Just Looking Around

[Albert Wesker]

The entire process took several minutes, though with the way the young traveller kept fidgeting and looking about it seemed much longer. But eventually, Kuzan's work paid off and the swirling colors of Omnilium came to life, slowly expanding and growing more solid as what appeared to be a large cocoon of iridescent colors. It grew, slowly but surely, until it was more like a great huge egg, that at its tallest point was nearly as tall as Kuzan himself.

After another several minutes, the "egg" solidified and began to slowly crack, much like an actual shell, before crumbling altogether. In the vanishing Omnilium remnants there stood a great gryphon. Its plumage and feathers were the color of ice, the fur on its rear half the color of fallen snow. It stretched hugely, showing its impressive physique, before rounding on Kuzan with a fierce glare in its steely blue eyes. "Oh, my....quite the fierce beast, indeed."

"Well...the fact that it hasn't attacked yet is a good sign. I think you probably got it right!" The young man seemed pleased at this development, but soon his gladness faded as he hurriedly stowed the book away again. "Now, uh...could we get going?"

"Is whoever might be after you really that bad?" The question was mostly rhetorical, but the sudden silence caught him unprepared. Turning to look at his companion for the moment, the former Admiral quirked abrow at his expression. He was just sort of...standing there, staring back toward the portal.

"Y-Yeah..." He finally managed to say. "They...kind of are." And he pointed.

Turning to look back at the portal, Kuzan was dumbfounded all over again. There were three individuals standing near the portal. Two of them seemed human enough and didn't stand out as anything special. Their only oddity was the obscuring hoods they both wore. Both of them had a sword and at one hip and a bow in hand, but didn't seem especially ready to jump right into an attack. If anything, they almost seemed to be hanging back.

It was the third figure that had the majority of his attention drawn to it. It wasn't as tall as some others he had seen in his time, but it still stood nearly a head above the other two beside it. It was also shrouded in a hood, and a long, concealing cloak, but that did little to hide the ominous horns curling from beneath the hood. "Would those happen to be the ones you thought might be after you?"

"Y-Yeah..." For a moment, it almost seemed like he had more he wanted to add, but he was either trying to find the right words or hesitating to spit it out.

"....I think you might want to get on your way and get outta here." Drawing his hands from his pockets, Kuzan flexed his fingers, cracking his knuckles. "I don't need the details right now, but...I get the feeling I'm missing something here."

"I'm sorry. It's... It's very sensitive information. I can't...say anything. Not here, anyway. I will tell you, i-if I can! But....later, at Dalaran." Hastily, he scrambled aboard the back of the Gryphon.

As the gyphon beat its wings to ready for takeoff, but tallest of the three figures let out an inhuman growl that carried even over the not-inconsiderable distance. And immediately the two at its side brought up their bows, pulling an arrow from a quicer at their waist.

As the gryphon left the ground, Kuzan slowly bent down and pulled a handful of grass from the ground.

The third figure, who seemed to be the leader of the small group, looked quickly from their fleeing target and Kuzan.

With a flick of his wrist, the grass was scattered to the air. A quick breath froze them solid, leaving a long, jagged blade of ice encompassing them all. It gleamed white and cold as Kuzan caught it out of the air, swung it once, and then held it point-first toward the group of three.

With only a few seconds to make his decision, the leader of the group made his call. "SHOOT THE PRIME!"

In the blink of an eye there were two bows trained on him, and with the sharp twang of bowstrings they were loosed. Without time to try and dodge around them properly, Kuzan did the only thing open to him that would guarantee avoiding them. He leaped straight up.