It was dark—darker than the emptiness of space itself. Out of the void, a voice echoed. It was Ryujin.
"A knife, blood, broken smiles...Death, words I'm most familiar with."
But he was not alone. Another voice slithered through the void, deep and mocking, dripping with malice.
"Taking credit now, are we? ... Ryujin... you dirty, dirty man."
The void thickened as their words clashed, a tension sharper than any blade.
"Tsk, who the hell wants your credit... fool." Ryujin's voice was cold, dismissive.
The man chuckled darkly.
"Haha... Ryujin, don't be so rude now, old friend."
"Tsk... friends?.. don't make me laugh."
The voice lingered, dragging out each word like poison.
"Come on now... Eisuke..."
Ryujin's glare hardened, his tone final.
"You're not coming back anymore."
A smirk echoed in the dark.
"Bummer."
~~~Somewhere~~~
Ryujin woke up near the burning chopper, in the middle of the forest.
"Where is everyone?.."
He stood up and looked around the area cautiously. He walked closer to the chopper, searching for everyone. He found nobody. He remembered they jumped and he got left behind.
"I wonder if they're ok."
The voice came back in his head.
"No, they're not."
Ryujin was horrified.
"Leave me alone!"
He looked behind. There he saw piles of dead bodies. He started to cry.
"What a sight, right?"
Ryujin, cried.
"Stop it."
The voice echoed.
"You're quite the artist, Ryujin!! This is a masterpiece!"
Ryujin held his head and started shouting repeatedly.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"
The voice continued to mock Ryujin.
"You even concluded your comrades! Such commemoration!"
"No, I didn't do that. Stop!.. You did that to them!"
"Me? I didn't know you have quite the humor too! Ryujin! HAHAHAHA!"
Ryujin's mind was breaking. He was breathing heavily, both hands on his face. Frustration surged, and he started pulling his hair as the voice continued to laugh.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Stop!
"HAHAHAHA!"
The voice mocked.
"STOP IT!"
~~~Kaba Island~~~
[It was a evening day, 6 pm]
Everything went silent, Ryujin closed his eyes. Suddenly, the low deep voice of the man disappeared, it was replace by a voice of two familiarities.
"RYUJIN!"
"RYUJIN-SAMA!"
The first thing Ryujin hears was the cackling of flame. He fluttered his eyes open. He saw the chopper all burnt up. He turned to Ayro.
"Where are we?"
Ayro called out.
"You're awake! It's "him" again?"
Ryujin sighed,
"Y-Yeah. Sorry."
Kara leaned to Ryujin,
"Are you ok?"
Ryujin scanned the area, looking for the others as he replied.
"Yeah. How about the others?"
"They're ok. They're looking around right now. Ayro-san protected us from the fall... The other pilot though..."
Ryujin took another look of the chopper, seeing the pilot stabbed by the yoke.
"Any others injured?"
"Only he couldn't make it..."
"Alright..."
Is all that Ryujin could say.
Ryujin checked his comms.
"Kaba Island?... We're on the mine?"
Ayro stood up,
"Seems like it."
Ryujin grunted,
"Alright. Let's get going."
Ayro's brow furrowed, in disagreement with Ryujin.
"Oi! Ryujin!"
Ryujin ordered.
"Call the others, we're gonna go for Shinkamigoto."
Ryujin started to stand up.
Ayro shouted.
"Oi! You should lay down!"
Ryujin gritted his teeth,
"We got no time."
"You..."
Ayro pushed Ryujin to the ground.
"Hold yourself, Ryujin!"
Ayro slapped Ryujin with the back of his hand. Kara couldn't do anything as she watched.
"Get it together! Don't let him take over! Not right now!"
Ryujin smiled.
"How naive..."
Ayro's eyes widened.
"What?"
Ryujin's smile faded.
"Sorry."
Ayro let go of him. Ryujin stood up once again.
"Find the others. We have to go."
Ryujin ordered once more.
[Somewhere in the Island]
As night swallowed the day, the forest grew dense with shadows. Through the veil of trees, Itoshi, Kirashi, and the pilot squinted into the dim horizon—just barely spotting the faint glow of a town at the mountain's foot.
"There! A town!"
The pilot cheered.
"Let's go!"
They finally arrived—only to find the town eerily abandoned. The streets were empty, windows shattered, doors left ajar. A silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the faint creak of a swinging sign.
"This place looks abandoned."
Kirashi hushed.
The pilot notices the sign.
"Goto Kabashima office... We're in Kaba Island. It's long since been abandoned."
Itoshi turned to the pilot and he asked.
"Why is that?"
"This used to be a hotspot for the Seele."
The pilot paused.
"Especially the mine where we fell on. They were known to appear from there. No one knows why they suddenly stopped coming."
Itoshi asked.
"That means we won't encounter Seele, right?"
"Most likely, yes."
Itoshi nods like a pirate king as he lead his crewmen into looting.
"Ok, good. Let's find supplies left behind."
"Ok!"
Kirashi and the Pilot followed up.
The three searched the surrounding town. They searched every abandoned home, infrastructure, and shrine. Eventually, Kirashi found one.
"Oi!"
They found old canned goods.
"These could serve us for tonight..."
The pilot nervously muttered.
Itoshi checked the expiration date.
"They're not expired yet! Good!.. Are these things military?..."
Itoshi asked.
The pilot took a look at one of the cans.
"The soldiers that last fought here must've left them out here.."
