Spoilers for up to the end of chapter 9!

"Wake up!"

Pain exploded in Lin's shoulder; she sat up, gasping, and opened her eyes to complete darkness. She gave her shoulder a slow rub, wincing as her fingers brushed over the tender spot. That would definitely bruise.

"Ouch..."

"Tsk." Lin glanced up at the unfamiliar voice, her eyes only able to catch a shock of blonde hair.

"At least you're not hurt."

"Murderess?"

She made a noise. Lin decided to take it as a sound of agreement.

"Here."

Murderess shoved something into her hands. Still dozy, it took Lin a couple of seconds to recognise it as a blatta leg. She gave it an experimental twist, wincing as the entire leg crackled. Flakes of it landed on her gloves.

Her elbow smacked something warm-

"Ah!"

She looked down, shifting back, but gasped and moved closer as soon as she realised what – or rather, who – it was lying next to her.

"Yeah," Murderess said, "I don't know why he's still snoozing on the job. Maybe a sharp kick in the-"

"Don't you dare," Lin hissed.

Murderess raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

Lin got onto her knees to give Lao a quick inspection. He looked like he was breathing, which was always a good start, and there wasn't any noticeable injuries in him. She didn't know much about first aid apart from what Elma had taught her.

There was something in his shoulder, though, and he let out a breathless groan when Lin prodded it. Her fingers came away wet.

"Relax," Murderess purred, "I've checked him over. Nothing's up. I already patched up the wound on his shoulder."

Lin whirled around on her knees. They scuffled against the rocks. "Well, from you, that's not very comforting!"

"Hey." Murderess raised her hands. "We're all trapped in this hellhole together. I'll work with you guys – until we get out, at least."

"We're... trapped?"

"What?" She scowled. "Do you not remember?"

It was coming back to her now, in little flashes and bits. She groaned. "We were... at the cave entrance, right?"

"Bingo."

They had been hunting down a valuable resource – someone had been pestering Cross non-stop to do so. They had spotted an odd-looking tunnel, too smooth for the entrance to be natural, and the four of them had gone over to investigate. "And then a... landside?"

Murderess snorted. "If that's what you wanna call it, sure."

There were so many boulders, and she'd panicked; she'd screamed, and then-

Someone shoved her to the ground and-

Darkness.

Lin threw her eyes up both ways. One path was completely blocked off. The other led into pitch black. "Where's Cross?"

"They got outside, or something, I don't know." Murderess leant her back against the one of the tunnel walls. It was a tiny space; if Lin stretched her legs out, her toes would just miss the opposite end. The tunnel was tall, though; she couldn't see a definite pattern or texture above her.

She sighed. Sitting down so that Lao's head could rest on her shoulder, she shuffled her bottom as far up against the wall as it could go.

"No signal in here, huh?"

Murderess made a funny noise. "Hmph. If there was, don't you think I would have phoned for help already?"

There was that. "Yeah..." Lin fished about in Lao's pocket for his own comm device, but her hand caught on shattered glass; she hissed and yanked her palm away. She ran her fingers over her hand's inside, trying to ignore the suddenly probing gaze from Murderess, and sighed in relief when she only brushed over a light scratch. "I'm okay."

Murderess rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "Simply delighted to hear it."

Lin gritted her teeth, but kept her mouth shut. There was no point getting into an argument with someone if you had to work with them.

Silence drew thin between them. It was the claustrophobic type, the one Lin had to deal with all too often after her parents' deaths. The ones where no one knew what to say, or how to say it, because how did you tell a ten-year-old that their parents wouldn't ever be coming home?

She never missed them, until moments like this, when it just – just hit her, smacked her in the chest and left her breathless, a sting in her eyes and an ache in her heart.

Lin tucked her knees to her chest with a sigh. God, she wanted someone, anyone, here. Lao, Elma, Cross... even Tatsu!

Anyone apart from Murderess.

