Earthpne? - Northern Arms Academy Sector, NE Border ZoneHunter stood on a cliff overlooking the vilge below, beside him stood the captain of the squad he had chosen to accompany him on this mission.

  "That's the pce then? I don't see anyone in there."

  He handed a pair of binocurs to the captain who tucked them away on his belt.

  "Yes sir, the previous team dispatched to this area conducted several scans and found no traces of living beings, no Sein. Our visual scans reveal no signs of struggle. It's almost like the people here simply vanished."

  Hunter knelt down, his gaze fixated on the vilge below, he tapped his chin thoughtfully.

  "Captain are we certain that this vilge had people in it the two days before?"

  "Yes sir, some of the staff had retives here and they have confirmed communications with them."

  "I see. Those with sein cannot enter the area then?"

  "We can sir, but the moment we set foot there the Sein within us begins to be sapped away, prolonged exposure can prove fatal if allowed."

  "Right, best to avoid that then... wait. No sign of living beings? You mean rge organisms? Surely there are at least small animals and insects."

  "No sir, there is nothing alive in there."

  "....concerning."

  Hunter stood up.

  "Well, its not like the answers will find us up here captain, you and your team will accompany me to the outskirts of the vilge."

  He began to make his way down the cliff towards the team, the captain trailing behind him.

  "The moment you feel your sein ebbing away you will stop and back away until it stops. You will then form a perimeter around the affected radius and report the dimensions of it."

  The Captain nodded.

  "Yes sir."

  The two kept walking down.

  "You are to remain on standby and have the vehicle at the ready should we need to evacuate in a hurry. I will take a fre with me in case there is interference with the electronic equipment."

  "Yes Sir. What about Sein based communication? Our Comms specialist is able to communicate with others via Sein."

  "Its safe to assume that no Sein based communication will work within the confines of the vilge but we will attempt it to make sure. "

  "Sir."

  Hunter narrowed his eyes, something about this whole thing seemed off. There was no signs of danger and yet he could not help but feel as if he was walking in a razor's edge.

  "I don't like this Captain. This whole thing reeks."

  "I agree Sir."

  They reached the rest of the team, the Captain reyed Hunter's order to them. The Comms officer handed Hunter a radio for communication. Hunter clipped it to his belt before patting the shoulder of the Captain.

  "I'm going in. Safety off everyone, should the situation call for it I trust your judgment, keep me updated, I will do the same."

  With that said Hunter darted off towards the vilge. The Captained motioned towards the team.

  "Alright you heard the man people, lets move out. You two."

  He motioned to the two farthest to his right.

  "Soon as you start feeling tingly you back off until you don't and start walking to your right, we're going to see how far this thing extends. "

  He motioned to the comms officer.

  "You're with me and we go left."

  They all nodded.

  "Don't worry about the Wildcard, he can handle himself and if he can't then we're all fucked anyway and there's no use worrying."

  The team chucked and made for the vilge.

  ====

  "What is this pce..."

  Hunter's words echoed, unnaturally so. After having entered the vilge proper he felt a strange shift in the air. Color seemed to have faded and the pce itself felt dead. As if this part of the world had decided to simply cease to live. It was an unnatural feeling yet it felt familiar somehow.

  "Captain can you read me?"

  "Y..ir...ce.."

  "Electronic equipment is no good then."

  He sighed.

  "Captain, your orders stand. I will proceed, have the helicopter on standby."

  "...ir"

  Hunter moved on. Examining the vilge as he walked.

  Odd, the yout seems different than what we observed above...

  He sensed no Sein, despite his ck of it, he was good at tracking it down. It was Eerie how empty this pce felt, even the air he breathed in seemed dead. He began checking the homes, all of them showed no signs of being abandoned. Fires still burned in the kitchens, stews were being cooked the signs of everyday life stirred all around.

  Except there is no one left. Even the fires burn cold. What kind of dark mag...

  Hunter's eyes narrowed. Dark magic, during his studies he had come across theories that proposed that certain rituals could produce such dead zones. Time sinks they were called. Pces where time had somehow imploded in on itself

  " -back."

  A voice echoed throughout the pce, Hunter turned in the direction he thought the voice came from and darted off. Now acutely aware that nothing he did in the area produced sound. It made him all the more curious to see who or what was calling.

  " turn back."

  The same voice again, only this time it came from a different pce, Hunter stopped and looked around. It was only then that he turned skywards and saw that instead of the usual sky he was instead staring down at a revolving spire of crystal dust. Glimmering like stars as it swirled endlessly towards the center void.

  "What the fu-"

  A burst of static noise from his radio wrestled his attention from the spectacle above. Hunter shook his head, wherever this pce was it was all wrong. He needed to finish his investigation of this pce and get out.

  "Mister, what are you doing here?"

  Hunter turned around, before him was a child. White messy hair unruly held back by loose twin tails, piercing red eyes which shone brightly with curiosity and a bck and red dress that would not be out of pce in a gathering of nobility. The child had tilted her head to the side.

  "How are you here Mister?"

  Her tone was carefree yet insistent. Hunter was taken aback by this child's appearance but he tried his best to not look the part.

  "how? not sure what you mean, I promised a friend I'd be here today so I came here, but there doesn't seem to be anyone here."

  The child tilted her head in the opposite direction from before and tapped her chin.

  "oh? So you just walked in here mister?"

  She giggled.

  "You shouldn't be able to do that."

  She sniffed the air.

  "You smell different too."

  Hunter frowned.

  "Ok see that... I've been walking a lot ok? not my fault."

  She ughed.

  "No no silly."

  Her eyes sharpened.

  "You don't smell of Sein Mister."

  Hunters eyes narrowed.

  "You can smell Sein then? A little weird but ok."

  She nodded.

  "Papa and big sister taught me how, I want to be able to help them."

  "Help them with what? Do you live here?"

  She shook her head.

  "I just brought the book here, but I think I read it wrong and this happened. "

  "Book?"

  "Yes, but I have to go now Big Sis Shekinah will be mad if I'm not back soon. Bye Mister."

  "I can't let yo-"

  The child turned and began walking away, Hunter started after her. Though it seemed to him that he was staying in pce even after he ran after her.

  Shekinah.

  Hunter felt a sharp pain in his head, something about that name. He felt a sense of familiarity, a vague one at that. The pain was enough to distract him for a moment, a moment which cost him the chance to catch up to the child.

  ===

  Captain Matthews had his team measure out the radius of influence as he had tasked by the Wildcard. it had been a good two hours since they had lost contact with the Wildcard. He had vanished once he entered the vilge, they had lost sight of him as he ventured in. Though they were able to communicate through the radio, but that too had ended shortly after.

  "Captain, we should report.."

  "Not yet, we still have some time."

  A series of beeps told the team that there had been a breach of perimeter, but the scans picked up nothing else.

  "You two go investigate the area, radio update every 4 minutes."

  The two nodded and headed out, the comms officer and Captain remained near the Gate, keeping a lookout and keep tabs on the equipment readings.