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Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. -2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV) Not that Melissa expected Cormag to behave like a dog or some other furry animal when offered such a classic show of affection as “a booped snoot,” but the dragon’s behavior still flummoxed her. The initial reaction, the growling and nearly biting her hand off (an exaggeration), she could see. There were other animals that, in Melissa’s experience, could be so moody (okay, so maybe she did expect Cormag to behave a little like a dog, then). What Melissa did not expect was the side-eye she kept getting to some invisible, intangible thing (things?) behind her. She even looked a few times, following Cormag’s eyeline, but couldn’t see anything. And the behavior persisted even when she stepped away from the dragon, returning to the rest of her team. The weirdest part was that Cormag didn’t even seem hostile, just that something had overtaken his hunter instincts and she just so happened to be the catalyst. She hoped to clarify herself at some point, but without even knowing what the problem was (and not speaking dragon), it was hard. Really, the not-knowing made it worse. It meant she had to sit with it. But then again, she sat with a lot of unknowns all the time. At least Rona didn’t seem to care (or, at least, didn’t do anything about it). If she wasn’t worried, Melissa could at least try not to be. There were other things to worry about anyway, like the prospect of dealing with children. Dealing with the Sunday school kids was always the worst part of church youth group. Melissa fortunately had always managed to weasel her way out of appearing in any of the skits they would put on during the children’s sermon, but just the act of corralling them was effort enough. People saw her nun outfit and assumed she was some sort of abbess, destined for instruction, never really understanding what the word “anchoress” meant even after Melissa explained it to them. In fairness, some of that might have been the mumbling, but still. The other thing, the house restoration, that seemed fine. Any further instruction, however, was interrupted by the surprise appearance of another member of Rona’s team, who said her name was Hana. While it wasn’t the point, it was nice to see Cormag react with a bit more annoyance to somebody else -- it helped Melissa set a further baseline for activity, plus “being run into” had to be worse than what Melissa had been doing. Getting waylaid by food seemed like a poor excuse for tardiness, and Rona seemed to think so too, but Melissa didn’t say anything out loud, and accepted the hot dog when offered. Fen asked what was in them, which gave Melissa pause. “There’s a saying where I’m from:” she said, “Don’t ask how the sausage is made. I can make a guess later, if you’re truly curious, but to avoid saying something too unappetizing right now, I guess the best way to put it is that they probably found a way to use as much of the animal as they could.” She tried to get off the subject as quickly as possible. “Anyway, it is nice to meet you, Hana. Thank you for the food,” she said, though she knew that one, it was likely a fool’s errand, and two, the alternative was talking about their assignment some more, and, given first impressions, Melissa was pretty sure Hana and the rest of Rona’s team were ready to talk about anything but.

Ziun seemed to blank out for a moment, which in this situation, wasn't a good thing whatsoever... as it meant the Shadow was upon him yet again. Now he was grabbed by the throat and the waist by this leeching creature. Once more, he felt himself being sapped of his strength ever so slowly. "D-Damnit all..." he muttered, moving his hand slightly to summon up more vines to grip and pull this Shadow off of him. Granted, the two were locked together and this meant that Ziun would get in the way of his own vines... but this was an emergency and he truly didn't care. If he were to be injured by these vines pulling this Shadow off him, then so be it. Eventually, the adhesive-like tendrils were pulled off of him yet again, and the Shadow was pulled off... Ziun was free yet again. However, now he had to maneuver out of the way of the vines... which thankfully he did. He huffed and attempted to catch his breath for a moment, before moving again. He needed to move around and try and keep himself from being grabbed by the Shadow for a third time. Nevertheless, he continued to cast and pelt icicles at the Nightwalker while he moved around. "How much more can this thing take...?" he muttered, a heavy breath escaping his lips. Unfortunately, Ziun did notice that the Nightwalker was seeming to... oh no... "I-Is it trying to stand up again?" Ziun groaned, shaking his head a bit. "Chris... if you have anything to contribute with keeping it grounded, that'd be lovely!"

oh, you 7.5/10, not fan of super long songs and I sorta zoned out now and then but still enjoyed it cool voice