Earth and Shadow (read desc)

Hybrids in the woods

"We need to go home soon anyways," Scratch continued, "And since Nightmare left again, we're going to have to walk. Cause I can bet you we are not far enough away from the portal to teleport. It's too risky."
"Alright.." I mumbled.
"Fine... Wait, why don't we fly? I can take Rain and you can-" Blaise started.
"No..," Scratch shook his head nervously, "No no no, it's okay. Let's just walk."
"You sure? This might FINALLY be the chance to test out your new wings."
"I... No." I wasn't sure what was bothering Scratch, but he almost looked scared.
"You sure?" Blaise insisted. Scratch nodded.
"Okay then.."
Scratch pointed to the distance, "That's where we should head. Come on, let's go."
And like that, we all walked onward, Scratch in the lead.

As we walked, nothing seemed to happen. No-one intruded on the silence except to point out a bird, or maybe a odd tree, but for the most part we all kept to ourselves.
Then Blaise stopped, her shoulders tense.
"We're being followed."
"By who?" Scratch asked, instantly cautious.
"No clue." She brought out her spear, eyeing her surroundings. Scratch hesitated and followed suite.
Suddenly someone shouted, and an arrow came bursting out of nowhere and struck Scratch in the leg. He cried out in pain and stumbled. Blaise's eyes widened.
"SCRATCH!?" She shouted, right before our attackers rushed out, surrounding us. One stuck a sword point to Blaise's neck. I brought out my spear, too late, and glared at our newfound enemies.
"Don't move or you're dead. Now I'll cut to the chase. What's three people, two of whom are enemies of the demons, doing in OUR lands." The guy with the sword said. He had two small bull horns on his head, as well as a brown and black demon tail. His piercing brown eyes bore into us, and he spoke casually yet carefully, unsure what we would do.
Scratch winced and growled, "Who are you again?"
"My named Hunter. We come from a small village nearby. Now tell me what you three are doing here."
Blaise defiantly knocked the blade away, only to be confronted by three archers aiming right at her. She paused and glared, annoyed.
"As you can see, if you attack us this won't end well for either side. So do me a favor, fire girl, and back down. Because as pretty as you are I won't hesitate to cut your head off."
Scratch smirked and said, "How about you tell me, Hunter. What's a faunae demon hybrid doing threatening pretty girls anyways?"
Hunter smiled at him, "Hey, I like you. And I don't think I have to mention, but if you threaten my team I WILL kill you."
That didn't sound like much of a reason to me, but before I could say as much Blaise interrupted sarcastically.
"Pfft yeah right I'm an angel. Normal metal doesn't work on me."
"This isn't normal metal," Hunter said simply.
"Listen, we're just passing through. We got lost after our friend was kidnapped. Can we go?" Scratch reasoned.
Hunter studied him carefully, one of his eyes glowing slightly green. Then he shrugged and sheathed his sword.
"Sure."
Scratch blinked, "That was... Surprisingly easy."
"You told the truth, easy as it gets."
"Seriously," He continued, "You don't know who to trust.  A bunch of people came through here and they SAID they were just delivering supplies. Then they ended up smuggling drugs across the border. Imagine that?"
"Can we go now?" I asked, a bit impatient to get this over with. He hesitated.
"Eh, unfortunately, no you can't go. Mostly for your own safety. This place is full of evil since the demons made their gate here. I mean, your standing in carnivorous grass right now."
"Wait what!?" Blaise looked down. Sure enough the bright green bristles were slowly trying to catch her, wrapping around her feet. She backed away quickly. I wasn't at all worried about the grass. I knew it wouldn't harm me, I could sense it.
"There are patches of it here and there. If you sleep in one, well, your toast," Hunter explained, "It only attacks people and animals it can sense, however. Anyone with nature magic is immune to it." The grass wasn't even trying to eat him.
"Thanks I guess. So when did the demons set up that gate?" Scratch asked.
"About two weeks ago. It's new. They caused a lot of trouble too. A lot of animals ran from here when the gate first went up. The evil magic coming off that thing hurt a lot of creatures." Hunter sounded disgusted. I felt some of my old anger rising up. I hated it when animals were hurt, and learning that the demons did it only made me hate them more. I clenched my fists and muttered.
"I want to destroy that gate.."
"Same here, all of us do. Almost everyone here is part faunae, and like them, we hate it when our land get vandalized. That's why we stopped you honestly, because he looks too much like those things." He pointed to Scratch.
"Hey! Demons aren't...well... um..." He trailed off, looking away.
"You really can't think of anything to say about them?" Hunter asked, clearly unimpressed.
"I mean, I'll admit, demon society is kind of terrible. But not all of us are like that."
"So you ARE a demon."
"I.. No.. But I grew up with them."
"His sister is a demon one hundred percent," Blaise put in helpfully, "But he's a night angel."
"A night angel!?" He looked at Scratch in surprise.
"Duh," Blaise said, proud.
"Hmm so you're the one responsible for the-"
"Big dark evil wave that scared the entire world? Yeah."
