The Silver Metal EX-Boyfriend

The Shishin careen down the hill at breakneck speed, leaving everyone breathless. Of course, each one of them is claiming to have won, and the ensuing argument is settled by the tigers roaring and taking their charges home.

Still, everyone is in one piece. Tanaka is piggybacking Larianne since her legs are still a bit wobbly and Junu is laughing with Klytie. Even Morrow is skipping from the exciting ride.

Tsu Tze, however, looks downcast.

"What's the matter?" asks Morrow.

"I just know where we are," she sniffs, pointing to the forest ahead.

Just as she does so, a somber looking woman emerges from the trees.

Without saying a word, she beckons everyone forward. Tsu Tze clears her throat. "This is the watcher of the Standing Grove," she explains. "It is the home for all Gumis. In order to reach the shore, you will have to pass through the maze. Within it, you will meet the Gumis of Wood, Earth, Fire, Water, and Metal. They are Prime and much respected.

"However, even if they agree to accompany you, I don't see how you will be able to call the Ferryman, because that would require the smoke of the Seven Pipes, since the Spectrum Pipe is missing. You'll be two short, unless of course, you can persuade the other Junker---the one whose like---me."

She gives a little sob, and Morrow puts an arm around her comfortingly. She continues bravely.

"You see, I'm an Air Gumi, and we don't count as a official element. Neither does my friend, the Void Gumi. He has the seventh pipe. It's like mine, only it blows indigo instead of my pale orange. It takes all seven of them to light the shore watcher's mirror and summon the boatman.

"My friend won't come out of hiding, mostly because of the Dang Ahn, the Metal Gumi, who bullies me. I'd try to help you, but Dang Ahn used to be my----gulp--boyfriend. I broke up with him, and he's really mad I had the nerve!

"So you'll have to enter the grove maze and persuade ALL the Gumis to help. And find your way out, naturally."

The grove watcher is still holding open an entrance into the maze:

No doubt about it! This is a job for a Seunshin, and a dang good one!

(OOC: This is a solo mission and shared puzzle. More details on the OOC thread.)

OOC:- The five phases of the element is not something solid that is taught but rather something alive that flows into your everyday life. Even in something as simple as cooking rice! (water) is poured on the rice which is then cooked on furnace (wood and fire) which is itself an (earth) seed cooking inside a (metal) pot.

The elements give to one another in the circle of continuity, water helps trees grow, wood feeds fire which bares the earth, earth is rich in metal which in turn enriches the water.

Inside the circle however are forces that take from others and dominates over it, water puts out fire, wood covers earth, fire tempers metal. it there for a relationship beneficial to only one side and unwanted by the other. This Tale is built on these concepts, our Gumiho would like to add that no bushes or cats were hurt during the writing of this tale contrary to what a certain dark elf might say!

image reference Wiki

This is part 1 of Traveler's Journey So Jed and I look at each other and take the air gumi by the hand and we both lead her into the maze. With our horses Hoss and Cooper slowly walking behind us, we in turn ask the air gumi questions about the metal gumi (Dang Ahn) with whom she broke up. "What is it that caused you to break up with him?" asked Jed. Can I call you Watcher? asked Kronus. Watcher nods...and between sobs tells us about this boyfriend Dang "He was such a jealous type. I never saw this coming at all!" she exclaimed. We were together for a long time now, and it all seemed to be going so well too. I was sure that I loved him...and up until this point, I was sure he loved me too. You see, I love music and so does Elmer,the Void....we sat together many times playing our music and singing. It seemed to infuriate Dang. He would become so full of rage. It was if there was another being inside of him.... So I told him: 'I don't know who you are,and I can't be with you like this!' Then I said: 'Good bye'." Watcher fell down crying....Jed and Kronus picked her up off the ground and continued walking. Kronus, looking at Jed, leaned over and whispered "Can you feel that someone is close and watching us?" Jed looked around and whispered back "I thought it was just me feeling bad for her, but yes, now that you mention it...I feel it too". "Let's play this out" Kronus whispers back. "Let them hear what we are saying, it may help us in the long run". Jed nods back to Kronus. Watcher started settling down when we came to a corner in the maze and we met up with a green gumi. She introduced herself as the wood gumi. Woody is my name...Jed introduced us both... Woody looked at Watcher and asked her if she was ok...and gave her a hug. Watcher stated, I don't know what to do...I am so sad.. Jed spoke up and asked Woody if she would come with us to help Watcher with her decision.. Woody without hesitation agreed to come with us. The four of us walked on and still the feeling of of being watched continued. Kronus asked Watcher in a loud voice: "Would you consider getting back together with this Dang? Even if he is the biggest loser?" Jed elbowed Kronus for that remark and Kronus winked at Jed to let him know he was up to something... Kronus also got a bit of a look from Woody for saying that. Watcher looked at each of us in turn and said: "I would but I would never want to see that jealous beast emerge again. He would have to promise!" As we came to as yet another corner, we met up with another gumi. She introduced herself as the Earth gumi: "Elly is my name". Kronus introduced himself and Jed. Elly spoke and said it was nice to see new folks. She already knew Woody and Watcher. Right away Jed asked if she would help us to get Watcher a little happier and maybe get Dang and her back together if that was indeed what Watcher decided. Elly said right away she'd be glad to help out. She grabbed Watchers hand and squeezed it, smiling. The five of us walked on with Hoss and Cooper trotting along behind us sneezing and snuffling, the odd grunt from either one of them. It wasn't long and Jed and Kronus started walking with their horses, and the ladies all walked ahead, together. Another corner in the maze and we met up with two more gumi's, talking about music..."Hello" said Kronus. The Water gumi spoke and introduced herself as Chrystal and her friend Fire gumi was Crackle... Crackle boldly asked all the group who did they think played the finest music....was it him or was it Chrystal? The gumi's all looked at one another and unanimously said it was the Watcher and The Void who sounded the finest....... Both Chrystal and and Crackle laughed and quickly agreed...."But that was not the question" said Crackle "of the two of us, who sounds better?"

This is part 2 of Traveler's Journey

Seeing an opportunity here, Kronus asked "May we hear what you mean? Jed and I haven't heard any of you play before. Maybe we can hear all of you play?" At this both gumi's pulled out their small wooden flutes and played each in turn. Kronus smiled at the sound...it was wonderful.. When they had each played Kronus elbowed Jed for an answer. Jed said that he liked Crackle's playing...to which Kronus said he liked Chrystal's. Jed and Kronus looked at the others and asked them all to play....it was such a joy to hear great soothing sounds from the music created by the gumis. At last it came to be the Watcher's turn, and just before she began, Kronus stepped closer to the very next corner where we were about to turn onto in our journey through the maze. As Watcher began, the music she played was so wonderful, a minute was all that was needed when a second sound was heard...All the gumi's looked around to see where it was coming from... Kronus moved quickly to reach around the corner and grab another gumi that wasn't yet introduced to our group.. This unknown gumi spoke quietly: "Please, please let me go!" Watcher spoke up and said to Jed and Kronus: "This is my friend: The Void. He is called Elmer. He disappeared shortly before Dang and I broke up. Where did you go?" asked Watcher. Elmer spoke up and said: "I didn't want to be the cause of you and Dang fighting so I left...I hadn't intended on coming back, because I heard that you broke up then". Elmer looked dejected and looked down at the ground. Elmer spoke again and said... "I enjoyed playing music together with you and now I miss it!"...almost in tears. Watcher went over to Elmer and hugged him...She said: "You weren't the problem Elmer...Dang was the problem!" And she hugged him again. Kronus and Jed noticed that their horses were kind of getting ahead of them a bit...Jed looked at Kronus and asked what are those two up to? Kronus laughed... "I'm not to sure..." The discussions of music between all the gumi's suddenly stopped when some yelling could be heard in the direction of the horses....And soon another gumi joined us with Hoss and Cooper taking turns pushing this yelling gumi all the way over to where we were standing....This gumi yelled some more: "get these beasts off me! I didn't do anything... Leave me alone.. please don't hurt me, please don't eat me!!!" The horses stopped pushing the gumi and Watcher spoke up and said to Jed and Kronus: "this is metal gumi; this is Dang." "I see" said Kronus, standing much closer to him and looking angrily down at him...Kronus in a harsh voice asks: "So you are the one who has broken this one's heart!!" pointing to Watcher.... Dang stammers and stutters to come up with something to say, but only squeaks a little. Jed steps closer to Dang and asks him "Why do you hurt this young lady?" Dang musters up enough of a voice to say as he steps closer to Jed and away from the frowning Kronus: "I didn't want Elmer to steal away my love Watcher....It made me angry... I'm I'm sorry Watcher" looking over at her he says: "Is it too late? Have a,a,a I lost you to Elmer?" Watcher spoke up... "You never lost me until you started acting so weird...You seemed like a beast, someone I never met before and wouldn't want to know! Elmer and I were only friends and we enjoyed playing music together." We all kind looked at each other and Jed and Kronus backed away holding onto the horses. All the other gumi's went to the other side of the horse's to give them a bit of space to talk. More music was played to help cheer the mood of the group... In a short while the two lovebirds came over to our group holding hands...We all knew it would be ok again. Watcher spoke first and said: "We decided to try once more and we have come to some rules to our relationship which will help us out I'm sure..." Dang spoke with his head down and began to apologize for the way he acted,and he said he wasn't himself at all.I'm really sorry,forgive me... Everyone seemed happy that all was good again. Jed and Kronus interrupted the fun for a moment and asked if all the gumi's would go to the end of the maze with us to call for the boatman... The answer was unanimous that all would join us in calling for the boatman to continue our journey.Then all of the Gumi's were playing together as we walked on through the maze... The group all held hands for a moment at the end of the maze and together created the smoke of the Seven Pipes lighting the shore watchers mirror to then signal the boatman for us to be picked up to continue on in our journey.

