“This is going to take all night with me at the lead,” Seiko said, shaking his head as he looked around, “I might be good at finding my footing but Kito is the tracker.”

Kito nodded, “I’ll head us up.” He said softly, eyes flashing blue as he moved to the lead. He inhaled softly, taking a second to get his bearings. Small animals, some larger animals hesitantly hiding in the brush and in the trees. Birds, bugs. Kito started off in the direction of the strongest magical energies he could sense, Seiko and Katy following silently. Kito let his senses lead him, traces of magic having been used pulsing gently in the distance. The longer he focused his senses, the more he was able to pick up. There were some large magical presences on the island. Monsters he assumed, creatures that were asleep during the day in cave systems or burrows. Their boat wasn’t due until morning, so odds were they would end up tangling with one of these creatures eventually

“So what was Talya’s mission, anyways?” Seiko asked, looking around at the lush vegetation.

“She had a mark,” Katy said simply, “A rogue mage.”

“Particularly nasty one from what she told me,” Kito continued as he moved, “She’s been on his trail for about three months now.”

“Must be a devious bastard,” Seiko tutted, “Evading Talya for that long.”

“He’s sneaky,” Katy said, a certain level of venom in her voice, “Ruthless. Powerful. He killed almost a dozen Rebellia officers. Mutilated them, as well, to prove a point.”

“That no-one controls him,” Seiko said softly. Kito’s jaw tightened. It made sense that Seiko could call that immediately. Before the war, he had been leader on a mark hunting task-force. He had the most experience of any of them taking on rogue mages. It was how he developed his especially anti-personnel fighting style, the brutal mix of mirage to duck and weave around attacks and dark to rupture internal organs and break bones with even glancing blows.

“We know Talya, though,” Kito smiled wryly, “When she has a target she finds them.”

“And they don’t last long when she does,” Seiko chuckled, “What’s his deal anyway. Disciplines? Style?”

Kito assumed Seiko was planning for if they wound up finding their rogue before Talya could, “From what I know he’s trained in basic Rebellia mystic arts. Elemental, aura, sentinel. Uses a staff in combat.”

“Not any weird and wonderful styles, always good.” Seiko nodded.

“Talya could take him out easily, either way,” Katy said, looking up at the sky, “Which means we could too. We are, however, running out of daylight. How’s it looking, babe?”

“We’re getting close,” Kito explained, picking up on more and more traces of stronger magic, “Talya got here at night, unlike us. She had to fight off whatever native creatures this island has. Traces of magic here and there.”

“Talya only has one discipline,” Katy said with a frown, “Sentinel. If she’s been needing to use it, whatever lives here must pack some punch.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Kito said, smiling slightly, “They seem to be nocturnal, they’re prone right now. But I sensed a good few large entities dotted around the island. I’d rather we didn’t run into them, but you know. At the same time…”

“At the same time, you’re a giant nerd and you wanna know what kinda crazy monsters live here.” Seiko sighed.

Katy hesitated a moment before a wide grin appeared on her face as well, “Well, you know,” She said, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to tangle with some scary monsters.”

“Nerds.” Seiko sighed, “Giant nerds, the two of you.”

Kito looked over his shoulder and shared a very nerdy smile with his wife as they continued on.

Kito was feeling the traces of magic a lot more frequently as they came across what looked like signs of struggle. Trees were splintered and dented, the underbrush was scorched and the ground pitted where blasts of magic had struck. Blood dotted the leaves and bushes around them, and a single tree had been sliced almost clean through, though it hadn’t fallen due to how tightly knit together the forest was. Talya had clearly caught up to her mark and fought him here, and it was a destructive battle.

“He was actually a match for Talya,” Seiko said, surveying the scene, “That’s impressive. A little scary.”

Kito agreed. The fight had gone on long enough to prove how much of a threat this guy was.

“He must have gotten away,” Katy said, looking around, “Not enough blood here for any serious injuries.”

“Looks like we’re close though,” Kito said, nodding as he started again through the trees. Seiko and Katy fell into step behind him once again, though his brow started to furrow slightly. Something was off. Something that had been there the whole time was suddenly gone. Something… He stopped. Holding out a hand, Kito made sure he wasn’t making any sound. Seiko and Katy stopped behind him, looking at each other quizzically. They understood, though, the woods around them becoming silent. Kito’s suspicion had been proven and he focused on those large presences around the island.

“We ran out of sunlight, didn’t we?” He said softly, head tilting in Katy’s direction.

“We did.” She said after a moment.

“Now both of you can do that?” Seiko said softly, and Kito could almost hear the raised eyebrow in his voice.

“Listen,” Kito said simply, still not moving.

Silence.

More silence.

“What are we listening to?” Katy whispered.

“There’s nothing.” Seiko looked around, starting to frown.

