Present Day...

I walked through a forest, looking for the monster that we were tasked with killing.

"Remember, don't burn the forest down!"

Haruka's words echoed in my head, as I grumbled. "Every damn time, she thinks I'll overuse my magic..." I rolled my eyes. "I heard that!" I heard her shout in the distance. We had split up, and were searching different parts of the area.

I heard a branch crack to my right, along with a low pitched growl. "Hey, we've got company!" I shouted, as I turned towards the noise. A large beast that looked like a lizard growled, before roaring. "Alright!" Haruka ran over to me. "Oh, a giant lizard!" She smiled.

"Is this our target?" I asked, as she nodded. "Yep! We need at least three scales from the thing." She smirked, as her hands began to give off a frigid mist, signaling that she was about to turn the forest into a spiky ice rink... Which could be either a good thing... or a bad thing. The lizard roared once more, bearing its sharp teeth.

Haruka punched the ground, causing a wave of solid ice to coat the area. The monster nearly slipped, and he was wide open. My fist bursted alight, as I ran towards the monster, and punched him in the stomach. The monster stumbled, before taking a step back. "I don't think he's a big fan of your fire." Haruka said, creating blades made of ice.

She swiftly skated on the icy ground, before slashing at the monster with her frozen blades. The blades cut through the monster almost too easily. "H-hey! Let me attack too!" I shot a fireball at the monster, but it was too late. The monster was lying on the icy ground, deader than dead. "Haha! The great Haruka wins yet again!" Haruka put her hands on her hips, laughing confidently.

I walked over to the beast and grabbed the detached scales off the ground. They were sturdy, and sparkled faintly when exposed to light. "I knocked quite a few loose, huh?" Haruka walked over to me, picking one up off the ground. "They're kinda pretty." She smiled. "How many did we need, again?" I asked, counting the scales. "At least three." Haruka replied. "Well, there are 9." I said, picking the other scales up. "Mission accomplished, then! Let's turn them in, shall we?" She asked, as I nodded.

Just then a loud snap echoed throughout the forest. "What was that?" I asked, looking at Haruka, who replied with a simple shrug. "Sounds like it came from over there." She pointed behind me. The area looked darker, and more densely packed with dying trees. "It looks haunted..." Haruka shuddered, as I raised an eyebrow at her. "Didn't our client say something about a certain section of this forest that we should avoid?" Haruka asked, as I sighed. "You scared?" I smirked, as she glared. "N-no! I'm not!" She stuttered, crossing her arms. "Uh-huh... Sure." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not!" She whined. "I'm just teasing, relax." I said, laughing. "Grrr...." She growled. "We should turn in the scales, and get our reward. Period, end of story." Haruka said, grabbing my hand, and dragging me back to town to turn in the completed quest.

"Fine."

-Timeskip!-

Our client lived in Treehusk City. Treehusk city was a fairly big city, populated by a variety of races, though most of the people living there were angels and humans.

"Man, our reward was AWESOME!" Haruka smiled, as I yawned. We were sitting on a bench in front of a huge tree. "...." I closed my eyes, about to take a nap. "Hey!" I felt someone poke my face.

"Haru, let me sleep." I mumbled, opening one eye to look at her. She was pouting. "We can sleep later." She groaned. "I want to make the most out of  this spot in the shade, leave me be." I yawned again. "Not on my watch." Haruka poked me again. "Leave me alone." I grumbled. She continued poking me.

I caught a glimpse of an angel girl darting past us. "Someone! Help!" She shouted, before stopping to catch her breath. She looked pretty beat up. She had long, beautiful blonde hair, and graceful wings. "I wonder what's going on with that girl..." Haruka mumbled, before standing up and walking towards her. I followed Haruka.

"What's wrong?" Haruka smiled at her. The girl looked to be around 14 years old. "Please! My brother!" She panicked, as tears streamed from her eyes. "Whoa, whoa... Take it easy." Haruka said, patting the girls head. "My brother is lost in the Withered Bramble!" She said, wiping her eyes. "Withered Bramble...? Oh! That's the dark part of the forest we saw earlier!" I said, as Haruka nodded. "I managed to escape, but my brother is currently being held captive by the Dark Faeries. I would go back, but I'm scared of getting lost, and my magic isn't suited for battles... Can you two help me?" She asked, as me and Haruka exchanged looks, before looking back down at the Angel girl.

"We'd be happy to!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh baby. Here we go XD

Hey everyone! It's me, Waffles!

So I'm actually really glad that I decided to write up a few chapters before posting! Its good for me, because I can somewhat procrastinate and somewhat get my ass in gear, but it's good for you guys too!

Because you'll have a bunch of chapters to read! XD

Huge thanks to keeksscribbles FOR THE SUPER COOL ART OMFG!!!!!!! They look like rock stars and I love it ♡

Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying the book so far, and I'll see you all in the next chapter! See ya!