End of part 2 of Traveler's Journey

Posted the RP for this chapter :)

[spoiler=Searching for Gumi's....Gotta Catch 'Em All!]

[color=goldenrod]

Ilaera looked at the entrance that was created by the grove watcher. It had seemed very obvious to her and her friends that she was the one to enter the maze in search for the Gumi’s. She was the best when it came down to navigation so finding her way into the maze should be possible. She grabbed her bow firmly and decided to take one of her many ropes inside as well, you never knew if it would come in helpful.

She walked towards the entrance of the maze, unsure about what she could expect from it. She had been in a maze before, but they had been very small and from the looks of it this one was a lot bigger than she was used too. She just hoped that she would be able to find her way inside the maze. Hopefully those Gumi’s wouldn’t be too hard to find.

After she reached the entrance she turned around to take one more look at her friends and their companions. She was aware of the fact that they believed in her and that they were sure she would take the Gumi’s with her to see the Ferryman. She wasn’t too confident about that herself, but they were in need of those pipes, so she had to at least give it a try.

She took a few more steps forward and then she was inside the maze. She noticed Phaeri in the sky above her, she was glad that the bird was there, cause she might need some help to find her way inside the maze. For now though she just wanted to get the feeling of being inside the maze, the feeling of the nature surrounding her.

She started to get a bit more confident about the maze when she realized that she could only walk in one direction, but that feeling quickly disappeared when she came upon the first fork in the road. She was unsure which way she had to go, she looked up to see Phaeri above her. The bird obviously knew where it was going, so Ilaera followed the fork that was going into that same direction. She started talking in her head, to remind herself which way she had taken, so that hopefully she would be able to find her way back later on.

Then all of a sudden from out of nowhere she heard a question. “Who are you talking to?”

Ilaera looked around, trying to spot whoever had said that. She saw no one and started to think it must have been her imagination when she suddenly noticed another shade of green at the maze’s wall. “Whose there?” she asked in her softest voice. In front of her a Gumi appeared, the pipe still blowing it’s green smoke. “You’re the wood Gumi.” Ilaera said.

Of course the Gumi was curious to find out how she had recognized her. “I met Tsu Tze before I entered the maze, she told me about the Gumi’s. She spoke highly of you all and said you were very honorable."

The Gumi seemed surprised by those words, but before she could say anything Ilaera continued. “I’m trying to do an honorable thing as well. A girl has been kidnapped and me and my friends are trying to find her to rescue her. But to do that we need to see the Ferryman. Would you please join me so I can rescue a friend in need?” Ilaera waited to get a response from the wood Gumi, hopefully she would be persuaded by her words. Then she received a small nod from the Gumi. She was relieved that she had found the first Gumi so quickly. “Thank you.” she said to the Gumi, “That really means a lot to us. Now I only need to find the other Gumi’s before we can visit the Ferryman."

Ilaera continued her walk through the maze together with the wood Gumi. She had asked the Gumi if she had any idea on where the other Gumi’s might be inside the maze, but the Gumi had only looked at her and fell silent. She had wanted to chat with Ilaera about everything else though and it seemed like she wasn’t planning on stopping the chatter anytime soon either, but you could tell some subjects were harder to find an answer for. Of course, Ilaera understood and didnt bother pressing the issue.

Then all of a sudden Ilaera stopped and she raised her hand. The Gumi fell silent immediately. Ilaera was sure she had heard a sound somewhere in the distance, but without the chatter from the wood Gumi the maze was completely silent. Then right at the second she wanted to continue her walk she heard the sound again, a soft sound in the distance. It was the sound of raindrops falling on petals of flowers. A small breeze came up and she could feel it sliding over her body, she could smell the water in the sky. She just raised her brow and stood there silently, unsure about what was happening around her.

She then saw blue smoke at the side of her and when she turned around she noticed another Gumi. She was laughing and the sound of her laugh was like the sound of rain, it was what she had heard before.

“Of course” Ilaera said, “you must be the water Gumi”. The Gumi turned to look at the wood Gumi at her side. It was as if she wanted to know what she was doing there.

“She agreed in helping me with my mission” Ilaera turned to the water Gumi quickly. “Me and my friends need to reach the Ferryman to be able to rescue a friend in need. Would you please help me as well?" she asked the Gumi. She was hoping that the Gumi's might have some honour code among them, where they couldn't say no in case someone else had already said yes. And that indeed seemed to be the case. The water Gumi nodded and agreed to go with them, but Ilaera got the impression she only wanted to come because of the wood Gumi. She was glad the water Gumi hadn't been the first Gumi she had met, because it would have been harder to persuade her it seemed.

Ilaera slowly continued her walk through the maze again. She had already forgotten which way she had taken to get where she was, but she was hoping she would be able to ask Phaeri’s help later on in getting out of the maze. Right now she was only focussing on finding the Gumi’s, cause that already was a very hard task. She didn’t notice the turns she took and in her head the row of lefts and rights slowly disappeared. That also came because of the two Gumi’s that accompanied her. It seemed like they couldn’t be silent for even a second, you would think they hadn’t seen each other in ages by the amount of stories they had to tell each other.

She looked around for any signs of the other Gumi’s, considering that she had only spotted the two Gumi’s that were with her because they approached her, it would be hard to find the others inside the maze. She was hoping the others would somehow find her as well, that would of course make it a whole lot easier. She continued her walk while trying to block the chatter from the two Gumi’s to be able to concentrate on her task and surrounding. She could hear a sound coming from above and she spotted Phaeri who came flying down towards her. Somehow she always knew what the bird wanted to tell her and this time the bird really wanted her to go left inside the maze, which obviously she did, considering that Phaeri was able to see much more from above.

When she went around the next corner she stopped walking, she sniffed in the air. It was as if the air was filled with the smell of burnt wood, like a fireplace if she had to describe it. The smell faded away, so she realized that even though the Fire Gumi might have been there, she wasn’t there anymore. She tried following the smell through the maze, but she had no luck with that.

In the sky above her Phaeri made a new sound, which got Ilaera to speed up her walk through the maze, eventually she started running and when she ran around a new corner and got into a new part of the maze in front of her was another Gumi.

“So there you are” Ilaera said. “Obviously you like to play hide and seek”.

The Gumi nodded in agreement and seemed to be very happy.

“Considering that I found you, would you be so kind to join me and the other Gumi’s on my mission please?” Ilaera asked her. “I need to help a friend in need, but before I can do that I need to visit the Ferryman”. She could see that the Gumi was thinking about her question, then she got a soft reply from the other Gumi telling her that it was only fair as Ilaera had won the game.

Ilaera’s confidence grew as she was halfway with the amount of Gumi’s she had to find inside the maze. “You know” she said to the Fire Gumi. “I heared the Void Gumi liked to play hide and seek as well”. She didn’t ask the Gumi for help in finding the other Gumi, as she already knew what the answer to that question might be. The Fire Gumi joined the other two in chatting, which wasn’t a surprise to Ilaera at all, it seemed like they never did anything else. Jettison would have fit in to it quite well, she thought.

She noticed Phaeri had returned to her normal flying height, which made her realize none of the other Gumi’s were around in that part of the maze, at least not visibly available. She started her walk again, unsure about the path she had to take as she had no idea where she came from. While running earlier she hadn’t noticed the turns she had taken at all. Clueless about the maze she walked there, feeling a bit lost. For the first time since she had entered the maze she was thinking about her friends. She wished for them to be there with her. She was in no need of any help, but she could use a good laugh.

It was at the moment when she was in thoughts that another Gumi came walking over to them. She joined the others in their chatter, but Ilaera was so focused on where she was going that she had no attention to what was going on behind her back. Apparently there had been a Gumi in the area after all, but she hadn’t been spotted by either Phaeri or Ilaera. Right now Ilaera was walking through the maze and she was still unaware of the fact that a Gumi with a yellow pipe had joined their little group.

