The sky overhead was a dull, flat gray. It seemed as if all of the dreariness of the clouds had leaked out into air, leaving nothing but a flat, monochrome expanse hovering above them. The backdrop made no difference to Sheer, who was always cheerfully miserable, but the rest of the group seemed wary of the sudden darkness.

Everyone was anxious and jumpy, flinching at a leaf blowing onto their path or the hiss of a sudden gust of wind. She'd considered sneaking up behind somebody to scare them on purpose for a little bit of entertainment, but she didn't feel like listening to whining and crying for the rest of the way to Lostlorn. It wasn't far now, but some Pokemon couldn't take a joke. And besides, her journey had been largely peaceful, and she didn't feel like attracting attention to herself.

Bean, Rayzor and Golurk were walking a little farther ahead of them, still managing to keep up their never ending conversation (how did they do it?) and thankfully leaving her out of it.

Zero, however, was moving alongside her, as he had been for most of the trip. He appeared to have detached his lost-puppy mentality from Rayzor (who had been the victim the previous day) and brought it over to her. Again. The others had their turn, letting Zero accompany them closely for a couple hours, but for some reason he always came back to her.

She had no clue why. She tried her best to be rude and absolutely unapproachable from the outside. Unfortunately, it didn't work on everyone.

"Is weather like this common?" Zero was asking now in that weird, flat robot voice. Although, to his credit, it sounded considerably less flat than it had been when they'd first met him. Sheer actually thought it was kind of interesting how he picked up on facial expressions and voice intonation just from observing the rest of them, though she'd never admit it.

"Yeah. It's called being cloudy out."

He gave her a frown that was reminiscent of Bean's disapproving look. "I know what clouds are. Today is just- interesting. The world feels different."

"Probably a storm coming," she said.

"Hmm."

They walked in silence for a little longer before he started talking again. "Do you have any friends?"

She looked at him sideways. "You're so weird." It was a very respectful way of saying what she really thought about him.

"It was merely a question," he snorted, and she heard a hint of Rayzor's biting tone in his voice.

Ugh, stars, not another one. "Fine. No. Are you happy?"

"Why not?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Because I don't care. And I like to be alone."

"What about your brother?"

That made her stop for a moment. "...He was my only friend. Let's talk about something else," she said shortly, wondering why she'd even given him that much information. Disclosing things about her past to Zero made her wary. He was too smart. She had no doubt he could weaponize any scrap of information if he really wanted to.

"Okay."

More silence, more walking. Meyers slowed his pace to let the others stay ahead and fell into step beside them. "What're you two plotting about back here?"

Sheer had to give him a double-take. He looked strange, almost unfamiliar without Bean perched on his head. It was the first time she'd ever seen them apart. Now, the little Swoobat was perched on Golurk's arm, still smiling and chattering.

"Global takeover," Sheer told him.

He let out a snort of laughter. "Good joke, bad time."

"I never said it was a joke. Right, Zero?" she added, glancing at him.

The Klinkling blinked at her. "Now I am just confused." Damn. She'd get him next time.

"Well, you better wrap up your plans fast. We're almost here." Even in just the few minutes they'd been walking, the trees of Lostlorn had begun to tower above them, coming closer and closer with every step.

"What is Lostlorn Forest like, Meyers?" Zero asked.

"Dark. Leafy." Sheer couldn't hide a little huff of laughter at that. If she hadn't seen them coming from Meyers's mouth, she would've thought them to be her own words.

"Is that another joke?"

"He's telling the truth, he's just got a dry sense of humor."

"...Alright."

They walked side by side for a little longer until Bean lifted from Golurk's arm, leaving him and Rayzor to flutter in front of them. "Meyers, dear! Would you oppose helping me plan for the night? I think we need to find a good place to sleep, and then split up the jobs for checking the perimeter, setting up a camp, possibly finding extra food…"

Meyers groaned under breath and went, "Thought I'd escape if I came back here," to Sheer before giving his companion an ornery nod.

She settled down in her usual resting spot atop his head and gave him an affectionate pat. "Thanks so much! You know, I don't think I tell you I appreciate you enough. You are such a big help in these trying times."

"Don't mention it."

The eldery pair sped up their pace, leaving Zero and Sheer traveling together again. "What do you think of those two?" he asked her, looking out in front of them.

"Bean and Meyers? I mean-"

"Oh, apologies. I meant the other two." She saw now that his gaze was on Rayzor and Golurk, who were still at the head of the group.

