“See that?” Navi asks the attentive Crimson. “The edges in the mud are still defined, means its recent.”

Crimson stares down at the track, still having no idea what made it.

“But is this thing we’re tracking edible?” He asks, hoping the answer was yes. The thought of fresh meat overpowering his want to learn.

“Maybe,” She says with a shrug. “Best to just memorize the deadly ones.”

Crimson nods as he stands as well, following behind her as she continues trailing the beast. It’s only been a couple days since they left Stena but he felt they were all beginning to get into a rhythm. Trace never seemed to interact with them unless it was needed or he needed more tea, and while Navi would interact more readily she still mainly kept near her brother. Isolated as they were it made no difference, no qualms yet from either of them and as far as Crimson was concerned that was enough. He just wished Navi wouldn’t drag him into four-hour lessons when he was already hungry. Just as Crimson began considering eating his own foot, Navi throws her hand up.

“There.” She says, pointing at one of the larger trees in front of them.

Straining his eyes, he manages to spot a large reptilian creature curled around the tree. He also recognizes its long clawed feet to be identical to be the tracks they’ve been following. Crimson draws his bow but is stopped by Navi tapping his shoulder.

“You sure that’s the one we’ve been following?” She asks.

Looking closer he notices that its feet are absent of mud, looking back to the tracks he sees they go behind a tree to his left. He quickly scans his surrounds and spots another one of the lizard-like creatures hiding in brush a few feet next to him, this one sporting a muddy underbelly.

“You’re lucky these aren’t hostile or you’d have just fallen into a trap.” She says with a snicker.

“Says the one standing right next to me,” He retorts. “We, fell into a trap.”

“I’ve seen the creatures before, they’re harmless,” She says, crouching and snapping her fingers towards the one in the brush. “Not to mention they’re pretty cute.”

The reptile slowly creeps towards Navi, eventually nudging her with its head. “See?”

Crimson watches as the creature’s twin tails almost wag at her touch. Eventually he decides enough is enough and pulls out his knife, intent on getting dinner but is yet again stopped by Navi.

“It wouldn’t do to harm a creature that trusts you,” She says as she stands, shooing away the reptile. “We have enough dried meat for a few more days, let’s return.”

“As nice as that sounds, you aren’t the one Mon is going to threaten for coming back empty handed.” He says with a shake of his head.

“Well, that sounds like your problem doesn’t it?” She says as she begins walking back the way they came. “I’ll let you two go hunting from now on, if you feel like it.”

Groaning in annoyance he follows behind her, ready for the inevitable confrontation with Mon. Eventually they make it back to the camp, his stomach sufficiently empty due to the trek. A bit more secure than their recent campsites, the dense forest and overhang they were next to leaving them fairly covered. Looking around he sees an expectant and very hungry Mon staring daggers at him.

“Nothing?” Deidra asks, dragging Crimson’s eyes away from the predator.

“Well, we had something but Navi decided we’d just starve.” He says, sitting down next to her…and possibly using her as a barrier between himself and Mon.

“Well, that’s a revolutionary hunting tactic.” Echo praises, an unhealthy amount of sarcasm included in her wording.

Crimson looks towards Mon and finds her staring at Navi instead, who is happily chatting with her brother. Sighing in relief for having deflected the blame, he leans back on the outcropping but a soft whistle gets his attention.

“No fresh meat,” Deidra apologizes as she hands him a bowl, a vegetable broth with salted meat mixed in. “Should taste fine.”

Crimson nods in thanks, seeing everyone chowing down he begins to do so as well. Despite the limited ingredients the food didn’t lessen in quality, Crimson’s curiosity on how Deidra learned to cook so well increasing by the day. With a solid meal packed away, Crimson burps in satisfaction. Everyone else had finished as well and were making preparations for sleep, Trace having already claimed first watch. Shaking his head, he heads to his bag and sits down.

“I’ll take watch after Trace,” Deidra says as she sits down next to him, placing her weapons carefully in front of her. “I haven’t been able to do thorough maintenance yet.”

