"Myra, do you see that flower?" Lapsa's father asked, pointing to a violet colored flower attached to the bark of one of the surrounding chaotic air trees.

Nodding, Mrya asked, "Do you want me to go get it?"

"Yes, and be quick about it."

Mrya ran quickly and using the wind elements her pace went even faster, her speed was faster than a cat's at this point.

Lapsa watched her run while sitting on the branch they were on, his eyes were full of amazement.

After the excitement from seeing someone else use magic faded, Lapsa looked around, there wasn't much for him to do. Especially since they technically didn't have a home.

When Mrya came back with the violet flower, she handed it to her father, and sat down next to Lapsa. When her father grabbed the flower, he took out some other ingredients he collected along the way from a satchel he had on him at all times.

Their father then approached one of the branches protruding upwards, he sliced at it with both his wind elements and flawless five star Caster strength.

The piece sliced off and he destroyed the middle, creating a hole, where he dumped in all the ingredients, including herbs, flowers, and fruits.

He then created a swirling cone of air at the tip of his fingers, like a drill, and pressed down into the hole.

This worked like a blender, and everything began to mix together. The fruits broke apart and the juice inside them mixed together to form a red drink, with multicolor plants mixed in.

He then looked up, above him were acorns, just barely beginning to grow, yet these acorns were already larger than both his fists.

"Mrya, can you get four of those acorns?" Mrya slowly stood up, but another voice spoke, "Can I try getting it?"

Raising an eyebrow, Lapsa's father looked at him, "Sure... I guess." He then made a look to Mrya that implied for her to get the acorns once he was finished trying.

Mrya frowned, there was a hint of disapproval when she looked at her father. She then turned to look at Lapsa, with her gaze gradually softening.

There was a determined look in Lapsa's eyes when he looked at the acorns. A gentle breeze formed around Lapsa as he began to manipulate the elements.

Two balls of wind took form, Lapsa's breathing became slightly rough. He then charged at full speed towards the body of the tree.

The branch they were on was located at the halfway portion of the tree, so Lapsa already had a little boost when reaching the acorns.

When he was only a few feet from the trunk, the ball of air collapsed under his foot, boosting his body upwards, just like how Mrya taught him a few months prior.

When the first ball collapsed, he erupted the second ball to collapse with it, further propelling him upwards.

However this only got him halfway to the next branch, and he needed to be at least two branches higher to get one acorn.

With his hands slowly lifting him upwards, Lapsa started gathering more and more wind elements to condense them once again.

But compared to when they first practiced this, it was much harder. This was because compared to before, they were way higher up in the chaotic air tree. Thankfully they were in the fall season, so the air was much weaker, compared to spring, where he wouldn't have stood a chance.

On the branch, Mrya was watching with expectations in her eyes, but her father was more impatient, and was just waiting for him to fall.

Yet despite his father's attitude, Lapsa was still managing to climb and he was already almost to the next branch.

But it was that next branch that proved to be a problem, the moment he made it to that branch, the air pouring down on him increased dramatically.

His foot suddenly lost its footing, which caused a small amount of panic to form in his heart, but that was nothing when his hands suddenly began to slip.

Lapsa's entire body started scrambling to gain any type of purchase, but he couldn't find any, so with no stability, the air got the better of him. His hands lost their grip, and his body finally fell, like his father expected.

Mrya didn't waste any time, condense balls of air boosted her up into the air. She quickly made the distance, and caught Lapsa from the air.

After landing she put Lapsa down, right now Lapsa's face was full of bitterness. Mrya wanted to say something, but her father grabbed her shoulder and told her to get the acorns.

She made quick work of it, taking only half the time it took to get all four acorns than it did for Lapsa to get to the next branch.

Once all four acorns were collected and handed back to their father, he sliced off their tops, and took out the inners, leaving only a shell.

With each shell, he scooped up some of the juice, and handed it to each one of them. He purposely gave the most to his wife, whose stomach grew significantly over the weeks.

But there was one thing he feared, during these past few weeks, they've been on the constant run from a green eyed man, and a red haired man, and he was scared that this added stress might make it harder when she goes into labor, but they still had time to deal with that.

For the rest of the day, the family sat there, planning on what to do next.

When night arrived and they settled in, Lapsa lied awake, he couldn't sleep, there was something on his mind keeping him awake.

And eventually he couldn't help himself anymore, he got up from the floor and kicked off his shoes, technically he wasn't allowed to do that, as his father said they should be prepared to run at any time.

