Hello again! Todays journey was very simple, no problems, no attacks, no treasures.

Very boring in other words.

Still, it gave me ample opportunity to chat with my companions. So that is good. I don't know if I have ever really gone into any detail about them in my journal. I write this for myself, so why would I describe those I see every day?

Today I gave it some thought in my ample free time, and figured on a why. People change. Very slowly, so slowly in fact, that if you weren't paying attention you might just miss it. So here is a comprehensive look at my companions. As they are now.

First up, Julius.

Julius is a rabbit. He is pretty big, about two feet from nose to tail. He reaches a respectable height of a foot tall if you count his ears.

He has suuuuuper soft fur. Its so thick and warm, I love to cuddle with it. His fur comes in various shades of red. His paws are white, but as the fur moves up his body it darkens into a deep red around his ribs.

From there it changes somewhat, there is a bright ridge of crimson running across his back. Leading to a deep orangey-red puff of fur on his tail. Around his neck is the thickest fur on his body. The red brightens and almost seems to glow. A firey red mane of fluffy fur.

This contrasts with his body and face fur. Making him seem to be wearing a mantle or scarf made of fire.

His head has a base red color, lightening on his muzzle until his little pink nose, and deepening on his ears until the semi-black tips.

Julius is typically the calmest of our group. He is almost always relaxed and reminds us all not to stress the small stuff. The exceptions are in the cases of combat or treasure for his hoard. He is always the first in, and last out of a fight. His small stature and fluffy appearance typically make his foe underestimate him. To their woe.

He moves blindingly fast, using terrain to block line of sight or provide unusual angles of attack. He will send bursts of fire at the eyes of the enemies, and while they are distracted by the heat and pain he goes for either the throat or the gut. Smashing and burning whatever he kicks. Though his weight does limit his brute force somewhat. He adapts with either speed, rocketing forth in a firey force of fury, or tinglewood. His constructs have the most density and weight, even if they are the smallest.

His favorite is the battle bunny. A human like rabbit that stands on its back feet and throws punches with its forelimbs. He usually has spikes or hooks on both sets of paws. To provide traction to his footing and penetration to his hits. A small crown made of tinglewood is looped jauntily around the battle bunnys left ear, and its face is set with a permanent smirk as it wrecks its way through a fight. Wild fires dance in its eyes, igniting a sense of either fear or battle lust in those who meet the battle bunnys burning gaze.

It has been known to utilize rocket blasts on its feet and elbows to really send a message of pain to whatever unlucky individual has gotten into its sights. Julius hits hard, fast, and he doesn't stop. Fighting Julius at all is asking to get a kicking. Fighting Julius inside the battle bunny? Thats like fighting a rockslide, or an avalanche, or a tidal wave. One that breathes fire, and doesn't stop until you are buried. Julius seeks out the strong enemys, or the hardest defenses. Then he hammers them into dust. He finds a challenge, and beats it into submission. Unless you're a friend, of course. Then it's just bruises.

When Julius spots a piece of loot he fancies he can get a little blind to consequences. Like that time he wanted to take that gold plated pyramid from Oroio. The rest of us have figured out to immediately tackle him and distance him from the shiny in such cases. Some people look at us with ugly eyes when they see a group tackle on a fluffy bunny. I am always tempted to just let him go in such cases. See how they like the alternative. Humph.

He stashes his loot in my awesome satchel. Whenever we settle down for the night he gives me this one look, with his ear tilted just so and I know to hand over his hoard. He likes to rearrange it every night. Letting some new piece take pride of place for the night. For all his avarice and greed, he doesn't mind when we take something from his hoard. As long as we either give it back, or can win it from him in a fight. Easier said then done, but Lena managed it on a few occasions.

Speaking of, next is Lena.