When she wanted to turn another corner in the maze her eyes fell on the group behind her, she paid no attention to them as she knew they would follow her anyway. She stepped forward. After five steps she came to the realization that something had been different with the group. She stood there silently, didn’t even blink, tried to gather her thoughts on what had been different.

Then she turned around and hurried back to look at the group again. There it was, yellow smoke in the sky. “So you decided to join us?” she said with a grin to the Earth Gumi. “I really need you help” she continued. “I have a friend in need and I have to go to the Ferryman. Could you please help me?”. The Earth Gumi looked at her, made only a small nod towards her and continued her conversation with the other Gumi’s. Well, that one was easy Ilaera thought to herself.

She continued her walk through the maze yet again, knowing that she was very close. She only had to find two more Gumi’s. She knew though that finding the Void Gumi would probably be the hardest task ahead of her, but she didn’t want to think about that too much already, as she had one other Gumi left as well.

She looked around to see what those Gumi’s where up to and to no surprise they were with each other, still chatting. Ilaera sighed a bit, knowing she just had to let them be and be grateful for their agreement. She then started talking to no one in particular herself, as she felt alone and needed to get her thoughts in order. It took her only a few seconds to realize the other Gumi’s had become silent. So she turned around to see if they had left her, but they seemed to listen to her.

“You know” she said. “I’m glad me and my friends met Tsu Tze, she’s very nice”. The Gumi’s just listened to her. “And she’s very honorable as well. We didn’t even have to tell her all about the mission, she just joined us and well, she’s been a wonderful guide”. She got no response from the other Gumi’s. “She spoke highly of you all, but she also told me about Dang Ahn”. The Gumi’s had to laugh about that, apparently it was known to them what had happened between those two. Soon after the Gumi’s started to chat with each other again.

Ilaera turned around to continue through the maze. She still felt confident about finding the other two Gumi’s. She wasn’t sure on where to find them though, she felt like she had seen most of the maze already and started to become tired, but who knows, it could also be she wasn’t even halfway through the thing.

Then she got the scare of her life when all of a sudden in front of her a new Gumi, or well in this case Junker, according to the colour of the smoke, popped up. “You spoke very highly of my friend” the Junker told her.

“She’s a great friend to have” Ilaera responded. “She would love to see you again” she continued telling the Void Gumi. The Void Gumi seemed to think about that, then told Ilaera he wanted to join them as he wanted to see his friend again as well. Ilaera made a sigh of relief, knowing that with him she was almost done and had completed the hardest part of this mission. Now if only she would be able to find that Metal Gumi as well.

She looked up to the sky again where Phaeri was still flying. There were times where she wished she would be able to feel as free as the hawk, but as a human she was able to handle her bow with care and precision and that feeling was amazing as well.

Ilaera continued walking through the maze again. She wasn’t sure if she had seen this part of the maze earlier as everything seemed so much alike. But she stepped forward as if she knew what she was doing, she didn’t want to show the Gumi’s she had no clue where she was at the moment.

It felt like she had walked for hours, hours in which those Gumi’s had continued their chatter, while it really was only a couple of minutes or so.

The Void Gumi had been silent most of the way, he obviously didn’t like to chat as much as the others. Ilaera didn’t feel like chatting herself either, she just wanted to get the last Gumi and get out of the darn maze that had driven her crazy by now. She walked around another corner in the maze and stopped when she heard a sound in front of her. She wasn’t sure how to describe it, it was a long and heavy sound was the best she could come up with, but inside the maze it felt out of place.

She started walking in the direction of the sound, unsure what to expect. When she turned another corner she suddenly stood eye to eye with the Gumi she had been looking for.

“You’re the Metal Gumi” she said with a sigh of relief, happy to have found him. “I’ve been looking for you, as I’m on a mission to help a friend in need” she said to him, not sure if that would work with him, but she had to try. “The other Gumi’s have already agreed in helping me, cause I have to get to the Ferryman. Would you be so kind of joining us as well?”. She stood there after asking her question, waiting until she would get a response. After a few seconds she started to think she wouldn’t get any, but then he spoke.

“But why would I help you?” was the question he asked her. It was obvious he didn’t want to come with them, but Ilaera knew she had to persuade him and was hoping her response would do just that. “I was hoping someone in need would be enough reason.” was she response she gave him. “I heard Gumi’s are very reliable in honor”. She could see the Metal Gumi with his violet pipe was thinking about her answer.

Before he answered he looked up and saw the other Gumi’s, that almost seemed to persuade him, but then he noticed the Void Gumi. “You’re still missing another one” he told Ilaera. She knew he was talking about Tsu Tze.

She was careful with her next words. “I met Tsu Tze before I entered the maze, she was the one that told me about you all”. She was sure the Metal Gumi would never join them now, but it seemed he was still thinking about it. “So she said we’re honorable?” he then said with a grin. Obviously he was a very arrogant Gumi, considering he believed Tsu Tze must have been talking about him, but Ilaera left it like that, as she was hoping it might persuade him.

And it did, cause he then nodded and joined the Gumi’s that were following her. Ilaera noticed the Void Gumi tried his best to stay out of the last Gumi's way. It didn’t last long, as the Void Gumi was walking side by side with her with the Metal Gumi at the end of the group.

Ilaera looked up to the sky where Phaeri

"So you'll have to enter the grove maze and persuade ALL the Gumis to help. And find your way out, naturally." Tsu Tze bravely states. Once she is finished she looks at us expectantly. We gaze at each other and soon enough Elethia grinning cheekily shouts out "Well! This looks like the perfect job for Lizzy!" Mr. Scoots and Aodh both groan and shake their head at her in tandem.

Before Lizzy could sic Ratte on Elethia, Aodh steps in. He knows that Elethia likes to tease her friends. Both of them actually felt sorry for her since they knew she was still tired from escaping from that cell. Unfortunately they didn't have a Seunshin in their group so Lizzy was next in line being a Illjimae. "What Elethia and I both mean to say is good luck and we'll be rooting for your success." Aodh murmured. Lizzy still scowling is given a big hug by Elethia and then promptly dragged towards the entrance to the grove.

Honestly! I think that girl just wants to go back to bed! Lizzy internally gripes to herself. Looking at Mr. Scoots he nods back at her and she knows that he'll keep her busy and out of trouble. Amused at this, Lizzy bades her teammates goodbye for now, turns towards the entrance, and enters into the unknown realm. Ratte is by her side as always.

She stops rooted in place and takes a moment to take in her surroundings. Great trees with extensive foliage make up a large part of the walls of the maze. Sunlight trickles in in various places so that the area is not in complete darkness. She gazes back once and sees the somber watcher beckoning her to continue onward.

Slightly perturbed she consults the rough sketch of the map that her friends had worked on. Hmmm...this red scribbling must be the work of Elethia, but at least I can make out a clear path. It winds around in a lot of places, but it looks like it's passable. Hopefully going this way though I'll run into all of the Gumis. Lizzy thinks

She continues straight and turns right and then suddenly comes to a halt when she hears laughter. The trees seem to echo the statement by shaking in tandem with it. Not one to be frightened though, Lizzy stands her ground and demands that the entity shows itself. Almost at once the leaves stop shaking and a voice calmly echoes out Very well. Lizzy glances up in time to see some of the trees parting and out of it steps a Gumi smoking a pipe that is emitting a green smoke. Knowing that she is in the presence of the Wood Gumi, she bows her head respectfully to him and quickly explains her reason of being there and the help that she needs to continue their rescue and avert a major disaster.

What need do I have with the ways of man? Why should I care about your struggles? the Wood Gumi curiously asks. Lizzy trying to figure out how to answer this explains that if they do nothing it could shake the very foundation of the world. Not only humans that would be affected, but possibly every other living creature. (Maybe over-exaggerating a bit, but hey whatever gets them moving is good in her book.) Not liking this one bit, the Wood Gumi frowns and then tells her that he will assist her. Now with that out of the way, Lizzy beckons the Wood Gumi to follow her as she continues along the maze to seek out the rest of them.

Lizzy is light of foot and stealthy of hand, but the environment seems to be against her. Many times she has to make her way around some type of obstacle as nearby thorns seem to reach out and ensnare her clothing. Cursing once more she tugs the hem of her skirt away from an unruly branch. Smiling at her, the Wood Gumi states The Earth Gumi is making the going difficult for you because now we all know what you seek. Some will not be as kind as I am to assist you. Lizzy frowns at this and then lets out a yelp as the ground starts rumbling.

As Lizzy struggles to keep her balance, the Wood Gumi gazes down the winding path and whispers out Earth you must calm yourself. We need your assistance to aid these travelers. What harm would it do to venture out amongst man once more? The ground rumbles again as if indicating a response and then a fissure develops. Lizzy watches as the ground opens up and the Earth Gumi steps out. Before she can explain why she needs their help, the Earth Gumi simply nods to her and with a delicate hand extended, helps her regain her footing. The environment has stilled for now and happy that she has two Gumis with her, continues to navigate her way through the maze.