There was a familiar groan beside her. Lin grinned, shuffling back as Lao lifted his head with a tiny moan. He grunted, squinting at her, but then he hissed and gripped his shoulder tight.

"Lao?"

"Fine," he growled, leaning away from her touch. "Nothing major. You okay?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Good." He took a deep breath. "That's – that's good."

"Lao?"

"Awww," Murderess cooed. Both of their heads swerved around to her. She twitched her head with a smirk, crossing her arms and legs. Lin had the mental image of her slipping on the boulders, and tried not to snigger. "Look at you two. How adorable."

"Shut up," Lin muttered, not looking away from Lao. He did not look good.

"Murderess?" Lao said slowly, frowning. He turned around fully to Lin. "Wait – what happened?"

"There was a 'landslide'-" Murderess made large air quotations with her fingers. "-And we all got trapped inside this lovely cave. A vacation for free, how thoughtful. Shame there wasn't a sauna provided."

"And Cross?"

"How am I meant to know?"

"Good point." With a grimace, Lao settled against the wall.

"Hey, your shoulder..." Lin said.

He shook his head and smiled at her. "It doesn't hurt, Lin."

"But-"

The sound of boots stomping snapped Lin's attention away. Murderess had pushed herself onto her feet, and made a show of sweeping herself off. "Right! Now that this simply delightful reunion is over and done with, how about we investigate further? All good caves have two entrances."

"I have never heard that before."

"You're thirteen, I'd be surprised if you did."

"Sorry, I forgot. The older you are, the more wise you are-"

"Lin," came Lao's sharp voice.

She bit her lip. "Sorry."

Murderess was staring at them with narrowed eyes, a smirk beginning to form on her lips. Even in the darkness, it wasn't difficult to see.

"All right." Lin pushed herself onto her feet. She offered a hand out to Lao and pulled tight when his fingers wrapped around hers. "You're not hurt, right?"

"I'm fine, thanks. How about we head out?"

"You got it!"

They had only been walking for a few minutes when Lin heard it; a gunshot shattering the silence deep in the cave.

In front of them, Murderess froze. Lin walked into her back.

"Oft!"

"Someone's here," Murderess hissed.

Well, that much was obvious. Lin crossed her arms. "Maybe they're just hunting the indigens?"

"In an undiscovered cave?" she snarled. "Yeah, ain't happening."

"Don't be like that," Lao snapped. His eyes flickered to Lin before he shouldered past Murderess. "Let's keep moving."

Murderess yanked his shoulder – his sore one – and Lin winced as Lao's knees buckled. She let go with a frown and wiped her hand on her sleeve. " We're staying right here."

Lao drew in a deep breath. "No," he rasped, "we're not."

Murderess's hand twitched-

"Don't touch him!"

Murderess turned around to her with a smirk. "My, my. Someone's touchy."

"I just-" Lin stomped her foot, not able to express the boiling rage pumping in her veins in any other apt way. She knew that Murderess was an asshole, but was now really the time for it? Really? "Let's just get out of here, all right?"

Another gunshot; Lin whimpered.

"That was way closer than before," Murderess murmured, eyes narrowing. Her hands shook for the briefest of seconds before clenching into fists – if Lin hadn't been looking right at her, she would have missed it. "Not good."

"Well, standing here isn't going to make a difference," Lao said.

"We're not going anyway near that lunatic," Murderess growled. "You may be suicidal, but I'd prefer to keep my skin intact."

Lin gritted her teeth. "You-!"

Lao's hand was in front of her face. She fell quiet.

"Not now, Lin," he murmured. "Let's keep going. Murderess, you take back. I'll go at the front. Lin, middle."

"But-"

Lao's look silenced her. She nodded, slowly, and was surprised when Murderess didn't argue with Lao's plan. She stepped behind Lin and undrawn her dual swords, eyes containing no sparks of her usual mischief.

Lin gulped and turned to face forwards.