"Ugh," she snorted, providing an unneeded amount of sarcastic distaste. "At least Bean and Meyers are a bearable couple."

"Sorry-?"

"If they get together, this group is going to be even more of a disaster."

They were definitely subtle about it, but the signs were fairly apparent. They only ever wanted to talk to each other. All. The time. But then there was the weird, awkward energy that was always drifting about, and the way they became hyper-attentive when the other said their name, and the way every stars-forsaken time she looked over at them, they'd moved the tiniest bit closer to each other… The last thing this dysfunctional group needed was a couple. The emotional tension was already waaay too out of balance. The idea gave her nightmares.

Zero did not seem to be grasping the insinuation of her words. "I… see." He looked as if he wanted to ask more questions, but decided against it. "That is… interesting information, but I was asking about them as individuals."

"Oh." Whoops. That rumor didn't need to be floating around. "I don't know. Golurk's fine, Rayzor is annoying." Maybe not the best thing to say to an apparent friend of Rayzor's.

He frowned. "You seem to hold a certain stigma against him. Did something happen?"

She wasn't sure how to answer that without just going, 'He's the worst?' "I mean, not in particular, he just bothers me. Our personalities clash and he's so weird and shifty about everything."

"Right. I wasn't sure what to make of that."

"I think he's either a coward with low self-esteem or a con man."

Zero contemplated this for a moment. "...I think he's a teenager."

Sheer sighed. "Of course you do." They fell in with the rest of the group, who had stopped at the edge of the trees. Bean was already talking, which was a great relief from the grating conversation with Zero.

"We're here, kids!" The Swoobat said cheerfully, clapping her wings together. "Who's ready to make a camp?"

"I don't know. She just gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"I… don't think I've ever heard somebody say the words heebie-jeebies out loud," Golurk said, ripping the branch off a lower-hanging tree.

Rayzor gave him a half-grin and shifted the weight of the twigs in his arms. Campfire duty wasn't very fun, but at least he got to do it with Golurk. "Hey, it never hurts to expand your vocabulary."

"I can't see myself using it anytime soon, but I'll keep that one in mind." He dropped the branch into Rayzor's arms, who staggered slightly under the added weight. "Sorry! Do you think that's enough?"

"Probably," he grunted, slinging it under one arm. "Should we head back?"

"Sure." The two turned back towards their camp area, which was behind them, closer to the heart of the forest.

The entirety of Lostlorn seemed to be dead silent, which was somewhat unnerving and somewhat relieving. If something was coming to attack them, they'd be able to hear it right away. Hopefully.

"I dunno. I don't think Sheer's all that bad," Golurk said, picking back up the conversation from before. "I mean, I know you guys don't get along, but I don't think she really means any harm."

Rayzor narrowed his eyes and stared down at the ground. He didn't like the bubble of jealousy that floated in his chest whenever Golurk and Sheer… coexisted. "Yeah. You're probably right," he said dismissively, suddenly unwilling to contribute to the conversation further.

They walked in silence for a little while until they found the clearing housing their camp again. Only Meyers was back, pushing some leaves onto the ground in an attempt to make a pillow for himself. "Welcome back," he grunted as they entered without looking up.

Rayzor dropped the wood on the ground in the center of the grove. "What now?"

"Sleep," the dragon said noncommittally and dropped his head onto the lousy pillow.

He glanced at Golurk, who shrugged. They decided to make themselves busy to the best of their ability, rummaging in the nearby bushes and organizing sparse belongings into piles, and eventually more of their team members returned. Zero came next, and a good few minutes later Bean appeared in the trees.

"It seems safe," she called to them, carefully lighting down on Meyers's head so as to not disturb him. "Zero and I went all around. Did you see anything on the other side, sweetheart?"

"Negative," Zero reported. "The area seems largely uninhabited. I cannot find evidence of other large life-forms or groups within the forest. We should be safe. It's all quiet."

"You can say that again," Rayzor said. "I don't think I've heard the wind blow through the trees once the entire time we've been here. And there's a lot of trees here," he added mostly for Golurk's benefit, feeling rather pleased when his companion made an amused noise.

Bean was looking out into the trees again, distracted. "You boys didn't see Sheer while you were out, did you?"

"Nope. What was her job, again?" Golurk asked. He casually bent back a tree so he could lower himself to the ground.

"Ah… she wandered away before I could assign anything," Bean admitted.

Rayzor snorted with dry amusement. "I call playing favorites."

"Dearest!" the Swoobat scolded with a smile. "If that was the case, you wouldn't be doing any work. None of you would, actually."

