Travelling across the leg had been fine, at least at first. Egil had even thought they would make it to their destination by the night! But no, as was Egil's fate, apparently, things couldn't go that smoothly.

A giant, angry monkey had gotten the group in its sights and now? Now it was a case of running for their lives, rather than moving on. Of course, Egil had considered trying to get around it, but when it flung Oka like a volleyball, he decided it was best to just grab the now unconscious Nopon and backtrack. Quickly.

Before the rest of them were used as volleyballs.

"Run, fast!" He bolted first, the rest of the group falling into a sprint right behind him as the damned monkey gave chase. Why were there blood thirsty monkeys on the Bionis?! What the hell was Zanza thinking, making this place?!

He wasn't sure, but he didn't like it, not a bit. His heel nearly snapped and he stumbled, only staying upright thanks to a helping hand from Kallian. With a groan, he picked up his pace again, hearing the roars and stomps behind him.

Well, that was sure to be in his nightmares tonight.

He glanced back, noted the shortest of their group - Tyrea and Alvis - had found their ways onto the backs of Machina, unable to keep up with the running. Fine by him, so long as they all made it out of this alive and Kallian didn't try and hitch a ride on his back.

They ran, still, even as the stomping and roaring became harder to hear, ran until it wasn't to be heard. When Egil caught his breath, setting the now waking up Oka on the ground, he realized something horrible.

"This is… where we started our trek today." He groaned, falling to his knees. "We lost so much ground to that damned monkey…!"

"I suppose this adds another day of travel for us…" Kallian put a hand on Egil's shoulder, though he was clearly just as upset. "We… We'll just have to be more careful next time…!"

"Kallian is right…" Vanea was at his other side, patting his other shoulder. "Do not look so down, Brother. We can still salvage this…!"

He groaned, letting himself flop against the ground, refusing to pull his head out of the dirt even as the group poked and prodded him. "We can salvage it tomorrow, I'm too tired to move another centimeter!"

Vanea chuckled, moving to sit next to him and pat his head. "There, there, Egil…"


"Look at you!" Linada walked in a circle around Alvis. "Even after all that running, no wounds. Now that I think about it… you almost always avoid wounds."

"I suppose I am simply lucky." Alvis shrugged, nonchalant as could be as they settled down at their camping site.

"Is that so?"

She watched him carefully, looking for any sign of discomfort. She wanted to dig into this, see what kind of medical mystery Alvis was. Everything about him, compared to the High Entia and few Homs they had seen, seemed to place him in another category all together.

Too bad he always seemed to guard what put him in that other category. Maybe he was the next step of evolution for the people of Bionis? It was hard for her to tell, but at this point, it was her best bet.

"You're staring, Linada." Alvis pulled her from her thoughts, his head tilted to the side. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, nothing like that…" She shook her head, moving to sit next to him. "You're just an odd one, Alvis.I never can quite tell if you're an average Homs or not."

"An average Homs with above average luck." Alvis hummed, not looking Linada in the eyes. "It's nothing you need to worry about, either way. You are not an organic lifeform, after all."

"That's true, but I do have organic lifeforms to take care of!" She poke him in the side with a sigh. "If I don't understand you, I can't patch you up very easily."

"You said yourself I often avoid wounds, yes?" He gave a cheeky grin. "No need to worry too much about it."

"Unless you stop paying attention and Egil isn't there to protect you from an Orluga." She gave him a pointed look, not forgetting that Makna Forest incident. "You never know what could happen, Alvis."

She watched him, and the way his face remained blank as he thought. For a moment, she thought she'd upset him somehow, made him go blank faced… But then, he smiled at her, giving another one of his chuckles.

"Don't you worry, Linada. That won't happen anytime soon. I promise to keep my focus where it needs to be from now on."

"You say that, but…" She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Why do I not believe you, so long as you and Egil are giving each other puppy-dog eyes…?"

"Whatever do you mean, Linada?" He tilted his head to the side.

"Oh, nothing… Take your time to figure it out, hm?"


Kallian couldn't sleep, no matter how he tried. Whenever he laid down, a feeling of dread would begin eating at him, making him lay awake, staring at the stars. It wasn't much better sitting up, but at least he could focus on his hands.

Whatever was making this strange feeling come over him, he didn't like it. Was this a sign of something to come? Or was he just being paranoid? Given the Monado was out there, given what that meant for his people… He couldn't help but feel it was the former.

"Is Kallian okay?" Oka came to sit next to him. "Should get sleep!"

"Ah, you're correct, Oka…" He closed his eyes, letting out a shaky sigh. "I just… am a bit anxious."

"What about?" Oka tilted her head to the side. "Oka can try help!"

"...I just feel like something is going to go wrong, at any moment." He shook his head. "The more progress we make, the more I feel tragedy will strike."

"Kallian no worry!" Oka jumped up, grabbing his hand in one of her wings. "Oka will make sure no tragic things happen! Oka will protect all of friends!"

"Oka…" He blinked a few times. "You don't have to promise something like that, I'm simply-"

"If Kallian feel scared or anxious, Oka will help however she can! Will promise things, even if Kallian think it just silly feeling." She smiled at him. "Is least Oka can do for Kallian!"

"I… thank you." He looked down at his hand, still being held by Oka, and felt as if some of the weight on his shoulders was lifted off. "It is nice to know you are there for me…"

"Oka always be there for Kallian, too! Oka is group's Mamapon, afterall!"

"Everyone's Mamapon, hm…?" He chuckled a bit. "I like the sound of that."