Sitting on the back of a fuzzy pink bear was Sera in the lead, followed by Iris and Bo at the back. The bear ran fast, weaving through the foggy forest dodging trees or bushes that blocked the path and it occasionally had to hop around as paths ended and a new gravity took over.

Bo’s face was still reeling in a multitude of emotions, not sure which one should take priority over the fact he killed someone. Should he be glad since they were enemies? Should he be sad he took a life? Maybe even angry that he was debating this with himself the entire time.

‘It was self defense right?’ He thought.

“Bo are you okay?” Iris turned her head to see a down ridden expression on Bo's face, in response she reached behind her and placed her hand on his hand. “Sorry for yelling at you earlier, I was just surprised.” She consoled him.

“That's fine… I'm just not sure what to feel. They were our enemies right? Even though it was an accident, it should be fine right?” Bo dumped out his thoughts to her.

She used her thumb to rub the back of his hand and smiled at him. “I can see where you might feel bad, you killed a man after all… but you also did it for the right cause. They were trying to capture us and while you might feel bad at first— even if it was an accident— what you did was fine.” She explained her opinion on the matter.

“They were attacking us, and if they— even by accident— hurt or killed one of you, I'd do anything to get revenge.” Iris said. “Besides us, everyone else on the bridge is either an ally or an enemy, and we cant take enemies lightly. I can foresee us having to… kill more enemies in the future.”

“You're right, I'm sorry for getting all emotional about this.” Bo replied but immediately felt Iris’s finger tightly dig into hand.

“No no no don't say that!” Iris shook her head. “I'm not trying to downplay how hard it is to come to terms with, you take your time dealing with your emotions. Me and Sera are here for you if you ever need us okay?”

Bo finally smiled. “Thank you.” Then he turned his hand over and held Iris’s. The two didn't let go and silently spent the next quarter of an hour holding hands as Sera’s bear kept running further away.

Finally Sera made her creature companion come to stop, then everyone leapt off the bear and found a nice tree to sit down and relax by. They ate some food, drank some water, took a washroom break, before they continued heading back towards the beast glades.

They used the compass that Madeline had given them to easily find the right direction, and just kept running. With the speed at which the bear ran, they should get out soon but they didn't know how far into the forest they actually were.

Eventually though, Sera could feel her companion beast tire out and decided to camp it out and catch some rest before they continued. They were not in much of a rush, the Rookie Hunters hopefully couldn't catch up and find them that easily— there was also Zorn they had to deal with as well so they should be in the clear.

They laid out their tent somewhere discreet and quickly hopped into it, the bear unfortunately was too big to join them so Sera sadly unsummoned it. They all packed themselves in and tried their best to sleep— some more easily than others.

Bo could already hear the sounds of Sera sleeping and while he tried to copy her, he just couldn't fall asleep. Too much had happened today that was overwhelming.

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They arrived at a special trial challenge, completed it after tough battles and witnessing fellow crosser’s gruesome deaths, the met an apostle, got their special trial rewards, fought the rookie hunters, found out Zorn was a little bit more cold blooded than they thought, and had spent hours running away. That was a lot in one day.

All the worst and best scenes of the day kept cycling through his mind over and over again in a never ending movie playing only in his own head.

“You still awake?” He heard the whisper of Iris beside him and turned his head to see her own face only inches away from his. She was laying on her side staring at him with sleepy eyes and Bo copied her by turning over onto his side and faced her as well. His heart skipped a beat but he managed to nod to her while they stared at each other.

“Me too.” She slowly shifted her body closer to Bo’s until her head was basically resting on his chest, he could even feel her tiny legs press against his own.

He didn't know what to do in this situation but he felt the most appropriate thing he could do was wrap his free arm around Iris’s back and pull her a little closer. He couldn't see it, but Iris was blushing with a sleepy smile, she closed her eyes and let the warmth of their embrace fill her body.

She curled her legs in between Bo’s and the two stayed like that, both feeling things they hadn’t thought they would explore today. While it was a new distraction for Bo’s mind, this time it helped keep away the bad thoughts keeping him awake and calmed him down enough that his exhausted body gave in and he fell asleep.

***

“Good morning sleepy heads!” Sera's voice woke Bo. “We should be close to the beast glades so let's hurry before anything bad happens.”

Bo rubbed his eyes and looked up to see the shit eating grin of Sera staring down at him and Iris who were practically entwined with one another. Their legs were overlapping, their arms embraced each other and Iris’s smaller frame seemed to perfectly fit next to Bo’s chest.

Iris awoke a second after him and once she saw the situation she was in, she bolted up with a bright red embarrassed face. “I-it's not what it looks… well… stop looking at me like that!” She yelled at Sera who couldn't stop grinning at them.

“Sorry sorry, it's just funny to see you act so embarrassed!” Sera patted Iris’s head, “Good for you!”

“What does that mean?” Iris asked, not sure what she meant by saying those words.

“Haha don't worry about it! Hurry up so we can get out of here, I wanna take a bath!” Sera laughed and hoisted Iris onto her feet. “Eat something quick and then we go!”

Sera walked out of the tent leaving the two of them together alone. They locked eyes and both blushed with awkward smiles on their faces, whatever emotions they were feeling could wait for later. It was time to get out of this god forbidden forest!

After a quick breakfast, they hopped back on Sera’s bear and took off, still heading back to their home which shouldn't be too far away.

Thankfully the rest of the journey was uneventful. It only took them another three to four hours until they suddenly felt the light of the sun caress their skin, something they hadn't felt in a long time. It was a little surprising when they crossed through the barrier between sections because when they did, they were upside down.

They all fell towards the ground but with quick maneuvering from Sera’s bear, it used its wings to somersault and catch everyone on its back before it peacefully glided along the warm air of the beast glades.

From up here they could spot beasts all around, hunting for prey, simply resting in the grass or having a casual stroll. Besides beasts they spotted the occasional crosser and waved at them from above, getting a few waves back.

They could spot Gladesdale quite easily from the air. They redirected towards it and should arrive in only a few more minutes of flying.

Once they got in a certain range, Sera made sure to lower her bear to the ground and not fly over top of the gates because she knew the guards would attack them if they did that.

Once her bear reached the ground, it came to a stop after taking a few mighty steps and In front of them all was the familiar gates of Gladesdale— this time though, they weren't going in smelling like shit.