The man eclipsed Colson in height; he was covered in dark brown hair, completely shirtless, his muscles rippled beneath his skin, his legs and arms the size of tree trunks. He wore no shoes, only torn green jeans that were obviously too small for him. He had one foot planted on a man's back, who looked to be in his twenties, unconscious and bleeding. The large man put his hands on his hips and surveyed the area, a slight grin crossing his lips. His eyes were low as if he was having trouble staying awake.

Someone had totally trashed the house, water leaked from the ceiling, a large wooden dining table snapped in half, chairs were upturned and broken, the floors and walls had large gashes covering almost every square inch. Broken plates were strewn across the floor. Empty wine and liquor bottles littered the ground; cabinets were pulled off the walls.

The burly man cast a glance toward the stone furnace. Perched atop it, legs casually crossed, was a young man whose white-blond hair cascaded almost to his shoulders. His frame was wiry, his sharp, angular features accentuated by pale, almost translucent skin. Watery blue eyes, framed by long, delicate lashes. His thin lips curled into a faint, unreadable smile. He wore a tight, meticulously tailored blue tabard over a pristine white robe, the fabric shimmering faintly under the dim light. His feet were adorned with sky-blue house slippers, trimmed in gold. The water. It trickled endlessly from his pores, as though he were sweating profusely in the heatless room. The droplets collected and dripped steadily onto the stone below, pooling beneath his feet. Beneath his feet was a young man, no older than seventeen. At the base of the furnace lay a boy, no older than seventeen. His eyes were closed, his face marred by dark bruises and cuts, evidence of a recent beating. He was crumpled in a heap, his shallow breaths barely noticeable.

The large man lumbered over to the fireplace and grabbed her by the waist, hoisting her up on his shoulder with one hand. In his other hand, he snatched a pillowcase full of stolen jewelry.

"You reek of alcohol," said the blonde man, his voice a silky falsetto, "how much have you ingested? Surely even you realize that it isn't even close to noon yet." He hopped down from the fireplace and kicked away an expensive wine bottle that rolled under a cabinet.

"What are you doing!" Ivy yelled, stomping past Colson and into the living room. She put her hands in her pockets and brought out her brass knuckles.

The large man looked in her direction; his glassy eyes showed no notion of even registering that she was there. He looked back to the blonde man, his voice slow and slurred. " Listen, Marlin, alright," he said, half giggling to himself. "It's five o'clock somewhere, right?" He let out a loud, booming laugh. "Anywhoozle, I'm taking these with me," he grumbled and sauntered towards the back wall of the house.

"Quite piteous," Marlin rolled his eyes. He glanced at the trio and asked, "Sorry to disquiet this little abode, but if I may ask, do you kids know the location of an Angel's Ring, by any chance?"

'Look at him,' Colson thought, his eyes burned towards the hairy man. 'Just a drunken!' Colson took the modified hockey stick off his back, removing the blade and revealing the sharp wooden sword point. "Let's get 'em," He said, standing next to Ivy.

Marlin sighed, "I didn't think so; quite a shame. Well, K, let us make our exit. I don't think I could stand to be among these witless things anymore. Being around you is almost too much already."

Before they could react, the man reared back and sent his leg blasting through the back wall; a cloud of dust and debris filled the whole house. When it settled, the trio saw Marlin standing in front of the empty space, which used to be the wall.

"Kurt-Adam! Why would you-" Marlin started coughing, waving his hand in front of his face. "There was a back door you- whatever, you're on your own!" He called after Kurt-Adam, who was stumbling into the woods behind the house. Marlin stepped out of the home and calmly left towards the village's west side.

Ivy sprinted towards the open hole, hurdling over the unconscious man on the ground and landing outside.

"Ivy!" Zoe called after her.

"Zoe, we'll go get that girl back; take care of that guy!" Said Colson as he ran after Ivy.

Zoe had dragged the man into a more comfortable position, grabbing a pillow for him to rest his head. She noted that no bones seemed to be broken, and his breathing seemed fine; severe bruising, though. He had a buzz-cut with very tanned skin; he wore dark blue overalls and a long-sleeved shirt underneath. The sleeves on his shirt had strings hanging down from them, each one an inch apart.