Lena is a little girl. I actually don't know how old she is, but if I had to guess, maybe 11 or 12? She stands a little more than half my height. With tan skin from her days out in the sun and very long light blue hair. Her hair is straight, silky, and it shines like the purest water on the shore of a white sand island. It reaches down to her knees, and she spends a good half hour every morning and night brushing and braiding it. She will either braid it into two long tails down her back, or a single thick braid pulled over her right shoulder.

She has sharp cheekbones, a strong jawline, and a very slightly cleft chin. Her eyes are blue. They shift between shades. From a deep dark blue of deep waters, to a shining silver of sunken treasure. My favorite is when they are a bright blue, fit to outshine the sky on a clear day. Those eyes are almost always accompanied by a grin so cheeky it just promises trouble.

She is the most cheerful of our little band. Always looking at the beauty around us with joy and lifting our spirits when we fall and fail. She is very confident, because she knows her own limits. She rarely bites off more than she can chew, and the few times she has she always has an exit strategy. She is the shrewdest of us too. Our ace negotiater and haggler. She can smell weakness and lies in our opponents, and she always goes for the weak spot.

When we are in combat Lena doesn't charge out and brawl like Julius. She sits back, calls up a bit of mist to hide in, and watches. When she sees an opportunity she strikes fast, and she strikes hard. Most of her victims don't last beyond that first blow. She takes her distance, and she takes her time. Of course, if you do manage to get her into a close up brawl, then you have made a terrible mistake. 

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You ever try fighting on a slick sheet of ice that keeps shifting under you? Ever lift your weapon over your head only to find it stuck fast in a pillar of ice? Ever try to draw you bow only for the string to be cut by a crescent of water? 

Lenas combat is all about control. She will control you, your weapon, your allies, your terrain, and your death. If you must fight Lena you have to move fast, and you have to hit hard. Because the longer you take, the worse your fate.

And then there is the tinglewood, or ripplewood as she calls it. Lena likes to make a snake out of hers. Unlike Julius who goes for density and hardness, Lena aims for flexibilty and softness. Her snake, or Sybil as she named it, can move fast and take a beating. When we face large creatures, like that lake dragon for example, Lena will wrap them up and constrict their movements. Sapping them of energy with both the physical restraints and the icy scales of Sybil.

Again Lena likes to hide Sybil in mist, and pounce on the unprepared. Her mist tactic have become even more prevalent since we found that flute undergound. Lena has been practicing, and she is getting pretty good too. When she plays that flute and moves her tingles through it then it spouts a light blue mist. According to Lena, if someone is inside that mist she can super-freeze them into an ice statue, and then the sound of the flute shatteres them into little bitty pieces.

Fun stuff!

While she isn't as greedy as Julius Lena has a soft spot for amphibians and precious stones. She likes to weave them into her braids. The stones, not the amphibians. She has cut some stones to look vaguely like frogs and turtles though. She uses a really tight stream of water to cut through the stones.

Its pretty cool to watch. Julius normally lets her have the gems we find, unless they fufill some unknown parameter. Then they fight for it.

She likes to doodle with my pen on rocks and trees we camp next to. Pictures of us, and of frogs and turtles mostly. She hasn't doodled on my face since the first time, thankfully.

She spends lots of time with Onica, just chatting about stuff. How to stalk prey, how to loot a corpse, you know, the usual stuff girls talk about. Onica is very important to Lena, she hungers for Onicas praise and appreciation. I think she thinks of Onica as a real big sister. One who is super cool and awesome. Meanwhile I am the bumbling and foolish big brother. 

I am fine with that honestly. Being looked at as silly is so much more comfortable than the fear filled eyes of when we first met. She has come a long way, and I am very proud of her.

And then there is Onica.

Onica is tall. Really tall, like head and shoulders taller than me. And I am taller than most. She looks like a human woman for the most part. Except the ears, tail, and fangs. She is lithe and lean, her long limbs muscled and taught with sinew. She has a golden brown skin tone with a healthy gloss and shine to it. Her hair is kept short. Above her shoulders and swept back by a braided leather cord. The cord wraps around behind her ears atop her head and her bangs are swept to the left on her forhead. Her hair is golden blonde with black spots, and has a slight wave to it. Her ears and tail have the same coloration and markings. They look very fluffy, but it is not advised to touch them. Onica is very, very, very fast, and very, very, very stong.

