The conversation and planning died down, but none of the hunters were getting up to leave the cabin. There weren’t many full buildings still left unscathed in the town, and the fires were still raging. None of the hunters wanted to move closer to it for the night, and they all just stuck around.

It didn’t take Roth long to realize that most of them weren’t planning on leaving at all.

If everyone’s going to stay here for the night… hm. This might be dangerous too, right?

Roth could remember the relief in Alisa’s voice when she’d woken up unscathed after showing up at the cabin and falling unconscious. Mist- both an immensely valuable resource and the method for Regarded to get stronger- could easily be absorbed off the fallen, or even stored in jars and sold.

He would be completely vulnerable the moment he fell asleep. Even if none of the townsfolk had Regards of their own, there was still a chance that something could happen overnight. Roth didn’t think it was likely, but he was too wary to put it to the test.

I don’t know what happened to Alisa, but I should try to protect her for now. Cundy… he is probably still around here, too. If he is possessed too, and shows up during the night, I might be the only one who’s able to face him.

Roth glanced over at the door to his own room, then to the one Alisa was currently sleeping in.

“Jean, I’ll move my stuff over to Alisa’s room. That should free up some more space for people to sleep.”

Roth grabbed one of the free chairs as he spoke, beginning to carry it toward the room the girl was sleeping in. One of the hunters- the only woman amongst them- looked up as she heard Roth start to speak, but then nodded when she saw him carrying the chair.

He carried it over and placed it in one of the back corners of Alisa’s room, then fetched the rest of his stuff that was still in his own room, moving it over next to the chair.

It’s still a bit too cold to close the door, I’ll wait a little while.

Before sitting down and starting his all night long watch, Roth leaned over the bed, lightly pressing his hand against Alisa’s forehead. He had covered her up in enough blankets, and her temperature finally seemed to be going back to normal. Her breathing was also much steadier than before.

Thank god she isn’t going to die, too…

An intense wave of emotion swept over Roth as he leaned against the bed. A thick, heavy mix of homesickness, loneliness, and a coating sense of fear of what the future would bring. Reaching up to his chest, the young man pulled off a small red star badge, then started slowly rubbing his thumb over the raised C in the center.

“Captain…”

Roth’s breath choked up in his throat as he imagined faces in his mind. Holl, Cundy, Bindon, and himself. Standing close together at a pier, smiling for an imaginary picture in Roth’s mind. Beneath his smile, Holl would have some brooding idea of a random detour from their planned route, and Cundy would be thinking of how to keep him from piloting their boat somewhere too dangerous.

Roth leaned heavily against the bed as the memories in his head grew stronger.

Bindon.. What would he have been thinking about? He never really talked much… but he always felt reliable. That changed the moment we found that island…

Roth shook his head, pushing back thoughts of the haunted chunk of land. It was like his mind wanted to unpack everything from the start, even before he left on his final trip with the crew.

“I… I didn’t even tell mom and dad…”

A faint whisper left Roth’s lips, and he buried his face in the blankets on the side of the bed. At some point, he’d gone down to his knees by the bedside.

“Mom, Dad… do you know that I’m gone? Are you looking for me right now?”

They’d never shown much interest in the maps Roth had dedicated much of the recent years of his life to learning, but when he first joined Holl’s crew and headed out onto the waters, they’d thoroughly checked over the crew’s history.

They cared. Roth knew they did, but after a few times of going out on short voyages, he’d stopped telling them every time.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Roth pushed his head further into the blankets, internally cursing himself. Their nagging was love. They wanted him to be safe and prepared, and he repaid them by vanishing without even saying farewell.

It had been over a week now, since they originally set sail. Four days since they were supposed to have been back on land. There was probably a lot of chaos around the city because of the loss of the Fitz at the same time, but that would only delay it for a couple days.

Someone would notice that they weren’t back, and if that person wasn’t one of Roth’s parents, it wouldn’t be long before they told them. Right now… they were probably running around in a panic, trying to find their son.

“I’m sorry.”

Roth finally cracked, and his shoulders shook as he cried into the blankets. He would probably never see his parents again. He’d never be able to apologize.

It was the same with Holl. He would never have a chance to thank the captain for what guidance he’d given Roth over the past few months. Bindon and Cundy, too. The latter might still be out there somewhere, but there was no way he was still the reliable first mate Roth knew.