Having to backtrack once again since she misjudged the map and took a wrong turn, Lizzy continues to press on. Looking at the two Gumis she wonders if she should just ask them if she's going the right way, but they look like they're having an enjoyable time watching her figure it out. Grumbling to herself she stops when she notices how stifling the temperature suddenly became. Sweat beading on her brow she realizes that the Fire Gumi must be near. Not liking the idea of a possible confrontation, she prepares herself nonetheless. However to her surprise she then hears one person chuckling followed by a loud splashing sound and then another person yelling out at them.

Hesitantly peeking around the curved bend of the wall, Lizzy eyes widen at the sight. To her and the other two Gumis amusement it seems as if the Fire and Water Gumi are having some type of playful dispute. Wondering how she should go about interrupting them, the Earth Gumi steps forward and claps her hands together. They stop instantly and look at her with chagrined expressions. I swear you are both like children! the Earth Gumi scolds. This young lady needs our help and I don't want to hear any complaints from either of you!

Lizzy cringes expecting a brawl to ensue, but surprisingly they both turn to her and still grumbling amongst themselves, joins her entourage. Internally celebrating her good fortune her hopes are dashed when she realizes that the Metal and Void Gumi are the last ones that she needs to find. The Fire Gumi doesn't help matters much either by voicing his opinion. Yes we knew you were coming and I was trying to get Water to agree with helping you as well. However she decided that she wanted to lob water volleys at me while we were waiting for your arrival. Metal and Void also know of your presence. Good luck convincing that big lug to help. He still holds a grudge about Tsu Tze breaking up with him. We don't know what that has to do with the Void Gumi hiding from him though. The Water Gumi wanting to cause mischief pipes up Oooh! It might be some type of lovers triangle! How exciting! The Fire Gumi looks at her in exasperation. He scolds her which then causes another quarrel between the two of them.

Lizzy continues on ignoring their ongoing debate as the other two Gumis are doing. It seems like that's a common occurrence between them. She is beginning to tire, but she can tell from the map that she's almost at the end of the maze. As she continues to press on around the next bend she nearly collides with a large mass in front of her. She realizes that this is the Metal Gumi and he is sitting on a stump and working on something that she can't see. Lizzy stands still not knowing how to proceed while the other four Gumis observe the scene warily. The Metal Gumi known as Dang Ahn calmly sniffs the air before settling his tools down and turning around to address her. I know what you are up to and what you seek. However I wonder why you think I would help you and that woman. he grumbles out. After saying that he turned back to face his work that he had been doing and ignored anything else that she might have to say.

Internally fuming as she wonders if she could get away with kicking him in his butt, she is shocked when Ratte lets out a shrill screech of rage and dashes forward. The Metal Gumi shouts out in surprise as the sly mouse races up his leg. Before he can swat the offending creature off of him, the mischievous mouse swiped his pipe from his pocket and raced back to Lizzy with it. Letting out an angry roar, Dang Ahn turns to confront her again. Give that back to me right now! You have no idea why we must possess such a pipe and the power that it holds! No human should lay their hands on one of our prized possessions! he growls out. Lizzy drawing on her courage, stands her ground and beseeches the Metal Gumi once more for his help. She explains to him the pain he caused Tsu Tze and how him not helping them could make matters worse for everyone. She pleads with him and hopes that he has some compassion left in his heart. With a sigh he shakes his head as if to try to calm himself down. Lass that girl hurt me bad when she did what she did. I'm a fool to not have realized how much worse I was making the situation. Even if we cannot be together as we once were I would hate to even lose the chance of friendship with Tsu Tze. I'm such a fool. Dang Ahn groans out miserably

Lizzy having pity on him hands the pipe back to Dang Ahn. Surprised that she gave it back so willingly, he realizes that there are still good people out there in the world. Perhaps his heart was broken, but maybe once he has healed he can open his heart up to another. Dwelling on the past was a mistake. He apologizes to Lizzy and the rest of the Gumis. Teary eyes and lots of hugs take place while Lizzy sometimes finds herself getting squished as well. Ratte must have gotten caught too because she can hear him squeaking out angrily. Chuckling to himself the Metal Gumi then whispers out I'm sorry as well Void. My anger got the best of me and I took it out on those that I shouldn't have. It doesn't matter anymore to me if you are in love with Tsu Tze or not. I just want to see her happy again once more. Almost at once from the empty space before them the Void Gumi steps out. He seems nervous, but he appears to trust Dang Ahns words. Lizzy knows that they will have more to discuss to make things right again between them. She can tell that the seed of trust and friendship has been sowed once more and she hopes that things continue to improve. All six Gumis turn to her and Lizzy nods at them. "Alright guys lets get out of this maze and rejoin Tsu Tze and my friends!" she says smiling the whole time. As one they walk with her and together they exit the maze.

[spoiler=Amazing Safera] A grove maze sounded like a job for a seunshin, and Safera was most definitely the man for the job. He wasn’t the best at persuading people, but elementals were foxes of a different color. Besides, he felt badly for Tzu Tze when he saw how upset she was with how the Metal Gumi was treating her. Safera might be rough around the edges, but it sounded like that guy had crossed a line. It didn’t matter if she dumped you -- a man didn’t bully a lady and make her cry. He’d show that no-good stuck-up--

Wait. They needed the Metal Gumi to help. Couldn’t go punching him in the face, even if he deserved it. He’d need to think of a way to stop the bullying without beating anyone up. Well, he’d figure something out. He always did. For the moment, he’d start by heading into the maze. But before he did, Safera went over to Tzu Tze, after making sure the others were busy with something else. “Chin up,” he said, giving her a hug. “I’ll convince everyone, don’t worry. And while I’m at it, I’ll find a way to get Dang Ahn to stop giving you such a hard time.”

With that Safera and Savaan, the cricket, headed into the grove maze. It was lovely, clearly looked after but losing none of the untamed feel. The seunshin was right at home, and making his way inward was hardly difficult. He just followed the path that showed the most use to his discerning eye. People were a pain in the neck, and it was a relief to be off on his own for a bit. Before long he was in a far better mood, and broke into song.

“Who is making that awful racket?!” A gumi snapped out the challenge as he charged into view, ears askew in displeasure. The tune died on Safera’s lips. His singing wasn’t that bad! Just because he wasn’t a fancy gisaeng--

Savaan chirped in his ear, cautioning him not to speak recklessly. The red pipe in the gumi’s hand marked him as Fire, and they needed his help. The seunshin grumbled, but summoned a more-or-less polite smile. “Are you the gumi of fire?” he asked, trying to be courteous.

“Who’s asking?”

“My name’s Safera, and my companions and I could really use your help--”

“After you come in here with a sound like someone strangling a cat?” The gumi tapped a hindpaw on the ground irritably. “No I don’t think so. Find someone else!”

Why that little -- the man’s thoughts came to a sudden halt and took a sharp turn. So this gumi didn’t like his singing? Well, that might come in handy. Safera’s strained smile changed to a smirk, and he took a deep breath and began singing again.

“Agh! Stop that!” “Will you help us?” “No!” “Then I’m going to keep singing~” “Your voice is so scratchy, you shatter glass!” The gumi clapped his paws over his ears, trying to shut the sound out. “You couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket! Your singing makes the birds fall out of the sky in horror! ALRIGHT! You win, I’ll help, just stop that atrocious noise!”

Safera stopped, smiling for real now. It didn’t take long to explain what they needed, and where to go, and the gumi was off in a hurry. “Probably worried I’ll start singing again,” the seunshin commented to the cricket. “Just because I don’t have formal training or all that nonsense....” Savaan rubbed his antennae and earned himself a glare. “Don’t tell me you agree with him! If you think I’m that bad, then why haven’t you said anything?” The cricket quickly assured him that his singing was at least tolerable.

“That’s really no excuse.”

Many twists and a few wrong turns later, Safera felt drawn to a powerful calmness and inner peace. He could hear the gentle falling of water over rocks. Pushing away a few low-hanging branches, he reached a large natural pond full of koi. On the other side of the pond, he could see someone humming and muttering to herself as she stared forlornly at the fish. Safera approached cautiously. He assumed this was the Water Gumi and he was careful not to startle her. "Hey," he called, raising a hand in what he hoped indicated he was trying to be friendly. "Excuse me, I am looking for the Water Gumi who lives in this maze. Are you the one I am seeking?" The gumi looked up. Safera took a sharp intake of breath, she was breathtakingly beautiful. "Why are you looking for the Water Gumi?" she asked.

Safera launched into his story once again, though he found his tongue tripping over his words once or twice, he was so nervous in the face of such beauty.