She couldn't smile at Lao's own gentle one, and felt her heart twist when she spotted it dropping as he stepped ahead of her. He took out his sniper, and the 'click' of him loading a magazine into it was deafening. He raised it in front of him; Lin took out her shield in an unspoken argument, and with her heart pounding in her ears, washing out all other sound, they headed deeper in.

After what felt like an eternity of wordless marching, they broke into an opening. Lin gasped as the view exploded all around in a dazzle of light. Crystals were lodged into the cavern walls, offering a faint, otherworldly glow. Straight ahead, there was a waterfall that stretched high, far above what Lin could see. Specks of sunlight came in from an opening above.

There were a couple of baby caros drinking from the tiny rock pool, but they weren't aggressive. It was gorgeous; she hurried over and crouched down, dipping her finger into the cool water. The crystal light became tiny ripples of cerulean around her index.

She wiggled it a little, and found herself smiling.

A shadow fell over her, too small to be Lao. She glanced up.

"We don't have time to enjoy the scenery," Murderess said. She stomped her foot right in front of Lin's finger, water splashing onto Lin's cheeks and stinging them. "C'mon."

Lin drew her finger back and wiped her face, wincing at the salt burning her nostrils. She was about to scowl at Murderess, but stopped when she saw that she was frowning. Her fingers stretched out against her crossed arms. "Something up?" she whispered.

Murderess jerked her head over to Lao. He was still standing at the cavern entrance, and... he didn't look with it. Not at all.

"Him," she said. No other words were needed.

Lao wasn't even glancing at them, and he normally had hearing sharper than a bat.

Murderess tsked, rolling back both of her shoulders. "The moron smacked his head when he shoved you, y'know."

"He pushed me?"

"The landslide, stupid." Murderess rolled her eyes, but now that Lin was standing next to her, she could catch the worry in them. Then again, maybe it was Lin trying to comfort herself. "If he hadn't pushed you, there wouldn't be much of you left."

Lin winced. She did not need that. "So... what?"

"Do you know anything about first aid?"

"O-of course I do!"

"Hmph." Murderess looked at her, then sighed and stormed over to Lao. Lin was quick to follow. "Huang."

Lao blinked a couple of times before jerking his head to them. "Yeah?"

She marched right up to him, so close that Lin imagined that it would be kind of gross, having someone's breath so close to your face. She watched, though, more curious than concerned as Murderess put her hands on her hips.

"Where are we?"

Lao frowned. "That's a stupid question."

"Well, then, give me a stupid answer."

"We're in-" Lao froze for a second, eyes widening. Lin's heart dropped. "-We're in Sylvalum, right?"

"Very good," Murderess cooed. "What happened?"

"What do you mean 'what happened'?"

"Answer the question."

"We got trapped inside a cave." Lao raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "What other stupid questions do you wanna ask?"

"Before that."

Lao frowned. "Before?"

"Tell me, since I love asking stupid questions. Almost as much as I love stupid answers."

Lao's eyes fluttered shut. He lifted a hand to them, then froze, and was quick to open them again. "I – It was nothing important, Murderess."

She leant even closer to his face, baring her teeth. Lao shifted back. "Answer the question, Huang."

His eyes shut again. "Look, just drop it-"

"Hmph. Tell me the order of the months backwards, and I'll let you off."

What was she talking about? Lin frowned, clenching her fists to her chest. "Murderess, what are you doing?"

She held a hand out. "Minute. Tell me, Huang."

"December, November, October..." Lao frowned. Suddenly, he made a pained grunt, a hand reaching for his forehead.

"Lao-!"

"Stay back," Murderess snarled. She grabbed Lin's arm and yanked just as Lao bent over, sniper clattering to the gravel.

The sound of vomiting filled the stuffy air.

"Lao? Lao?"

It didn't stop.

"Lao!"

