After a little break, I'm going to get started with this chapter again. Sorry it took a little while, I'd planned to write and publish it RIGHT after Sunrises, but I got caught up in Role-playing, then had issues getting up this morning, and by the time I'd actually done so I found myself playing Minecraft, traveling across continents in the Multiplayer server I'm on just to see my friend's new house (Which, after not much consideration I left my underground home for his, since he offered…) and then got caught up in RvB: Season 9. Whoops. Anyway, long story short, I'm hoping to get this chapter up REALLY soon, so any time between now (April 26th) and Tomorrow. The 27th, of course.

Longest. A/N. Ever. Sorry. Onwards!

Ari huffed, crossing her arms. "Why the fuck did he have to come in here and ruin everything! I was happy with you guys, with running around, not having any ties to anybody but you and your brother, and then he shows up and screws up my entire plan!"

"What was your-"

"Look, I know it's confusing – shit, I'm confused too! It's just… I just… I mean, I shouldn't. Shit, I barely know him, and he's creepy, he's always watching me from somewhere. The way he showed up was creepy enough, running at us like that and probably with the intents to kill us, despite what he said!"

"Ari-"

"I've spent my entire life looking for this and now that I have it I don't want it! I don't want it!" The girl was practically a wreck as she paced in front of Vreagon, who shifted uncomfortably. No amount of experience could prepare him for dealing with this – Ari was uncontrollable as it was, unpredictable at that, but now that she was stressed? He didn't think it was too much of a stretch to fear for his life. One wrong word, one thing that could be taken the wrong way, and he risked his-

"…life! This is just what I was afraid of when I met you guys, as well. I didn't want to get so close, or get attached, or- but lets face it! You guys are more constant than he is! One day the three of us-"

"I think you forgot Renel."

"Yeah, I meant to. Anyway, the three of us will pack up and move on, find someplace else to live when living here becomes too unsafe or something like that. That's what we've done since those fucking hordes of zombies and shit ran at us."

"Ari, calm-"

"I just don't want to get so close and then have to leave. When I look at him, I think…" The girl stopped, her eyes watering as she fell against the wall, covering her face in attempts to hide. Vreagon stood slowly, frowning and biting his lip, unsure of how to react-

"…I think of home."

There it was. The closest thing to a confession Vreagon thought he'd ever hear from her. He raced to her side as she let out a short sob, falling to her knees and gripping the other's arms, hiding her face in his chest as he followed her descent. Vreagon could see Mor from the window looking in from the corner of his eyes, walking with Renel – said man attempted to look closer and Mor pulled him away, hissing some sort of threat. Vreagon nodded thankfully, taking a deep breath and slowly setting his chin on her head.

"…I… Aah… I don't know what to say to make you feel better, Ari. I'm… not good at this."

Ari shook her head. "I don't want you to say anything. I don't want either of us to say anything, I just want…"

The girl trailed off and Vreagon didn't bother asking for more.

Mnem emerged from the water, turning mid-flop to sit on the edge of the stone, staring at the wall. He'd gone to visit Ari, to see her, to talk to her. He'd never expected…

He didn't expect her to cry. Worse, cry over him. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, holding a hand over his mouth in thought. What could he have done differently to keep her happy? Well for starters, what had he done wrong? He'd purposely avoided getting too close, or saying something too romantic-

Had it been the sunset? Or maybe it was earlier than that, perhaps the necklace? Had she taken the gift as a sign of his affections? He supposed it wasn't entirely untrue; he had given it to her partially because he wanted to see her smile, but he hadn't meant it to be taken that way. And back to the sunset, it was just something he thought girls liked. He didn't know much about women apart from their bodies and how they worked. As far as the mind was concerned he was relying on guess works and hoping he hit the nail on the head. So far it had worked… but perhaps that had been too far? Did he confuse her? Or, worse, had she already been in love with someone else?

