It was a calm and peaceful night. The air was fresh and cool. The temperature was perfect for a good night's rest. The only sounds that could be heard on this tranquil night, was the chirping of insects, the rustling of trees and the screams of bloody murder.

"WHY DO BAD THINGS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME??!!!!" Roland screamed as he began running from the small building sized bear chasing him.

His curse of bad luck didn't end there, as he then tripped on a stray branch, causing him to fall face first into the ground. Feeling the dirt on his skin, Roland wondered what he did to deserve such a fate.

[Half an hour earlier]

After revealing the secret she had kept to herself for so long, Olivia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow, I feel so much better now!" She said, placing her hands on her hips and smiling.

The two investigators beside her, looked at Olivia with a mixture of appall and confusion.

"I'm gonna kill her..." Elizabeth said, her face flushed with anger.

Roland stopped her, reminding her that they'll probably be dead anyway.

"What do you guys mean?" Olivia said with an innocent smile. It seemed that she had forgotten the massive creature in front of her.

The two investigators stared at her once more, however this time Roland allowed Elizabeth to kill Olivia. Unfortunately for her, though fortunately for Olivia, the fester had gotten tired of their banter.

"How dare you ignore my presence. I'll make your death slow and painful!" It said, lowering its head slightly as it growled.

The low, deep growl was so intense, it instilled fear into even someone like Elizabeth. Seeing the expressions of fear plastered on their faces made the Fester grin. Though, one stubborn investigator was still standing strong with a smug look on her face.

"The foolish hubris of man is often their downfall..." It retorted, lifting its claws up into the air.

After seeing the huge claw coming towards them, Roland turned to Olivia with fear in his eyes.

"P- please tell me you have a plan!" Roland said as he began trembling.

Olivia smiled before giving a thumbs up.

"Of course I do!"

Hearing those words, Roland's hopes began to rise once more... However after hearing her plan, Roland wished he had just shut his mouth. He was positioned right underneath where the claw would land, as Elizabeth and Olivia began running to safety. Turning to them, he noticed Olivia smiling and giving two thumbs up to him.

"Why... Does this always happen to me?" Roland asked himself, staring blankly at the two as they disappeared into the forest.

Noticing that he was abandoned by his teammates, the fester felt slightly sorry for him. It stopped its attack before lowering its head down to meet Roland's gaze.

"Poor child... Your friends have abandoned you..." It said, sounding rather sad.

Roland nodded, making a sad expression on his face. The bear lowered its head even lower, feeling pity for the young man.

"I understand... I shall make your death painless" the bear said, lifting its head.

Roland's expression quickly turned sour before trying to run away. Unfortunately, the Fester was much faster than him. It opened its mouth wide, it tried to eat Roland. As it's jaw came closer down to him, Roland closed his eyes in fear. That was when he heard metal being bit. Opening his eyes, he saw Elizabeth blocking the Fester's teeth using her attachment unit. She kicked the bear's nose, causing it to pull back and stagger.

Looking up at Elizabeth, Roland quickly hugged her leg. This action made Elizabeth slightly flushed, losing some of her composure.

"Sir please do-" but she stopped herself when she noticed Olivia coming from the shadows.

Regaining her cool, she quickly kicked Roland off, pointing her blade at him.

"Don't ever do that again..." She said coldly.

Roland rubbed the back of his head, laughing awkwardly in response.

"S- sorry...."

Olivia helped him up before asking him if he was okay. Roland nodded, telling her that he was just relieved that she didn't abandon him. A guilty expression grew on her face, as she began fidgeting with her fingers.

"R- right... I might have sort of kinda... forgot to tell you the plan... but I had to execute the plan spontaneously! Y- you understood the position I was in right? Right...?" Olivia said.

Roland closed his eyes as he smiled wearily at her defensive rantings.

"I- it's fine... I felt like you had a good plan. You're not the type of person to leave someone for dead" Roland said.

Hearing his words made Olivia feel a bit better about herself, especially after her self esteem drop from earlier. She patted his back and told him the plan as quickly as possible

"Okay I might have glossed over some things, but just run and keep running ok?!" Olivia said, holding his shoulders.

Roland nodded, exclaiming that running away was his talent.

"I've worked as an investigator for almost a year now... And somehow I haven't died yet..." Roland said, trying to hype himself up.

Olivia smiled before giving a knowing nod to Elizabeth. She responded with an eye roll but followed Olivia nonetheless.

Watching them head off again, fear set back into Roland. Turning to the Fester, he gulped as he noticed it had recovered. Taking a deep breath, he rolled up his sleeved and put up his guard.

