The Chase [Watchers]

Hiroshima with his younger sister Paris and his daughter Cairn, would be heading through the Druid clan on their way to the next. Each with them now a dormant seed they received from The Oracle, hanging from a glass container around their necks. They had come a long way thus far, starting from the Forgotten, then the Brutes, Tranquil, the Druids and soon they will come to the territory of the Watchers.

They didn't know what to expect from this new clan, all they heard was mere rumors from the others.  Rumors that much like their name, they kept watch in the shadows, judging your every move. Some even claimed that they controlled the very shadows within their cave system to hide from newcomers. Others had claimed they could practically teleport that they were so fast upon their feet. Were any of that true though? They highly doubted a lot of it, but there was only one way to find out.

As they traveled through the caves in search of the Watchers, the crystals that dotted the landscape would become scarce. The darkness only seemed to grow thicker as they continued onwards. They could hardly tell when the space opened up greatly in this new section of caves, or tell how large the trees were before them. 

Everything seemed to grow more quite as well, as if the world before them fell asleep. Their footsteps echoed off the walls, surely whatever lurked in the darkness knew they were here already. They each tried to strain their ears to listen to any sound that they could hear, though a voice from above would startle them.

“Hey you down there! We’ve never seen the likes of you here before. Why don't you come up here, so we can play a little ‘game’ hm?” The voice would come from a dark purple haedian known to the Watchers as Saikaam.

The three Vayrons would look up to find Saikaam hanging off one of the stalagmites barely illuminated by a small crystal cluster, he would gesture toward a pathway up. Hiro would look at his sister and daughter, “Guess we are going up?”

“Yes it looks that way.” His sister would be the one to reply.

The two red Laceworks would head up to the platforms above followed by the brown hidden Lace that was Cairn. Once they got to the platforms above Saikaam would join them.

“We want you to race us, prove that you fit in here you see… It isn't easy for outsiders to see as well as us, let alone keep up with us through these pathways. If you can keep up then we will have more to discuss as you'll have earned some of our respect.” The haedian would go onto saying to the group.

Cairn would be the one to reply to the Watcher’s leader, “All we have to do is keep up? That shouldn't be a problem for us.. after all the prey me and dad have hunted and all the loose animals Paris had to chase down…”

Paris and Hiroshima would nod in agreement, yeah surely it will be no trouble for the runners. They were naturally more agile than pullers or empyrian in these caves after all. But it wouldn’t be too long that the haedian would take off.

“Then let's go!” 

The three would have to race off after the haedian at a moments notice, having to run across the carved out stone pathways high above the ground below. They didn't have much time to think as they each had to jump over gaps between the paths. Trying to catch up to this glider who crossed them with ease, the haedian would dare use stalagmites to their advantage where possible. 

Paris would occasionally use her magic over plants to bend tree branches closer to them. So it would be easier for them. to trail across larger gaps that were far too large for them to jump safely. Cairn would meanwhile levitate rocks, crystals or otherwise as platforms that they could do the same across. Hiro had to rely on the two girls to make the pathways, as his natural fire abilities proved unhelpful here.

Cairn and Hiro often hunted at night for their jobs, so the darkness hadn't effected them quite as much as it effected Paris. Who had stumbled a few times and almost fell, luckily for her Cairn was right there to aid her with her arcane abilities. Lifting rocks to prevent her companion from falling.

The three would manage to stick close to the haedian as the paths weaved through the haedian-made caves and paths. Not quite managing to pass them however. Some time would pass before Saikaam would come to a stop between a pair of small crystal formations. The runners almost running into them with the sudden stop.

“Hah! You managed to keep up better than we thought you would! Impressive!”

The three would be panting by the time they came to that stop. 

“Well thank you..” Paris would respond to them between breaths. “You are a hard one to keep up to.”

The haedian wouls chuckle, “That's one of the reasons I'm the leader of The Watchers.” 

He would take them to another part of the cave system soon enough to grab a drink and a short break. After all they had earned it after managing to keep up to a watcher, though they could tell this wasn't going to be the last test they had in store for the group of three.