"He has a concussion," Murderess muttered. Her grip tightened on Lin's wrist when Lao finally stopped. "Knew it." Muttering a curse, Murderess pulled Lao by his elbow towards one of the larger glowing crystals. Lin hurried after them, just in time to see Murderess shove Lao against the wall. A blatta nearby chirped and fluttered off.

"Your face," she snarled. "Let me see."

"Let him go!"

Lao made a desperate noise, frowning, trying to get himself away; like a prey caught in a corner, and Lin nearly lost it at the sheer pain on his face. She never ever wanted to see that face again. "There's – there's nothing wrong, just drop it-"

Murderess pushed fingers into his cheek and forehead, stretching the skin between it. She didn't even flinch at the stench of vomit; Lin could smell it where she was, and her stomach flipped along with her heart. "No liquids, at least."

"H-hey!"

"Bruising around your eyes." She let go and swerved on the heel of her boot. "Fabulous! We're trapped in a cavern, and one of us has a concussion! Good job."

Lin didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing. She hurried over to Lao, though, trying to sit him down in a comfortable position. He kept swatting at her hands, muttering stuff that she couldn't make out, most of it spilled apologies, and that – that was not a good omen.

Her eyes caught on something white next to the pool. "Murderess, there's something at the pool," she called to her back.

"Good for the pool." After a few seconds, she moaned and marched over to where Lin was pointing. She crouched down and yanked something out from between two boulders. It made a funny rustling noise as she unwrinkled the page. Then, her face just – froze, losing all expression and emotion.

"Murderess?"

"That bastard!" she yelled, her voice ringing through the tunnels and caverns. Lin winced as she ripped the paper into shards, grinding all of them under her foot. It wasn't anger powering her words, though; Lin had seen anger, and it was nothing like the emotion that made Murderess' shaking hands clench into fists. "Bastard!"

"Um, Murderess?"

She sucked in a furious breath through her teeth. She caught Lin's eye, and rolled her own. "All you need to know is that we've been set up. We haven't got time to be messing about, waiting for your friend to stop wanting to die."

"Would you stop saying that!?"

"It's hardly a secret, now is it?" With another groan, Murderess ran a hand through her hair. "This is bullshit. Absolute-"

A gunshot rippled in the air. Lin's head swerved towards the only tunnel none of them had been in.

"Do we-" Her voice shook. Lin cleared her throat. "Do we have to go down there?"

"It's our only chance of getting out." Murderess wasn't looking at her, wasn't looking at either of them. She was glaring through the boulders, as though somehow that would set them free. "I know that our dear Cross is working on a rescue effort, no doubt, but we could very well be dead if we stand about and do nothing."

"It takes weeks for a person to starve-"

"Someone is trying to kill us, Lin," Murderess hissed, hands on her hips. "Me in particular, but if he gets other causalities involved? Well, he's hardly going to cry himself to sleep over it."

"W-what are you... talking about?"

"I've got tons of rivals. Gals as popular as me just can't help it." She let out a dramatic huff, flipping her hair. "This one is just a bit more... personal."

Lin gulped. Her eyes caught on Lao. He looked up to her, eyes glassy, then groaned and tipped his head back.

"But, Lao-"

"Trust me, I'd happily let the guy snooze on any other day. He never shuts up complaining."

Her eyes hardened.

"But that man isn't touching another soul. Throw a shield wall on him and get moving."

Murderess leant against the cavern wall, next to the tunnel that they hadn't been in yet. It was small and if Lin was claustrophobic, there was no way in hell she'd be down there.

She glanced to Lao again.

"All right," she said with a quiet sigh. It was with gentle encouragement that she got Lao up, her heart breaking all-the-while, and it was a few minutes before they were toddling away once more.

After a couple of hours, Lao had improved by leaps and bounds; he was determined to act like his episode had never happened, and Lin would be all-too-happy to comply with that. If he was still rubbing at his neck, and if the bruising around his eyes wasn't lightening, well, Lin would do her best to ignore it. Mimeosome bodies had accelerated healing, but only to a certain extent; all she could do was hope that Lao hadn't crossed that line.