The Water Gumi shook her head sadly. "I am the one that you need, but I can't leave this pond right now. My fish need me. They haven't been eating too well and I need to care for them." Safera looked at the pond. The fish did seem like they were rather glum, swimming around sluggishly, though it was obvious to Safera what the problem was. The pond needed a good cleaning to clear away the algae. The waterfall might be doing a good job aerating the water, but it wasn’t keeping up with the algae growth. He looked around trying to find an ideal stick. Finding one, he returned to the pond and proceeded to start twisting the algae around it, carefully dragging it out and leaving it by the side of the pond in case any small critters happened to be caught in it. Taking his time, he made sure the pond was properly cleared. Looking around for some large rocks, he placed a few carefully into the pond providing the fish with more natural places to hide and swim around. The fish already looked much happier.

"You need to clear out the green stuff regularly," Safera explained, "Do it each time it accumulates and the fish will appreciate it."

The gumi had been watching Safera and she nodded. "I will help you, as you have helped me. I cannot be away for too long, but I can give you enough time to help you as you need."

The next of the gumi found Safera, instead of the other way around. “News travels quickly,” he said when asked, a wave of a hand sending yellow smoke spiraling. “You seem like a decent fellow. Sincere, if rather unorthodox.” The seunshin frowned. That really didn’t sound like a compliment. “What do you need from us?”

Savaan chirped at Safera. This was the Earth Gumi and they needed him too. Safera swallowed his annoyance and explained what was needed.

“I think I can managed that. I’ll see you at the shore. Good luck to you.” With that the gumi hurried off.

As the Earth Gumi left, Safera quickly looked around to try and find the right path to follow. It seemed to be getting harder now, but he managed to find what looked like the way to go. He and Savaan walked along until they came to a clearing with one huge tree growing in the center. As they approached, they noticed a gumi standing next to the tree. Safera saw that the smoke from the gumi’s pipe was green. This must be the Wood Gumi, then. Safera politely greeted him but he didn’t seem to hear. He seemed to be absorbed in studying the tree in front of him. Savaan wiggled his antennae and hopped over to the gumi who suddenly saw the cricket.

“Well hello there little guy. How did you get here?” “His name is Savaan and he’s with me,” responded Safera. “I’m Safera.” “Oh. Hello. Maybe Savaan will be good luck for my favorite sakura tree.” “Does your tree need good luck?” “Yes. It’s been here for hundreds of years. I am its caretaker, and my father before me, and his father before him. But lately, the tree hasn’t been doing very well. I know this is a lovely peaceful grove and we’re lucky to be here. But in recent years so many birds have found this place that they destroy most of the tree’s blossoms. This tree has been the home of the grove hanami for centuries. But now, there are no blossoms left for the ceremonies.” “Maybe Savaan and I can help you with that,” Safera said thoughtfully.

Safera looked up and saw several birds sitting in the sakura. He sat on the ground very still and called to them. At first, they only looked down at him from the safety of the tree. But soon one brave bird landed on the ground at his feet. Then another, and soon, he was surrounded by a chirping flock. Birds sat on his shoulders, arms, head, everywhere. Savaan jumped behind the Wood Gumi. He did not want to be some bird’s lunch.

“I want to talk with all of you,” Safera addressed the birds. “I know you love the sakura and its blossoms. But there are too many of you. You are hurting this ancient tree. This sakura is very special to the Wood Gumi and to the grove. It is the tree where the hanami is held each year. I need you birds to let this tree be. There are many other beautiful trees in this grove where you can sit.” “But this is the best, most beautiful tree,” chirped one feathered fellow. “Yes. And that is why we all need to take care of it and make sure it stays that way,” Safera answered.

Gradually the birds were convinced. Chirping happily to each other they spread out throughout the grove. “Don’t forget to tell all the other birds,” Safera called after them. “We’ll remember,” they chorused back. The air was filled with chirps and cheeps and trills.

Smiling the Wood Gumi gently picked up Savaan and brought him over to Safera. “How can I begin to thank you. You’ve saved my sakura. We’ll be able to hold our hanami.” “No thanks is needed,” Safera replied. “This ancient sakura deserved no less. If you are willing, however, I came here to ask for your help.” He explained about the mirror and the boatman. “That’s easily done. I’ll be more than happy to help you and your companions,” the Wood Gumi responded. And, with a smile and a wave and one last look at his sakura, he headed off to the shore.

Continuing ever deeper into the grove, Safera and Savaan were just beginning to enjoy the beautiful day again when suddenly another gumi appeared directly in their path. “Who are you? And what are you doing in my grove?” This could only be Dang Ahn, the Metal Gumi. Safera confirmed his guess by a quick look at the silvery-violet smoke coming from the gumi’s pipe.

“I’m Safera and I’m looking for you because my travelling companions and I really need your help. Tsu Tze said I could find you in this grove.” “Tsu Tze!?! Where is she? What did she say about me?” “Only that I could find you here and that you can help us if you’re willing.” “Why should I be willing to help anyone travelling with that inferior gumi. She’s just a big pain!” “Whoa! Sounds like you’re getting awfully worked up about something. Why is Tsu Tze so important to you?’ “Well, she used to be my number one girl. But I’m done with her now.” “Then why should she stop you from helping us?” “Stop me - that so-so gumi can’t stop me from anything! What is it you need? I’ll help you! That will show her.”

Safera quickly explained the need for Dang Ahn to help us light the shore watcher’s mirror to call the Ferryman..

“Is that all you need? That’s so easy. No problem at all.” “You’re sure nothing will make you change your mind?” “Nothing! I said I’m helping you and that’s that! You have my word on it. In fact, it’s too easy. Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you?” “Well … now that you mention it, there is something a little harder that would help.” “Sure. You’re not such a bad guy. I could do more to help.” “Okay. But, now that I think of it, what I need is much harder. I’m not completely sure you can do it.” “Of course I can do it. I can do anything.” “I know you can do almost anything. But, I’m still not sure that you can do what I need now. What if you can’t?” “I can. Whatever it is, just tell me and I’ll give it my very best effort. I’ll get it done, you’ll see.” “You’re sure? I have your word on this as well?” “Absolutely! You have my word. I’ll help you light the mirror and I’ll get this other job done too. Just tell me what it is.”

Safera stood back to look Dang Ahn directly in his eyes. Then he quietly said, “I really need you to stop bullying Tsu Tze and start being nice to her and the Void Gumi.” “What!? You … you tricked me! That’s not fair. I won’t do that.” “You gave your word. And I really do need you to do this. Otherwise, the Void Gumi won’t appear and we need all seven of you to light the mirror. Besides, bullying is done by someone who’s weak. You don’t need to do that.” “”Maybe not. But you still tricked me. I don’t have to do it.” “I have your word you’ll give your very best effort. Your word is good isn’t it?” “Of course my word is good. But … but … “ Suddenly Dang Ahn stopped, looked a bit sheepish, and then started laughing. “Okay, Safera. You win … this time. No female is worth that much bother anyway. Come on. I’ll walk with you over to the Void Gumi’s clearing and let him know it’s safe to come out.”

As they walked along Safera and Dang Ahn talked away each trying to impress the other with stories in which, of course, they were the hero. It had been quite some time since either of them had such a good companion to boast to and each was enjoying himself tremendously. It was a good thing that Dang Ahn came along because this part of the maze was particularly tricky and even Safera’s skills might not have sufficed if he had been alone. In several places the seunshin stopped to mark the trail, just to be certain he would be able to recognize the right path later on.

Dang Ahn came to a halt in a small clearing well off the main path. “This is where the Void Gumi likes to stay. He’s here now, I can tell.” “I don’t see him anywhere.” “Of course, you don’t see him. He’s hiding because he’s af… He’s hiding.” Trying to be nice is going to be hard, but he did give his word. It’s a matter of honor now. “Come out and meet my new friend, Safera. I think you’ll like him. He knows Tsu Tze.”

“Tsu Tze? What have you done to her now?” came a new voice, along with just a hint of indigo smoke in the air. “Tsu Tze is just fine.” Safera hurried to reassure him. “I left her at the grove entrance with the watcher and the rest of my companions.” “She won’t be fine if she gets near Dang Ahn. And I won’t come out with him around.” “But we really need you. And Dang Ahn isn’t going to hurt anyone.” “I don’t believe you. Dang Ahn always bullies Tsu Tze And anyway, what could I possibly do to help you? I’m not even one the of Primes.” “We need all seven gumis to help light the shore watcher’s mirror and summon the Ferryman.” Safera told him. “All six of the others have already agreed to help, but that won’t do any good at all unless you join them. That makes you the most important gumi.”

Safera quickly elbowed Dang Ahn as he started to open his mouth and whispered, “Remember your promise.”

“Most important! I’m never the most important.” “You are this time. How about it. Will you help us?” “I’d really like to be the most important, just once … and you don’t seem so bad … but … No! I won’t come out with Dang Ahn around. He’s mean.” “How about if Dang Ahn stops being mean?” “Stops? … He won’t stop.”

“Yes I will,” Dang Ahn interjected as he gave Safera a quick wink. “If you come out and help my new friend, I promise to stop bullying Tsu Tze and start being nice to you both.” “I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that.” “No, I mean it. I give you my word. If you come out and help, I’ll stop bullying and start being nice.”