She has high cheekbones that round out and sweep into the rest of her face. Her hazel eyes rest under thick brows and long lashes. Her jaw is slim but strong, and the very tip of her canines pop out of her mouth to rest on her lips.

She moves with almost unnatural grace and speed. Following her with your eyes is difficult in an open and brighlty lit space. In a forest or in the mountains, she vanishes from sight completely. She has very sharp hearing, and very sharp knives. So if you talk about her behind her back then you had better be complimenting her.

Onica is the oldest of us. If you don't count me. And I don't because I actually don't know how old I even am. She has served lords, fought men and beasts, and killed many of both. She has seen war, and she has seen peace. Onica has ended both with her knives. She is the steady hand of experience in our immature crew, and though she suffers for it we are all grateful for her wisdom.

She was once the champion of a tribe. I don't really know what that is. But from her tone and obvious pride it must have been a big deal. Sadly, her tribe leader resented her taking the role of champion from his son or nephew or something. So he backstabbed her. Drugged and poisoned Onica still managed to kill him, and his would-be champion and escape pursuit. Only to wander right into the hands of slave traders. Which is where we found her.

So yeah, she has trust issues. Not with us happily. She trusts Lena implicitly, and says I am a terrible liar. Then the others are a bunny and a hat. Neither are known for their duplicitous natures. So she seems pretty comfortable with us. When we are around other people though? She is a silent looming promise of death. Typically hovering around Lena.

As far as I can tell murder is her hobby, she doesn't express much interest in anything but killing and Lena.

In combat Onica is a blur of blades and blood. She bursts into the thick of it. Dances between combatants like death at a ball, and leaves nothing but bodies behind. If we didn't have tinglewood, she would be far and away the deadliest combatant on our team. She still is the deadliest combatant on our team, it's just that the gap is smaller with tinglewood in the mix. If she wanted to, she could have killed us all by now. When we first met she was starved and exhausted, and still nearly wasted me.

I respect her a lot. She is smart, controlled, dangerous, and beautiful. Kind of like a exquisite knife forged by a master, and then dipped into poison. Sure, she has her sharp edges, but if you get cut trying to play with her. That is on you. I still like to tease her from time to time. But that's because I can heal pretty quickly.

Then there is Fen.

I don't really know much about Fen. He is young, very young. When he was still a regular hat his wearer would boast of his travels and the things he had seen. So Fen has a strong sense of wonder and wanderlust which fits in well with our group. But he is very touchy. Doesn't respond well to jokes, and is prone to fly off the handle. 

He talks a lot, and uses as many big words as he knows as often as he can get away with. But I think that is just bluster. Just a kid trying to pretend to be a grownup. He is a kid who doesn't want to be treated like a kid, but isn't mature enough to be treated like an adult.

Social hangups regardless, Fen is great in a fight. He focuses more on support than fighting himself. He can help Onica move even faster by parting the winds before her. He can add some serious punch to Lenas attacks with his lightning, or to Julius and my attacks with gusts of wind to fan our flames.

When shit goes down Fen stops talking and starts helping. Which is nice.

It's of the utmost importance we don't forget he is a kid. He needs to have fun, he needs to play, and he needs attention. If we ignore him to much he tends to start pranking us. Which is very annoying, and leads to lots of negative attitudes in our group. 

Fen is childish, and we need to watch out for him. Let him grow, and watch as he matures. Hopefully.

Fen looks like a tophat. Black, sleek, tall profile. A red and a gold feather stick out of his hatband. Occasional sparks will run up and between the two of them.

What else is there to say?

Well, there it is. My companions. May they only change for the better.

Goodnight.