"Fucking run!"

Dragan didn't need to say it twice.

In one smooth motion, Ruth charged at him, slung him over her shoulder, and began sprinting off towards the woods, red Aether sparking along the ground with every single footfall. Serena did much the same with the remaining rebel -- but a little gentler, more piggyback ride than sack of potatoes.

Dragan suppressed nausea as his vision bounced around, the ground beneath him a blur. He looked upwards as much as air pressure would allow -- they weren't out of the woods yet. Well, they weren't in the woods yet, but those were the same thing given the circumstances.

The avian Guardian Entity swooped down, claws clearly poised to pluck off Dragan's head just as it had with the female rebel, but Ruth didn't miss a trick. Just as the bird-thing was about to make contact, she swung around on her heel, slamming her other leg into the creature with a devastating roundhouse kick. The Entity went flying into a tree in a broken pile, and disappeared from view a second later as they entered the forest.

Dragan didn't know how Ruth managed to run at this kind of speed without crashing into any of the foliage. Countless massive trees rushed past them as they ran, an arboreal network that was as much a labyrinth as a natural formation. Dragan had no doubt an ordinary person would get lost walking through here, nevermind running.

There was no time to waste appreciating Ruth's talent, however. The barks of things that were definitely not dogs sounded out behind them, quickly growing closer.

Serena, with the terrified rebel clinging to her back, wasn't nearly as fast as Ruth -- she was just as adept in close combat, but her speed left something to be desired.

"Miss Ruth!" Serena cried out, voice nearly swallowed by the rushing wind. "They're catching up!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a massive skinless creature -- quadrupedal, with a head that was little more than teeth -- leapt out of the foliage behind her, its jaws only barely missing Serena's skull. The girl rolled as the beast jumped above her, the rebel getting a faceful of dirt in the process.

Again, Ruth span on her heel -- but this time the Guardian Entity was faster, firing out one of its spear-like teeth with devastating force. The projectile missed Serena, but the rebel peering over her shoulder wasn't quite as lucky.

The tooth struck him in the eye socket like a harpoon, coming out the back of his head and causing him to crumple down onto the ground. Serena narrowly avoided the same fate, Bruno taking over and deflecting the Entity's second shot with a well-timed forcefield.

Bruno faced off against the canid, a barely visible shield hovering over each of his hands. He glanced towards Ruth and Dragan as if for guidance.

"We've got to keep moving!" Dragan shouted in answer. "They'll all catch up with us if we let them slow us --"

He was interrupted as Ruth leapt high into the air, gripping the bark of the nearest tree with a hand to halt her ascent. The space they'd just occupied was now filled with some kind of pale white smoke -- and as Dragan looked down at it, he saw what looked like a flap of skin floating through the air, belching more of the gas every few seconds.

Dragan hadn't gotten out unscathed, either -- his left arm had been touched by the gas, and as he watched in horror the limb turned grey and lifeless, a feeling of utter numbness making itself known in his body. His arm didn't feel hot or cold, exactly -- it was more like there was no temperature at all. The useless limb hung limp at his side.

Two enemies. The dog and this skin thing. If they took care of them -- quick -- they could still escape.

How could they do it? They'd --

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Before he could even register what had happened, Dragan's train of thought was again brought to a grinding halt. The trees shook as the booming noise came closer and closer, birds fleeing up into the sky. Not explosions -- footsteps. Something truly massive was headed their way.

Many pairs of green glowing eyes appeared in the darkness between the trees, glaring at Dragan and Ruth with obvious murderous intent. Far above, the avian Entity had returned, circling their position like a vulture.

"It's fine," Dragan breathed quietly, still trying to come up with a plan. "We'll just... we'll… um…"

"Dragan," Ruth said from beside him, her voice firm. She sounded more serious than he'd ever heard from her. "Answer me honestly. Have you got a plan to get us out of this?"

His initial reply was almost automatic. "Of course I --"

No.

"No," he corrected himself. "No, I don't."

Ruth was silent for a moment, even as the skin Entity wafted closer. Dragan fired a Gemini Shotgun at it, but it simply twisted in the air as the projectile zoomed past. This was a thing that could ride the wind, clearly.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Before the skin-thing could reach them, Ruth jumped down from the tree and landed next to Bruno. The forcefields Bruno had created around the canid Entity were acting as something of a prison, restraining it to such a degree that it could do little else but twitch and growl -- but the moment something else was the focus of Bruno's attention, Dragan knew it would break free.

All this was accomplishing was stalling -- and the time for that had long passed.

"Bruno," Ruth said, peeling Dragan's half-limp form off her back. "Take him."

Bruno glanced towards her, his brow furrowed. "What?"

Dragan's head snapped in Ruth's direction. "What?!"

Ruth took a deep breath. "We're not all getting out of this. I'll piss 'em off, lead 'em on a chase, while you get back to the rebel base. I'll meet up with you later."

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Bruno's eyes remained fixed on the canid Entity, but he was gritting his teeth so hard that Dragan could hear it. "You'll die."

The slightest smirk returned to Ruth's face as she threw Dragan onto Bruno's back. "Nah," she said. "This is what I'm good at."

She went to turn away, but stopped as a grey, shaking hand grabbed her by the arm. It took Dragan a second to realize it was his own hand. He reached down from Bruno's back with all the meagre strength his body would still afford him.

"You'll die," he mumbled. "They'll kill you."

"They'd have to catch me first." Ruth's smirk didn't fade, but it still didn't ring true. Like a smile painted on a doll.

He couldn't relent, then. "You promised me you'd show me there was more to people," he said. "I-I'm still waiting. You can't show me that if you're dead. So… so don't die. Understand?" His grip tightened as much as it was able, but slipped away all the same.

Ruth's smile became just a tad more genuine. "I understand."