Silence followed as a new swirl of indigo wafted through the air. Then very quietly, Safera and Dang Ahn heard, “His word? He’d have to keep that. That’s a matter of honor. And Tsu Tze would be so happy to not be bullied anymore. And it would be because of me. I’d be most important twice! I would so much enjoy being most important.”

“Alright, since you gave your word, I’ll come out and talk with you.” And with that the Void Gumi appeared at the edge of the clearing and slowly approached them. He kept his eyes on Dang Ahn, ready to run away if the Metal Gumi failed to keep his word.

But Dang Ahn just stayed still and waited. Then, quietly said, “Thank you for coming out. This is Safera. He needs your help.” “Yes, to help light the shore watcher’s mirror and summon the boatman. I’ll do it. Just don’t forget your promise.” “I won’t.”

“He won’t,” said Saf

A lot of blathering ensued—yada yada yada… Sorn rolled his eyes at these longwinded people. Truth be told he could be exceptionally longwinded himself but he didn’t seem to notice it. But what he did hear was Kara was supposed to go alone. Why were these people bent on separating them? He just got his woman back and now this? Anger boiled in his veins. Thunder and lightning crackled in the air as the wind picked up and swirled rain down on them. He tried to calm the sea of rage that was threatening to take over. His magic was more powerful when he was angry or enjoying cruelties and it was already damn powerful on calm days.

Dash saw Sorn’s reaction and smiled. It was sweet really. “Um, no offense, Kara,” he started as diplomatically as he could, “but you’ve only been rangering for a short time and I’m not really sure you count as a ranger/Seunshin-thingy.” Yes, rangering is a word. “And I have lived on the streets for over 15 years. Why don’t I handle this one and you stay here and snog Mr. StormyPants. Love is making him cranky.” Even if Sorn couldn’t see it, it was plain to Dash that the man was in love with her. Crossing over to his own lover, Dash placed a passionate kiss on Cerac’s lips. He gave Cerac a pat on the backside and walked off into the maze.

With Kara remaining behind, the storm brewing over their heads subsided as quickly as it started. Love? Was that what was wrong with him? He loved the drow standing beside him? It didn’t feel like how he felt about his sister… could there be different kinds of love? A bewildered Sorn stood watching Dash walk off with his mouth agape and for once completely speechless.

If Kara were honest she really had no wish to go off by herself again. Even if it was by choice this time. When Dash volunteered to go she smiled but was soon left as bewildered as Sorn. Sure, she knew he was upset when she had been arrested and seemed upset when he thought she was going to leave again but Dash’s words sort of left her with much to think on. Did Sorn really love her? It wasn’t like they had known each other long. She looked to him, feeling a flush of warmth.

“That is one way tae shut ye up,” Cerac snickered, not really concerned for Dash. The task did not seem dangerous at all after all. Seeing Sorn with his mouth gaping was amusing though. He would enjoy it while he could.

Back in the maze, Dash took his necklace off turned it into the musical staff. It wasn’t really for defensive purposes, but more for comfort and a walking stick. His beloved Ari teleported onto his head with a mew and the half vampire laughed. “Didn’t want to be left out did you?” Another mew implied her answer. Together they started traversing the maze.

The maze reminded him when he was a young child. Eight years old in the middle of the dirty back alleys that ran through the city. The orphaned twins where often forced to climb up wall and hunt for food. Hunting for food in an urban setting was far different from a forest but just as complicated and the vagabond had learnt a thing or two. Of course it didn’t hurt that he was part vampire either but hey, he needed every advantage he could get in order to stay alive. Coming up to a dead-end Dash swore. He went down the wrong path and had to backtrack. He should have been paying attention rather than being lost in his own reverie.

He arrived at another dead end but thankfully there was a figure standing there. It was the owner of the green pipe. Dash dropped to one knee. “Respected Gumi,” he said thumping his hand on his chest showing his great respect—a sign he had seen Elves do before. “I am here humbly ask for your assistance. Would you please grant me this honour and use your smoke to help contact the Ferryman so that we may cross the shore? I will seek the other Gumis within this maze and ask them to help in this important task.”

The Gumi nodded and was gone in a flash. Dash returned to the path and worked his way through the maze once more. There was a hole in the ground—a gap that was too large to jump over. He could fly—yes, but there was also a vine nearby and Dash was a former circus performer. He didn’t miss the circus itself per se, but he did miss the acts and comradery with his brother. Maybe after they were done rendering aide and Raven’s child was born, he would ask Cerac to help him find Tait. Despite how happy he was and thankful for the family he now had, Dash missed his brother and wanted to see him again. Grabbing the vine, Dash walked backwards for a few and then ran—holding onto the vine and swung. He twisted as he let go and dropped to his feet, landing perfectly. Arrantly, he thought it would be fun to show his new family the circus acts he could do. But those thoughts where fleeting as he looked at the Gumi suddenly standing before him, with a yellow pipe. “Oh great…” he started only to watch the Gumi’s hand rise in the air to halt him.

“I know what you seek. I will help, provided the others are located.”

Before Dash could even utter a reply, though, the Gumi was gone as quick as it had appeared.

He continued to make his way, meeting both the water and the fire Gumis along the way. Both were fairly easy to persuade to join him. He knew the other two would most likely not be.

Nearing what he felt was the end of the maze, Dash saw the metal Gumi in the distance. “By now, oh great Gumi, you must know I have found all the others but you and hidden one. I also know you know I have spoken with Tsu Tze. She does not think you will come,” he said. Dash had known many conceited people before and knew what to say to provoke his ire enough to get help. “She thinks you will merely stay here and sulk because she broke up with you. Sulking and bullying is what she thinks of you. But I know better. I know you will help because you are noble and I know she is undeserving of you.”

And sure enough that did the trick. Then as he was getting close to the exit, for he could see the light streaming through, he felt the presence of the final Gumi. This time, he knelt down. “I have nothing to offer you except the honour I bring to you if you help me. I have gathered all the others and they will help. But I need you. Please, help me. I respect you just as I respect the Primes and without you there is no hope.”

And just like that he had done it, all of them had agreed. The end was insight—literally as he exited the maze. Dash was beaming. He had done it and he also helped to keep Sorn calm—without shoving anything down the drow’s throat either. The day was looking up.

Dazed Denizens of Crazy Delusional Chopped Jalapeno-Ville

Seunshin in Charge!

After hearing Tsu Tze's sob story Atrueheart turns to her Fallen Angels. She hands the maze map to Laurie and the other Angels crowd around as they figure out the trail that needs to be traversed. After a few moments and a few arguments Laurie marks the last turn that exits out of the maze. "We've got it!" she cries out excitedly. The rest of the Fallen Angels all agree that it's complete. "So, who's going to go in and get those Gumi's?" Atrueheart asks. Jeice, pulling out her "ninja" garb, grunts "I've got this, no worries!" Dressing quickly she checks her weapons and makes sure she has everything. Holding out her hand for the map, she then studies it carefully. "Right then! I'm off!" "Wait!" cries Laurie as she snatches the map back and quickly copies it. "We have to get through the maze as well." she states. "We'll be behind you and will follow as quickly as possible Jeice." Atrueheart says and smiles. "Go get 'em!"

Quickly and stealthily, Jeice enters the maze looking for the first turn. Sliding her Bo off of her shoulder, she walks stealthily up to the first corner. Pulling out some throwing stars she chucks one at the tree, leaving a trail for the rest of the team to follow. Flattening herself against the large tree that marks the first turn, she peeks quickly around the corner and seeing noone there slips down the corridor of bushes to the next turn on the map. At each turn she throws another star. On the third turn she sees some red smoke wafting around the corner. Silently she peeks around and sees the fire gumi squatting and tending to a small fire held in a lantern. Pipe in it's mouth it is puffing gently causing the red smoke to swirl around. Sliding around the corner, Jeice approaches carefully. Suddenly aware of Jeice the Fire Gumi looks her up and down. "What brings you to the maze oh great Seunshin!" it exclaims and bows to Jeice. Jeice briefly describes the predicament of needing to get on the ferry and the necessity of having all the Gumi's there to blow their smoke. Taking a deep draw on it's pipe the Gumi seems to be thinking deeply and then nods and comes to a decision. "I will go with you and bring my smoke." the Fire Gumi states. "I will also help you convince the other's to join us. But you will have trouble with the Metal Gumi. He's cantankerous and moody, especially if Tsu Tze is involved. They have a history together" The Fire Gumi takes a look at the map and points to a little cul de sac in the maze. "This is where the Earth Gumi usually stays." He states and then shaking his head speaks up again. "I haven't seen the Void Gumi in a long time and he will be the most difficult to find."