Itoshi then nods and he placed the can back onto the crate.
"I'll come back for the others. I'll bring them here.""
"It's dark already, be careful."
Kirashi, suggested.
"Don't worry."
Itoshi turned around and gave Kirashi a thumbs up.
Itoshi set his fingertip on fire. He followed the smoke from the burning chopper to get back to the others. Meanwhile, Kirashi and the pilot illuminated a lamp.
"That should allow them to find us."
The pilot muttered as Itoshi ran to the forest.
"Yeah... By the way, what's your name?"
Kirashi asked.
"Ah! Aldrin. At your service, sir."
The pilot quickly replied.
Kirashi blinked, hearing his name.
"Aldrin? You're from another country?"
"Yes sir! I'm Malaysian."
Aldrin added.
"Your Japanese is so good! How did you learn Japanese?"
Kirashi asked.
"Ever since I was assigned to Japan. But damn, all that learning became useless."
Kirashi blinked once more.
"Eh? Why is that?"
"As soon as I mastered Japanese, the translation implant was released on all members of UWDS!"
Aldrin shouted.
Kirashi's heart fell.
"Oh god."
"Funny, right? Bad luck is always on my side. There was one time when I was a kid. I slipped off on top of a tree."
He paused.
"I thought I was gonna land on the trampoline below. Turns out it was old, so I just fell right through. HAHAHA!"
"Oh..."
Kirashi could not process what was happening with Aldrin's story.
"What a poor one."
All he could think off.
As the night deepened, Itoshi walked cautiously towards the Quarry. He saw Ayro, Ryujin, and Kara taking warmth from the flame of the burning chopper. He waved to them as soon as he saw them.
"Oi!!"
He shouted.
He ran closer towards them, stopping by the chopper as he tried to catch his breath.
"We found supplies in a nearby abandoned town.. Apparently, this used to be a hotspot for Seele. They were coming from this very mine, but it seems like they stopped years ago."
Ayro nods.
"Ok, good. Let's get going."
"Ok!"
Kara hushed.
Ryujin's gaze lingered far off, lost in thought, until Ayro glanced at him and spoke—pulling him back into the present.
"Ryujin?"
Ryujin responded.
"Alright."
There was a pause, silence as Itoshi whispered to Kara.
"Something happened to the two?"
Kara whispered back.
"It's complicated..."
"Ah, I see."
Itoshi replied.
Then with a normal voice
"Well... The town is not that far. We should get there in about 10 minutes."
"Ah, before we leave..."
Kara asked Itoshi to burn the second pilot's dead body as they prayed.
[6:40 pm]
The rest of the squad made it to the nearby town. Kirashi and the pilot were sorting the canned goods.
"Hey!! Here!"
Kirashi called out.
"Ah-ha!"
Itoshi jolted.
Itoshi ran to the abandoned home where Aldrin and Kirashi were preparing.
"How is it going?"
"We sorted the bad ones and the ones we can eat."
Kirashi reported, turning to the rest.
"Have you opened one?"
Itoshi asked.
"Not yet."
Aldrin replied.
And then.. Itoshi suddenly remembered.
"Alright! What's your name, by the way?"
"Aldrin, sir! At your service!"
He replied.
"Thank you, Aldrin!"
With a smile, Kara watched as her other half spoke with the others.
"Koya has really been changing..."
Ayro took a look at one of the military cans and he asked.
"Are these the good ones?"
Aldrin saluted.
"Yes, sir! We can eat and prepare those ones."
"We can heat them up!.. Now.. Just water.. Ah!"
Itoshi turned to Ryujin.
Ryujin was silent as their eyes meet.
There was a pause before he asked Ryujin once again.
"Water?"
"It does not work that way."
Ryujin replied, low tone.
"Eh..."
"Us water users can't just produce water like how you guys make flame out of nowhere."
Ryujin explained.
"Ehhh?.. how do you—"
Itoshi wondered.
"I simply look for nearby water sources, for example the sea."
He paused.
"So.. even if I can make it appear from my hand, it's gonna be salt water."
"Ah... we need fresh water..."
Itoshi mummured.
"Umm..."
The squad looked at Kara as she raised her hand.
"Can you get water from vapors or something?"
"Hm..."
Ryujin looked up at the sky.
"It's quite cloudy today. Kirashi."
Kirashi jolted.
"Yeah?"
"Can you pull down some rainclouds?"
Ryujin requested.
"I don't know... I'll try.."
Kirashi held his right hand up while his left hand supported it. He tried his hardest to pull a raincloud. There was a slight change in direction but nothing else.
"Hm... Try making a tornado."
Ryujin suggested.
Kirashi tilted his head.
"Ehhh? What is that?"
He spinned his fingers in the air as he explained.
"It's a wind that spins."
"Ah! Those! It could get uncontrollable though."
"It's fine, Ayro can neutralize it."
Ryujin assured.
Kirashi agreed,
"Alright... Stand back."
Kirashi made a mini tornado to try and attract clouds from up above.
The tornado grew bigger and bigger, but Kirashi couldn't control it anymore.
"I can't hold it anymore!"
"Ok! Stop! Ayro!"
"Got it!"
Ayro took out the tornado that Kirashi had made.
The squad pondered as they tried to solve the whole fresh water situation. With the night falling deeper and deeper, the feeling of uncertainty started to scream to the ears of the squad.
~~~To be Continued~~~