His eyes suddenly shot open, and he grabbed her shoulder with a mighty hand. Zoe yelped in surprise and fell backward; he still didn't let go. His eyes fixed on her with a dark and angry look in them. She kicked out at his arm, forcing him to let go, and scrambled a few feet away. She reached into her pocket and brought out one of her daggers, pointing it at the man who was on his hands and knees, staring at her.

His piercing eyes softened, "Who...are...you?" His voice was hoarse and raspy.

"I'm here from Crater. Do you live here, or are you…"

He swallowed hard, "I live here… I'm not one of 'them.'" His voice was filled with contempt with the last word.

Zoe got to her feet; and looked into the kitchen, seeing the sink was still intact. She jogged over to it, filling a glass with water and bringing it back for the man. "What happened?"

The man took long gulps of water before responding, "Listen, you shouldn't be here. That man was too strong and fast; I was totally caught off guard. There was someone else too...Wait!" He hobbled to his feet, looking around, "where's Cahya?"

Zoe glanced towards the missing wall, looking into the forest, 'He's right if either of them gets hit with a kick like that….' Her breath turned short and quick; she gripped her dagger so hard that her knuckles turned white. 'They're going to die out there...I can't just leave them...but he still needs my help! I can't abandon him!' She turned to the man, "Someone named Kurt-Adam grabbed her and took her into the forest. My friends are going to get her back. You just need to stay here; don't worry and don't move around a lot." She said.

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"Listen!" He rasped, "There's more of them! A lot more! They've been here for a while now, maybe a week, ransacking houses, looking for...the town has been put on lockdown, that's why no one is out. Very few of us left are strong enough to even fight back."

Kurt-Adam drunkenly sprinted through the forest, occasionally jumping from tree to tree, using their branches as springboards. Hearing the rustling of bushes and trees behind him, the sound kept pace with him no matter which direction he went. "Too much movement…" he thought as he felt the alcohol in his stomach slosh around as he jumped to another tree branch.

He pushed harder, the surrounding trees a blur as he launched himself forwards, finding himself on a particularly tall tree at the edge of a grass clearing. He still held the pillowcase full of valuables and the teenager named Cahya.

"Probably ran over two miles," Kurt-Adam mumbled to himself. He sat down on the branch, listening intently; the only thing he heard was the distant screech of a hawk that circled overhead. He grinned, "Lost 'em!"

He noticed a white blur out of the corner of his eye. He didn't have time to look at it before it hit him in the back of the head so hard he fell from the branch, flipping in the air and attempting to land on his feet. His back slammed into the ground with a crash. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head, "Why I oughtta…." aught

"You! Let her go!" Ivy said, her stance wide, standing above him on the branch he had been sitting on, brass knuckles in her fists.

"Damn, you're fast," he said, stumbling to his feet, still having a tight hold on Cahya and the pillowcase. "But you're gonna have to make me!"

Underneath Ivy, the bushes rustled, and out came a sharp wooden sword, pointing right at Kurt-Adam's head. Colson stood there, his eyes narrowed, surveying the situation. 'That was way too reckless! If that guy fell on that girl...she woulda been crushed!'

Kurt-Adam grinned and stumbled as he stood there, his glassy eyes lazily looking back and forth from Ivy to Colson, "Well? Come at me, brats!"

Ivy walked off the tree branch, then used the side of the tree trunk as a springboard and launched herself at Kurt-Adam. He hopped back, and Ivy slammed into the grassy ground in front of him. She launched herself up, missing the uppercut by less than an inch. Using the pillowcase full of jewelry, he swung at her, fumbling as he did so, and hit her in the ribs. She fell to the ground and rolled to the side, getting to her feet instantly.

Colson charged forward, thrusting his bokken towards Kurt-Adam's head. The man turned, so Cahya was in the way of the sword, stopping Colson in his tracks. Colson slowly circled around him, occasionally jabbing, keeping Kurt-Adam's attention on him.

From behind, Ivy charged forward, kicking the back of Kurt-Adam's knee, attempting to buckle it, but the man didn't budge. He whirled around and kicked outwards and in his drunken stupor, knocking himself off balance. Ivy quickly dodged the kick and sent a flurry of punches toward his face. Colson thrust his bokken forward, slashing the front of his chest.

It felt to Colson as if he were wrestling a one-ton grizzly bear. One who reeked of whisky and other degeneracies.

None of the moves Crater had taught him worked. 'He's just too big!' He thought, after a failed attempt at breaking his arm. He thrust his sword towards the man once more.