Following the map closely Jeice and the Fire Gumi head toward the Earth Gumi's usual haunt. Moving swiftly and marking the way with the throwing stars they soon come upon the cul de sac and sure enough the Earth Gumi is there blowing yellow smoke. The Fire Gumi and Earth Gumi bow to each other and then Jeice quickly explains what we need to the Earth Gumi. "This should be interesting" stated the Earth Gumi. "I'll come along." Looking over the map, and pointing at a corner on the map the Earth Gumi states "This is where I met with my sister the Wood Gumi just the other day. She likes to stay around there most of the time."

Moving out swiftly, with Jeice still tossing out her stars for her team, they make short work of the next section of the maze and coming around a corner are enveloped in green smoke. The Wood Gumi is nursing a small bush and upon seeing her dear friends let's out a squeal and rushes over to them. "It's a party!" she squeals and hugs the Earth Gumi tightly. After quickly explaining what they are all up to she eagerly agrees and points at a spot on the map that seems to have a babbling brook running through it. "This is where we'll find our Water Gumi." she burbles and sets out quickly. Occasionally they come around a corner to be inundated by Indigo smoke but see no sign of the Void Gumi. Snorting inelegantly the Earth Gumi states "We'll never find him. He's pretty useless anyway!"

Turning another corner the small group arrive at the babbling brook where the Water Gumi is splashing in the shallows and feeding the fish. Puffing blue smoke she quickly agrees to join the adventure but warns them that the Metal Gumi is going to take some convincing. Especially with the Void Gumi lurking around. "Bad blood there!" she sighs. Looking over the map she points at some outcropping of mineral rocks. "That's where he'll be, a lot of good it will do us!"

Jeice urges them along the maze ever mindful of tiny wisps of indigo smoke drifting down from trees or through bushes as they go along. Always alert Jeice awaits her opportunity and after making several turns Jeice slows down and lets the Gumi's continue on ahead of her. Blending into a tree trunk, she watches the surrounding bushes carefully. Suddenly she is rewarded by a puff of indigo smoke and with lightning reflexes thrusts her hand through an opening and jerks the Void Gumi through it. Sputtering and muttering and puffing on his pipe he eyes Jeice warily. "If I wanted to hurt you you'd already be hurt!" sneers Jeice. "Look, we just need your smoke. Tsu Tze said you might be willing to help if we could find you!" At the mention of Tsu Tze the Void Gumi brightened considerably. "Well, if it's for Tsu Tze! I'd do anything for... wait... is that bully the Metal Gumi coming along?" the Void Gumi asks timidly. Jeice smiled an evil smile and then laughs out loud. "Don't you worry Gumi! I can handle him!" she states and then grabbing the Gumi by the arm begins to hurriedly catch up with the other Gumi's, tossing throwing stars along the way.

Coming to the turn that leads to the rocks they all slow down and look at each other worriedly. The Void Gumi hops up into a tree and says "I'll meet you at the Ferry landing!" and with a rustle of leaves he is gone. Turning the corner they see the Metal Gumi sitting on a rock, haughtily puffing on his pipe. Violet smoke wreathed his head as he eyes the assembled group. "What do you want?" he asks grumpily. All the other Gumi's began talking and explaining at once until Jeice shouts "Enough!" Eyeing the recalcitrant Gumi, Jeice refuses to break her stare until the Metal Gumi has to lower his gaze. "We are trying to rescue a beloved sister and we need your help! So are you coming or not?" she asks gruffly. Neglecting to mention the Void Gummi and Tsu Tze, thinking "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!" Jeice waits for the Metal Gumi's answer staring him down again. "The other Gumi's wait nervously for his answer. "Whatever!" the grumpy Gumi grunts. "I got nothing better to do!" and off they went zipping through the maze until they come to the opening and the way out.

Heading toward the Ferry landing Jeice tells them we have to wait here for the rest of my team and the other rescuers. So they sit to wait. The Gumi's chattering among themselves, while the Metal Gumi sits himself on a rock and puffs furiously on his pipe. Unnoticed by anyone but Jeice, a drift of indigo smoke wafts it's way down from a tree off to the side of the landing. Jeice smiles and pats herself on the back, figuratively, thinking "Well, it might not have been the most diplomatic mission but I got it done!"

[spoiler=Seunshin of the Maze, Expect the Unexpected Ways] Akalia looked at the map of the Grove where they would find the Gumi who would help them summon the Ferryman to continue their travels. After a quiet sigh, the elf looked down to Gunther and then up to the grove. It shouldn't be that hard, she grew up surrounded in a forest. She survived on her own for the last ten years in her forest. This maze would not intimidate her. So long as she didn't have to climb the trees.

After a few moments of thought on how best to find the Gumi, Akalia believed she had a plan. Sort of, but she would need the help of the crews other Ranger or Seunshin as they were called in this world.

“What is it with these adventures and mazes? At least this time hopefully we won't be chased by bone covered mad men trying to kill us.” Lilith chuckled. “Although I did enjoy those motorcycles...” Trailing off she noticed Akalia approaching.

Unsure how to approach the Drow since they hadn't interacted all that much, Akalia slowly made her way over. Gunther on the other hand walked straight up to Jasper and nudged him trying get a hold of the otter's hat. Not really surprised by the goats ambition, the elf quickly picked him up and gave Lilith a sheepish smile.

"I was thinking, perhaps we go after Dang Ahn first? If he's angry, the more time he has to cool down the better. Then split up after that and search for the other four. Hopefully by the time we've regrouped Dang Ahn will have mellowed out and Void will appear."

Listening to what she had to say Lilith nodded her head in agreement and smiled back. “Sounds like a great idea to me, we just need to figure out how we are going to get him on our side. It sounds like Tsu Tze really damaged his pride by breaking up with him.” Lilith clasped her hands and put both of her pointer fingers on her chin to think.

Akalia pondered about what Lilith said for a moment and thought back to when she was abandoned by her clan. She was left with her dagger and the words 'Live or die'. She didn't know if such logic could be used here, she didn't really feel as though her pride was damaged back then. But she did learn and grow stronger from the experience and that was all the Seunshins needed Dang Ahn to do.

The elven Ranger looked over to her thinking accomplice for this task and spoke barely above a whisper, "What about if we called him a coward? He's letting such a little thing bother him so much. What if we told him the only way to bring back his pride was to talk to Tsu Tze?"

She looked at Lilith with hopeful eyes. She had never experienced break-ups or love in this manner and hoped that the Drow would know if her reasoning was correct.

“That might actually work, it's shades different than what I had in mind but we can try it.” A coy smile crossed her lips. “If it fails we always have plan s to fall back on.” Jasper shook his head. “Using your body isn't always going to solve every problem Lilith.” Lilith laughed. “It's gotten me this far hasn't it?” Jasper scoffed at her rebuttal and took out his flask. "Now that we have a plan we should probably go and find Dang Ahn and the other Gumi's before it gets dark." Grabbing Jasper's flask she walked to the entrance of the maze and waited for Akalia and Gunther to join before entering.

Plan S? Akalia stood holding Gunther for a moment wide-eyed before quickly shrugging it off. After placing the goat back on the ground, Akalia quickly caught up with Lilith and Jasper at the entrance of the grove. With the map in hand she traced a path that they could take with her finger, explaining her plan to the Drow on how to find and sneak up on Dang Ahn and the other Gumis.

To find the Metal Gumi, the elf suggested that Jasper or Lilith take to the trees to help keep a look-out up head. She would have Gunther waddle and crawl through the underbrush, while the remaining two would keep as close to the edges of the path as possible in an attempt to blend in with the foliage there. Hoping that it was satisfactory, the elf and her goat moved ahead with their plan.

Akalia kept her ears open listening for any sound that seemed unnatural to the world around her before finally settling in on a soft musical hum coming from the north. She looked over to the Drow and Otter, Akalia silently motioned which way to go. As the grouped stealthily moved on towards the hum Gunther pulled himself out from the underbrush and neatly followed behind in the middle of the path.

Lilith took to the trees as Jasper followed Akalia on foot down below, from branch to branch she silently made her way north towards the humming. A silhouette began to form as they got closer and she could just barely see a trail of smoke rising gently before disappearing into the sky. Making her way towards Akalia she dropped behind her and whispered. “I can see one of them up ahead, they aren't that far away from us. Maybe a couple of blocks or so away I could see their smoke I just couldn't make out the color.”

Akalia nodded silently to Lilith, then noticed that Gunther had left his spot from the underbrush. With a heavy sigh she bent down and pat the goat on the head. It would do no good getting mad here with the chance of scaring the Gumi away from them.

She thought back to her times hunting when she would place makeshift dolls in order to help trick and trap her prey and a smile graced her lips.

"Lilith, can you take to the trees again?" Akalia motioned to Gunther, "The dummy here and I will go left. Jasper, you go right. If the Gumi attempts to go through the open spot to the north, shoot a dagger or arrow on the path in front. It should hopefully stop the Gumi long enough so we can tackle him, or her, to the ground."

“Got it.” Lilith made her way back into the trees and started moving towards their target. Jasper took to his path on the right his eyes darted from the path to the trees above trying to keep track of Lilith so he could to her if anything went wrong. Reaching a safe spot near their target she settled and watched as the others moved forward.