He quietly approached the trunk of the tree, balls of air slowly condensing at his feet.

When they were fully formed he exploded both of them, bringing him high into the air. His hands quickly grasped some of the bark, and stabilized himself.

His feet made it easier compared to when he did it in the morning. His goal this time wasn't to make it to the top where the acorns were, but to actually land on the second branch.

Lapsa didn't move any higher off the branch, until he gathered enough wind elements to condense them into two more balls.

Once they were condensed, he continued climbing up. With his feet, his pace was much faster, and the time it took to get to the second branch lessened, but the higher he went the stronger the air poured down.

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When he made it to where he previously failed, his bare feet helped him stay on better, but even then it was hard.

He slowly advanced higher and higher, now he was almost to the point where he could almost touch the next branch.

However, just at this moment, the air around the tree suddenly became stronger, and his legs and hands were slipping, but this time Lapsa didn't panic.

Just as he was about to fall, he jumped, and the condensed balls of air exploded, propelling him right to the next branch.

When Lapsa's feet touched the branch, his eyes sparkled, and he crouched down to touch the branch with his hands.

The branch felt rough against his skin, but Lapsa was more than happy to feel this roughness, it only further the reality that he made it.

"Congratulations, you managed to climb here yourself." A voice said merrily from behind him.

He quickly turned around to see Mrya with a smile on her face, and holding his shoes.

"Thank you." He said in a cheeky way, his smile right now was brighter than the sun.

Lapsa walked close to the edge, he looked at the world from this branch. It didn't look much different from his everyday view since this forest was covered with chaotic air trees, but that didn't matter to him right now, he still felt like the king of the world right now.

Mrya joined her brother at the edge, but she didn't feel like how Lapsa felt. She did hand him his shoes, which he quickly put on.

The two were silently semi-enjoying the wind pouring down upon them for a while, but Mrya's face suddenly paled, and a look of fear appeared on her face.

At the bottom of the tree, near its roots, she saw a group of horses pulling a couple of wagons, some with equipment such as axes, the others holding cages, and rope.

At their front were two horses, the riders of the horses were a black haired man and a red haired man.

Another rider came into view in front of them, and the rider seemed to say something to the two men.

Mrya couldn't hear what they were saying, but looking back, if she had to guess, she'll assume it was along the lines of, "We tracked them here."

The black haired man looked around before finally looking at their tree, his green eyes scanning it up and down.

Mrya's breathing became heavy, it felt like he was looking at them even though the distance between them was quite large.

"Lapsa, we have to go." She quietly said, but loud enough to be heard over the pouring air.

Lapsa was confused, but Mrya simply grabbed his arm, and pulled him off the branch, to the one below, where their parents were.

Without wasting any time, the moment they landed on the branch using the wind to slow down their fall, Mrya woke up her father then her mother.

When Mrya told them what she saw, her father was muttering profanities, while their mother had a worried look on her pale face, and the air elements around the both of them went crazy.

Their mother then grabbed their father and whispered something in his ears, but he quickly shook his head, and said, "No, just give me time to think."

While scrambling his hair, their father's ears twitched as an idea hit him, "Take the kids with you, and I'll handle these kratvir."

Their mother frowned, and mumbled, "I feel like you're using my idea, but it's you instead of me being left behind." But she listened, and beckoned for the two children to follow her.

She grabbed the two kids and using the air elements, with a little help from Mrya, flew them to the next tree over.

There was a little hollow area in this tree, with leaves inside. Their mother told them to enter and hide, before she left, Mrya presumed to help her father.

Lapsa was still very confused, he didn't understand what was happening, and what were the kratvir his father was talking about. But the fact that they had to hide was very telling.

About ten minutes later their mother returned with their father, his clothes were stained with blood, Mrya couldn't tell if it was his own or someone else's.

"We have to leave this place, maybe even the forest." Lapsa's father said before erupting into a fit of coughs.

Their mother supported their father, holding him up. She was about to say something, but she closed her mouth and looked at the entrance.

"Go hide with the kids." Mrya's father said, shaking her mother off, and standing up on his own, he hoped his wife listened to him.

While facing the entrance of the hollow, two men entered. "I told you Liam, you shouldn't have sent those bozos in the first place, there are reasons most cloud jumping squirrels are still in the wild, despite them being so rare."

"Whatever, let's just get this over with." The green eyed man said, strands of green lightning flickering at his fingertips.

