The night sky was clear, allowing all that were beneath it to see the gorgeous panorama of stars spread out across the cosmos. The moon was full, so it was clearly visible, making the thousands upon thousands of stars even more gorgeous because of it.

Beneath the blanket of the night sky, two individuals were making their way through a large clearing in the middle of some forested land, seemingly tracking something.

One looked to be a young male in his early 30's, with black and red hair, while the other was female that looked about the same age, with pale skin.

Their names were Ash and Sydney, but they were also known as AJ and Vyn, which was their current monikers, considering they were on a hunt for the guild they belonged to, Candentus Lux.

Their current quarry was a nocturnal feline-like bear creature that had been spotted. It was known for having a short temper, and it was spooked easily, which meant it could be a real threat to the local wildlife, as well as the people that lived nearby.

At the moment, Vyn was whispered to AJ, saying she smelled fresh blood nearby, meaning it was possible that the creature was nearby, and had made a kill.

However, the one she was talking to was no longer near her, and when she stopped to take a look around, she saw that the man in question had outright stopped where he was...

...and he appeared to be looking directly skyward at something.

"Uhhhh..." AJ muttered.

"When we were back in the clearing, I saw a shooting star." he told her.

"Thought it looked neat, so I've been following it." he went on.

"...but something seems odd." he then said further, before pointing to where he was looking.

"Now, I'm not smart like my brother, nor am I an astronomer or anything, but shouldn't a shooting star... like... disappear?" he asked her.

"And NOT look like it's getting bigger... rapidly?"

"Woah!" AJ exclaimed, as he got his bearings, and caught his breath.

"Right." he then said, looking at where Vyn was gesturing.

The 'star' was still getting bigger and bigger... and it looked like it wasn't slowing down. Thankfully, Vyn wad taken them somewhere high up, where the thing wouldn't be landing, and where they had a panoramic view of their surroundings.

"That... that's picking up serious speed..." he muttered.

"And.. and it looks like IT'S GOING TO-" he then started to yell, before whatever it was slammed down into the middle of a forest, causing the area to shake and quake for a few moments.

"...crash." he finished, this time more calmly.

"I think we should check that out." he suggested.

AJ nodded and jumped into the hole.

Weirdly enough, he then emerged from a hole in the ground, and looked around.

It was quite the sight that greeted him.

There was a HUGE impact crater before him, with something in the centre of it, down below, but the forest that had immediately surrounded the point of impact had been completely decimated... and there was some serious flames on a lot of the trees.

"...hoo boy." he mumbled.

"This... could be problematic..."

"Uh... yeah, seems so." AJ muttered.

"Gimme a second." he then said.

He then started to use his black flames to smother the red flames that were threatening to engulf the forest, before he recalled the black flames he created.

"Anyway, yeah. Yeah, it does." he agreed.

"I think we need to investigate even further."

"....." AJ was silent as she said that, before looking himself over.

"Uh..." he muttered.

"No... no, you're not..." he said.

"I feel... weird." he told her. "Like... I still feel like ME, but... hm... how do I put this...?" he then mumbled further, trying to figure out how to say it.

"It's my mana." he then said.

"I feel like it's... being forced to stay inside me?" he said, still tripping over how best to describe the odd feeling he was... well... feeling.

AJ nodded, before doing as she said, and then going back down.

"Odd." he muttered.

"I didn't think such technology existed." he said.

"Regardless, maybe we shouldn't stay inside this 'bubble' for long." he then muttered. "We don't know if there's any long-term effects to prolonged exposure." he reasoned, showing her that his brother's tendency for larger words was starting to rub off on him unconsciously.

"We need to call this in, though." he then said further.

"Get some people out here that can deal with this, AND clean this area up."

"............" AJ was silent as Vyn said what she did.

"REALLY hate splitting up when we're in an unknown situation." he told her.

"But fine." he said.

He then proceeded to climb back up the crater, until he was out of the 'bubble'.

Once he was there, he took out his phone and dialled Hollie's number.

"...more like what WAS up." Ash responded.

Then, before Hollie could ask, he told her everything that had happened. What they saw, what had occurred, and what they were faced with now.

"I'm going to call Cass next to inform her of this." he continued.

"But we need help here." he told her.

"Specifically, the kind of help that doesn't rely on mana." he clarified.

"And the sooner, the better. For all we know, people are trapped inside the craft that crashed."

Ash just sighed when the call was ended, before dialling Cass's number.

"Hey!" he called to Sydney.

"Careful down there! If that thing's draining mana, it WILL kill you, undead or not!" he warned her.

Meanwhile, Hollie's call to the home phone had proven more successful. Even though the phone had rung for about 20 seconds, it was finally answered.

"Ngh... mph." a tired voice groaned and grunted on the other end.

"Hal Sharp." the voice then said.