Ashia silently leads the group towards a small clearing, *Mae why dont you see if the guardian is awake? After all you killed the one I was going to use as bait.* Ashia knows very little about the guardian or the potential traps that were protecting the talisman. She didnt expect to know everything this place but she hoped for a bit of luck. Scarlet stays beside Ashia as she tries to keep the others going. It wasnt difficult to see that Ashia was nervous.

Justin rests a hand on Ashia*s shoulder trying to offer reassurance. He wasnt afraid because they were trying to help people. People needed the Keepers to get the talisman. Besides his sword would always strive to protect Ashia and anyone else who befriended him.

Maya shoves Mae towards the clearing no sure what the guardian was. Summoning Strider she looks around and sniffs the air, a strange scent she couldnt place. Something big though. Strider growls a small warning at the sound of movement in the air.

Kaden tries to see what Strider senses and fails to see it. He knew something was there but he had no idea what it was. Calmly he stands beside Rue trying to offer a bit of reassurance to the younger Greencloak.

"Fine." Mae says and takes a step forward after summoning her spirit animal to her side. She stumbles when Maya gives her a shove but she heads forward into the clearing, keeping a lookout for any danger. Deirdre walks beside her but doesn't look too happy about being in an area where there is an unidentified but known guardian and traps.

Jay is just glad that Ashia wasn't planning on using him as bait or sending him to look for traps. He keeps his distance from the Greencloaks.
Hazel ignores the Greencloaks unless their actions directly affect her. She keeps fingering her weapon, ready to use it to defend.
Brandon keeps glancing towards them; whenever someone caught him looking at the Greencloaks, he kept looking away as if the surrounding bamboo forest was suddenly more interesting.

Rue chews on his fingernails and glances towards Kaden when he notices him standing beside him. He offers Kaden a smile and a nod before he shudders and brings his hands down to his sides.

Ashia kept her bow trained in Mae*s direction in case Mae or Deidre ran into danger or if Mae betrayed them. From Justin*s glance Ashia could tell he saw the same thing she did, a large, very dangerous spider*s web. Justin warns Deiride about the web amd the potential predators on it. Ashia calmly slips closer to the web not trusting the Greencloaks not to trigger a trap. Justin stats by Ashia*s side as the web moves. Pulling out his sword Justin looks at the hoard of spiders crawling towards them.

Maya shutters as she sees the spiders, not minding tiny, line spiders was one thing but this was another. She wondered if the Keepers knew about this ahead of time but kept the information to themselves.

Kaden looks at Rue, *Ang chance Sting would be willing to try and talk to them?*

Deirdre keeps Mae from getting too close to the web. Mae thanks her spirit animal and watches Ashia move closer to the web and the spiders, preferring to keep her distance from the creepy crawlies. Sting is probably the only arachnid she dares have in her company. Deirdre thanks Justin for the heads up and scampers up to Mae's shoulder when the spiders began to crawl towards them.

Jay backs up as soon as the web is spotted and it starts to move. "Oh. Why did it have to be spiders?" He mutters to himself.
Hazel isn't effected by the spiders as much as Jay.

Rue watches the spiders and Sting shows up when Kaden asks him to see if Sting could negotiate. "I don't know. What do you think, Sting? Could you speak with the other spiders?" The spider crawls onto Rue's hand and addresses the other spiders though Sting doesn't look completely eager to do so. Rue nods to Kaden. "Seems like Sting is willing, albeit reluctant."
Sting politely asks the spiders not to attack them if possible.

Several of the spiders look aggressively at Sting. The glaring only gets more intense as Ashia works on moving dirt away from a hidden door. A few crawl across the web towards Ashia and Justin slices at the web to halt their progress. The movement is inhibited and aggravates the spiders.
*Ashia we need to move,* Justin mutters trying not to further disturb the spiders. Quickly Ashia slips down into the hole and comes back out after thirty tense minutes. Ashia runs towards the others.
*Go go go go,* Ashia springs away as the ground begins to rumble under their feet. Justin moves quickly hoping the others will follow to get away from the collapsing ground.

Maya grand Deidre and runs after the Keepers. Strider runs beside them giving Maya a boost in speed and stamina. Kaden quickly helps Rue get away from the web and chases after the Keepers. He was sure Ashia had the talisman and if they lost her they would loose it.

