The walk to the village was peaceful; there were no mobs who around that wanted to attack me. The sun was nearing it's peak when I entered the bustling village. I wouldn't have expected such a place to hold a group of villagers that wanted to kill my friend. It seemed peaceful, even with the amount of villagers and children. My search started off slowly; seeing as the place was larger than your average village with a proportionate amount of villagers, it seemed like not everybody knew everyone. Apparently a doctor wasn't really required much either. But, eventually, I came across a villager who looked like he could help. To my surprise, he was even quite willing to help. It turned out in the end he was a villager, or testificate as he preferred, called Testificate MD; he apparently used to help Xephos out in YogLabs. A place only Honeydew was allowed to visit, though Xephos once mentioned about Lalna being there. Anyway, it probably wasn't important. We spent a lot of the walk back to the alcove in silence, after introductions had been dealt with. I didn't really have an idea of how to break the news to him about Alsmiffy. I decided to cross that bridge when I needed to. The ravine turned out to be further than I remembered, due to the extra help of teleporting. Nevertheless, we got there in relatively quick time. MD didn't question my purpose when I climbed down into said ravine.
"S-Sjin?" I instantly moved over to the voice, grasping his shaking hand in my own. "You scared me! I had no idea what it was." Smith gasped quietly, his hold becoming tight around my hands. We both stood, climbing quickly out of the shallow ravine. I was impressed when the villa-testificate didn't even mention anything about Smith's condition. Maybe he had seen him already. But who knows? There wasn't much point in asking. So it became the three of us, trudging back towards Sipsco – or was it that Fuku Shitu thing now? – in almost silence. It seemed like neither of the two were particularly chatty people. I could understand Smith; he was most likely still grieving. MD, on the other hand, probably just wanted to keep to himself. I can understand them. It still made for company, whether they spoke or not. It was just less tense than being out alone all by yourself. The air turned cold, our breaths forming mist in front of us. None of us were really prepared for a journey, but it had to be done nonetheless. I mean, it was either that or sit and wait to die. None of us wanted to die. More than once I had been tempted to just teleport, but Rouge's warning rang clear in my mind. Instead I thought about Rythian. I hadn't seen him since I ran away with Mors. Rouge found me there, but I didn't see Rythian at all. What's happened to him? Why didn't he come with Rouge? Did they have an argument or something? I don't know. I couldn't tell what their relationship was. They were rivals, definitely, but was it the good kind of rivals or not?
"Was it hard?" The words left my lips before I had thought about them. I don't even know why I asked, but I continued anyway. "When...it was just the two of you?"
"Why the fuck are you asking me about that?!" Smith practically roared at me, causing both myself and MD to flinch. "I've j-just lost my lover, and you're asking me how I felt when one of my best friends d-died?" As he spoke, his anger shifted to sorrow, his voice faltering several times. I hung my head, guilt filling my body.
"S-Sorry...I don't know w-what came over me." I whispered, my hand clenching tightly around my wrist. After that, we definitely walked in silence. Stupid Sjin. Why do you have to go and slip up like that? Why couldn't you have just left him to himself, and kept walking quietly? A striking pain hit the right side of my skull, my hand instantly caressing the throbbing area. All of my thoughts vanished with the pain this headache was causing. MD gave me a side glance, yet said nothing. Smith, obviously, couldn't see my pain. I had no idea why the headache came about and it wasn't stopping. A few minutes of the pain felt like death. MD's hand moved mine away, taking my face in his hands. I grasped Smith's sleeve gently, signally we had stopped. Anxiously, I watched Testificate MD's gaze, wondering if he knew what was wrong with me. My heart beat twice as fast as it previously was. I hadn't really thought much about if people found out, as I was careful before, but the sudden realisation got to me. "I-I'm fine. Let's just keep going." Before a word could leave MD's mouth, I marched on ahead with Smith's sleeve still in my hand, essentially dragging him with me. Taking a glance at my friend, I saw the creases in his head move as if in confusion. "Don't worry about it. MD's just worrying over nothing." I let go of his sleeve, continuing my walk. "We shouldn't be too far now."
Luckily for the three of us, it wasn't far. We reached the factory in little less than 15 minutes from our last conversation. MD immediately tended to Sips, while Xephos guided Smith around. I decided to pull Rouge away to have our own conversation. She had a knowing look in her eyes, as if she already knew what I was going to say.
"I don't exactly know why, but MD was looking at me funny for a while. He started examining my face." The explanation was brief, yet it got the point across. Rouge turned away slightly, folding her arms in front of her chest. Her eyes were closed; she was directly facing the sun, so it must have been bright. That and she was thinking.
"...What happened before he started examining you?" She asked calmly. I, on the other hand, was nervous; shaking hands, pacing back and forth. Racking my brain, I remembered what had happened and told Rouge. She sighed, opening one eye to look at me. "Sounds like your Ender side tried to wake up." I blinked.
"T-That's bad?"
"...In the wrong circumstances, yes." The hybrid replied slowly, nodding as she spoke. "This just means I'll have to stick close to you. I can help you if it starts again. So stay with me at all times." She practically ordered me; her tone was softer than before though. I wondered why, but this was no time to ask. "Saying that...I need to find Rythian." She mumbled, mostly to herself. So she was worried about him too. What happened to him?
"What happened when you left to find me?" I asked, consciously looking around so I knew where the others were. They were still all inside the factory. Sips' crazed shouts could still be heard. It pained me knowing my friend was like that. He'll be ok soon, I told myself. He has to be. Rouge sighed quietly, plopping herself down on the nearest firm piece of dirt. I didn't mind sitting in the mud; I got used to it. "Did something happen between you two?" She took her time in responding, her eyes closed again. It was only now I realised hints of dark circles under her two eyes, and what looked like tears were trickling down her cheeks, creating trails like rivers. She absently ran her hand over the insignia found on her left sleeve as if it were some kind of comfort.
"He's just stupid sometimes..." Her voice must have been the quietest that I've heard it, even making me strain slightly to listen. "I don't know where he is. He could be anywhere. I really hope he's ok." She mumbled. I realised this must be a side she doesn't show to others at all; not even Rythian, possibly. "You tell him I said that and you're dead." Back to normal, then. I can't help but let out a laugh.
"Of course not." I winked, bringing a small smile to the exhausted hybrid's face. "But, if you're so worried, why don't we try find him?" It was a simple suggestion, and seemed most obvious. She wanted to find him, so why don't we? Now it was Rouge's turn to laugh. She let her body flop onto the mud-brick ground, lying without a care in the world. "I'm guessing it's not that easy finding him, huh?" She nodded. It's not like anything was these days anyway. "Well, I'm sure he's fine. He's Rythian, after all. He can take care of himself." I pointed out. Rouge sat up, looking at me with a slightly-hard stare. The wounds seemed to react to something, pulsing regularly.
"Has he...lost someone?" She asked hesitantly. Instinctively I flinched. Remembering innocent Zoeya... All I could do was nod. "...Then he might not be as 'fine' as you think he is." She stood up, stretching to her fullest. "And that gives me an idea of where he could be." Rouge added. She seemed a little more revitalised that before, even more determined now she had an idea of where Rythian might be. "So, another adventure?" Pressing my hand to my forehead, I sighed as I made circles with my fingertips.
"Not right now. We can go after we've rested and Sips is healed."
A/N: If you review, can you try give something for me to improve upon? (I mean in writing, since I know I'm shocking at updating xD) I like getting the things about liking this, of course, but along side that if you can think of something for me to improve, then feel free to tell me.
If you don't want to, that's fine too. I'm just curious to see if I can improve on stuff ^_^