Kito turned to them, “Exactly,” He said, “We’ve been surrounded by small sounds and rustles our whole time here, but now…”

“Nothing.” Katy nodded.

“Those things you sensed are waking up.” Seiko’s eyes darted to the treeline, those thin pupils widening slightly.

Kito nodded, just as he sensed something coming towards them. Fast. Seiko obviously sensed it too, tensing up and raising his fists as Kito drew his sword. Katy reacted to them getting ready by drawing her own blade. They could hear it now, a monster barreling through the trees. Kito brought his blade up, though he didn’t notice the second presence until it was too late. An enormous dark shape burst through the trees, claws glinting and glowing yellow eyes flashing, and suddenly Kito’s feet weren’t as firmly on the ground as they used to be.

Kito came rolling to a stop in a small clearing, blood splashing against his gloves as he collapsed to his knees. Pressing a hand to his shoulder, he cursed as he felt the tattered fabric of his shirt. “I just had this enchanted…” Kito tutted as he got to his feet, readjusting his grip on the sword. His eyes glowed blue, brows knitting together as he prepared for the next assault. It was annoying that he hadn’t sensed this thing until it was practically right on top of him. He’d never come up against anything that could evade his senses like that and it was irritating him. His face fell, the realisation hitting when the beast jumped again through the trees and Kito got a good look at it. Huge, almost cat-like with jet black fur that gave off a blue sheen. Eyes a deep yellow and teeth razor-sharp, its face wide but flat.

“Bandersnatch…” Kito said softly, lowering his stance and circling slowly. It made sense now. He’d read about bandersnatches, but he’d never run into one. They had an uncanny ability to completely conceal their presence. They were also blindingly fast, incredibly strong and famously vicious. According to what he’d read at least. Kito built up energy around his sword, just as the monster pounced again. This time he saw it coming, dodging to the side and batting those curved claws aside with his blade. The research wasn’t wrong, the bandersnatch moved like no monster Kito had ever seen. A blur of dark fur and a streak of yellow from the eyes was all Kito could see as the monster assailed him. He was able to barely dodge around the claws, though he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, they were getting closer and closer. Kito parried aside one more swipe before returning with a slash of his own. Several ribbons of blue light sliced through the thick hide of the beast, making it screech and rear up on its hind legs, grey blood spurting into the air. Kito swiped again, more blue slices drawing across the underbelly of the monster. More blood spattered against the underbrush and Kito danced around a return claw swing, sliding his blade along the hind leg of the bandersnatch. Another roar and Kito was forced into a roll, though the beast moved faster than he expected, barging into him and forcing him against a tree with a grunt. One of those teeth sank into his arm, blood pouring from him and flowing over his elbow as he screamed. He ground his teeth together and turned his scream of pain into a growl of anger, bringing his sword up. Blue energy burned the air around the blade as he roared, plunging it into one of those bright yellow eyes. The monster screeched and roared, flailing around, Kito’s arm being ripped open in the process. He was thrown from the rampaging beast and soared across the clearing, slamming against another tree with a pained groan. When he hit the ground, he didn’t get up immediately, his fist clenching as the pain lanced through his arm, blood flowing freely over the grass and leaves. The Bandersnatch shook its head a few times, regaining its composure slowly as Kito got back to his feet, falling back against the tree to keep his balance. He had just gotten back upright when the monster turned to him, it's one remaining pupil narrowing when it fell on him, or more precisely the blood on his arm.

“Hardy bastard…” Kito growled, lowering his stance and holding his hands out in front of him, fingers spread. He was used to fingerless gloves, so he was finding it difficult to let his magic flow through the enchanted material, but he was sure he could feed enough through. The creature tensed, ready to pounce and Kito reacted. A shining lance of pure blue energy shot up from the undergrowth at a simple gesture, spearing the Bandersnatch straight through a shallow wound on the beast’s throat. Grey blood spilled over the undergrowth, the creature struggling and flailing. Kito splayed his hand out further, his palm facing upwards and he raised it slowly as if he was pushing something heavy. The aura lance rose, lifting the front legs of the Bandersnatch up with it and making more blood erupt from the beast’s throat. It still wasn’t enough, so Kito grunted with the exertion, his hand shaking, then closed his splayed hand into a fist. A dozen blue spikes burst out from the head and neck of the bandersnatch, spraying more of that grey blood all over Kito and the surrounding trees. Finally, after a few weak flails, the creature stopped struggling and fell limp. The Aura lance dissipated into faint blue mist, the prone body of the bandersnatch slamming into the ground heavily. Kito staggered towards it, throwing his good arm out to steady himself and gripping his sword, still stabbed into the monster’s eye.

“I suppose that'll be a fun addition to my Tiko journal…” Kito smiled wryly, his legs giving out and collapsing under him.