Here it is, it's finally up! I hope you enjoy the chapter!
The smell of humans.
I open my eyes against the darkness. The cold air whispering through the valley carries the scent. They're approaching from the left side of the bend.
I lift my head, and my warm cheek instantly chills. Every inch of me feels heavy—tonight's even colder than last night—but the sense of a fight to come keeps my mind alert.
In what sliver of moonlight there is, I watch Naii stop beside Alluka, whose breathing next to me suggests she's fast asleep. She kneels down, and a shape that can only be Lim also moves over cautiously. Close to my head, Killua's voice orders, "Keep her safe."
Naii's response is to reach down and shake Alluka awake. When the girl mumbles, she quietly tells her, "Come with us."
She helps her up without her being entirely awake. Lim takes his place on Alluka's other side, looking like a loyal dog, and the two escort her back towards the shelter. Killua moves to stand, but when he notices I don't, he also helps me up. Even in my condition I could stand just fine on my own, but since I'll take every bit of warmth I can get right now, I accept the help without complaint. I'm even disappointed when he moves his arm from around my shoulders.
The humans are still too far to notice with anything but scent.
The shapes of Mordred and Hank flank either side of the pond. Killua and I stand in front of it. Although I stay close to catch the little heat Killua radiates, I force myself to stand on my own.
It's decided. I hate nights here. It's like the world thinks it's funny, plunging from sweltering heat to frigidity.
I watch the darkness for any signs of firelight, but the scent of humans refuses to grow heavier. I thought we were dealing with humans, not snails. What's taking them? If they keep me waiting in the cold I might just have to forget about being nice.
The others, on the other hand, don't seem the least bit impatient. Even Hank doesn't fidget.
I run over the list of weapons the humans have. Spears, swords, daggers, and guns, according to Killua. And apparently they can all be stopped with Nen. As cold as it is, I don't think I'll be able to control my aura and fight at the same time. All the stabby stuff I can just avoid, but the guns…
It's mostly healed, but the spot in my forearm seems to throb at the reminder. But Killua said they may not use guns since they know they're useless. Something about wasting ammo.
Splooch
The wet sound instantly lifts my spirits, and when hushed voices coming from above raise a flurry, I almost laugh. Killua and Tar figured there'd be some that would target us from above, so our very own night-visioned sharpshooter is stationed up there. His non-lethal weapon of choice?
Conjured animal organs.
The sound comes again and I can almost see that glop of mush smacking a human in the face. I can't help it. A derisive snort escapes me.
The noises continue, but no hoot comes from Tar, so Killua doesn't go up to help. We wait, as agreed, for the group from below.
Then there's a hissing sound like one from an enormous snake. I whip my head its way and just barely catch something, for less than a second, blot out a couple of stars before falling into the ravine. Before it can land there's already two more coming.
Suddenly there's a hand over my mouth and nose and I'm yanked. I very nearly drive my fangs into the palm when Killua whispers sharply, "Gas, don't breathe," and continues to drag me. I'm not sure where he's taking me until Estelle snaps,
"What're you doing?"
The shelter? Must be. Apparently she's pretty useless, so all she can do to help is stand there and be an extra pair of eyes when the humans bring light.
Killua doesn't answer, and drags me under the overhang before he finally stops. I get my footing and shoot a look his way to see him motioning to the others to follow. Then he drags me still with a hand over my mouth into pitch blackness.
When he stops again, it takes a few seconds before he releases me. I gulp in a breath and immediately grab onto his wrist before it's too far for me to sense its exact location. I literally can't see anything, not even his silhouette. I can vaguely sense the others, five besides us, their scents also in the breath I took in. Make that six, Estelle just came in. This must be the cave they've been talking about.
Not wanting to parrot her, I hiss, "What're you thinking?"
But before he can answer, someone wheezes, followed by cracked coughing that sounds like it's coming out of a broken throat. Killua's voice comes out grim when he says, "Mordred, you're the only one who can see in here. Who's coughing?"
"Brave boy, ordering me." Despite her disdain, she still answers, "It's Estelle."
"Lay her down face up, make sure her head, neck, and chest are all on an even surface." The mantis doesn't respond, but a bit of rustling, and the source of coughing shifts downwards. Without pause Killua continues, "Take off her cloak. Cut it if you have to, but don't let it touch her face." Some more rustling. The coughing begins to slow, but it still sounds like too much air's being forced through a decayed tube. "Toss it outside then come back in without breathing. If her breathing gets any worse, we might have to try to manually control the movement of her diaphragm."
"I'm a killer, not a healer. You will do that yourself."
"Poison gas?" Naii's voice inquires.