“It’s only been a few days, you sure you need to do maintenance?” He asks, leaning on his elbow.

“I’m sure my equipment is fine, but it’d make me more comfortable if I could confirm it,” She says. “Please?”

“Yeah, no problem,” He says, not seeing any problem with it. “Just make sure you tell Trace.”

She nods, both in confirmation and thanks. Crimson nods back as he leans down on his bag, staring at the dense forest above him. Eventually the calm lull of the fire and forest noises usher him to sleep, his mind relenting on the nightmares once again.

--------------------------------------

Echo opens her eyes with a slight jump, the memories leaving as quick as they came. She rolls to her back and stares up at the trees, the dim rays of light piercing the thick foliage allowing her un-mutated eyes to see clear enough. Coughing a silent cough, she rubs her neck in irritation and sits up. Looking around she spots the unconscious forms of her teammates, save for Navi and Mon. Eventually getting to her feet she walks to the tree Mon had been sleeping next to. She can clearly see deep claw marks etched into the wood, as well as the blanket having been slightly cut.

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Echo shakes her head; at least happy she didn’t rip the blanket apart. Looking up the tree she notices the claw marks leading into it and deeper into the forest. A beam of light hitting her eyes alerts her to the short length of time before they have to leave. With a sigh she begins walking into the forest in hopes of finding the cat-like companion.

The woods are as welcoming as ever, fortunately any of the bugs or sharper plants are easily moved aside by Echo’s maul or blocked by her armor. Pushing through yet another thicket she stops in a small clearing and looks around for any sign of Mon. A subtle vibration in the tree line causes her to turn around. Looking up she manages to see a slim shadow dart out of sight.

“Mon!” Echo yells, her vibration shuddering the leaves ever so slightly. “We have to get going soon!”

Getting no answer Echo continues to scan the trees but finds little more than empty branches. Just as she was about to give up she feels a rhythmic vibration start heading towards her. Echo draws her hammer slowly, hoping it was just Mon. As the vibrations continue to close in Echo holds her weapon tight. Staring ahead at the brush she expects a monster, but instead what bursts out is a dog sized, dual tailed lizard. The creature sprints past Echo with no intention of stopping. Echo looks at it for a second before turning back to the brush. A slight flash of movement causes Echo to dive to the ground, the lizard not having the same luck. Echo rushes to her feet and zeroes in on the perpetrator.

“Oh, hi.” Mon says, not concerned about the fresh blood coating her claws.

“Hi? Hi!” Echo yells, the leaves shuddering a bit hard this time. “What kind of hi is that? Are you insane?”

“Sorry, but you moved out the way so its fine!” Mon excuses. “I even got the lizard.”

“That’s not the point!” Echo yells, rubbing her temples in frustration. “Why were you ev…Please tell me you didn’t do this why you were on watch.”

“Of course not,” Mon says with a shake her head. “I’m not going to leave you all unguarded.”

“Ok, just…please tell one of us before you go do this again.” Echo.

“Were you worried about me?” Mon attempts to tease.

“Duh! I wouldn’t be out here if I wasn’t.” Echo says, crossing her arms in annoyance.

“Why worry? You know I can handle myself.” Mon probes.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t get into trouble,” Echo explains. “So don’t go out without telling me.”

“Wasn’t it just ‘don’t go out without telling one of us’? Which one is it?” Mon asks in confusion.

“Both!” Echo yells in frustration.

Mon nods slowly, not wanting to anger Echo any further. Before either can continue a pair of footsteps stop them.

“Hello?” A worried Crimson says as he appears from the forest. “Are you two ok? I felt the vibrations all the way from camp.”

“Is the food ready?” Mon asks, probably more excited then she should be.

“I think so, Deidra just started but sh…and she didn’t even let me finish.” Crimson says with a sigh, Mon having left after his first few words.

“Come on, I’m pretty hungry too.” Echo says as she begins walking back.

Crimson shakes his head but follows Echo nonetheless, his own stomach rumbling slightly as well.

