NIGHT

so night wandered into the darkness, following the rustles of voscira and cyness wading through tall grass and around leaves. all the while, cyness was humming a sweet little tune, practically buzzing with a need to return home as soon as possible. voscira, given a moment further, would appear to do exactly the same, playing harmonics to the dragonling’s fervent tune. the player stayed far behind, however, expectant and wary. if she got too close, the moment she swung her sword, she wasn’t sure if she was going to hit a friend or foe. and her attacks were much more devastating than n

“be on high alert,” night advised, to voscira’s quick dismissal. “if you think nethag’s going to show now, then you keep a look out. i’m trying to track our way back to izzlath. division of responsibility, you know?” cyness nodded in agreement. night decided she had just a little enough. allowing the two to walk ahead a little further, night decided to ‘speak to the ghost’, pulling out her blindfold with a wave of her hand. “day, i need you to tell me if and when you feel our mark getting close.” “oh.” day eyed the fabric being wrapped around night’s eyes. “do you

night would’ve said safest way possible, but knowing that other players could frequent the dirt paths that snaked across the floor, it was possible that they’d be caught up by nethag’s attack, the player knowing his approach – and skirmish – was guaranteed. “which means we’re headed deeper into the jungle from the route we took before. be on the lookout for any odd signs from the forest norm.” voscira simply gestured to the player, deadpanned. “see? killjoy.” it earned her a shake of the head from cyness, and an equally aggravated night and day. instead of entertaining the dragon hun

“if you just say the word, i could take them both out right now.” day’s smile relaxed. “i’m pretty sure i can do that.” night waved her down. “no, no…” “you can ignore her. she talks to ghosts sometimes, which is really creepy.” now night tensed. “ghosts?” cyness stuck her tongue out. “ew. that’s weird.” night vibrated on the spot, refusing the urge to give in and grab cyness by her head, shaking the dragonling for being a huge brat. “not a ghost,” she returned, through gritted teeth and an artificial smile. technically, voscira wasn’

though it was heartwarming to see the two share their joy for having discovered new information about each other, night but raised a brow. part of it was in feeling neglected – she hadn’t been addressed yet – but the other was towards an insistence to move on with the quest. she wasn’t exactly sure how long to wait. so she broke their exchange with a clear of her throat. “i’m right here.” and cyness came to a stop. “who’s that?” “oh. her?” voscira looked unimpressed. “that’s nobody. she’s the killjoy that i have to lug around because nethag is here.” wha

now cyness was properly interested. “wow, she did?” “yeah!” and likewise, here was the first time voscira’s spirits seemed raised. “she told us about this other dragon, this big and scary nethag, and she was worried about you, so we’re here to make sure you get home safely.” the hunter didn’t end her speech there, however – immediately, she fished into her pouch to reveal the flower she’d collected. “and look!” cyness tilted her head from side to side, excited. “oh, wow!” “we heard that your mom’s feeling a little sick, and she told us about this rare flower that

night shook her head, and held back a warning. when voscira turned around, cyness had already zipped behind her, floating her way. it was a movement enough to scare the hunter slightly, to which day cheerfully giggled without fear of interruption. cyness tilted her head when she got close. “you were calling for me?” “um, yes! dear dragonling, izzlath’s your mom, isn’t she?” “mhm.” cyness did a somersault in mid-air that made voscira flush, her pupils widening. “you saw mom? you didn’t hurt her, did you?” if the question was out of genuine concern, it didn’t sound

“no worries.” and night let down her guard, finally, watching day walk off behind voscira, slowly overtaking her in speed. the look over her shoulder and the gentle wave helped ease the player further, and night let out a breath she hadn’t expected to be holding. cosmic devourer faded from her hand. “the waterfall’s just up ahead. cyness shouldn’t be too hard to find.” * though their pace had slowed, the journey towards the quest point for calming the soul was with ease. they appeared just down the road leading up to that secluded, calm spot, where the baby dragon had been praying at

(though, the spectacle was ruined with a series of harsh blinks from the tossed woman, in disbelief.) night threw her last few arts against the aggravated swarm nearby, quickly eliminating them. then, she was quick to scoop up the herbs, offering the pouch over to voscira as she approached. with a light shove, she placed them in the woman’s hands. “there.” night looked almost distant, head turning, distracted by the growls of their threats around them. “now don’t say i didn’t help out with getting the flower for izzlath, alright?” day shuffled up behind voscira, e

it was then that day jumped back, just as night started to withdraw, too, from their destination. “what’s wrong?” “i– i don’t know– ” but night did know, because she immediately spotted one of the lizards with a familiar leather pouch dangling from its maw, pacing in the other direction that voscira was leaping towards. she pointed to it before breaking into a sprint – “there! that’s our herb! one moment –” so as the player tore through the scattering reptiles, just in case they were quick to turn on her again when she assassinated their thief, day leaped into act

to the busied voscira, night hollered for her attention again. “we’re getting close now!” she was able to add, after reviewing their positioning on the map in a quick gesture. so too was their pursuitants thinning, and their true lead’s tracks easier to read when the crowd was less busy to deal with, so they cut through the moat sectioning off a different part of the jungle and dove back into the foliage to lose the uninspired stragglers, running towards their waypoint where visibility was much better for following directions. it was only after they’d broken into the canopy shelter t

and though she’d slipped, nearly falling into the water, the wave of lizards coming for her meant that she was able to jump onto a solid horde instead, before skipping her way out of the chaos, dangerously so. it was in poor taste to gather so many creatures up in their rush towards somewhere, trying to be discreet – but what could night do, having seen voscira charge head first into the fray? night last saw day at eye level, believing her hair to be her identifier, after noting her lack of cloak from the soak earlier. but a scan through the environment told her she wasn’t present as

