"Yeah, Farah, you should listen to him," Saul teased.
"Remind me, Saul… who was the one that entered the gateway and took off sprinting in the complete wrong direction to get us lost in the first place?" Farah shot back casually as she continued forward. "And which one of us was busy trying to chase you down so we didn't get separated and get into even more trouble with Rosalind that she forgot to place a veil over the gateway for the first time on a mission ever?"
Aiki kept awkwardly silent as Saul and Farah argued with each other, but snickered a bit to himself. He was pretty used to causing petty arguments like this, after all. They yawned a bit and kept following as well as they could, looking around as they did so to try and avoid getting even more lost. Not like I know where I started off in this stupid tree labyrinth anyway…
Suddenly, Farah stopped dead. The two with her saw nothing, but Farah didn't either. Narrowing her eyes, she waved her hand sharply through the air. The veil's power dissolved, but still nothing was there. A bolt of panic struck her in the chest as she whipped around to face Saul, almost accidentally striking him in the face as she did so. "How sure are you that you killed the Burned One?" she hissed.
Saul's eyes widened. "I'm pretty sure I did. Why? What's wrong?"
Farah's eyes darted between Saul and Aiki. "It isn't here," she answered, struggling to remain in control of her emotions as fear gripped her. "It's gone."
Aiki stumbled a bit when Farah suddenly halted, using his tail to keep his balance. They huffed a bit, peering around Saul's side to try and see what the holdup was. They couldn't see anything at all in the way, after all. He glanced between Saul and Farah as they spoke, trying to make sense of whatever was going on. His heart sunk when he finally got it. "Huh? It's gone?" They asked to clarify, sounding worried and frustrated. "Mmmnhh… do we really need to take it with us? Like… if the veil is still here, we can still try and find the barn from here, right?"
"Yes, we need it," Saul replied with a worried sigh.
"If we don't come back with it… If we leave it in the First World, we might as well… Rosalind will… If it somehow gets loose again…" Farah struggled to finish a sentence. Her fear, frustration, and distressed emotions almost seemed to flood out of her like invisible waves. Her hands trembled, like she was holding back a storm beneath her fingertips.
Saul had rarely ever seen her this worried before. She always kept her emotions in check, especially because she was a fairy, and her emotions channelled her powers. "A fairy must be clear minded," she always told him. "Distraction can cause magic to be erratic."
Without really thinking, he did the best thing he thought he could do. He reached out and gripped her shoulders to give her something solid to focus on. "Farah, relax," he urged, looking her fiercely in the eyes. "We'll find it. I promise."
"You gotta calm down… I literally have no idea what you're trying to say." Aiki insisted, toying with his long ears, which twitched a bit at his touch. "Look, everything's gonna be fine, alright? We'll find the burned thing, and we'll find the barn, and we'll get out of this horrible, stupid forest." They looked around with an exasperated sigh, trying to find some trace of where the creature had gone.
"Since I've got the whole fox thing going on, I've got like… heightened senses. So, I can try and help find your thing. What does it smell like?" He asked, still not looking like he felt great. "Does it make… um… like… any distinctive sounds or anything? Anything that might help us find it?"
Farah closed her eyes and inhaled heavily. As she exhaled a sigh, her eyes opened. The turbulent ocean of her mind calmed to a naturally flowing spring. "If we leave it in the First World or for some reason we don't come back with it, it has an extraordinary potential to get loose again. If that happens, Rosalind will not treat it lightly," she pieced together her scattered thoughts.
Saul smiled, squeezing her shoulders in reassurance before he released her and turned to Aiki with a serious expression. "Burned Ones smell like… well, something burnt. It's horrible, but you get used to it, I suppose. And, they sound like… a growling?"
"But don't let a Burned One break your skin," Farah added. "Don't let it scratch or cut you."
Aiki watched Farah and listened closely, nodding along a bit. "Alright, well… I guess these things are pretty resilient? Since you thought you killed it and all and dead things don't usually get up and walk away most of the time." He leaned against a tree with a soft sigh, running his fingers through his hair.
They glanced back up at the description of the creature their ears perking up. "Yeah, that makes sense… I don't smell anything burning around here, but I guess we've got a better shot if we keep moving. Um… why is it bad if it breaks the skin?" He asked. "What happens?"
"Burned Ones have inhuman speed and strength," Saul remarked. "But they're not invincible. I was sure I killed it."
"Next time we must be extra careful," Farah remarked simply. She was back to her cool, calm, and collected self. But at Aiki's question, both Saul and Farah became solemn and shared a brief glance. Finally, Farah sighed and answered.
"If a Burned One breaks your skin, the infection that follows is swift and severe, and there is no cure. The only way to remove the infection is if someone kills the Burned One that scratched you."
Aiki listened closely to them, paling a bit at the explanation. "Well… that's great." He laughed weakly after a bit. These things sound pretty annoying. What do they look like, even? And how are you supposed to kill them if they're so strong and fast and stuff?" They asked. "If I'm helping you guys find this thing, I'll need to know as much about it as possible. Any description you've got that you think might be pertinent at all, throw it at me."