Jay doesn't need any more convincing once Ashia tells him to go. Hazel and Brandon have no trouble keeping up with the Keepers. Matamba, Drummer, and Stellar are all in passive state at the moment.

Mae starts to run after the Keepers. She can't be as fast as Maya but she can run. Deirdre keeps still in Maya's grasp though her quick heartbeat gives away the fact that she may just be staying still because she is frightened.
Sting skitters back up Rue's arm and disappears into one of the pouches on Rue's belt. Rue gladly accepts Kaden's help and curses at himself when he stumbles and twists his ankle. He doesn't dare slow down for fear of losing sight of the Keepers or Greencloaks. If he slows Kaden down too much, he would insist that Kaden go on and not lose track of the others.

Kaden looks at Rue in concern, *Need me to carry you?* He was not about to leave Rue behind since he was a member of Kaden*s team. He would help Rue as much as possible while keeping the Keepers in sight. That was going to be an issue once they got further in the maze.

Maya carries Dierdre as Strider runs alongside them. Maya was terrified of the spiders and the earth rumbling behind her. She keeps up with Ashia who is running her fastest as Scarlet goes back into passive state. She hopes to either loose the Greencloaks in the maze or at least beat them to the port. If she doesnt then she would have to deal with the Greencloaks longer and dealing with a problem. Thankfully she had considered that issue.

Justin tries to help the others as he runs but his armor and sword weigh him down. He trusted Ashia to know hope to navigate the maze, but he didnt want to be separated from the group again. He wonders how the others are holding up.

Rue shakes his head no at first, determined to carry his own weight and not further slow Kaden down. After a few moments, Rue shakes his head yes and accepts Kaden's offer. He does not feel like he can run for much longer. "I'm sorry. I'm just a burden and I'm getting in the way." He says through gritted teeth.

Mae calls Dierdre back into passive state and apologizes to Maya. She is slower than Maya and Ashia but faster than Hazel and Brandon. She wondered just how much of the ground was going to give way and what Ashia ran into during those thirty minutes when getting the talisman or if there had been nothing down there at all and Ashia had messed up or was pulling a deceptive decoy.

Jay does not call Stellar out of passive state since birds are getting shot down in the maze. He is getting tired but he tries his best to put mind over matter and keep himself running so as to not get left far behind.
Hazel could be running faster if she had her spirit animal out of passive state and helping her, but right now that doesn't sound like a good plan. She keeps her pace steady, knowing that she can get out of the maze if she doesn't speed up too fast for her abilities and as long as she doesn't stop or slow down. Getting back up to speed is something she always struggled with during running.
Brandon is attempting to keep Hazel's pace and isn't doing too bad. The two had some experience at running cross country, but he hadn't remembered a time that they had needed to run this constantly.

Maya glances at Ashia quickly understanding that Ashia intended to run out of maze. Neither slow down as Ashia keeps running. Justin struggles to keep up but tries too anyway. Strider glances back at Mae to see if she is okay as they run. Strider quickly accelerates to match pace with Ashia and Maya. He smells something up ahead but thinks if they move fast enough that they can get past the group without any issues.

Kaden shakes his head no in response to Rue's thoughts about being a burden. He can take Rue's weight without any issues. Kaden looks around muttering under his panting, "Look ahead Rue. What do you see or sense?" Kaden sensed trouble up ahead and hopes they can get past them without a fight.


Justin looks at Hazel, Brandon, and Jay wondering if they were okay to keep running. He knew that Ashia planned on running out of the maze and getting past the Conquerors that way.

Mae is doing fine. She smiles at Strider when he looks her way and makes an effort not to stay too slow. She doesn't want to leave Maya to defend herself against the Keepers. Mae does well to stay with Ashia, Maya, and Strider, though she isn't running neck and neck with them.
Rue makes himself as little of a problem as possible and eagerly accepts the assignment Kaden gives him. He looks up ahead and does his best at deducting what may be ahead. He stays quiet as he tries to sense if what was up ahead is human or animal. He notes, "If the Conqueror group we ran into was just a scouting party, then there are more Conquerors ahead."
Hazel and Brandon look like they can keep running if they were told to. Hazel would not hesitate to follow Ashia and Justin since the two had proven loyal and wise. Brandon isn't eager to lose sight of his sister and the rest of the group again. Jay seems more exhausted but he would continue to run if he was given a reason to.