"Just run... Run away like always"

[West of Leighbourn]

An elevator door opens, leading Katherine and Sebastian into the ground floor of the building.

"Here we are. The communications tent is on the opposite side of town. Are you up for the walk, cat boy?" Katherine asked, sounding smug.

Stolen novel; please report.

Leaning against the elevator wall, Sebastian rolled his eyes before getting up with a wince.

"I'm not a damn rabbit, you stupid fox..." Sebastian retorted.

Katherine couldn't contain her laughter after hearing his statement, making Sebastian feel even worse.

"I'm the last person you could call a fox... My dad's a fox though I'll give you that" Katherine said, wiping some tears as she continues to chuckle.

Rubbing the back of his head, Sebastian tried his best not to show embarrassment, knowing full well she'd take advantage of it.

"If you're not a damn fox, what the hell are you then...?" Sebastian exclaimed.

Katherine stopped dead in her tracks, before placing a finger on her chin. She looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to answer the question in her head. Sebastian was completely dumbfounded that she took his question of all things seriously.

"I... Can't get a read on this woman..." Sebastian thought to himself, sighing audibly.

After a few minutes of thinking, Katherine eventually settled on an answer she seemed pretty proud of.

"A beautiful white dove"

Sebastian was actually quite surprised by her answer, not expecting she would consider herself a bird of all things. Then he made a sudden realisation.

"The last time A squad and C squad worked together... I heard you call Oliver, ‘crow boy’... Do you... Like him?" Sebastian asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hearing that, Katherine looked at him with an extremely cold glare. It was so intense, Sebastian had to look away; as if he was staring at the sun.

"S- sorry... Geez... I just thought you did. I mean you're always close to him and you seem different when he's around... Besides, why else would you compare yourself to a bird?" Sebastian explained.

Katherine's gaze softened, though she was still a bit mad at him. To satiate her anger, she punched his arm, causing him to yell in pain.

"What was that for?!" Sebastian exclaimed.

Katherine flicked her wrist, blowing on it as if it was a smoking gun.

"I was angry, sorry... And no, I didn't say I was a dove because of Oliver gosh. My Chinese name is Míng-niǎo, which means songbird..." Katherine explained.

Sebastian's expression turned to embarrassment, as he tried to explain himself. Katherine didn't want to hear any of it however, walking away in annoyance.

"Hey don't just- geez..." Sebastian said, reaching his hand out before sighing.

He rubbed his head before briskly following her from behind. Katherine noticed him following her, but didn't mention it. She just continued walking, until she reached the entrance. Sebastian couldn't help but notice that the glass on the automatic door was completely shattered. He looked at Katherine with a disappointed glare as she stuck her tongue out.

Before walking through the makeshift entrance she had made earlier, Katherine turned her head to face Sebastian - a rather sly smirk on her face.

"It's not that I don't like Oliver... I just find him very interesting. Like… a very cute bird writhing on the ground, desperate to live"

Sebastian glared at her before rolling his eyes and walking past her. Bending forward a bit to avoid the broken glass from stabbing him, he looked at Katherine with an unimpressed look.

"What's so interesting about a guy like him? You know buying a sick puppy would effectively have the same effect? Actually... I think a sick dog would be more worth it…" Sebastian retorted.

Katherine scoffed before walking behind him.

"True... Honestly, he's kinda annoying at times by how pessimistic he is... Well, at least used to be. The thing I find interesting about him is that he's someone who doesn't do things for himself. He always thinks about other people, even if it goes against his own self preservation... Besides, his face is rather easy to see." Katherine said, dusting off her coat.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, before crossing his arms. He gestured his hand in a questioning motion, asking her to elaborate. In response, she walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. She gave him a very pleasant smile; however underneath, Sebastian could tell she was furious.

"Sometimes we should just ignore when people make mistakes ok, Mr. Alabaster?" Katherine said with a smile.

Sebastian could hardly breathe from the tension in the air, let alone respond to her question properly. All he could do was avert his gaze, and hope his expression was enough to convince her he was guilty.

She patted his shoulder before turning away from him. She stretched a bit before gesturing for him to follow her.

"It's a 46 minute walk from here to the camp. Hope you're healthy enough to walk" Katherine retorted.

Sebastian took a second to catch his breath as he stared her down with anger and fear. He clicked his tongue before hurrying behind her.

"Just don't get your wings clipped off"

[North of leighburne]

The fester, seeing Roland fall, paused its chase for a moment. It looked down at the man, feeling bad for him. It was like looking at a sad puppy who was whimpering in pain. Its empathy became its downfall however after being cut by Elizabeth's blade. It staggered for a moment, giving Elizabeth enough time to grab Roland and run.