"Burned Ones are tall, blackened things. Trust me, you won't need much of a description. You'll know one when you see it. Rosalind developed the strategy for pairing a fairy with a Specialist since she found out it was easier to take down Burned Ones that way," Farah explained. "They're strong and fast, but not invincible. Surprise attacks are especially usually the best move on Burned Ones, if at all possible."
"And if not," Saul picked up, "you fight them until you find a weakness." Suddenly, Saul's eyes lit up, and he reached inside his pocket. From it, he slipped out a vial of an orange liquid. "Farah, the Zanbaq."
Farah's expression lifted slightly. "Right!" She turned to Aiki. "I lied, my apologies. There is an unguent called Zanbaq that… does not cure, but calms the infection."
"Alright… that's fine, I guess. I have a little bit of battle training, so I'm not entirely useless." Aiki laughed weakly and moved away from the tree. "I'm sure I don't seem all that impressive right now though considering how sluggish I am. I'm good when I've got some food in my system." He gave a thumbs up and smiled to encourage Farah and Saul.
"Don't look so down all the time. We've got this! Now we've got three people against this thing, and if you thought it was dead before, it's probably weaker now!" Aiki insisted, emphatically gesturing with their hands. "Now, let's get going and not waste any more time."
Farah smiled subtly. "Alright. Let's go then."
"Follow me!" Saul gestured in a very animated motion, which made Farah's smile grow.
"Saul Silva, I have no trust in you. You are the one that got us in this mess in the first place!" Farah turned to Aiki, ignoring Saul's fake-offended look. "You said you have enhanced hearing, correct?"
Aiki seemed perfectly happy to follow Saul, but stopped in his tracks when Farah protested. He looked up at her curiously, his ears twitching and swiveling. "Hm? Oh yeah, I do. Fox thing and all." He gestured to his ears and tail. "I'm pretty good at finding stuff, especially if it's moving. Something about earth's magnetic something…? I dunno." They shrugged.
This answer satisfied Farah, and she nodded. "We could split up," she suggested. "Divide and conquer. Saul and Aiki, you two can go together, and I can handle myself. What do you think?"
"Farah, I think we should stay together," Saul quickly countered.
"Yeah… splitting up might not work well. If one of us gets attacked, we don't have any way to alert the others. Or any way to really know where the others are." Aiki scratched behind one of his ears, humming softly. "None of us should be going off on our own, either. I'm stupid, but not that stupid."
Farah looked between them calmly. "I want to get this over-with. Find the Burned One and eliminate it as quickly as possible. Chances are, Rosalind is already suspicious. Saul, you're an excellent fighter, and I have no doubt you and Aiki together could take down a Burned One. And I can handle myself just fine. Saul, you remember our excursion to Maravet Falls?"
Saul shook his head. "You can't keep using that as an excuse. Those circumstances are very different from splitting up now."
"My point is, I can handle myself against a Burned One until you two show up to help," Farah insisted. "Hopefully quickly, but that's beside the point."
"I mean, yeah, but if we don't know where you are, how are we supposed to show up to help?" Aiki asked pointedly, his tail swaying behind him. "These trees are super dense and there's no guarantee we'd hear you, even with my enhanced hearing. Or we might not get there fast enough, even if I did hear you. I can't stop you from doing anything, obviously, but it's probably better to stick together unless absolutely necessary."
"Alright," Farah admitting defeat. "Let's get to looking then." Her calm exterior masked anxious feelings. What will Rosalind think? She'll be expecting us– she was expecting us nearly an hour ago. I can't disappoint her. Not again…
"I'm sure with all of us looking, one of us is bound to hear or see something, right?" Aiki looked around and spotted a couple burned leaves on a tree, and so headed that direction on the assumption that the Burned One had gone that way.
Saul and Farah exchanged a complicated look before they followed suit. As they walked, Farah's eyes turned silver-blue. She heard in detail every crunching leaf their boots tread on. She could hear birds flitting in the branches above their heads and the breathing of both Saul and Aiki. She took a deep breath herself and focused on tuning in to listen for the sounds of Burned Ones.
Aiki kept a steady pace through the trees, stepping lightly so that his footsteps were nearly silent. They looked around as they walked, their ears swiveling to catch any small noises around them. He kept entirely silent, which was a strange contrast from his near constant talking usually.
Saul reached back behind his head, ready to draw his sword and fight at the first sign of danger.
Farah's narrowed eyes moved constantly, shifting from one gap in the trees to the next. Every muscle in her body felt tight, tense, and ready.
Aiki kept walking, ignoring the fatigue beginning to set in again. They sighed softly, running their hands across their forehead. At a sudden sound to his right, he jumped to alertness and faced it, changing his stance to a defensive one as his flames flickered around his shoulders.
Farah heard the noise a split second after Aiki did. She too jumped into a fighting stance, and her doing so cause Saul to draw his sword effortlessly and grip it tightly.
A vicious snarl echoed between the trees.
"That's it," Saul murmured instantly.