Jake: "Feel any better?"

Cervo: "Yeah..."

They were standing around the hospital bed. Sincan rose from his seat.

Sincan: "Remember anything?"

Cervo: "Not even a scrap of it. Sorry."

Firil: "It's okay. Anyone would've been scared in that situation."

A doctor walks into the patients room, checking a report. He eyes Cervo up and down.

Doctor: "He seems to be perfectly fine. He's free to go."

Moris: "You sure?"

Doctor: "Well physically, he's fine. Mentally, he's fine. Just a bit of short term memory loss."

Moris: "I guess he might've dropped to the ground while we weren't looking."

???: "I don't believe my protege would be so clumsy."

Cervo: "Shuk!"

Sincan: "Protege?"

Shuk: "How are you doing, you little scamp?"

Cervo: "I was fine by myself, old man! Why are you here anyway?"

Shuk smacks Cervo over the head lightly.

Shuk: "Some idiot forgot to report in, that's why."

Firil whispers: "Seems like they're close..."

After same pointless arguing between Shuk and Cervo, Sincan interrupts.

Sincan: "As you can see, Cervo is fine. You don't need to be here anymore."

Shuk: "Nope, can't do that. From now on, to ensure my protege's safety, I will be coming along on his missions. At least for the foreseeable future."

Sincan: "There's got to be some form you have to fill to do that, don't you?"

Shuk: "Since I'm offering my services for free, your bosses decided to let me just do it."

Shuk grabs an apple from the bowl and starts eating it.

Doctor: "If there are no further problems, you must leave."

Firil: "Sorry, we'll be on our way."

Doctor: "No problem."

They make their way outside to the RV. It's loaded up with all the gear that they recovered from the camp site. Shuk eyes it up and down while whistling.

Sincan: "Well, we'll be making our way back to Sonh now. Clearly the woods are too dangerous."

The entire team frowns at the proposition and then a fierce battle begins. Much groaning and whining is had before a conclusion is reached.

Sincan speaks with a dry throat: "Fine Fine. We'll stay."

Firil and Moris start cheering and Jake smirks. Kos cracks a slight but quickly returns to a frown when she looks at Sincan.

Shuk notices the exchange of glares between Sincan and the woman.

Cervo: "I'll make sure not to cause any more problems for you guys."

They start talking among themselves about all the activities they plan on doing.

Sincan*: "It's like one problem keeps stacking on top of another."

Shuk gives him a pat on the back which makes Sincan recoil.

Shuk: "Cheer up...kiddo."

Sincan shoots him a glare. The rest of the team make their way into the RV. When all of them are inside, they start making arrangements.

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Firil: "We should avoid the campsite probably. Kos, do you have any ideas?"

Kos: "Can we just stay next to civilization?"

Firil: "Not a bad idea."

Shuk: "You could enjoy nature that way and even if you get bored, make your way into the city for some fun. Plus you don't have to pay rent on a hotel."

Sincan's attention was caught at the idea of not having to pay for a hotel room.

Sincan: "We're going with Shuk's idea."

----

2 hours later they arrived at the outskirts of the city of Gard and set up camp. Shuk was a huge help considering his position as an Emerald rank Solik.

Jake: "You're actually really good at this."

Shuk: "Well that's how it is when you're an Emerald hehe."

Everyone joined in as they cracked jokes and chuckled. Sincan was off collecting wood again. He had volunteered himself this time while Cervo tagged along. They were picking up small logs again when Sincan spoke up.

Sincan: "Any way you can make him go away?"

Cervo: "Not really. Come on Sincan, He's not a bad guy."

The straw that broke the camels back. Sincan dropped all the wood he was carrying and punched Cervo in the face.

Sincan said in a mocking tone: "He's not that bad, He's a good person, give him a chance! Screw that! How could you ever understand. You're some dumb kid idolizing him without ever considering who he truly is! Did you ever consider for even a second that he might not be the paragon of justice that you seem to think of him as!"

Cervo's eyes were darkened as he sat there on the ground. Sincan threw another punch.

It missed.

Cervo: "The only reason I wouldn't understand is because you won't tell me! I'm trying my best here to understand but if you won't cooperate how will I?!"

Cervo was actually trained and landed a kick on Sincan's face. He started bleeding from a cut on his lips.

Sincan: "He left my parents for dead! They were right there, he could have tried to get them out, try to help them so they could escape but he didn't! And the very next day he gets promoted! He's inhuman and I'll make sure he's treated as such!"