and night wondered if voscira had expected things to follow suit prior, getting caught up in the chase of lizards as the player signaled day’s direction. it wouldn’t be difficult to catch the blonde in midst of the green and chaos, would it? “this way!” if voscira had shouted back an affirmative, night didn’t hear it. instead, all she heard was a choir of shrills and growls, and for a moment, the player imagined nethag behind them – the squad of monitor lizards definitely sounded ferocious enough. getting her kicks wet wasn’t exactly her most favourite thing in the world –

night did the next best thing – stealing the amazonian’s kills. “-- hey!!” she hadn’t expected it to work; in truth, the most important part of the plan was making sure voscira was unharmed, at least until they got to fighting nethag. but the added bonus of being chased again by drawing voscira’s ire was beneficial to their wade through the lizards. through snapping bites underfoot, the player got to work culling the entities bit by bit, though each swing was exaggerated to night’s distaste with getting close to nature. similarly, voscira’s own jabs were getting wilder by t

it was a little too late of a call out, but nonetheless, both outsiders went after the hunter in a hapless pursuit to keep her in check. if they weren’t careful, she would get injured beyond the means of the quest, and they would have to try it again with an awful memory. or, their advantage could quickly be erased if voscira messed up somewhere. and the only construct they both knew of not to make a mistake was day. so the latter started routing a path to the waterfall, bounding along and weakening the lizards up ahead. meanwhile, night darted towards voscira to tug her away from ch

“so long as it’s not nethag,” voscira had said, “i can handle the threat on my own. let’s go.” they did, cutting through the foliage with several strikes of night’s blade. day had her own similar means, like an apparition in the way she followed them. they eventually came into a passing stretch – a river bank, where several monitor lizards were basking under the sunlight. and they eyed the party carefully, with toothy grins. just as night was about to make a comment on having stumbled upon these creatures rather than the tree snakes she was expecting, voscira made a run for

“one should be enough,” night replied definitively, eying the quest log pulled open with two fingers. voscira looked like she’d wanted to say more, sighing, thoughtful, before starting to walk ahead. “let’s go pick up cyness, then.” “let’s.” and night wanted to follow, but couldn’t help looking at her map and their positioning. voscira was beginning to wander far as the player put two and two together, outlining a shortcut near diagonal rather than the L-shaped path their guide was going to take. so she stopped the party with a raised hand, and a hesitant, “wait.”

"uh," night started, hand to the back of her neck. did she? the two undead were finished off unceremoniously, once nari had passed the draw of the blade over to her. blue gashes opened up where red cloth once stood, and then they were no more. the player was more preoccupied with trying to recall what happened the last time she was present. she totally completed the quest, of course, that's how she knew. "... sword in the stone, maybe?" okay, not quite. night winced as she was lost in thought. whatever she said felt approximately right. even snapping her fingers wasn't help

ANDROMEDA | Approved. Total EXP: 15800 Total SP: 100 Current Level: 20 Notes: n/a.

so night looked to day, thumb still shifting on the back of her hand. and the construct bowed forward, slightly, returning the grip stronger. as faint as the rustling of brush they were surrounded by, when grazed by a weak breeze, she spoke in a hushed voice with a small smile. “do you trust me?” the player only needed to nod, before feeling the bump of day’s shoulder behind her own. “then forget this for the time being. take the lead – leave the rest to me.” their held hands were squeezed tight. then, night stepped forward with the shake of her head, trying to present hers

voscira kneeled, fishing out a knife. meanwhile, night hadn’t moved, simply speaking under her breath. “it’s the flower we’re looking for.” part of it was an attempt at focusing on the present, but mindfulness had never really been her strongest suit. and the hunter turned her head to face the player, as she made the fateful cut. “yes, it is. no thanks to you, by the way. it’s been me walking you around and finding the herb.” as she stood up, she tucked the flower away in a side satchel. “that, and you keep talking under your breath about something else.” night wasn’t sure

the quick bump back she’d gotten from her other was supposed to be reassuring. “well, you shouldn’t have worried.” day was trying to catch night’s gaze from being cast upon the ground. the more her hand was gripped onto the doppelganger’s, the more night wondered if she did seem like a lost puppy. “i’ve got your back, remember? i can take care of this. and you. you should be believing in my capabilities more, night.” night hated feeling like this, but the circumstances were honest and true. still, the play of her hand upon her companion’s was in frustration – not

voscira seemed to be comfortable taking the lead up to the waterfall, so night let her, because she was uneasy the entire walk towards it. when night’s hand reached out for day’s, it was in search of comfort and certainty – that her doppel wouldn’t start their transformation or regression back into the past. all the gemini could do was keep her distracted through absurd jests. “so,” day started, prompting the player to focus at the sound of her voice, instead of being cooped up inside her head. “why is it that you went with voscira earlier? i figured this was a fight you could handle

voscira took the crystals, but inspected them, suspect. and then examined night, just as suspect, too. but, without retort, she stormed off to collect her fallen equipment, frustrated as she did. “you know, it’s not courteous of you to grab someone off the middle of town and start talking to them about things that are difficult to believe. at least be gentler when you’re talking to somebody else.” night shared a glance with day, the latter cupping the side of her neck bruised from earlier. and the player sighed. “okay. yeah. i’m… sorry, about that.” “you should be,” came vo

izzlath dipped her head as she retreated into her cavern. meanwhile, as voscira was taking her leave, night grabbed her wrist, just as rudely as she’d left. “wait.” she was promptly acquainted with the tip of the hunter’s spear, the woman reeling backwards from the sudden show of force. “no,” voscira began, but was just as abruptly interrupted with a swift, painless kick to her hand – a disengagement maneuver from day. spear flown out of it, the weapon rolled on the ground beside her, and voscira had to wonder, just then, if there was an external force that was shifting her fates aro