Whoo, I’m late!

We're both late! :D

How are you?

Good, still late!

Pfff. XD
I think it was my turn, so I'll write a thing. It might be slow though, I'm eating right now.

'Neither,' said Armin. 'I'll just fly. In fact... I'll race you both there!' Without another word, he shifted into hawk form and took off in the direction of the woods outside town.

{Dianne just watches him fly away, chuckling.}

Dianne: "I forgot he could do that. Ok, let's go."

{She then shifts and flies for the forest base, Titan, with Jerry, following closely behind.}

Within minutes, Armin had left the city walls and was flying swiftly over the forest. He couldn't see his forest base through the thick treetops, but knew it was somewhere close by. He began to descend towards it.

{Dianne and Titan began to circle above the forest, looking for the base.}
Dianne: "Hey, Armin, where was it again? I only found it the first time because I had a draugr there."

//Right over here,// Armin replied telepathically, flying down towards one of the thicker patches of trees. Underneath them was the hidden forest base, a two-storey house surrounded by dense foliage. Armin dived through the treetops and landed in front of the house, causing several real birds to scatter in fright.

{Dianne followed and landed, looking the house over. Titan landed behind her, putting the trailer down.}

Dianne: "I've never seen this place during the day. It's a nice house. Need help with getting anything out?"

'No thanks,' said Armin once he had shifted back to human form. 'I only need to grab a few things, and they're pretty small. I'll just be a minute.'

He walked up to the front door and tried opening it, only to find it was locked. He had obviously lost the key sometime during the last few weeks. So he just kicked the door down and stepped inside, quickly heading up to the second floor of the house.

(I have to go, wifi's being switched off. See you around!)

{Dianne didn't bother to shift back, lying down in the foliage and waiting.}

K, bye!

Armin went into one of the upstairs rooms. It was a small, messy room, full of strange objects that most people wouldn't have understood the significance of. Most of them appeared to be random keepsakes with no real purpose. After digging around in the clutter for a while, he had collected everything he wanted into a cardboard box, which he started to carry outside to the trailer. He gave the room one last glance before shutting the door. //Might not come back here again. Hopefully I didn't forget anything.//

'All done.' he said as he stepped out of the house. He tossed the cardboard box into Titan's trailer.

{Dianne stood up, shaking herself off.}
Dianne: "Ok then, see you back at Sovereign."

{With that, she takes flight for the Sovereign.}

Armin watched Dianne and Titan fly away. Once they were out of sight, he sighed and turned to look at the ruins of Shacklestone City on the horizon. 'You know, despite all that's happened, I think I'll miss living there,' he said to himself. 'Over two hundred and fifty years, and it's time to leave it all behind for good. Still... maybe the future will be better than the past.'

He shifted into hawk form and took flight, heading south, towards Sovereign City.

...

{Dianne and Titan arrive at Sovereign, landing in the courtyard and shifting back.}
Dianne: “Huh, did we leave Armin behind?”

Just as they landed, Ivy and Frederick emerged from the palace and hurried towards them.

'Did everything go well?' Frederick asked.

'And where's the bloodsucker?' Ivy added.

Dianne: “Eh, we ran into some of Sargon’s survivors. Killed most of them. The rest fled. Armin? He should be here any minute.”

{Jerry dismounted Titan and proceeded to head inside.}

Ivy looked a little disappointed. 'Oh. I wish I'd come with you. I could've helped.'

Frederick watched Jerry walk inside. 'Is he OK? He seems a bit quieter than usual.'

While he was talking, Armin flew down into the courtyard and shifted back to human form. 'Sorry about that,' he said nonchalantly. 'Got lost in thought for a while.'

{Dianne rubs the back of her head.}
Dianne: “Yeah, well...we ran into an old...foe while we were out there...who was apparently responsible for the deaths of some of his close friends. He got away, and I’m not sure he’s taking it well.”

Frederick just blinked in apparent surprise. 'This person - whoever they are - managed to escape from you, Jerry, Titan, and my dad? How?'

Dianne: "His name is Antonio de la Cazar. He's a vampire who hunts hunters. Believe me, he's nothing like the troops we've been mowing down for the last few weeks. He's swift, cunning, and dangerous. He got away because I said not to pursue him."

'Well, as long as you're all OK, I suppose that's the most important thing,' said Frederick. 'Maybe it's even a good thing that this Antonio guy exists. There are a lot of hunters who kill non-humans just for sport. I like the idea that there's someone out there who can stop those hunters before they kill more innocent people.'

Ivy looked back and forth between Fred and Dianne. 'I still don't understand how a /single vampire/ beat all of you.'

Seemingly uninterested in the conversation, Armin wandered off towards the palace and went inside.

Dianne: "Yeah, keep that to yourself, would you, Fred? Don't forget, we're allied with hunters who've lost people to this guy."

{She then turns, slightly annoyed, to Ivy.}

Dianne: "He didn't beat us, Ivy, he interfered with us for a few minutes then ran away. I made the call not to pursue because he is dangerous and not actually one of Sargon's."

{As Armin was walking in, Jerry, his father, and a few of his family were walking out, past Armin. All of them, except Jerry, were armed.}

Jerry: "Dad, there's no guarantee he's even still there!"

Old Man Garvey: "If there's even a small chance that he is, we're still going. We need to teach that scumsucker what happens when he messes with family."

'Hm, that's true. Sorry,' said Frederick. 'I wasn't thinking.'

As Jerry and his family members left the palace, Armin doubled back and followed them out. 'Hey, where are all of you going?' he said lightly, even though he already knew.

(Sorry for late reply, I won’t have reliable wi fi until tomorrow.)

{Jerry turns to Armin to answer.}
Jerry: “They want to go back to Shacklestone to find Antonio.”

Old Man: “We’re not letting him get away with what he’s done. Dianne, shift, take us back.”

{Dianne turns from her conversation with Frederick to look at the Old Man with surprise.}

Dianne: “I’m sorry, what?”

Old Man: “Cars would take too long, you need to take us if we want to have any chance of catching this guy.”

Dianne: “Do I look like a taxi to you? I’m not taking you people anywhere. I have more important things to do.”

(No problem!)

Armin looked back and forth between each person in the group with a look of disbelief on his face.

'Uhm, I hate to break it to you,' he said to the Old Man, 'but me, Dianne, Titan and Jerry together struggled to fight off that guy. If you people - a bunch of /humans/ - go after him, he'll probably kill you all easily.'

Ivy and Frederick were just watching warily from the sidelines.

Old Man: “You shut your mouth, scum sucker, you don’t know anything. Dianne, I wasn’t asking. You’re here to help bring Sargon down, it’s not ov-“

Dianne: “Antonio isn’t working for Sargon. He was here to stop him, but arrived too late. And I /did/ bring Sargon down. My part in this is done. Now I’m leaving in an hour, so if you really want

to throw your life away by pursuing this guy, you do it alone. This isn’t my fight. I wash my hands of it.”

{Dianne turns and walks away, leaving the Old Man red with anger, standing without words.}

'Well, this is awkward,' Ivy muttered under her breath.

Armin turned to the Old Man. 'What now? Are you still going to go after him? I'm certainly not going to try and stop you.'

{The Old Man ignored Armin and went to follow Dianne. However, Jerry stopped him.}
Jerry: “Dad, don’t. Antonio’s likely gone by now.”

{The Old Man just stared where Dianne walked off, muttered something, and stomped off. Jerry just sighs, rubbing his face wearily.}