The main problem still remained, the giant lepyx that no one was willing to acknowledge. If what Murderess said was true – and, for once, Lin could see no reason in her lying – then there was someone who was trying to kill them in the very same cave they were trapped in. And it wasn't a spur of the moment plan, either – judging from Murderess's words, someone had been plotting this. A landslide occurring at that exact time at that exact moment was just a bit too much of a coincidence.

God, she wished Elma was here. She'd have this sorted by now.

Lin found herself swerving and wincing at every little noise. There hadn't been any more gunshots, but she didn't know if that was supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing.

A chirp came from Murderess's pocket.

"Signal?" she said, sounding as surprised as Lin felt. With a frown, she jabbed the screen. "Who's calling?"

The device spilled light onto Murderess's face, making her widening smile all the more evident as a familiar face popped on-screen. Murderess turned away from them. "Cross?" she whispered. "Yes, we're still alive – someone's after us, or, well, me." She gave a little laugh. "You know how famous I am." A pause. "No, we can't fast travel, Lao broke his device." She frowned again. "Another day or so? No problem. Just haul ass and get us out of here." She grinned. "Love you too, dear."

She pushed it back into her pocket. "Cross. They said that they're gathering a response team now to try and dig us out."

"That's great news!" Lin clutched her hands to her chest, feeling hope swell in it. "How long will they be?"

"Only a day or two. We've been down here for six or so hours-"

They all froze as another shot fired.

"For the love of-" Murderess whirled around, eyes wide. "Come out, you bastard! Gunshots got old before the first time!"

"Don't provoke them," Lao hissed. "Let's head back to the entrance and wait for Cross."

Another bang. An indigen wailed nearby.

"We need to stay in an open area." Murderess crossed her arms, fingers twitching. "We're not getting trapped in a tunnel with that bastard."

The indigen cried again.

"Uh, guys?" Lin said, clutching her vest top. "Is it just me, or is that indigen getting closer?"

The tunnel ahead broke into two tunnels, both of them veneering off sharply in opposite directions. A grotesque shadow peeked from the left.

Then, a buzzing scream-

"A tyrant!?" Murderess yelled.

Lin whirled out her shield-

"Sharpnel!"

A wing shattered in the crystal light. The blatta screamed. It was huge, there was no other word for it; the tip of its antenna brushed the tunnel top with each click-click-click it made towards them.

Lin gulped. Before she could act, Lao's javelin whizzed past her ears. It caught the tyrant's antenna, pinning it against the wall for a second before the javelin wobbled and collapsed. There was a gruesome smear as it pushed itself off.

She switched to her gatling gun and released a round of ammo. Murderess was sneaking around to its behind-

"Back Slash!"

It stumbled and made an awful crooning noise.

Lin threw up a shield wall. The blatta made to strike Lao-

"Trash Talk!"

She stomped her shield down, grinning when the tyrant snapped its view to her. "Reality Rift!"

She sent her shield forward; the tyrant crashed into the tunnel wall and yelped.

"Eagle Eye!"

Murderess grinned, and Lin had never seen anything so frightening on a person before. She leapt back-

"Shooting Star!"

Light shone from all around. She twirled and landed on her feet as the tyrant gave a final cry and crumbled. Murderess dove her foot into the indigen's mouth with a squelch.

Lin whimpered and shut her eyes.

"Please," Murderess droned, "if you can't handle that, there's no way you'll be able to survive this cave."

"Murderess," Lao snapped, "shut up."

"Y'know, for a tyrant, that guy was pretty easy." She brushed her hands together. "Now. Left tunnel, let's go."

"Left?" Lin raised her eyebrows. "Wasn't that the one that thing came from?"

"Exactly. So our little serial killer's hiding down that one as well."

"Our – whoa whoa what?"