"Doesn't that kind of defeat the point of having a favorite?" Golurk asked. "You two are on my tail today!" Bean huffed, holding her wings at her sides. "Get some rest, now."

Golurk seemed content to do so, but Rayzor still felt somewhat restless. The stifling silence of the forest was putting him on edge.

"I think I'm going to go on a walk," he told them, edging towards the darkness of the trees. "By yourself?" Golurk asked, somewhat hopefully.

"Um- yeah. Don't worry, I'll be back soon." He slipped away, still thinking about the disappointed sag of his friend's shoulders.

It wasn't any better out in the forest. If anything, it was worse. Rayzor had assumed that it would feel more open out here, but the trees loomed at the edges of his vision and if he looked straight ahead for too long, they crept closer and closer until he had to blink them away.

After a few minutes of walking aimlessly, he sped up his pace, trying to distract himself from the ominous feeling. Still, it persisted. The forest began to gray out. Jagged tree limbs became talons, reaching for him in a silent chase. He forced himself not to let the strange paranoia overtake him, to let it dull his senses and overwhelm him with terror.

It was all in his head, but why? What was so wrong about… this place? There was something very bad about this forest. It had been unsettling at first, but now, something felt truly wrong. He forced himself not to break into a run, instead moving forward as quickly as he could without tripping. Everything was dark, and the forest was breathing, creaking in and out, collapsing closer and closer to him, until-

Finally, he lurched out into a clearing, the trees parting enough to let his head clear. He was breathing hard, but the forest seemed like it was holding its breath. He was too dizzy to even check his surroundings.

For a moment, he stared down at his feet, letting his reeling mind calm down. What a strange, unsettling feeling. Why had he panicked like that?

Rayzor glanced over his shoulder. Everything was dark and quiet, to nobody's surprise. It was not comforting. I should get back, he thought to himself. He knew it hadn't been ten minutes since he'd set out, but suddenly he was very much looking forward to the comfort of his companions. But as he turned to let himself be swallowed by the foreboding forest once again, a sudden noise from behind made his skin crawl.

A rattle, almost. Brittle and empty. He was reminded that he definitely should have checked the area before stopping. And yet, instead of running, something in him made him turn back.

And in that moment, Rayzor's heart stopped beating. Everything around him slowed to a crawl. The color from the trees melted into grayscale, desaturated nothingness. The only thing left was Sheer. Sheer's body. Half-hidden in the shade of the cruel trees, on the ground, completely still.

He tried to whisper her name, but the words stuck in his throat and made him want to gag. Hands shaking, he forced himself across the clearing, to her side, and dropped to his knees in front of her motionless body.

A massive, vicious gash ran halfway across her face, glittering against the fickle moonlight that managed to creep through the trees.

"Sheer," he finally managed to whisper. She was silent. Unmoving. "Sheer," he said again, his voice cracking as his volume rose. Nothing changed. The world was still. "Sheer! SHEER!" he wailed, the full force of cold dread pounding over him. He leaned forward, hands outstretched to- he didn't even know, to do something, to fix it, to-

A light flickered on somewhere, and he fell backwards, his blades unsheathing in surprise as he snapped out of his panic. A single, glowing eye. She was alive.

"You're alive!" he gasped, leaning forward onto his knees again. The single, glowing eye stared up at him, seeing through him.

"...you."

"M- me? What?" Rayzor whispered back, his stomach dropping.

"It- leave. You have… to-" Her words grated out like they were made of knives.

"I- no! I can't- can't leave you here! Who did this? What happened?" The light dimmed, and he sucked in a breath, jumping up and standing over her. "No! No-"

Something creaked behind him and he startled, hot tears leaping to his eyes. A familiar face met his own. "Rayzor? What-" Golurk's gaze focused on the ground behind him, and he froze.

"It's- it's Sheer!" Rayzor gasped, his voice shuddering. "Something happened, and-"

Bean and Meyers shouldered through the ungrowth beneath Golurk's arm, with Zero pressed to their side. Bean let out a horrified gasp and brought a wing to her mouth, looking faint. Zero simply stared at them, trying to process the scene laid out before them.

"We need to help her," Rayzor rasped, frustrated by the fact they didn't immediately leapt into action. When he stepped forward, he saw flashes of hesitation in their eyes. "Why aren't you?..." The realization hit him hard, and suddenly he was drowning in the feeling of dread again.

"No," he whispered, trying to find his voice again. "No. I- I didn't do it. I'm- I wouldn't- no! Please!" It was his turn to back away from them. He felt his foot brush against Sheer's body, and a violent shudder ran through him.

