xvii.

It was, put simply, a mess.

Sorano lay dazed in a heap, slowly pulling herself up as she wearily blinked open her eyes. Her memories of the last few moments were jumbled, but at least she didn't feel too injured beyond the blowback of being knocked back some feet. Struggling, she rose to her feet.

The campsite looked like a gale storm had gone through it. Tents were blown back, their supports having snapped from the force, and were now thoroughly covered in dirt and snow. Even the heavier objects such as the pots were now scattered. The stump Sorano had sat on was now half-uprooted.

Sawyer and Richard lay a ways off as well, both blown back like Sorano. Richard also attempted to pull himself up, all Sawyer did was groan. She couldn't see Macbeth anywhere nearby.

In the very middle of it all, where the center of the devastation lay, was Ultear.

Her back was to Sorano, and she started to open her mouth to call her, but no words moved past her lips. She found herself parched, unable to even swallow as a wave of dread suddenly filled her.

Because in her last moments, she remembered the cause of the devastation, and she was longer sure how to respond.

In spite of her wishes, she could do nothing but stare as Ultear turned around. Sorano half-expected the same dark, empty look of the woman she occasionally saw during Alliance meetings between the three dark guilds. Cold eyes, focused only on the things ahead of them, ignoring everything else.

Instead, she saw the young girl's eyes filled with tears, flowing freely down her face despite the sting that must have come from crying in the cold. Those eyes focused squarely on Sorano, and she knew, at that moment, that Ultear was certainly looking right at her.

Then she turned and began to run at a pitiful toddler speed into the woods right behind them.

And Sorano did nothing. Not even look away, until she was long gone.

"Where is she! What happened!" Meredy's panicked yells were the first thing Jellal heard upon entering the camp. He sucked in a breath at the destruction.

Richard and Sorano were up but looked dazed. Sorano didn't even flinch at Meredy's cries.

"She's not here Meredy, she ran off." A cool voice suddenly spoke as the air rippled and Macbeth stepped out of it. He shook some dirt off his head, perhaps coming from before he could get a Reflector spell fully up. His words were bitter as he spoke. Meredy's whole body shook.

"No...why. Why did you let her go?" Expressions were mixed, but the three looked genuinely frustrated things turned out this way. One person seemed more indifferent, or perhaps annoyed was a better word.

"Keep it down will ya? My head's killing me."

Meredy's red-hot gaze landed on Sawyer. "You could have stopped her."

"I was busy being in pain you ungrateful whelp–"

"You could have done something!"

"It was your kid who caused all this!"

At Sawyer's words, Meredy clenched her teeth in a painful grimace. Giving him a shove, she stomped past him and into the woods behind them.

"Meredy, stop–" Jellal's voice was cut off by Erik's hand on his shoulder.

"Stop shouting. It's no use. She's not going to listen in this state."

Jellal shrugged off Erik's hand and gave a cold stare. "Then go check on everyone while I go follow her."

"Hell no, you check them. You're the damn guild leader. She's not gonna get that far anyway. Neither of them will." This earned the man another glare. Jellal gazed into the woods, then swiftly turned around.

"I'll give her a minute, but no more." With that, he started walking towards the others.

Erik grunted, trailing behind him.

"Hey, Boss."

A large, toad-like man glanced at his subordinate in displeasure. They'd been on edge all week with reports that the independent guild destroyer was roaming through the woods they currently occupied. Even though they'd been extra careful to cover up tracks and keep a low profile, it was still unknown how much the loathsome independent guild knew.

"What, Blinky? Get annoyed with Winky again?"

"I hate that nickname almost as much as I hate this cold, but no. I thought you might like this bit of intel I got."

His boss leaned in at the news. The other man grinned, teeth as white as the dirty snow.

"Reports say they have a child with them, and it seems she may be more than first meets the eye."