"Serial killer?" Lao said, very slowly. His eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling us, Murderess?"

"Oh." She waved a hand, turning away from them. "I can't go and ruin the suspense, now. Wouldn't make for a very good horror movie."

Lao's foot stomped the ground. "Is this a joke to you?"

Lin rested a hand on his arm. Tension was wrung in every inch of it, his fist shaking. "Lao, your concussion-"

He snapped his arm away from her. "No one here's laughing, Murderess!"

"At least my life isn't a joke."

Lao made an awful noise that Lin never wanted to hear again. Silence rotted between them, like creeping moss. Lin's throat grew very dry. The pressure behind her eyes kept growing.

"I want to go home," she choked out before she could stop herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying hard to ignore the gazes that she could feel boring into her.

The silence thickened.

"Let's go," Murderess muttered in an almost-defeated tone. "Same positions as before?"

"Yeah," was Lao's gruff response.

Lin's foot slipped over something as they moved off. It was white, and looked like paper, but Murderess was prodding her back before she could bend down and retrieve it.

She gave it another look before they went down the right tunnel.

She was hungry, and tired, and thirsty, and anxious, and a thousand other things that Lin couldn't put into words. She could only imagine what Lao was feeling – she wasn't the one with a concussion.

And as for Murderess?

Well, who knew?

They had found another opening some hours ago, one with countless stalagmites and stalactites protruding from all around. There were lots of tiny little caverns, either too high up or too small for any of them to get into. A steady river disappeared into a tiny cave that led to where they come from; it could have been the source of the waterfall from before.

The only unsettling thing had been the sheer number of indigen corpses. There were lots, from blattas to mortifoles to even the odd Prone. Lao and Murderess had just finished shoving them into a tiny corner hidden from Lin's view; she had tried to help, but had to give up when the only thing she could do was swallow the nausea creeping up her throat.

She shut her eyes and sighed, resting an arm over her stomach. God, she wanted Tatsu here. Or Elma. Or anyone. Anyone else at all.

She stifled a sudden laugh. Maybe not Phog or Gwin, she thought with a small smile. Neither of them would be terribly good at the whole 'getting trapped inside caves for days with a serial killer after you' thing.

It was concerning, though. From what she could tell, the cave wasn't that large. There were lots of tunnels, sure, but not that many. Surely whoever was after them would have found them by now?

Unless they were messing with them?

…No. No one could be that messed up.

Someone flopped down next to her. Lin opened her eyes, smiling at Lao's soft smile. "Hey."

"What're you thinking of?" he asked lightly. "You're frowning more intensely than Irina does."

Lin giggled. "Nothing much."

"Good." He rested his head against the wall with a small sigh. "God, I did not imagine this happening today."

"Yesterday."

"Yesterday." His eyes flickered over to Murderess; she was on her comm device, typing on the screen. "She's got signal there, so she's trying to get Cross again."

"She's..." Lin raised her eyebrows. "She's standing on a stalagmite."

"Sure is."

Something gross hit her nose all at once. She wrinkled it. "Lao."

He tilted his head towards her. "Yeah?"

"You stink."

"I-" He leaned away from her, raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You do! You're all sweaty and stuff."

He rolled his eyes, grinning as he settled against the wall once more. "And 'stuff'?"

Lin nodded.

"Lin, I hate to break it to you, but that's not a decent answer."

"Of course it is!"

"I have to wear this suit all day every day." Lao pulled at his glove; it made a loud smack when he snapped it against his wrist. "I'm gonna smell."

"Yeah, and you normally do-"

"What?"

"-But that is..." She flapped a hand in front of her nose. "Whew. That is really something else."

"Thanks. I'm, uh, really touched."

"It's okay," she murmured. "You should smell Tatsu after a day out."

"I, uh, I'd really rather not," Lao said in-between quiet chuckles. "A stinky potato. What more do you need?"

Lin smiled.