Suddenly, he was aware of the horrific evidence piling up against him.

"I don't know. She just gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"I cannot find evidence of other large life-forms or groups within the forest. We should be safe."

"You boys didn't see Sheer while you were out, did you?"

Every Pokemon had a reason to believe that maybe it wasn't so improbable that Rayzor and Sheer had gotten into a physical confrontation.

Meyers took a slow step forward. "Rayzor," Bean started, swaying on the dragon's head. The tips of her wings were shaking, and her gaze was still far away. "If it was an accident, you can-"

"It wasn't me!" he snarled, finding himself becoming desperate. "I found her like this, and we need to get her help-"

"Rayzor is right," Zero broke in, though he didn't move forward like Meyers had. He still looked more confused than anything else, blinking quickly every couple of seconds. "Regardless of what happened… We need to make sure Sheer is in survivable condition."

Golurk carefully moved forward, pushing away the trees and scooping up Sheer's body. Rayzor scrambled out of his way, letting the shadows of the forest hide his face.

"Can you carry her?" Meyers asked gruffly. Golurk nodded. "Of course." The Druddigon looked back at the rest of the group, his eyes pinpoints of anger in the darkness. "We travel through the night."

Nothing more. Golurk followed, but Rayzor didn't move. Zero gave him a pitifully concerned look. "Come on, Rayzor. We need to leave."

"Why do you want me to come?" he asked bitterly. "If you think I did that."

Zero considered it, staring at the ground for a few moments before meeting his eyes again. "I do not think that is the only possibility. And neither do they. It is illogical, even to an emotion-driven being. We are leaving in case there is still a threat here."

"And what if it is me?" Rayzor snapped, unable to help himself. It was only making things worse.

Zero regarded him with eerie calmness. "I think we are all on our highest guard."

The Klinklang waited for him to begrudgingly start walking, and then filed in behind.

Rayzor walked at the front of the group, his arms hugging his chest and his eyes downcast. He felt like a prisoner, being guided by a group of guards who needed to keep him clearly in their sights. The tension was making him nauseous.

"Okay, we- we need to figure this out," Golurk said suddenly. Everybody jumped. The walk had been silent up until then. He still had Sheer in his arms, who awake again but incredibly disoriented.

They'd been trying to give her water and clean the wound, but nobody knew what to do to help a Cryogonal. Their anatomy wasn't exactly familiar- was the wound more internally or externally damaging? Did they need to find somewhere cold to heal it?

Meyers tilted his chin. "And what do you suggest?"

"I just- we're- I feel like we're avoiding the problem-"

The dragon scoffed and lashed his tail. "Oh, really? Actually, the last time I checked, you were holding our patient in our arms."

"No! I'm not- talking about Sheer," Golurk trailed off. Everyone looked at Rayzor. He set his jaw and refused to say anything.

"I believe Golurk is right, actually," Zero said. "The tension is making me nervous. I do not wish any more fights to break out." 'Any more fights' made Rayzor's stomach twist with bitterness. Bean adjusted her glasses and glanced away guiltily.

"I don't think-" Golurk started, then reconsidered his phrasing. "We should figure out what happened with Rayzor so we can stop pretending he's venomous, or something."

Despite Rayzor's absolutely abysmal mood, something fluttered in his chest. He was thankful at least one Pokemon was sticking up for him.

"We should cast a vote," Bean said suddenly, solemnly. This time, everyone turned and looked at her with surprise. She didn't even have to explain what for.

Another shudder ran through him, followed by a jolt frustration. Why couldn't they just stop and talk for a minute, for stars' sake?! Everybody was being so avoidant and secretive and eager to leap to conclusions.

But… what if he got voted out? Would they just leave him here, alone, at the mercy of whatever had taken Sheer? Or… worse? Would they make sure he'd be unable to follow? He was suddenly very worried about his opinion's lack of weight in the current situation.

Meyers grunted and stopped walking. "We vote. Now." He drew a line in the soft dirt with one of his talons. On one side of the line he added a circle, and on the other an X. "Vote on whether or not…" he trailed off, and Rayzor knew the cruelty of the decision was catching up to him.

On whether or not you think Rayzor tried to kill somebody. Right in front of him, too. The indignity.

The group began to gather around the shapes in the dirt, and he dropped down to the ground and pulled his legs up to his chin. Each member found a small pebble from the ground and leaned towards the drawing. Sheer muttered something to Golurk that he couldn't hear.