With the go ahead, Akalia and Gunther steadily made their way to the left while keeping an eye on both Jasper and Lilith. Once she noticed that everyone was in place, the elf looked into the clearing and felt relief.

The Gumi they had found was Dang Ahn. With a signal to the other two, the elf flew from her hiding spot in order to surprise and hopefully corner him.

As soon as Akalia sprung from her hiding spot Jasper rushed in from his. Lilith stuck to her position waiting to see what Dang Ahn would do. The metal Gumi panicked as foreign creatures converged on him. Luckily he had an escape route to the north and sprung towards it. Arcing her crossbow Lilith pulled the trigger hoping the Gumi wasn't faster than they expected.

Right before Dang Ahn could make his escape a single arrow struck the ground a few feet away from him. Turning he looked for the source, Akalia quickly tackled him in his hesitation. Lilith slipped from her perch and began walking towards DangAhn and Akalia who were now wrestling each other on the ground. “Well this is a sight to see.” Moving to block the exit she helped both of them to their feet.

“I'm sorry if we scared you.” Dang Ahn cut Lilith off. “I wasn't scared, surprised perhaps but not scared.” Wiping the dirt from his body he scoffed. “In fact you should be scared of me if that's the case.” Shaking his head he began smoking his pipe. “Of course, someone as powerful as you would be a force to reckon with.” She gently wiped some dirt from his clothing. “Especially someone as well muscled as yourself.” A smile swept across her lips as she watched Dang Ahn stand a little taller and puff out his chest a little.

“You are a testament to your species, a fine one at that if I may be so blunt.” Running her finger down his chest she made herself look smaller, more helpless. “We have a problem that a fine man such as yourself may be able to help us solve.” Lilith could see his ears perk up before he spoke. “What might that be?” He asked bluntly, a hint of curiosity in his words. “We need to call the Ferryman to cross.” Interrupting Lilith yet again Dang Ahn's answer was quick and short. “No.” Pushing past Lilith he began walking away.

“Wait.” Lilith pleaded as she followed behind him. “I know about Tsu Tze.” Dang Ahn turned a flash of anger in his eyes. “You dare speak that name in front of me.” As he began smoking again the color grew more intense. “Wait just hear me out.” Lilith stuttered fearing that the metal Gumi might actually lash out and leave them stunned, or worse dead. “I know she hurt you, but what if I could help you forget about her? Help you move on from that part of your life?” A sultry smirk crossed her lips.

“How could you possibly help me?” Dang Ahn asked puzzled by the creature standing before him. “If I help you will you help us?” Lilith prodded biting her bottom lip and twirling a finger in her hair. Curiosity plagued the Gumi's face as he thought for a moment. “If you are able to do as you say then yes I promise to help you. I doubt you can but we shall see.” Dang Ahn chuckled. Lilith grabbed his hand. “This is something we need to do in private, somewhere safe from prying eyes.” She smiled. “Anywhere around here like that?” Dang Ahn's ears twitched and a tinge of red flushed his cheeks. “I know a few places like that yes.” Lilith pulled him close and whispered in his ear. “Take me then.” Without hesitation Dang Ahn led her somewhere private.

It was an unlikely plan, coercing him like that, but it seemed to work. Dang Ahn was actually trying to calm down and think rationally after that little push. With the decision Dang Ahn made to take Lilith somewhere private, the team had effectively split up. In this time Akalia decided that she and Gunther would track the Gumis of Wood and Water. With one last look back to clearing and giving a nod to Jasper, Akalia set off down one of the winding pathways, followed closely by Gunther.

Keeping her eye and ears open for all manners of living things, Akalia noticed that the trees of the grove had grown thicker and more dense. Slipping in between the trees, the elf tried to silently make her way through to the thickest areas but with Gunther crying the darker it became made the task almost impossible. Yet the goat managed to keep up, never tumbling over the roots and moss-covered rocks that littered their way. The moment that a little bit of light could be seen breaking through the trees, Gunther let out an excited bleat and rushed for it with all his might. Akalia barely had time to react to the little goats outburst and ended up chasing him through the tangle of roots and vines.

The outline of Gunther became clearer the closer they came to the light source, but the elf was stopped suddenly when a figure emerged directly in front of her. Face to face with the elf, the newcomer blew green smoke into Akalia's face resulting in a small coughing fit. Up ahead, and unaware of his master's interference, Gunther basked in the small amount of light that breached the thick grove. Turning around to wait for her, Gunther sat down and let out a happy cry.

Akalia, however, was being eyed by Wood Gumi. Through the darkness she could see the long slender tree-branch pipe as he brought it up to his lips and inhaled. The green exhale from him, clouded her vision and filled her lungs as she tried to explain her reason for searching for him. With the flick of his wrist, they were standing in the middle of an open clearing with Gunther sitting at the edge. It didn't take long for the goat to rush back towards his master eliciting a small, unwanted, laugh from the Gumi. With his tough exterior pierced, he looked back up to Akalia and grudgingly agreed to help the cause of the Chimeriad. Making his own path through the trees, the Wood Gumi made his way to the entrance to join the rest of the crew and Tsu Tze. Unfortunately, the path closed behind him forcing Akalia and Gunther to continue through the maze.

Jasper found a soft spot on the ground and leaned against a tree, he sat alone drinking for what seemed like an eternity. Before long the pair emerged from the trees and joined the drunk otter. “Didn't know it would take an eternity.” Jasper slurred. “You can blame it on this one, she couldn't get enough.” Dang Ahn replied as Lilith rolled her eyes and pointed to Dang Ahn before shrugging her shoulders. “Well if you two are done, and you are happy then we have other business we must attend to.” Jasper walked to another tree sat down and started drinking again.

“Don't worry about him he's a bitter lonely drunkard.” Lilith ran her fingers through his hair. “Will you help us?” She cooed kissing his cheek. “A Gumi never breaks a promise, lead the way.” Lilith nodded before walking to Jasper and picking him up. “Are you up for the rest of the journey? Or do you want me to leave you here alone?” Jasper wriggled free and dropped with a thud onto the ground. “Oh no you aren't getting rid of me that easily, you're stuck with me until the end of time.” Lilith sighed and started walking north in search of the other Gumi's.

Jasper and Dang Ahn followed behind as the terrain began to morph, the ground became rocky and the grass was sparse in some areas. In a clearing atop a large flat rock sat the earth Gumi. “Who are your friends Dang Ahn? They seem odd.” Yellow smoke swirled around both Jasper and Lilith paralyzing them. “I wouldn't call them friends, more like acquaintances.” Dang Ahn responded his own smoke breaking them free. “We come here for good reason, we need your help to call the Ferryman. If we can't get across bad thing's will happen. Very bad thing's. Thing's that might even affect you.” Lilith looked nervously from Dang Ahn to the earth Gumi. “What if you are the bad thing?” The Gumi questioned. “Would I be standing here talking to you if I was?” Lilith retorted. “Perhaps not, but one can never be sure in these lands.” The earth Gumi jumped down from his perch.

“I'm wary as to how you got Dang Ahn to trust you but if he does your story must hold some truth, I will help you in your quest hopefully I am not wrong and you will stop whatever is going to happen.” The earth Gumi stood before Lilith. “And if we don't?” She asked. “We shall see.” He puffed on his pipe. “A group waits near the entrance, Tsu Tze is with them they will fill you in on the details.” Lilith bowed and before she knew it only a pale trail of yellow smoke was left where the earth Gumi once stood. “Onto the next one?” Lilith asked her two companions.

“After you.” Dang Ahn replied. Jasper lifted his flask and waddled forward. “I wonder if Akalia and Gunther have had any luck?” Lilith pondered. Only silence followed so she continued on. Before long they reached a tree that was charred and broken. The ground was scorched and the scent of smoke hung heavily on the breeze. “Fire.” Dang Ahn chuckled as a Gumi stepped in front of them. A Plume of red smoke rose from an obsidian pipe. “Who dares cross my path?” A sultry voice rang out. “Lilith of the Chimeriad.” Lilith squeaked. “What business do you have here?” The fire Gumi replied. “We need you help to call the ferryman.” Lilith answered. “We already have Dang Ahn and the earth gumi.” Lilith smiled. “Foolish men, following a foolish young woman.” The fire Gumi rolled her eyes and continued to puff from her pipe. “We also have Tsu Tze.” Lilith coughed as the smoke began to make her eyes water. “Three Gumis wish to help your cause?” The fire Gumi questioned. “Possibly more my friend went in search of wood and water.” Lilith choked back another cough. “Fine, I shall see what the other's say and make my decision then.” The fire Gumi puffed once more and before Lilith could speak she was gone. “Let's go see if Akalia had any luck.” The three made their way back to the entrance. Lilith hoped Akalia had made progress with the other two Gumi.

Akalia’s next task was to find the W