A lull came between them. Murderess was saying something on her device, but Lin was too tired to pay attention. She shuffled herself closer to Lao's shoulder, only realising what she had done when he stilled.

"Lao?"

"What are you-" He cleared his throat. "What are you doing?"

"I'm so tired," she muttered. Her head flopped onto his shoulder and she let her hands fall to either side of her. "Really. Tired."

She heard, rather than saw, Lao lean his head against the wall. He took a deep breath in and breathed a heavy sigh out. "Get some sleep," he whispered. A hand touched her own, briefly, a coldness that was gone before it had even landed. "I'll keep an eye out."

"Thanks, Lao."

Comforting silence.

"...Hey, Lin," Lao murmured.

"Hmm?"

"I'm... I'm sorry."

Lin gave his side a sleepy nudge, giggling. "Nothing to apologise for."

Lao scoffed. "I don't know. I can think of a lot of things."

"Well, then, stop thinking and get some sleep."

He shuffled against her. "...Okay."

A hand was shaking her shoulder. Lin popped open her eyes, yawning, but snapped her mouth shut when she realised that it was Murderess bending down in front of her.

And she had just gotten a first-class view – and smell – of her breath.

"S-sorry!"

Murderess wrinkled her nose, standing back up straight. Lin pushed herself onto her feet, embarrassment burning her cheeks.

"I've smelt a lot worse," she said, waving a hand dismissively. "And before you ask, Lao is literally just around the corner. Don't ask me why."

Lin shut her mouth again, smiling. She scratched her cheek. It was amazing how much better a little nap could make her feel. That was the best sleep she'd had in a long time. "How long were we asleep for?"

"Only an hour or so. I don't know." She was fidgeting with something in her other hand; another sheet of paper.

"Hey, what's that?"

"Another message from my lovely stalker," she sneered. It crinkled in her fist as she shoved it into her pocket. "Nothing important."

"Are you-"

"Positive."

A shot shattered the air-

A hiss: "Son of a-!"

"LAO!" Lin was on her feet in an instinct, ignoring Murderess's sharp warning to stay back. She bolted around the corner and flung her shield at a human-shaped shadow near Lao. The shadow fell back with a sharp hiss; Lin was faster. She yanked her shield away and smashed it into the person's nose with a crackling crunch!

Someone's fingers wrapped tight around her wrist.

"Lin, stop!" Lao barked.

"Let me go!"

Murderess's boots clicked the ground. "Hello, Cross."

Lin froze.

Murderess threw Lin a smirk as she stood near their friend. "I hope she didn't smack your nose too hard."

Cross was still rubbing their nose, but threw Lin a smile and – God, she felt ready to puke.

Not even a second later, she did, stumbling back, away from Lao's grip and retching. There was nothing to heave, though, so she was just gasping, struggling for breath that wasn't there. A hand rested on her back and started to rub little circles; she whimpered and leaned into it. There was something wet and salty on her lips and dripping from her burning eyes. She was crying, she realised, and it only made her sob harder.

"I-I'm so sorry, oh my God." She hiccupped once, twice, and let out a mighty sniffle. How could she – what was wrong with her? She had been ready to kill someone, and if Lao hadn't stopped her- "Agh!"

"Stop being an idiot!" Murderess snarled. "Boo hoo, you hit someone's nose, time to have an existential crisis. Cry me a river."

The hand left her back. "Hey," Lao said, "don't you dare-"

"Or, what? You'll shove your sniper up my ass? Love to see you try."

Lin stood up straight and felt herself shake. She couldn't stop, even if she wrapped her hands around her and squeezed. God, she just wanted to lie down. She wasn't ready for combat. She never would be.

"I want to go home," she rasped out, sighing when she saw Cross's soft eyes on her. "I hate this place. P-please?"

Murderess sighed. "Tsk. We've lost him, anyway. Might as well head back."

"W-who?"

"My stalker, duh."