"Sounds like you get this a lot."
Scratch sighed, "Yup."
"That just makes this even more interesting. You three are an odd group."
"Wellll I'm dating this dude, " Blaise hugged Scratchs arm, "And Rain's just tagging along."
He looked at all three of us and shrugged, "I can't judge. I mean, what do I know? Hey wait.. What's that?" He motioned to my crystal necklace. I swallowed, and said, "Just a crystal." I silently cursed the fact I was terrible at lying. I looked at him, hoping he would buy it.
But of course, he didn't.
"It sounds like more then that. Don't play dumb with me, I can feel the magic radiating off that thing."
I sighed and hesitated, "It's someones soul basically, and I am in charge of it I guess.." I mumbled off.
"Wow. Sounds tough. Hey there's a crystal shard just like that in our village, except it's not glowing. One of the elders found it buried in their garden."
"That sounds cool," I said, lost in thought. What if that crystal...
"I want to go kick some demon butt!" Blaise grinned.
"That's very offensive," Scratch noted quietly.
"Sorry snowflake, but it's true." She pecked his cheek. He blushed and smiled a bit, cheering up somewhat.
"Wait, before we leave... Can I see this crystal?" I asked nervously.
"Sure, why not."
And just like that he lead us to the village. As we walked, one of the others with him whispered in Hunters ear. With my good hearing, I managed to catch it.
"Hunter, I'm not sure about these people. What if they try to kill us?"
"They won't," He whispered back, "I sense it. The one in the crystal, however.. I feel like he might attack." They continued on in silence. I followed along curiously, pondering their words. Then I heard a string of mumbled curses as Scratch hobbled along, his injured leg still burdening him.
"Oh, Liam, mind healing him?" Hunter asked. A shorter guy with light green skin and orange hair stepped forward. He was definitely a faunae, with slightly pointed ears and slightly bigger eyes.
"Sure thing." He pulled out the arrow carefully then healed it with some magic. It looked good as new. Scratch tested his leg a few times before appearing satisfied.
"There, that should do it. Stay out of trouble."
"Thanks."
"Are we almost there?" I asked, impatient to see the village.
"Yeah it's right through here," Hunter said, stopping in a empty clearing.
"Liam, Mia, let's go first so they don't think we're being attacked," He ordered. They nodded and walked forward. Suddenly a giant invisible barrier appeared, glowing slightly against it's surroundings. It became obvious it was camouflage magic of some kind.
"Woww!" I said, amazed, feeling my more happy side return.
"Holy- Who in their right mind is strong enough to make THIS." Blaise exclaimed. She reached forward and brushed her fingers against the barrier, which on second glance looked as round as a bubble.
"Let's go," Scratch said, stepping through. Blaise shrugged and followed.
"Whoever did that is amazing," I mumbled, "I didn't know stuff like this existed.."
"Why thank you," Liam smiled, proud.
As I stepped through, the village suddenly became visible. It was quite small, yet peaceful. All the houses looked as if they were built with nature in mind. Instead of conquering their environment, these villagers had decided to grow into it and keep it pristine. Of course, there were a few odd houses built normally, but for the most part the buildings were built within the earth.
A few trees grew into some houses, or around them. Birds flitted from tree to tree, trilling their sweet tunes. Flowers dotted the ground around the plain dirt path, accentuating it with color. There were a lot of people around, kids running through the streets, couples talking and laughing. there were a few guards posted around, but even they looked content.
Most of the people there had unnatural or unique skin tones and limbs. One person walking by had scales along his arms, yet two cat ears on his head. Another was blue skinned and had long blonde hair.
Other then the fact this place was more populated, It looked similar to my own. Not only that, it was so cool seeing all these different people walking around. And every single person here seemed like they liked this place. If I was going to live anywhere in the midlands, this would be it.
"I like your home, it reminds me of my own."
"Thanks," Liam said, "I was born and bred here. This place was founded by travellers. They came here, decided to settle down, and from then on this became a tourism hotspot and a good home for many. Every race has been here at one point or another. Demons, angels, faunae, and human too. Everyone has a bit of everything. Liam is part half angel, and part pure faunae. Mia over there is human and demon."
"That's so cool! At my home everyone sticks together," I said, dissapointed.
"Yeah, we kind of do the opposite here. Basically, you can do whatever you want- As long as it doesn't hurt anybody of course. This place was home to a lot of different warriors and adventurers. It's got ancient roots. Anyways, you wanted to see the crystal?"
I nodded, "Yep!"
"It's over this way."
He led us over to a smaller hut near the edge of the village. The outside was covered in vines and flowers, and the wood and stone used to make it looked pretty old.
I assumed the same would be of the inhabitant in the house, since we were going to see a elder, but instead a little girl opened the door.