Rayzor squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the sound of the dirt being shifted and the silence of deliberation. Every once in a while, there was a soft thumping as one of the stones hit the ground. Every noise made his stomach contort with anxiety.

It was silent for a couple moments more, and then he heard somebody give a sigh of relief. "Well, that settles it."

Rayzor lifted his head from his knees and looked over at the line drawn in the dirt, fearing what he would see. It had been over much quicker than he had thought it would be, but that could be both good and bad. To his surprise, all the stones were clumped together on one side of the line.

The circle.

Something like bitter relief washed through him, and he looked back at the rest of the group, who was watching him with various levels of guilt reflected on their faces. Rayzor didn't give them the satisfaction of his relief. He turned on his heel and set off down the path without a second glance.

Golurk felt absolutely awful. Things had gone from peaceful and easygoing to downright disastrous in no time at all, and he wasn't sure how to cope with it.

They'd stopped again shortly after sunrise to rest, but nobody was sleeping. Well, Bean and Meyers were pretending to, at least, but the twitch of Bean's ears or Meyers's tail gave away the fact that they were listening to every little noise. Zero was staring into empty space with a pensive look on his face. Rayzor was nowhere to be seen, but Golurk had seen his shadow drift behind and away from them earlier.

Sheer was laid out on the ground next to him, much more conscious now but still silent. Probably in shock. He hadn't left her side since the incident, and he was relieved to see at least some positive change. He wanted to feel guilty for her, but at the same time he didn't know how it could have been his fault. Nobody had known such a terrible thing would happen.

The one Pokemon he did feel incredibly guilty about, however, was Rayzor. He had gone a little stone-faced out of shock when he first saw the Bisharp standing over Sheer, but the situation had spiraled out of control almost immediately when people began accusing him of the crime. Personally, he would have to see it to believe it. Rayzor, despite having a sharp tongue and quite a few blades, was rather docile. He couldn't imagine him attacking Sheer with such malice.

Golurk wished he could sit down and talk to him about the whole situation, just to clear his head- but he had a feeling bringing all that up would make things a little tense again.

Maybe I should go… check on him. The area had been quiet all morning, but if they'd learned anything, silence wasn't a good thing.

"Are you alright, for now?" he murmured to Sheer.

"I'm fine," she said stiffly, without looking up at him. He chose not to take it to heart.

"Okay. I'll be back in a bit." He pushed himself standing and peeked out into the trees. From there, the forest looked empty, but he had a feeling he'd find who he was looking for was on the other side of the trees.

He turned around one more time to see one of Bean's eyes snap shut, and then disappeared into the shadows.

As he'd assumed, Rayzor was sitting on the edge of the hill beyond the cluster of trees, facing away from them. Golurk wasn't entirely sure what to say, so he drifted across the grass and carefully sat down next to him. He stiffened, but stayed silent.

Golurk stared down at his hands while he tried to think of something to say. There was a crack running along his palm that hadn't been there before. In a way, it was endearing. Finally, some sort of imperfection after being kept in a tower for so many years.

"How are you?" he asked eventually. It was silent for a long few seconds, and he thought Rayzor was just going to ignore him until he said, "Couldn't be better."

Silence for another few moments. The sarcasm made Golurk wilt a little. "I… I'm sorry," he said finally. He expected Rayzor to give a snort and lament the unfortunate events of the past day, but he was quiet.

"I think… maybe, they were just scared. I never thought it was you. I was just- shocked when I saw what happened to Sheer and I didn't know how to react," he amended quickly.

"It doesn't matter," Rayzor muttered into his knees. "It shouldn't be about me. It's awful that I'm making it about me. It should be about Sheer, and how Sheer just almost died and yet I-"

"Stars, you two are melodramatic," the aforementioned Cryogonal rasped. They both jumped as she emerged from the trees. She wore her usual look of disdain, not at all dampened by the newly-placed gash. If anything, it added to her intimidating demeanor.

Golurk was a bit concerned she'd be too weak to manage on her own, but she appeared to be just fine as she drifted over to them.

"Yes, it happened, poor me," she continued, "but for once, I agree with Rayzor. I mean, the bigger issue is what the hell just happened, not getting me a bandage."

The other two stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. "Well… isn't that what just happened?-" Rayzor started, and Sheer rolled her eye.

"I mean who the hell just happened. Who's trying to pick us off." Her eye swept over both of them with cold scrutiny.

"You- You just voted on keeping Rayzor here!" Golurk said defensively, leaning towards him.