Kurt-Adam bit down on the bokken with his teeth and kicked Colson in the chest so hard that he flew backward across the clearing, knocking the wind out of him. Spitting out the sword, he turned around and kneed Ivy in the stomach, making her fall to her hands and knees, coughing. She wiped her mouth and got to her feet, her eyes never leaving his. She smiled, "Wow, you really are strong."

'Odd,' he thought as he steadied himself, his stomach feeling as if it was burning from the inside. "Listen, girly, why don't you just go...run along, or something," he mumbled, almost tripping over his own feet.

He lifted the pillowcase into the air and swung it down on Ivy; he wasn't subtle about the movement, so Ivy could dodge it with ease and deliver a brass knuckle into the side of his temple. Kurt-Adam took a step forward, swinging the bag wildly at her. She ducked under a swing and used the momentum to stomp on his foot as hard as she could. He grunted and lifted his other foot, ready to crush her head.

The ground had been pulverized where his foot had slammed down. Dirt chunks and grass rained down around them. The stomp barely missed as Ivy scampered under his leg and ended up behind him.

He sprinted across the clearing towards the opposite side of the woods, disappearing into the trees, 'I'm too drunk for this,' he thought as he crashed through the woodland.

Ivy picked up a downed tree branch, "This'll be easy!" and sprinted after him.

Colson gasped as he clutched his chest, 'It hurts to breathe; I think I broke a rib! I'd be dead if he wasn't such an alcoholic idiot.' He lay on his back, staring up at the morning sky, controlling his breathing. He lifted his shirt and gingerly touched his ribs, 'not broken, just bruised!' He thought, a slight smile on his face. Colson rolled over and got to his feet, jogging in the direction of the two.

Kurt-Adam felt like the jewelry and the teenage girl, Cahya, were getting heavier; the girl behind him sounded like she was only getting faster, the intervals between her footsteps shortening.

A yell came from his right side as Ivy jumped from a tree and hit him as hard as she could over the head with the tree branch, which cracked in half on impact. He collapsed face forward, dropping both the girl and the jewelry. Cahya fell to the ground, still unconscious, but groaned when she did so. Kurt-Adam sat up, rubbing the top of his head, his voice slurred and sloppy, "You little, bi-" He snatched the pillowcase full of jewelry and got up to his feet, the world spinning around him as he did so. "Woah!" he sputtered, stumbling backward, and fell back against a tree.

He looked up; a few yards away at Ivy's feet was Cahya, completely motionless except for the rising and falling of her chest. "I ain't doing anything the way I am now. Screw it." He pushed off the tree; Ivy braced herself, ready for him to charge, but turned to his left and ran. "I'll come back for you later!" He yelled, bounding away through the forest, faster and more agile than before as he was not carrying Cahya.

"Come back!" Ivy yelled and started to run after him when a voice behind her shouted.

"Wait, Ivy!" She turned to see Colson.

Kurt-Adam had a wicked grin, 'finally, lost 'em!' He hopped over a bush and ended up on the village's northwest side, near the fast-flowing river. Marlin stood on the bridge, made from wood with red chipping paint. They constructed a roof over it, the design being curved and slanted.

Marlin leaned over the railing, admiring his reflection. He turned when he heard Kurt-Adam's heavy footsteps clomp from the edge of the treeline.

"Low and behold, you've lost the girl. Color me surprised."

"Oh, shuuut uuup."

"Oh? And you've managed to become even more inebriated than before, I see. That's impressive, you're almost blacking out at…" he looked into the sky, "it looks to be almost seven o'clock," he said.

"Well, tough shit," Kurt-Adam grumbled, setting down the pillowcase and slumping onto the railing next to Marlin.

"Well, Kiari should be in the library. We should get there quickly and tell him what we've learned. Too bad we won't have the girl with us to tell him herself…." He said, giving a side-eye to Kurt-Adam. "Hopefully, that 'kid' isn't there either," he spat. "Off in his tree fort."

"You know, I didn't see you helping against those kids."

"If you weren't a dipsomaniac, and you chose to carry the girl over a sack of jewels, then I wouldn't have needed to help you at all," Marlin let out a long sigh; he gave a low sidelong glance from under his long lashes, "But that's what makes you such a lovable idiot I suppose," He smiled and walked off the bridge towards the town. "Get up. We're to find Kiari at once."