He felt his chest tighten and he looked down, frowning. Had she loved someone else? It wasn't a conversation he could simply bring to the table – that much he remembered from the days before his father went batshit insane – but how could he have avoided hurting or confusing her? Women seemed overcomplicated… sometimes he wondered (not seriously, of course, but the thought had occurred when sleep could no longer come to him) if it was easier to simply play a different game. Switch teams. A crazy thought, he realized, seeing as he hadn't the understanding on how to play on that level, either.

Perhaps he was in a bit of a bind…

He had to go back to Ari, ease her somehow. Maybe set things straight…

But they didn't need to be set straight. She had it right all along – yes, he… liked her, but could it really be called 'love'? After all he didn't know the girl well enough to love her. Did he?

Of course not. It doesn't happen overnight, for heaven's sakes. I can't just look at somebody and think I love them. It doesn't work that way, even if I did wish that it did.

Well that was true enough. Damn the world. Damn the whole world.

He sighed and, making his decision before he could further talk himself out of it, slipped into the water once more, kicking off of the rock and propelling himself toward land.

It was several hours before Ari and Vreagon left her little home, the girl looking down in shame and Vreagon holding her hand reassuringly before releasing it, both of them moving in their separate directions. Mnem looked at Mor from the safety of the shadows and the other nodded slowly, clearing his throat.

"Ari." Mor called, and she turned and smiled deceptively.

"Yes?"

"You have a visitor."

Mnem waved at her from behind the tree, a small tint in his cheeks as he fought the nervous flush. He gulped as her expression changed, though he visibly relaxed when the girl did not run away, but instead moved toward him. "Hey," she said softly, looking down. Mnem shifted his weight, nodding with a sigh.

"…hey."

"…Well. This is awkward. I'm uh… I'm going to go…over… there." Mor backed up slowly, muttering 'Yikes' as he sprinted toward his brother. Ari giggled in amusement, turning to face Mnem once more.

"…So… what do you need?"

"…Want to take a walk? I found an easier path to that mountain we went to the other day, so…"

"Sure."

He grinned as the response came without hesitation.

Ari kicked a rock absently, holding her hands behind her as she walked alongside Mnem. "So what'd you want to talk about?"

"Oh, nothing in particular." Mnem smiled weakly, looking up at the sky. "Just… wanted to talk to you. You know, just… as friends, y'know?"

"…Okay." Ari stopped, and Mnem stopped as well, turning slowly-

and facing an angry woman. He reeled slightly in surprise, narrowing his eyes as he thought back. Had he said something wrong?

"Let's get something straight here." She snapped, circling the raven haired man. Mnem suddenly felt like a little puppy, lost in the woods with a predator hot on his heels.

"…Y…yeah? Like… like wh-"

"You know exactly what, Mnem!" Ari screamed, and birds flew from their nests as she slammed the male against the side of the mountain. Mnem let out a yelp of surprise at the sudden danger he found himself in, staring at her with wide, confused gray eyes.

"…I have to admit that I don't, Ari, so why don't you explain?" He couldn't help but be a little angry – all he was trying to do was be nice and keep contact! He could have left her alone, could have kept his distance, but he wasn't! He was trying to be friends with her, and yet here she was, threatening him with a knife-

Wait. what!

The blade pressed against his throat and he was reminded of their first encounter, closing his eyes.

"Don't you fucking talk to me like that." She growled, pressing even closer. Mnem looked away submissively, squeezing his eyes tighter.

"I didn't mean-"

"Bullshit! Why did you really come here, Mnem? What the hell do you want from me!"

"I'm sorry! I just thought that-"

"That what? I wanted to be friends with you, is that it?"

Silence.

"Well!"

Silence.

Truth be told, Mnem hadn't expected this. He'd expected to talk to her while watching the sky, maybe share a meal. Perhaps he'd spend a little more time with her after dinner before heading back home. He hadn't expected her to-

He found her backing up quickly. "What…"

Mnem looked up slowly, only stopping when the strange, high-pitched gurgling reached his ears.

Was that a…

"Don't look!" Mnem hissed, grabbing Ari's arm. She looked down to speak, her mouth opening dangerously, before he pulled her closer and pressed a hand to her lips. "I said. Don't. Look."

