Senel bent down to the pond and made a face. It reeked horribly. Not just any smell though. It was the scent of dead bodies. As he dipped the vile into the water he had to hold his nose to at least try and not breathe. When the liquid reached the mark he got up and ran back over to Chloe faster than anyone would think a man could run.

"Got it." He said after his lungs nearly exploded from lack of oxygen. He coughed and gagged, choking on the retched waft coming after them. "C'mon, let's go. I can't stand being here any longer."

Chloe looked like she was going to puke. "Y-y-yeah..."

Senel frowned at her, growing concerned at her pale face. "Chloe are you okay?"

"Y-yes." The young knight nodded her head frantically, stumbling back and away from the cavern. "I... I just don't... don't do well with holding back puke."

"Oh." Suddenly weary, Senel stepped a couple feet away from her.

"Hey!"

"Well I don't want it on me."

She glared at him and waved her arms around in the air. "So?! You don't have to step away from me like I have the plague or something!"

From down the road they heard a voice ask, "You've got the Plague?"

Chloe scowled. She spun around and leered darkly at me. I hesitated in my step when I felt the stare and nervously laughed. 'Scary lady.' I thought. She had a glare sharp enough to slice my conscience in two. I took note to keep my claws nearby when I slept in case she came in with that sword of hers to kill me. "No. I do not!"

Jay shook his head. "My, my, you say things as stupid as Moses does."

"Y'know, you're really getting on my nerves, midget." I growled.

He gave me an amused smile. With a careless shrug of his shoulders he answered, "How sad it is that you can't even tell when someone is taller than you. You must really be an idiot."

"Hey!" I slammed my foot on the ground, leaning towards him. "For your information Mr. I'm-so-damn-smart, my tribe of the Sandor clan happens to be affiliated with birds. Meaning sight is our best sense!"

"If that's the case then your other senses must fail miserably."

"Why you little—" Senel cut me off by placing a hand on my shoulder and pushing us apart.

"That's enough." He glared at both of us, looking a lot older. "We've got what we need; now let's get out of here."

My ears perked. We got it? Good. That meant we'd be out of there. I glanced up at the ceiling. Damn roof (you call that a roof?)... Just taunting us, ready to cave in and smoosh us. "So you did get it? Okay, that's good. Now let's leave. Like, pronto. Alright?"

Senel frowned, losing all anger in his stare. He titled his head and turned back around as Chloe and I went on out merry way back down the path we came from. "Didn't I just say that?" He asked Jay.

The ninja only smiled. "A moron will always be a moron." He mused.

"I heard that!" I yelled.

--

Getting out of the waterways was a lot better than going in. Lots of people would agree and say, 'That's so typical.' But really they have no idea how much relief I felt stepping out into the fresh air. Not only had I begun to adjust to the strange stench down below, but peering up and seeing the blue sky made my heart soar. No more eight hundred tons above me. I was safe. At least, safe from that. There were still monsters we had to fight along the way out and half way down the road to the duct we were engaged in another battle.

I yelped as an eren was cast my way. I dodged it, although a little clumsy, by rolling to the side. As I got up off the ground I saw the monster ready to attack me again and I sneered at it. "No way!" I yelled. My palm pressed the switch and my claws flew up. With eagerness I didn't know I had, I lunged forwards and drove my weapon into the top of the beasts shoulder, pressing down and slicing diagonally.

It shrieked and fell to the dirt. For a moment it withered underneath me, seeming to try and crawl away despite the pain. But the blood loss was too much and in a matter of seconds it died. I saw the life drain out of its body and watched as it faded away into nothing but a few eres.

Solemnly I picked them up and placed them in my bag. Senel told me that was my job. To nab the many eres the monsters left behind as reminisces. I never knew they were the source crystal erens needed to gain new attacks.

Wearily I looked up. Senel had finished his fight and was rushing over to aid Chloe in hers. I stood there watching them. Their skills were good. Senel had no problem dodging, nor knocking out an enemy. His speed was a lot better than mine too. The only downfall to him was, I noticed, that he took a little time to recover from using an eren.

Chloe on the other hand was quite different. Her skill with the sword was remarkable. I was amazed at how graceful she was using that thing. I'd seen a lot of swordsmen and women in my lifetime but she got the prize for best wielder. She wasn't as fast as Senel, probably just below my speed, and her defence was a little low.

I thought to myself, 'They're experienced, that's for sure. Better than Moses by far.' I grinned, knowing my cousin would surely smack me and start a hissy fit if he heard that. Curiously I turned to where Jay was supposed to be fighting and watched him give the final blow. A nice, clean cut through the throat of the large beast. As it died, it turned into eres and I sighed before wandering over to gain them.

"Nice work." I commented while I bent down to grab the blue orbs.

He stared at me and a small smile twitched his lips. "Hearing that from you makes my stomach churn."

I only rolled my eyes. Stuck up brat. "Wow, you really are just the sweetest little thing, aren't you, Kid?"

"Kid?" He frowned suddenly. "And how old are you?"

"Older than you."

"How do we know for sure? You can't be more than seventeen."

"You're right." I grinned cheekily, zipping the bag back up and standing. "Because I'm sixteen."

He smiled back, only more taunting than mine. "Well," he said, "we've certainly justified that I am indeed older."

"What?" I asked in shock. I walked over to him and leaned into his face. "What're you talking about? You've gotta be sixteen or fifteen."

A vein in his temple pulsed. Angrily he shoved me back, hands pushing hard against my chest. Before he blew up he realized where he touched and his face began to redden. "I... that..." He stuttered.

"That was totally your fault." I pointed out. I sounded a little too cheerful considering the situation and Senel, who had finished off the monster with Chloe, shot his eyebrows high up on his forehead. By his side Chloe coughed. They were watching us bicker, finding the whole scenario quite amusing.

Jay blushed tomato red. "It-it was not!" he cried, waving his arms back and forth like a child. He darkened when I laughed and jabbed an accusing finger my way. "You were the one too close to me!"

"Oh, please. Don't say you don't like it. What kind of a man hates female attention?"

"I... I don't hate it! I just don't want it from you!"

I beamed brightly and gave him a bemused stare. "Oh-ho! Now the truth comes out! Sounds like little Kiddie here has a secret lover he wants to get with, eh?" I chortled as he fumed. Instead of getting a reply he simply spun on his heel and stormed off down the path, thick rolls of steam coming out of his ears. I wondered to myself if his skin would melt off with how much heat that radiated off of him.

Senel gave me a look and hung his head. "You're not going to become friends with him if you keep that up."

Giving him a knowing smile I started my own pace to the duct. Calling over my shoulder I let my voice be the last thing he heard from me in that area. "Don't worry! He's warming up to me. I can tell."