"Drop your weapon!" The Erpeopian’s voice cracked on the last syllable. Sweat traced a slow path from his temple down to his jaw, catching the light. His arms trembled around Sylvi’s neck—not from effort, but from something else. Fear.

He smelled of old sweat and pine needles. Close up, Freya could see the white of his knuckles, the way his throat bobbed with every swallow.

She didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Just stared.

"Do you hear me—?!"

His grip loosened for half a second. A tremor. An opening.

By the time he blinked, she was on him.

"F-Freya?!" She shot up, looking at the woman who stood above the Erpeoian. He was still breathing, a staff pressed to his neck.

"And remember Freya," Vagnis’ voice came through to her during her madness, his warning bringing her back to her senses. "Don’t kill anyone, not until our hands are absolutely forced in this war."

She raised her staff and brought it down upon the reptile, knocking him out cold with a heavy crack. The other sat there petrified, scrambling away deeper into the forest.

"Shit..." Freya muttered to herself, falling to her knees with her head hung to the floor.

"Freya!" Sylvi cried, running over to the warrior, shaking her repeatedly through her bloodied gaze and tear welled eyes. "Freya are you ok?!"

"You said you wanted to be useful, right?" The woman muttered, pointing to the pouch. "I’m not gonna make it the way I am now, grab that bag."

"See it delivered to Veira and the others."

"But...you’re hurt! I can’t just..." She shook her head, the tears falling from her eyes as she gripped onto the woman’s shoulders.

"I’ll be fine, I’ll find somewhere to hide, just ...take the wolf and go..." Her hand pressed against Syvli’s chest, pushing her off with a firm push. The girl tumbled to the ground, rubbing the blood from over her eyes.

"Hurry, you wouldn’t want to let Astra down, would you..."

The child’s lips quivered as she grabbed the pouch, running away without daring to look back. The wolf ran up to her, his head low waiting for her to jump on. Without wasting a second Sylvi mounted him and they were off, leaving behind Freya bloodied and battered.

"She’s gone..." Freya muttered to herself, standing up as best she could as she stumbled through the forest in the opposite direction. Her bloodied hands stained the trees as she walked, desperately trying to hold herself up.

"Just...have to make it back..." Though despite her words, her eyes only grew all the more narrow. With each step the sky grew darker and darker, a drop of water falling upon her head.

Despite the cold her body remained burning from the wounds she gained, the warrior collapsing to her knees as the wind and the howling storm grew louder and louder.

When her eyes finally shut, she heard nothing but the muffled sound of the storm around her.

"I did good..." The past flashes back into her mind, the sight of Veira’s smile when they first met. "Didn’t I..."

"Veira,"

A shadow loomed over the body as Freya passed out in the muddied dirt.

***

[Sylvi’s pov]

"Haven’t you heard? A human visited out planet!"

"A human?! What does that mean for us?"

"Has that day finally come?"

Ever since her landing, that’s all I’ve heard about, a human that crashed landed on Lunara and is planning to take over our village.

"The backbone of society of course!" I heard her voice for the first time, she was loud and scary, talking with a Neo wolf like it was no big deal in the world."We’re going to make bread and wine!"

"So you’re doing it to save your own skin!"

"Of course I am~"

’I know you’re up to something...’ I thought, glaring from outside the cave far far away. ’The chief probably believes you but I don’t!’

’With my eyesight, and knowledge of the forest, you can’t hide anything from me!’ I spent the whole day trailing behind her, watching her work.

"What is that..." I muttered at a cliffside, taking a sniff at the air as she put something over an open flame... "Smells good..."

"No! You can’t! She’s the enemy!" I hissed to myself, slapping my own cheeks till they were read. Though my stomach wasn’t convinced at all! "I am hungry though..."

"Hey~" Her voice called out to me. I’ve never flinched so hard before. In her hand she held a bowl probably piping hot, waiting for me to take it.

"W-what do you want..."

"Nothing, you sounded hungry so~" She smiled, ear to ear as she pushed the bowl closer.

"I don’t want it..." I lied.

She looked at me confused before taking the weird sticks in the bowl and taking bites herself. She seemed to almost...enjoy it. "See? Perfectly safe, here,"

I stared at it for a moment, hesitantly taking the bowl from her hands. They were all bruised and rough, pink from heat and small burns. I took a sip of it, whatever it was, it tasted sweet, almost like honey but...

"Can...can I have some more...?"

The woman only smiled, though she looked weird, and I probably did to her, she accepted me.

"Of course!"

I want to help her, in any way I can! I want to be useful! It doesn’t matter If there’s blood in my eyes right now, it doesn’t matter if the rain beats down on me! I will see this through.

The forest only got worse, the mud was getting slippery and slippery each passing second! Muddied water started to rush past the trees around me, its own current sweeping at the Neowolf’s feet.

It couldn’t help but stumble over. The two of us were washed away by the forest flood. I tried my best, I tried to hold on as best I could to the wolf even as we were slammed into a tree by the current. The force rattled me, the sound of rushing water and whimpers flooding my ears.

"I need... to get there" I grunted, grabbing onto the wolf’s fur desperately as I tried to break free from the water’s weight. I sneezed as the cold seeped into my bones, my eyes filled with mud and blood.

"Freya’s counting on me...belk is—!"

Though my struggles were for nothing, as the water soon devoured the two of us. Washing us both away in the current as we remained submerged.