"Hey, don't kill him." Nicolas said, his aura slowly changing into something that felt inhuman, and soon enough a faint outline created by fire surrounded his body.

It gave his hands claws, and his back a tail with spikes running through it, his face was of an animal that could only be described as a lizard mixed with a wolf.

He charged at the man with light blue hair, and white animal features. The man didn't panic, using the elements he could gather, he increased his speed into something amazing.

He dodged the slice, and when he saw the green lightning zipping through the air with a crackle, he dodge that too.

In the enclosed space, he found himself against a wall, yet his mind didn't falter, pressing one of his palms against it, he gathered the wind elements.

When the man with the aura of a fire beast came close, the air he gathered exploded, giving him the momentum to smack that man across the face and sending him flying to the other side of the hallow.

But because he didn't move, even with his speed he couldn't dodge the green lightning quickly moving his way.

The lightning hit him in the chest, which immediately began oozing blood. His wife, hiding with his kids, scrunched up her eyebrows, and her legs began moving before her mind could react, but a hand gripped her arm.

Mrya looked at her with a pleading look, she knew what her mother was about to do, but how could she let her, with her being pregnant, she was at her weakest.

Despite her being a flawless five star Caster like her husband, Mrya could guess that right now, her strength only amounted up to a flawless three star, "Please, don't go mom, you'll only hold dad back."

But before Mrya's mother could respond, Mrya's father got back up, the air elements helping him stay standing.

A faint smile rose onto the green eyed man, his eyes bright with an intent to battle, money was no longer in his head, just the fight.

Strands of lightning formed all over his body, and his surroundings crackled, with each crackle a new strand seemed to appear.

Lapsa's father frowned, then smiled, wind began to move around him like a hurricane, however just when the two of them were both ready, footsteps could be heard from behind the squirrels' father and to his side, both running to him.

But before he could react to any of these sounds, the attack prepared by the green eyed man was sent out. Now it was too late to form any good plans, and he had to rely on split second decisions.

He turned to the footsteps to his side, and hopped, his attack being sent to a man with an aura of a fire beast, blowing him away, and since he hopped, the attack also sent him back, effectively dodging the blast.

But the moment he dodged the blast, a blood curdling scream came from behind him. His wife, who he thought stayed with the children, stood right behind him.

The blast hit her stomach, but it didn't stop there, it pierced right through. That scream was the last sound she made.

Her body fell backwards, and a puddle of blood formed from her dripping wound. The child, the little Kara or Dagen, inside her womb died before she did.

Lapsa's father's eyes widened and were full of disbelief, with a pale face, he repeatedly muttered, "No."

The green eyed man frowned, this wasn't his desired effect that he wanted with that blast.

He looked at the muttering squirrel with pity, but the squirrel's mutterings were silenced when a hand with an aura that created the illusion of a fire beast went right through his chest, and literally destroyed his heart.

Mrya, hidden in the shadows of the leaves, had one hand over Lapsa's eyes, but that didn't cover his hearing, he could hear their struggling, and the abrupt silence afterwards, he already knew what this all meant.

His eyes began to water, and drip down his face. He then felt his hair also slowly becoming soaked as his sister's tears dripped down to the top of his head.

"Man, I got overexcited, what a waste." Nicolas said with exaggerated grief.

His words worsened the siblings grief, but the green-eyed man's words made fear instantly grasped both their hearts.

"Don't worry, they weren't the only cloud jumping squirrels here."

Then they heard footsteps, the boots of the man with green eyes came into view, and he was approaching their location.

Lapsa's and Mrya's heartbeats were beating rapidly in their chest, as the green-eyed man was getting closer and closer to their hiding place.

The green eyed strange man's feet stopped right outside the leaves they were hiding in, "I'm not going to play any games, either you come out on your own, or I'll force you out myself."

Lapsa's eyes immediately fluttered open and the rest of the memory was muddy from that point on. The carriage was moving at this point and for a moment, he forgot where he was, and panicked.

He only calmed down after he saw the bizarre looks Cronix and Cayden were giving him.

I don't remember that ever... Happening. Why am I remembering this now?

While rubbing his head trying to find out an answer, something odd struck him. Both Cayden and Cronix were sitting here with him, Cronix was showing Cayden a book, but if they were both here, who was driving the carriage?

What he couldn't see was the crow sitting on top of the carriage, making sure the lizard kept moving, at this point it was already terrified of the crow.

The crow let out a cry, and both Cronix and Cayden looked outside the window, and their eyes brightened up, the walls of O'Kairo came into view.