Lin turned to Lao in a wordless question; the words wouldn't come out of her mouth, lodged somewhere deep in her tight throat.

He sighed. "I heard noises and went to investigate. Cross was there, and there was this – guy behind them. Whoever it was tried to get me, missed, and ran off by the time you appeared." He looked at Murderess. "If you know who it is, why the hell haven't you done anything?"

"Hmm."

Lao made an angry 'tch' noise. A hand patted Lin's back again, a fleeting touch that anyone else would have missed.

"Let's head back," he said, not looking at any of them. He gave a small snort. "As fun as this place was, I wouldn't give it a five star rating."

Murderess snorted; even Lin had to crack a smile. "It was a very cliché horror experience. I mean, leaving indigen bodies behind him? Talk about predictable."

"Wouldn't want to see what type of horror houses you'd set up, then."

"Awww, I was going to give you all a free tour of the full works. Guess it'll just be a discount instead."

"...Yeah, maybe some other time."

She shrugged, walking beside Cross. "Your loss."

Cross nodded at them, a hapless smile on their face. Lin had to laugh at it.

They set off, then, and it was a long walk before they came to the entrance. It had been blasted open with Skell weaponry, no doubt; a B-rifle, judging from the charred scars on some of the boulders. When sunlight hit their faces, dazzling off the Sylvalum spores, Lin was close to crying with relief. She tilted her head back and allowed warmth to flood her face.

God, though, earlier on had been – embarrassing, and looking back on it, she wanted to smack herself. Repeatedly. Talk about an overreaction.

She blamed it on that damn cave. Tight spaces and a lack of food could do a lot to a person.

They were out, though, and – and that was what was important. Maybe they didn't find out who the stalker was, or if the landslide really had been intentional, but they were out and in one piece. That was worth celebrating.

Lin turned to look at her companions. Lao was frowning, staring into the distance with crossed arms, but the Murderess had an unusually soft smile as she chatted with Cross.

…She wasn't so bad, really.

"Hey, Murderess?"

She stopped and turned to Lin, eyebrows raised.

"Thanks."

Murderess said nothing, but Lin swore that she caught the faintest of blushes as she turned around. "Nothing to thank me for, kid," she bit out.

Lin giggled. "Well, thanks anyway."

She turned.

Lao still had that awful frown on his face, the one that had been appearing more and more recently. She elbowed him hard, grinning when he startled and looked at her. "Hmm?"

"How about we get home, have a shower, and grab some tea?"

"Lin..."

"I don't know about you, but-" She swung her arms out to her sides and let out a dramatic groan. "-I am dying for some strawlenny tea."

Lao snorted. "Strawlenny?"

"Says the one who always gets yaya sesame tea!"

Instead of smiling, Lao sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. He didn't look at her, and it was a long time before he spoke. "I really can't," he muttered, voice barely audible compared to the chatter between Murderess and Cross. "Bring Elma or someone else with you, I dunno. They'd be better company."

Lin thumped herself in front of Lao's path, stopping him. She put her hands on her hips. "Don't say that!" she pleaded. "I want to eat with you, Lao. We haven't had a proper chat in ages!"

"Yeah, but..." He shook his head. "I really can't."

"Please?"

"Lin-"

"Just one cup. It won't kill you."

Lao scoffed, glancing away, and muttered something that she couldn't catch. His hand clenched his wrist. "Lin, please."

She looked down, mind whirling. She crossed her arms with a sigh. "...At least let me come with you to get a check-up."

Lao's eyes flickered up to her. "For what?"

"Your concussion, silly!" She grinned, lacing her fingers together. "And after that, we can grab tea!"

A small chuckle came from Lao. Lin's face softened into a smile at the noise. "Heh. You really are stubborn, aren't you?"

"That's a yes, isn't it?" Lin clapped her hands together. "Great!"

Lao scoffed, but he was smiling. "Let's just head back."

"Yeah!"