And with that, she was on the move. The canid Entity was stabbed to death with one of its teeth, the skin Entity smashed out of existence with the swing of an uprooted tree, and the bird Entity zoomed after Ruth as she disappeared into the undergrowth.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Reluctant to tear his gaze away from the spot Ruth had disappeared from, Dragan spoke to Bruno.

"Let's go."

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Nael held his shamisen in both hands as he strode through the destruction, ready to counter any traps the crimson assassin may have laid.

The section of the camp the 'ambassadors' had visited was in ruins, medics scurrying to and fro as they tended to the wounded. Tents reduced to tatters, fires blazing… Abram had suffered from a serious head wound after smashing into that bookcase, and had been spirited off to the medical tents as soon as the situation had calmed down.

He should have expected this result. This was what came from trying to negotiate with the dishonest.

The majority of the Regulators stationed here with Guardian Entities had gone to pursue the enemy -- with sheer numbers and sheer strength, Nael didn't imagine their assailants would be able to stay on the run for very long at all. If nothing else, this devastation would soon be avenged.

Nael turned to look at Grena, to ask her opinion, but she wasn't there. Of course. She'd gone to pursue 'Dragan Hadrien' too. He should have expected as much from his oldest friend.

The forest folk had never been treated kindly by the people of Coren. When the woods that covered the world had gotten in the way of the city's expansion, they had been cleared away -- along with the people that had called them home.

Grena was a rare exception to the rule: most forest folk would gladly crucify a Regulator rather than defend them as she had. He didn't deserve such kindness.

Some would have called it naivety, but Nael Manron couldn't help but feel a deep and overwhelming sadness as he looked at how this situation had concluded. War was only to be expected -- they were warriors, after all -- but had there really been no other way?

Shamichoro disappeared from Nael's hands. He did not need it right now -- a Guardian Entity was a tool of violence.

Right now, what they needed was to rebuild.

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The route Bruno had taken back to the tunnel system was long and winding, but they eventually found themselves once more at the discrete mouth of the cave. That girl, Lily Aubrisher, was already standing there, arms crossed as she waited for their return.

Her brow creased as she looked at the two of them, Bruno finally letting Dragan off his back. The grey numbness on his left arm was finally beginning to clear, colour and sensation returning to the limb.

"Where are the others?" Lily asked, but her tone suggested she already knew the answer.

Dragan glanced down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

The rebel leader bit her thumb with such force it seemed as though the digit would come clean off. Dragan couldn't exactly blame her -- this was an utter mess of a situation.

"Blaine too?" she asked after a moment, her voice guilty as she did so -- even now, she had to focus on the most valuable of the resources she'd lost.

Bruno opened his mouth to speak, massaging his shoulder with one hand. "She went to distract the enemy, led them on a chase. We don't know if she's --"

"She's fine," Dragan said with surprising firmness. When the other two looked to him, he meekly elaborated: "She's strong. She can handle herself."

"But Eli and Mare are dead," Lily sighed, sitting down on the ground and returning to the chewing of her thumb. "Fuck. Fuck."

The rebels hadn't been in such dire straits before -- Dragan could tell that just by looking. Otherwise, their leader would have been more than used to the deaths by now.

It wasn't his usual role, but Dragan felt obliged to raise some spirits here. "It's not all bad. They're still disorganized after the attack -- this is our chance to break through their ranks, make a run for it. Do you know what route we'll take?"

The thumb left Lily's mouth, and she turned her head over her shoulder to look into the darkness of the cave. "About that…"

Echoing footsteps came from within the stone tunnel, accompanied by a familiar, annoying-sounding voice.

"'Do you know what route we'll take?' That ain't the question, Mr. Hadrien. That isn't the question you need to ask at all, yeah?" it said. "The real question is…"

The figure stepped out of the darkness, sunlight shining off of their prosthetic arm.

A smirk returned to Bruno's face, and -- infuriatingly enough -- Dragan found his own lips twisting in relief. It had taken long enough, after all. They'd been kept waiting.

Skipper grinned at his reception.

"The real question is," he said. "How are we gonna make our way out?"

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"I really thought you were a goner," said Dragan, biting a chunk from a piece of carrot-like fruit as he looked Skipper up and down. "Guess the big guy's Guardian Entity is good at what it does."

"Ha!" Skipper laughed -- with more than a bit of a wheeze to it. "Me, die? I don't mind telling you this, kid, but I've never died even once in my life."

Dragan rolled his eyes. "What a feat."

They'd moved back to the cave Dragan had originally woken up in, Skipper taking a seat on a loose piece of rock while Lily went away to find the best location for their escape. The four of them -- Skipper, Dragan, Bruno and Serena -- were alone for what felt like the first time in a while.

They were still missing one person, though.

Serena poked Skipper on the cheek, her jab obnoxiously sharp. "Maybe he's a zombie," she speculated, her other finger on her lips. "That's why he's not dead."

"I'm just not so easy to kill," Skipper replied with more than a trace of smugness, thumping his metal fist against the glyph still hovering over his chest. "And this thing doesn't hurt, either. I'm still mending, but I'm over the fifty-percent mark, baby! Feels good to be back."

"I'm sure it does," Dragan laughed. "By the way, since I've got hold of you right now, can I ask you a quick question?"

Skipper grinned back. "Sure thing, my good pal!"

"How come you kidnapped me?"

Skipper blinked, the grin fading from his face. Serena cocked her head quizzically, finger still on her lips. Dragan's smile spread just a bit wider, fake friendliness consuming his face.

"You, uh…" Skipper chuckled awkwardly. "You sure this is the best time for that, haha?"

Dragan didn't blink. "Sure I do. You're not exactly going anywhere. You only gave me half an answer back on Taldan, Skipper."

He dropped the fake smile.

"Time for the other half."