"Thanks Lizzy..." Roland said, rubbing his face.

"Go kill yourself" Elizabeth retorted, weaving through the trees.

The bear Fester regained its composure, begining its chase once more. This time though, it used its abilities to slow them down. From the ground, branches erected to stop Elizabeth, but she just cut through them instead.

"Does this guy really think some pieces of wood would stop me?" Elizabeth asked, annoyed.

"W- well maybe it thought its plan wood work" Roland joked.

Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks, before turning to the bear Fester.

"You wanna take him? Cause if you're not gonna kill him, I am" she exclaimed.

"WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN!!!" Roland whined, beginning to cry from fear

Elizabeth grinned slightly before taking her sword and stabbing the Fester's eyes with it. It screamed if pain, causing the forest itself to shake.

"Idiot, making yourself bigger just makes attacking you easier" Elizabeth retorted.

The bear held its face, too distracted by the pain to react to her taunting. Elizabeth was a bit annoyed she was being ignored, but the constant wailing reminders Roland was giving her, made her snap back into reality. She grabbed him once more, quickly making her way to the entrance of a cave.

The two made their way in, seeing Olivia sitting on a rock, looking bored.

"Took you two long enough? You stopped to kiss or something..." Olivia retorted, sounding annoyed.

Hearing that, Elizabeth immediately dropped Roland face first into the ground, making him wince in pain. Olivia grimaced at the sight before standing up.

"Did you manage to find where you dropped my blade?" Olivia asked, sounding annoyed.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her question.

"I wouldn't be busy standing around if I did now would I?" Elizabeth snickered.

It took all of Olivia's strength to hold back from punching her, but she kept her cool to avoid any unnecessary fighting.

"Right... Well go back out there and find it then" Olivia said, pointing to the exit.

Crossing her arms, Elizabeth asked why she had to do it instead of Olivia. Balling up her hair in frustration, Olivia began to explain the plan once again.

"I can't go because I have no more energy. Using that punch took all my wind, and now I'm more useless than this guy over here!" She pointed towards Roland.

Roland grimaced, though he couldn't deny her accusations.

Unsatisfied with her answer, Elizabeth took a step closer to Olivia, looking down at her with indifference.

"And who's fault is that?" Elizabeth questioned.

Olivia grit her teeth before grabbing Elizabeth collar.

"And what's that supposed to mean huh?!" Olivia asked, fury in her voice.

Scoffing, Elizabeth pushed her away.

"Are you too dense to figure it out? I'm saying you're just a wannabe show off. A fraud" Elizabeth retorted.

Olivia's eyes filled with rage upon hearing those words.

"Say that one more time..."

Taking her up on her challenge, Elizabeth bend forward slightly to meet her gaze.

"A no good fraud, who didn't even unlock her descent energy the right way" Elizabeth said, smirking.

The moment she finished her sentence, Olivia slapped Elizabeth, before pulling her hand back with regret. Her lips trembled slightly, trying to utter an apology, but her pride prevented her from speaking. All she could do was walk away. Cradling her cheek as she left, Elizabeth gave Olivia the dirtiest of looks, as if she had killed someone she loved.

Afterwards, the room was silent. Both women didn't want to admit they were wrong, while Roland was too scared to do anything. It took all his courage to even utter a single, meek sentence out of his mouth.

"Just apologise..."

The two women shifted in their places. It was clear his words had an effect on them, but they didn't want to acknowledge it. From their point of view, they were in the right… The other one was the problem!

"She should say sorry first! She's the one who slapped me!" Elizabeth yelled, pointing at Olivia.

"Well I only slapped you because you insulted me!" Olivia yelled back.

The two women began yelling at her back and forth, blaming the other for their actions. It got to the point where they began physically assaulting each other.

"Well this all started because you lost my damn sword- hey what the hell?!" Olivia yelled, trying to push Elizabeth - who was trying to bite her - away.

Watching the two fight like rabbid beasts, Roland couldn't take it anymore. He got up from the ground, before running out of the cave.

"If it'll stop you from fighting, I'll find the damn sword myself!"

The two immediately stopped fighting, shocked at what they had just heard. It was laughable honestly. To think the coward of a man known as Roland Smith, would say such a heroic thing. It was obviously just a ploy to get their attention right? Right?

"You... Don't think he's actually going right?" Olivia asked, watching as Roland ran further away from them.

Elizabeth tilted her head slightly, watching in disbelief.

"No way... He wouldn't actually do that..." Elizabeth retorted, noticing Roland had already left the cave.

The two stared blankly at the cave entrance for a while before a rogue water droplet snapped them back into reality.

"He's gonna die!"