She seemed to try to argue but Mnem shook his head, holding tighter. "Don't-"

Long black legs appeared in front of them and Mnem averted his eyes, forcing the brunette to do the same. Streaks of red remained when the creature before them moved, the slow movements drawing out each second. Ari's breath hitched, her chest heaving, her necklace sliding from its place, hanging over her shoulder.

To Mnem's horror, it hit the rock beside her.

The creature froze, turning sharply.

"Run!" Mnem screamed, releasing her. "Don't keep direct eye contact, just go!"

Ari paused in fear before tearing away from Mnem, rushing off into the distance. Mnem attempted to follow, but the dark shadow moved in front of him, blocking his path. The young man backed up quickly, moving to run in the other direction – and then it appeared there, too. He was backed into a corner, the tall shadow closing in on him.

And he did something that he was warned never to do. He looked up.

And all he could see was purple.

Ari heaved as she crashed into the small camp, falling to her knees and crawling toward Vreagon. The man turned and jumped up, Mor and Renel following. "Jesus! Ari, what-"

"We have to go!"

"…Oh god, not again." Mor murmured, watching his brother turn away and begin packing up their valuables, clearly ignoring Renel every step of the way.

"No… no, it's different! This… this… thing, it… Mnem, tell-"

She turned. She shook her head slowly, tears springing to her eyes. "…M…Mnem?"

"…Ari… explain. What happ-Ari! Where are you- Oh you've got to be kidding…" Mor pressed his palm against his face as the girl sprinted back in the direction she'd come, her legs carrying her around the corner and out of sight. He stood and jogged after her, picking up speed.

"Mnem!"

Silence. She knew this was close to where he'd been. Had he run off in a separate direction? Perhaps to confuse the creature, he'd taken a different route away from her, maybe in hopes that it would follow him instead?

New question. What was that thing? And why did Mnem instruct her not to-

She stiffened up. She remembered the first day he'd spoken to her, explained things to her.

I know it sounds dramatic, I know it sounds crazy to you, but I'm telling you, it's bad news all around! If They get a hold of it and it's used to make the portals, it's all over-"

"They? Who's 'They'?"

"…err… I can't exactly answer that very easily… all I can tell you is 'Don't Look'."

Christ. Them. The Void. The End… It was… it was one of Them. She shook her head in dark realization. She'd left him alone! It had been his duty to fight them all along anyway, but it never hurt to have a little help! Besides, it was quite clear that she had some sort of part in this whole thing, certainly that had to be it. Perhaps her ancestors, too, had been survivors, and they'd simply chosen to stay out of the battle after it was over.

But wait. Hadn't the portal been destroyed and the pieces left scattered? How could there possibly be some of Them left?

Her heart thudded and she trembled, her hands shaking as she attempted to stay upright. In her fear she'd lost track of time – but she did not lose her way. She now stood next to where she had fled. She only knew this by the smell. Her worst fear was confirmed.

Blood. It was everywhere. She could feel herself breaking down, her eyes stinging. This was all her fault. If she hadn't overreacted, taken his words as an insult, they would have walked right by that thing without incident. They would have gotten away safely. And even if they had still fought, if that damned necklace hadn't hit that rock, then it would have walked away without noticing them.

Finding herself despising that beautiful piece of jewelry she pulled it over her head, throwing it to the ground, backing up from the scene. She tried to tell herself that he deserved it, that it was a good thing. That now, Mnem was gone, and she didn't have to worry anymore.

But she wanted to worry. She wanted to fret. She wanted to see him again. She swallowed her tears and moved forward, holding her arms around her torso, clenching her teeth. No longer was she a grown woman. She was now standing in her mother's bedroom, crying to her parents that the storm had frightened her, had kept her awake. She was a little girl again, scared of everything and yet nothing. While she had buried her insecurities before, kept her fears and worries behind closed doors, she now had those flung wide open, wearing scars of the past and fresh wounds of the present. She feared that she would never recover.

But then, she had to wonder if she would even be given time.