“I’m sorry.”

Roth’s brain replayed everything that’d occurred in the past week, and his sobbing continued. He’d hardly had a moment alone, and when he did, he hadn’t had a chance to think about the state of everything.

For the past week, Roth was just trying to survive.

Now, he just cried. He ignored his newly upgraded Regard, and the one he’d received off of Holl. He just cried.

Cried until he fell asleep, still kneeling by the side of the bed, with his face buried in the blankets.

-

“Mmm..”

Alisa Hendricks unconsciously shifted as she slept, but a weight pressing against her arm and side kept her from moving. In her sleep, she tried to pull away from it, but her limbs felt too weak. A deep, empty feeling flowed through her veins, panic welled up as she realized she couldn’t move-

Alisa’s eyes shot open as she twisted away from the side of the bed, trying to escape from whatever was on her. She succeeded, but paused when she saw the source of her panic. Roth was lying face down, half way on the bed and kneeling on the floor.

His head had been lying on her arm, and now pins and needles were spiking in her hand. Shaking it, she slowly pulled herself up in bed until she was sitting upright. Her entire body felt weak, and the blue Regard dot on the back of her hand was still dim and gray.

“All of my mist is gone… I’m back at Base.”

The weakness she was feeling was mostly from the massive difference in strength, but not entirely. Even someone at Base would easily be able to push sleeping Roth away, but Alisa was having a bit of trouble pulling the blankets closer.

Whatever Cundy did, it didn’t just take her mist away. Her physical strength was massively depleted as well.

Similar to Roth, her mental state wasn’t steady either. This town, and the people in it, were the ones who took her in when no one else would. They were the ones who raised and cared for her, and now it was all gone.

She could faintly hear a few voices still murmuring outside of the room, around the table, but they didn’t bring her any comfort. None of them were the voices she cared deeply about. Part of her wanted to get up and ask if there were more survivors-or even to shake Roth awake and ask him, but she did neither.

Somehow, she already knew what the answer would be.

Alisa’s eyes narrowed as she listened to the quiet conversation outside. She couldn’t understand everything the hunters were saying, as the crackling of the fire was louder than some of their speech, and she started feeling wary.

“If that corruption… Roth’s friend, Cundy comes back, we’re both done for. It’s the same if one of these hunters comes in here and we’re both sleeping.”

Alisa could feel a little bit of strength returning to her limbs, and she slowly slid herself to the side of the bed. She grimaced as she felt the cold air outside of the blankets, then pulled the warmest one off of the bed.

Wrapping it around herself, she walked around the bed to where Roth had fallen asleep, then bent down and started pulling him onto the bed. Her heavily weakened muscles strained to pull him up, but she eventually succeeded. Unluckily for her, whenever Roth fell asleep, he slept like a rock.

Once she had him pushed into the center of the bed, she tucked him in with the remaining covers, then walked over and sat down on the wooden chair in the corner of the room. It was a lot colder than the bed, and much less comfortable.

Her mind began to wander minutes after she settled down. Her current state, what the town was like after the chaos, and her future plans all flowed through her mind. She gathered bits and pieces of the remaining hunters’ plan to leave the island come morning from the conversation outside.

As hours passed and the night drew on, the hunters in the main room eventually stopped talking and fell asleep. Somewhere in the house, one of them was still crying in their sleep, and eventually, it was the only noise left.

Alisa kept her eyes open, diligently watching the doorway. After an hour, there were some creaking and shuffling noises. Then, the sound of more wood being tossed into the stove, then more shuffling as the culprit of the noise headed back to their sleeping spot.

Some time after that, a couple hours before dawn, she heard movement again. A single set of footsteps made its way over to the front door of the cabin, then opened it and stepped outside. Alisa remained attentive, but didn’t hear anything else.

There were no more disturbances until dawn approached, when many of the hunters headed outside to relieve themselves, then came back into the warm cabin. By the time the sun touched the horizon, everyone except the group heading to the woods hunting shack to fetch foodstuffs was back in Roth’s cabin.

If someone was to search the light snow outside, they would find many footsteps haphazardly around the house, where the hunters relieved themselves. They were more concentrated near the outhouse.

The only set of footsteps leading away from the cabin were from the folks fetching food.