Killua answers, "My guess is chlorine. We'll have to wait at least ten minutes to be safe before we go out again, but that also applies to the townspeople. Unless they have gas masks I missed, they'll have to wait ten minutes before charging in.
"Estelle? Estelle are you alright?" Hank worries.
"Don't try to talk, Estelle. The less strain you put on your airway, the better." Quieter, more to himself, he mutters, "I didn't think there was enough time to cause us harm. Is it not Chlorine gas?"
The way he says it, I wonder, "What if it's not?"
"If it's not it'll be a different amount of time until it's safe to go out. If we go out too early, we could be affected, but if we wait too long the townspeople will come and we'll be cornered. We also could be treating her wrong. But from her symptoms and ease of access, it's probably chlorine gas. I just don't know why it affected her so quickly."
"Killua…"
It isn't much, but through his wrist I can feel him tense when Alluka calls him in a slightly strange voice. His voice doesn't change, though, when he says, "Not now. After the battle, but not before, Alluka. If more unexpected things happen, you need to be awake to react. Promise me. Don't do things on your own again like you did before."
Why does that sound kind of familiar?
When Hank blurts, "What are you guys talking about?" it comes to me. He's talking about when Alluka healed me. I remember him telling her to hold off back then, too. I don't particularly care for this ant, but I am curious to see how Alluka does that. Killua doesn't answer Hank.
A small, high male voice I've only heard one other time asks, "Is Estelle going to be okay?"
"I can't say for sure, since I'm not sure how much of it got in her system. Judging from her breathing now, she'll probably live, but there might be permanent damage to her lungs and trachea if she stays untreated."
Just then, the deep dregs of a hoot reach inside the cave.
"Alluka, I'm counting on you to tell everyone when it's been exactly ten minutes." She makes a noise of confirmation. "It's okay if you stay inside a little longer to make sure, but don't linger. If anyone starts having any kind of reaction when they leave, everyone has to come back in. I'm going to help Tar."
I only register what that means when he pulls my hand from his wrist. Instantly I try to grab it back, but he doesn't allow it. My warmth! My safety! He's leaving me to trust these ants when I can't so much as see them? My heart palpitations accelerate. Maybe if it was just Hank, but Mordred? And she can see in the dark!
Then the hand around my wrist lets go, and his aura vanishes. My hand hangs in the blackness.
He really did it! He really left me!
In the cold, in the dark, trapped, with danger.
I can handle myself, I really can. But I know my limits. If Mordred were to decide she wanted to slice my head off right now, she could probably do it.
Hand still outstretched, I glare at where it should be. What the hell? What goes through Killua's mind? Protect me one minute, abandon me the next! Lecturing me for playing off the fact that he's attracted to me! Telling me not to touch him, then touching me instead! What is he trying? What does he want? I don't even know what I should expect!
The minutes pass between Estelle's coughing. No one says a thing. No noise reaches in from outside. There's only the occasional sound of something small scurrying, and my agitated heartbeat in my ears.
"It's been ten minutes." Alluka's clear voice rebounds a couple times in the cave.
A second later, a light tapping begins. The sound also echoes, but the crisp clack's origin remains easy to hear. "Follow," Mordred orders. The tapping begins to move. I stay where I am until the sound of too many hooves indicates Hank's gone to follow, and only Hank. Estelle's still on the floor, and the other three weren't gonna be outside to begin with. I clench my teeth and move after the noise.
Compared to inside the cave, outside is almost light. The shapes of the other two ants, as well as the bushes around the oasis, are well defined. I run both hands through my hair and suck in a deep, painless breath of less-stale air. Mordred didn't take advantage of the darkness to attack. It's not like I actually thought she would. The only one she's shown direct aggression towards was Naii. She didn't attack, but I still don't like it. Thinking of Killua leaving like that gives me that rotten-fish-in-the-stomach feeling.
The scent of humans is closer than before.
Out of sight up above, human battle cries float down into the gorge. The shlopping sound of Tar's attacks persists, but I no longer feel the amusement it originally gave me. The heartbeats in my ear have slowed off of my height of irritation, falling into its low, sluggish, cold rhythm.
My body wants to sleep. I want to fight.
The faint, orange, flickering glow of firelight gradually grows brighter on the left side of the bend.
Hehe, sorry about the cliffhanger. I didn't plan on it, it just sort of happened. Next chapter should be fun, too. Hopefully I'll have plenty of time to write it. I kinda miss my old habit of having buffer chapters between when I was posting and where I was writing. It was a good system, but it's hard to keep up. But here we are, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see ya'll again next chapter! Bai!