A few minutes of walking later, they reach the camp just to see Mon happily scooping the remnants of a bowl into her mouth.

“Couldn’t even wait?” Crimson says as he sits down.

A shrug from Mon is all he gets as he sits down.

“It’s good to see you’ve returned,” Trace says, walking over to him hurriedly. “I believe we may have to hurry along, Navi has found something less than comforting.”

Navi looks away from nitpicking Deidra’s cooking and towards her brother. “While I was out, I noticed a trail through the forest. It was a trail made by a group of people, seems only a few days old.”

“And that matters why?” Mon asks questioningly.

“While unlikely, it’s possible we may encounter a hostile group further on our way,” Trace explains. “Few people with good intentions travel the forest rather than the road.”

“So we are to hunt them?” Deidra questions.

“No, we’re simply warning you,” He corrects. “I’m hoping we avoid them entirely, best not to waste energy on anything but our current assignment.”

“If we don’t deal with them then won’t they cause issues for others along this path?” Deidra questions further. “If we have the chance to deal with them then shouldn’t we?”

“Like I said, we will not be paid for eliminating them and so we will not put forth effort to do so. It is unlikely we will find them and unlikelier still that we will be equipped to deal with them,” Trace argues in an authoritative voice, not allowing room for argument. “The tracks were too large to be made by a small enough group to be dealt with by us directly.

Trace looks around, seeing no opposition he continues. “That’s enough of this, be prepared if we encounter them during our path. We are to avoid them if possible and retreat should we be found. Collect your equipment…we leave in five.”

Not allowing any more discussion he sets off towards his bag, leaving the rest of them in silence.

“I swear he loosens up after a while.” Navi says unconvincingly.

“What do you define as a while?” Crimson asks unconvinced.

“Whenever he loosens up.” She says matter-of-factly.

Crimson shakes his head, deciding not to think about it. Handing his bowl back to Deidra he walks back towards his stuff and begins packing. Within three minutes he’s set and ready to go, turning he can see the same for everyone else. Just in time as Trace walks past them and towards the road, not bothering to talk to them.

As they all fall in line they remain in silence, aside from Navi and Trace occasionally speaking briefly. An hour of this later Crimson finally breaks the silence.

“I’m hoping after this job we can do something on our own accord,” He says, not bothering to hide it from the senior members. “Would be nice not to have a leash.”

“Following orders isn’t always the easiest thing, but it’s necessary,” Deidra comments. “Fey did say we’d have autonomy outside of these missions though.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see if that’s true after this one,” Echo says, an underlying hostility in her tone. “Stena isn’t exactly known for being understanding after all. It’s possible they’ll just run us ragged.”

“Nope, Fey wouldn’t let that happen.” Mon says confidently.

“Not to you maybe.” Echo says.

Mon goes to argue but stops before the words can exit.

“Yeah…” Mon says, not bothering to give false promises.

“Can we stop talking about this?” Crimson asks slightly depressed. “I’d like to be optimistic, not drearily realistic for once. I say we get some more mutations after this.”

“That would benefit us greatly, I’m not sure on what exactly would fit us though.” Deidra says with a thoughtful expression.

“I’ve got some ideas; I’ve been thinking about getting some more myself, just didn’t know how to go about asking.” Echo interjects.

“Yes! Hunting trip once we’re back, I can’t wait!” Mon yells in anticipation.

“We shouldn’t skip on training though,” Deidra says, earning a disapproving groan from Mon. “I actually have a proposition that could work.”

Everyone looks at her in interest. She then points at Mon, who’s still moping, and Crimson.

“Practical training right now isn’t good but Crimson still requires training in stealth and traversal,” She explains. “It wouldn’t do for him to be stuck to the ground this often.”

“The stealth I agree with, but traversal?” Crimson asks in confusion.

“Oh, I know what you mean,” Mon says with a grin. “I think that’d be fun.”

“Should I be scared?” He asks no one in particular, sudden worry in his face. “Because I’m terrified right now.”