundle of the young DuPoise formed at her feet.

Not one of her own, but she, as a scout, had a duty to render assistance. No, not as a scout. As a human being.

She crouched down to the creature, shaking in the mist. Around her neck was a sign, a sign bearing the name "KID".

"Hey there, I'm Yumi. Are you OK?" Her words were soft, yet very much audible. Despite this, there was no response, save from the girl's shivering in the cold.

Yumi reached into her pocket and offered the kid a caramel square. It wasn't the most nutritious item in the world, but it was all she had, and she could hear the girl's stomach rumblings.

"Come on," she said, gently pulling herself up. "We've gotta keep moving. Staying here will do us no g-OOF!"

A blunt object smacked against her protruding derrière. It didn't hit too hard, so she was OK, it just shocked her a bit.

The noise of the scratching of earth filled her ears, as something tried to regain its balance. The thing turned around for another pass, its silhouette the only thing visible through the fog.