Her breath hitched. How could he? How could he risk his life just like that?
Though her mind understood that it was all a calculated move, Nephis was still shaken by his deed. It seemed impossbile, but she knew he wouldn't have done so if he hadn't already calculated his odds of survival, and felt that desperate need for the cohort to live.
Her lips twitched.
Nephis, calm yourself. She thought, as doubt crept into her mind. She shook it off, compartenalized it, put it into the deepest corners she could. They were in a fight, and risky were those who brought their doubts to war.
But she had survived all this long for her goal, her dream, with this particular quirk of hers. That's right, without her constantly racing thoughts, Nephis could have never picked up on the little tidbits that revealed the field to her. She built strategy, kingdoms on what her sight revealed.
To understand human nature, she thought, would be her next step. Oh, she knew how strategy, the battlefield, and a desperate man would move, but she confesses she can't understand sacrifice, humanity as her tutors would claim.
She knew how to use it, of course, from her brief stint in the Bright Castle. It would be a mistake to not pull the strings of the human part. But using doesn't equate understanding. She had simply been following an established example her father had once told her of.
Now, she was working to understand. Her teacher was Sunny, the cockroach who could never die, a man who could twist lies by simply speaking truth.
Cassie was teaching her too. For despite how competent a teacher the man Sunny was, he too was like her, in the aspect that they could not relate to the common, NQSC mind.
She froze, as the sight before her broke her out of her revelry.
And as Sunny slowly pulled his way up, the rest of the cohort mirrored her expression too— they couldn't believe it, still couldn't affix what Sunny had just done.
For them. She thought, for us.
She'll have to find a way to thank him later — without risking whatever her image was. Caster couldn't know. And yet, he was the least of her worries, for she didn't know how to say thank you without risking everything again.
There couldn't be a repeat of last time.
Thud! A noise echoed around the area, as the man of the hour dragged himself from death's door, sprawled on the ground and breathing heavily.
Sunny huffed, taking in a desperate breath. Nephis should be concerned — was concerned — but now? All she could see was him. His hollow cheeks as he took in a desperate breath, lidded eyes as survival took ahold of him.
Ah... She had never seen him like that before. She reminscied. He'd always been strong, upright, and... clumsy with his sword. But Sunny was a prodigy, a prodigy of the sword and with his words.
"What?" He asked, as if this was just a simple thing. His eyebrows were raised, sa he slowly pulled himself up.
"Uh..." Effie answered, "Glad ou're allive Sunny. But also... what the hell? How did you do that?"
She sent a silent thanks to the huntress, for asking the question she wanted to know yet couldn't just ask.
Sunny simply threw his — was that a kunai — to her, and once she picked it up, he pulled. The dagger flew back to his hands in one fluid motion, and Sunny smiled. Innocently.
"Oh, that? That was a piece of cake. Nothing that a knife and a piece of string can't solve... more or less."
Yet as the conversation between them continued, Nephis found herself thinking, then counter-thinking, oh, she was probably overthinking.
She was snapped out of her tulumtous thoughts with the sparkle of a Memory dismissed.
"—those procupine monsters back in the city? I got it off one of those." Sunny muttered, before the conversation between him and the huntress died down.
A second of realization passed by her — they were in a relatively safe area. And... she was the healer. Quickly measuring their surroundings, Nephis made her move, summoning a brilliant flame to existence.
The snap of pain coursed through her bloodstream, and she hurriedly took a breath, biting her lips. She was a master of her Aspect now, learning through experience to supress the instinctive pain her Aspect brought.
But it still hurts.
Pain suppressed yet pain would still be there.
However, as she moved, Effie raised her hand, her dark brown eyes gazing down at her. The huntress shook her head and a silent conversation passed through them.
At that moment, Nephis realized she made a mistake, an unnecessary move. They may have a hurdle before them, one that required her full strength as the vanguard of her cohort. And... she had overstepped. Effie was chosen by her, by them to lead; the pathfinder of the Bright Castle, the ever-strong, reliant, and teasing warrior.
With that, her flame flickered away, disappearing into the wind.
"Not yet. There's one last hurdle to overcome. We'll need you to be at the top of your game."
And though she understood this would be their best choice, hearing it was quite a different story. Staring at Effie for a while, her gaze lingered as she processed the words. Danger... Danger laid before them. An impossible odd to any other group of Sleepers, but an obstacle she had to fight and win.
Murder, she thought, murder would be the right word.
With that, she took a seat on the floor, physically and mentally regaining her strength. Her mind was a mess, lulled by senseless murder and the epiphany she had earlier.
She gave herself time, time to take it all in and to process her raging thoughts; rest was something they all needed.
Unspoken words passed through the cohort, as they all gathered themselves, picked up the pieces from the earlier fight and pieced themselves together again.
It wasn't the end, she knew. A darker, more dangerous opponent awaited them according to their pathfinder, and she was anything but unworthy.
Closing her eyes, she took it all in, their surroundings, her thoughts and actions, mentally picking on her mistakes during the last hour.
While conversation flickered between the cohort, she silently listened as well — for anything worth noting.
"...So, unless we want to drown or be eated by some depth dweller, we need to get out of here as soon as possible."
The words of Effie rang between them. It was time.
Rising to her feet, she glanced at her cohort.
Effie, their pathfinder.
Kai, their archer.
Cassie, her seer.
Caster, the traitor who held some use.
Sunny, her cockroach.
They were all ready, waiting for her next move. She needed to be their leader. "Time to go. Gather your strength."
With groans and sighs of pain, they rose to their feet, ready for combat. Effie took her position at the lead of their back, guiding them with ease that showed the experience she held.
"By the way," Sunny muttered to Effie, "How do you even know your way around the catacombs?"
The pathfinder shrugged, telling him of a story of her past, her repeated returns to this place for solace. Suddenly, Effie shivered, as if remembering a distasteful memory. "I was new in the Dark City at that time. Back then, the strongest hunter in the outer settlement sort of took me under her wing. We went down here with an entire party."
"Yeah? That party must have been very strong, to return from this place alive." He asked.
"Who said anything about returning alive? Actually, they all died. I was the only one to survive."
Nephis straightened at Effie's words. Danger laid ahead of them, a looming abomination that decimated her predecesors.
Of course, her cohort was stronger, deadlier, smarter... but whatever was out there was deadly enough to kill off a party of experienced pathfinders. They couldn't afford to relax, the worst might have yet to come.
.
.
.
.
.
Like any other day on the Forgotten Shores, the Devil howls.