"I'm not saying it's him! Or you! Or anybody!" she snarled back. He cowed a little, embarrassed that he'd leapt to the conclusion so quickly.

"It doesn't have to be one of us," she continued, but he saw something flash in her eye that made him think otherwise. "We could be being followed, or stalked. Anything could be out there, but nobody seems to be bright enough to realize that."

"A warning," Rayzor murmured, a hint of fear flickering through his eyes.

"Ah, yes. But from who?" Sheer said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I can't think of a single tyrant dictator traipsing around Unova right now who would want to cause trouble."

Golurk found that rather shocking, and by the sound of it, so did Rayzor. "What- you think that Invictus did this?"

"I'm sorry, but what would Invictus want with us?" Golurk added dubiously. "It's not like we're going around battling his armies, or purposely getting in his way. He probably doesn't even know we exist."

"We have caused trouble for him before," Sheer argued. "Twist Mountain, when we fought the Stoutland? Whatever you all did before I got here?" She looked as if she wanted to add something else, but refrained.

"I mean- I'm sure it was annoying, but was that really enough for Invictus to send someone after us?" Rayzor asked, hunching his shoulders. "Also… last time I checked, Invictus wasn't exactly subtle." He shuddered, and Golurk knew he was imagining the bloodthirsty howls of Stoutland.

"Does this look subtle to you?" Sheer snorted, gesturing at the ruined side of her face. "But even so, just because his main form of attack is loud and violent doesn't mean he can't have over things going on behind the scenes. I mean, he's got Unova in an iron grip. He must be somewhat smart."

The other two didn't know what to say to that, so for a moment they all sat in silence, thinking. Golurk's head was beginning to hurt from all of the awful possibilities that came to mind. What if they were being followed by whatever had attacked? What if it really was Invictus's doing? He didn't think that was a fight they could win. What if… it had been one of the group members? He felt guilty even considering it. He couldn't imagine a single Pokemon getting violent like that- except for Sheer, maybe, but she had been the victim.

"Or… maybe we're getting close to something important," Sheer mused. "Maybe there was something important in Lostlorn, and whatever attacked me was trying to keep us away from a secret."

"You didn't get a chance to see the attacker? At all?" Golurk tried. That could at least be a good lead.

She was silent for a moment. "No. Unfortunately."

It was disappointing, but he couldn't hold it against her. He didn't expect the victim of an almost-murder to be able to remember a traumatic event crystal-clear. Still, that could have provided some good insight. Even a flash of color could have been a start…

Voices began to carry through the trees behind them. "Joy. Look who's awake," Sheer grumbled. Despite himself, Golurk felt a little disappointed as well. If it hadn't been for the topic of conversation, conversing with his two friends would have been pleasant.

"Well, I'm going back so they don't try to come to me," she added. Leaving their sides. "We'll be right there," Golurk assured her with fake cheeriness. She didn't look back before disappearing into the trees once more.

Rayzor hadn't gotten up from his seat, either, and was instead watching him with something like mild concern. "You look worried. I mean- more than usual. Besides the whole situation."

Well, he was worried. About literally everything. There wasn't a single light visible at the moment. In particular, his concerns were stemming from the whole situation with Rayzor.

"I just- don't want it to happen again," Golurk mumbled. "The- accusing, and the voting, I mean. What if another bad thing happens, and we do freak out and kick somebody out of the group?"

The whole situation obviously hadn't been well thought-through. An impulsive decision. But if Rayzor had gotten left behind, he didn't think he would've been able to forgive himself… And what if whatever had gotten Sheer got him too?

"We all just need to figure out how to trust each other, I guess," Rayzor replied, his tone flat and emotionless.

His words made Golurk feel somewhat defensive. Not for his own sake, but for the Bisharp's. An unseen protectiveness bubbled up from somewhere.

"Well…" he tried to think of how to word the phrase. "I know I can always trust you."

Rayzor looked up at him with surprise. "I- I mean- me too. I trust you- and- yeah," he stammered and trailed off, looking at the ground.

Golurk held out a hand. "Then we can always trust each other, right?"

Rayzor took it as if to shake it. "Yeah. We can." Golurk found his hesitant smile beyond charming.

"Alright. I- guess we should get back now," Rayzor said, dropping his hand. Golurk was acutely aware of the return of the emptiness in his palm. "Right."

Bean and Meyers were waiting for them on the other side of the trees. Bean looked tired but relieved when she saw Rayzor accompanying him.

"Alright, kids. Let's decide where we're going next."