"I nearly died that morning." Jade said. She clenched her fist and looked at John.

- Back in the past, the cave, late morning. -

John was awoken by a slight shuffling, having his hammer in hand; being told to hold onto their weapons as a safety precaution. He sat up, put his glasses on, to see the sight of a carapacian? about to stab Jade in the head with it's claws, it hesitating to do so. He almost gasped, getting up carefully, readying his hammer. He hesitated as well, having to yell out when he smashed the side of the carapacian's head in, red fluid coming from the blow as it dripped from it's head, staining the scarf it wore.

He looked over to see Dave waking up, Jade and Rose in shock as the body fell to the ground.

"It was... it was uhh- about to..." John gestured very shakily as he held the bloodied hammer, dropping it next to the corpse. When Dave realized what happened, he was in slight shock to see the motionless, white body on the ground.

"We've got to go." Dave said, his face looking a little pale, remembering that he welcomed a carapacian in whose seemingly not here and the fact that he let his gaurd down. He then realized that some of stuff is missing.

John said, trying to explain. "I never did anything like that, but, I just had this instinct... to protect Jade, I never wanted to kill it. It just happened.

"Hey, some of our stuff is missing." Dave stated, Rose looked around for belongings, looking distressed, she nodded and noticed John fretting about his as well.

"Where could it have gone?" Jade said.

"Maybe some asshole took it?" Dave added.

"If that carapacian just came, then maybe our stuff is still nearby somewhere?" Rose suggested, looking out the cave.

"Well we should go look then." John said, helping Jade get her glasses.

They all packed whatever they had, and walked outside.

"Look." Rose said, pointing at matted grass. They all followed it, eventually going back to town to see it inhabited by the black carapacians, constructing a building of some sort, the purple machine that flew nearby. In the distance, they saw two figures holding backpacks with their belongings surrounded by other black figures bringing cargo into the ship.

"Do we really want to do this?" Dave asked, holding his sword

"I want my stuff back, don't you Jade?" John replied.

"Yeah, but is it really worth it with these conditions. I don't think it's safe." Rose said.

"I do, I want my dog back." Jade complained. Dave had a look of pity under his glasses.

"Yeah, alright." Dave gripping his sword, signaling Rose to follow him in, he and she readying their weapons.

"If anything happens, I want you to cover me and you, John to try to ensure our escape." Dave told the other two. The two sneaked in, Jade watched them as they eliminate multiple carapacians without hesitation, being inconspicuous about it, hiding bodies, eventually making their way in.

Inside the ship were many facilities and rooms. They went in a corridor, eventually making it to the storage unnoticed. They walked in to see many boxes with labels on them, looking around in awe with all the stuff they could take.

"Alright." Dave whispered. "There's no harm in taking some extra loot right?" He said, smirking. Rose agreed, looking around for the backpack. Rose noticed something glowing from the corner of her eye. It was a box, and conveniently, next to the packs.

"Found the backpacks." Rose called to Dave.

"That's cool." Dave replied. Rose looked back, opened the box to see needles in them, glowing and calling out to her. She picked them up, admiring them, being ornate, and blue. She placed her current needles in her new-found pack and brandished the new ones.

She ended up triggering one of them and sent a blast of energy unfortunately into the alarm as a signal rings out to the rest of the ship. Dave comes running holding a scabbard.

"What happened?" Dave asked, distressed as the alarm rung.

"I may've triggered an alarm." Rose replied, slightly embarrassed, retrieved the two backpacks and handing one to Dave.

"We're leaving." She said sternly. Rose ran to the door, putting on one of the backpacks. Dave followed, brandishing a sword from the scabbard.

Back outside, the other two hear the alarm. Jade readies her rifle, looking at the entrance of the ship through the scope on top. Back inside the ship, the two run into multiple carapacians holding batons and other weapons.

Dave starts advancing towards two, one of the two black figures rush at him with his baton. They swing and Dave easily dodges, knocking it the ground and mortally wounding it.

The other is suddenly supported by two others and they aggress Dave. Dave steps around, slashing at the and kicked it behind him. Another tries to grab him and ducks, kicking at his feet and tripping him before finishing him off. The last helps the first one up continues their aggression before Dave

Rose replicated what happened in the storage, aggrieving those assailing her before they get close. They eventually make their way back out the ship before they're surrounded by a large mob.

The two reluctantly take a step back before a few sounds are heard in the distance and some yelling is heard even closer. A couple black figures fall and the two grin before engaging in combat once more.

In the midst of battle, Dave's arm is hit, looking back at the carapacians, sweeped his sword, swinging his blade across multiple figures. He went back a little to Rose's safety as she cleared them out from a safe distance.

John came crashing through, this time wielding a sledge hammer, clearing a path for the two.

"C'mon!" John yells out, continuing to hold them back. The two started running, dodging groups as they chased after them again. They eventually reach Jade and dropped the backpacks, Dave grunting in pain.

"Shit." Dave spat out. He rolled up his blood-stained sleeve, blood dripping from his arm and sat down on the grass. Jade, rummaging through her backpack for an extra shirt or cloth, tended to Dave's wound and wrapped it around. John looking worried from Dave's wound, looked at Rose and the needles she held in her hands.

"Woah! I was wondering what that lightning-y stuff was! It's like magic!" John remarked. "What're they?"

Rose smiled and replied, "Yeah, they're like wands, except they're needles? Needlewands." She giggled.

Dave put the newly acquired sword back in it's scabbard and sat down with Jade. He smirked, moved his arm and whimpered as he tried to rest.

They agreed to get going after about an hour, looking for necessities. They wandered around until they found a clearing in a forest.

Jade stayed with Dave. John set up another fire and Rose went hunting, with questionable success. They ate and went with their business, Dave being the first to sleep, Rose soon after. John added wood to the fire and fell asleep. Jade sat up, holding Bec, looked to the stars and hugged it, eventually fell asleep as well.

They deserved this rest.

(Hey y'all, it was almost a year ago I started this. Now I'm back and hopefully I'll stay around! Look forward to more updates and revisions.)