Cervo didn't bother readying his fists. He stood there in front of Sincan.

Cervo: "...And what happened to you?"

Sincan: "What do you mean?"

Cervo: "What did you do after their deaths?"

Sincan: "I grew up with my relatives."

Cervo: "What if you didn't have any. And the only person who would take you in was the person who saved your life?"

Sincan: "Wha-"

Cervo: "I guess you just can't see the bright side of things."

Sincan sits there on the ground as Cervo takes the logs back to camp.

Sincan*: "...Screw you...bright side of what?"

----

Sincan arrived a bit later at the camp site and made up an excuse.

Moris: "Sheesh, we're not that far from the city."

Sincan: "Mother nature calls, Moris."

Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. The night sky was filled with beautiful stars that lit up the area. Everybody was gathered around the campfire enjoying themselves. Kos seemed to be in a slightly better mood. Shuk decided to spice up dinner by telling a ghost story that frightened Firil, Jake and Cervo.

Sincan couldn't find any enjoyment because of what Cervo had said. Shuk excused himself and Kos followed him to the edge of camp where they talked.

The night sky was all Sincan could focus on. It drowned out his thoughts and let him relax.

Firil nudged him.

Firil: "Smore?"

Sincan: "Sure."

After a while, they put out the fire and returned to their respective tents. Sincan decided to sleep in the RV instead.

----

Shuk: "So, you talked with Cervo, huh?"

Sincan woke up abruptly. Shuk was sitting across from him in a chair. There was no one else in the cabin and it was dead quiet. Sincan couldn't quite make out Shuk's features or his mood from the lighting.

Sincan: "Don't even try it."

Shuk: "Wasn't planning on it. Just stay away from the kid."

Sincan: "And why should I?"

Shuk: "None of your business."

Sincan: "Oh I get it. Shuk Vinters got attached to a little kid, huh?"

Shuk: "I said stay away."

Sincan: "Got no reason to."

Shuk twitched a little when Sincan said that.

Shuk: "You're right."

He walked away from the RV and closed the door on his way back. Sincan decided to sleep in a tent afterwards.

----

The next day started off with Firil was taking a jog when she fell.

Firil*: "Oh damn it. Another pair?"

----

Jake: "Not good. Do you have any other shoes?"

Firil: "Those were my favourite pair..."

Shuk spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

Shuk: "No problem. Seems like a trip into the city is in order!"

They were joyful when they heard Shuk say that.

Firil: "Oh really?"

Sincan: "You guys go on ahead. I'll stay here to make sure nobody steals anything."

Moris: "You sure? Not really a team building exercise without the team leader."

Sincan: "I'll be fine. Bring me back some ice cream, how about that?"

Moris: "Fair enough. As long as someone doesn't get too greedy."

Moris stared at Firil. She gave a guilty laugh as they started preparing to make their way into the city. Sincan received a call and went into the forest to answer it.

Sincan: "Who is this?"

???: "Sondo."

Sincan: "Oh. The hell are you calling me for?"

Sondo: "Boss wants us to fire an employee because we're not doing so hot."

Sincan: "Shit. Any slackers on the team?"

Sondo: "None."

He thought for a while.

Sincan*: "It's just one guy so who cares."

Sincan: "Don't tell any of my employees this but fire that guy, the old Scalin man."

Sondo: "He doesn't seem to be a bad worker."

Sincan: "Just do a little something to his computer."

Sondo: "Will do, do I get a raise out of this?"

Sincan: "Yeah, I'll make sure it's a good one."

He closed the phone and breathed in deeply.

Shuk: "Doesn't sound very above board does it?"

Sincan felt a chill go through his body. He scanned the area until Shuk finally revealed himself. He waved a small device in front of him.

Sincan: "T-that wasn't...what you think it was."

Kos: "I think it was actually."

Sincan*: "Nonononononono."

Sincan: "So what? You try even releasing that recording and I'll make sure you're fired!"

Kos: "Not a threat when I can do the same by giving this over to the police."

Sincan recoiled at the thought.

Shuk: "Now this is how it's going to go. We keep this recording safe and sound and you keep away from Cervo and this lady here."

Sincan: "..."

Shuk: "I'll take that as a yes."

Shuk put the device back into his pockets and patted Sincan on the back as he made his way back to the group that was leaving for the trip.

Sincan felt worse than ever. So much to think about. So much to worry about.