Arago was a regular Aberration. However, although it couldn't speak, it was undoubtedly able to understand them. At Karabell's request, it'd charged straight into Base Yuna, bringing both Een and Kei upstairs before they'd even gotten a chance to ask what was going on. The beast was a bit smaller than regular Aberrations, and a lot nimbler.
One hour had already passed since they'd fled from the battlefield. Thankfully, Arago had agreed to let Een and Shono clamber onto its shoulders. Seeing his teammates cling to the creature's fur like that oddly reminded Karabell of two baby sloths holding on to their mother's back. The Captain unfolded the map. Base Tau was surprisingly close to Base Yuna. Under normal circumstances, that would've been a good thing, but they all wanted to get as far away from that place as they could. Karabell stole a glance at Alice. It looked like Kei had already fallen asleep in her arms. Een and Shono had both gotten injured because of him. Four others had died. All because he hadn't been able to find the Superior faster. His face was red with suppressed anger. He shouldn't have gone for the Superior in the first place. He should've stayed back at the entrance, protecting his friends. Karabell clutched his chest. He'd started hyperventilating. He had to calm down.
"Kar..." Alice chewed on her bottom lip. Was Kar blaming himself for their defeat? But there was nothing she could do about it. They were seriously travelling alongside an Aberration. Alice let out a disheartened sigh. That was the least of their worries. They were all drained, both physically and mentally. It was a miracle her legs hadn't given out on her yet. Shono had lost a lot of blood... The feathered Superior was a problem, too. It had told Karabell that they would defend Base Yuna. But why? Why had Aberrations stepped in to help them? The soldiers had been downright defeated. Alice one again found herself staring at the moon. There was something about it that just seemed to soothe her soul. It looked so peaceful... The moon didn't have to fight Aberrations every single day. Alice pinched the bridge of her nose, flustered by her own childish thoughts. They needed to put an end to all that fighting. She could gaze at the moon to her heart's content afterwards.
"Captain, please come back here," Een pleaded as loudly as his dry throat let him. "Look, I don't know about you, but I'm done with keeping secrets. Did any of you have a strange dream earlier, just before the Aberrations attacked?" he asked, worry clear in his voice. The confusion written all over Lyra and Alice's faces spoke for itself. Shono couldn't recall anything like that happening either. "Well, I did," Een continued, unfazed. "I was at the bottom of a lake. Someone was talking to me. I couldn't see anything, and I couldn't move. Whoever that was, they told me that Frederick would flee to Base Tau. That we had to protect them. Both that guy and Captain. And we can't do that unless we trust in each other. So, Lyra, you can do whatever you want with this information, I don't care."
Karabell listened patiently. So the feathered Superior had given Een a heads up as well. Come to think of it, that guy probably had a name too. Karabell smiled, feeling the fire burning inside him slowly die out. Without the creatures' help, they wouldn't have escaped the Aberrations' onslaught.
"I had a similar dream, Een," he finally spoke, turning towards his companions. "At first, I didn't recognize its voice either, but now I'm sure of it. It belonged to that Superior. It told me the same thing, so I must agree with you. We need to trust each other. I had my doubts about you, Lyra. Maybe I still do. But it's exactly like Een said. Now's not the time to be suspicious of each other. Not to mention everything you did during the fight. You really helped us out." Karabell grinned, giving her an awkward thumbs up. "On a more serious note, if Frederick had to flee to Base Tau, something must have happened to their base. Another Superior?"
Lyra narrowed her eyes. She couldn't tell if Karabell was serious or not. Did he really believe that something he'd heard in a dream was true? But she had to admit, Aberrations stepping in to help humans had seemed just as impossible. Lyra looked at Arago. The creature wasn't that scary from up close. It almost looked like a huge dog. Why was she even thinking about that? At least she'd been right. Those guys were a bunch of weirdos. But they were trustworthy weirdos. They didn't think of themselves as tools. They actually enjoyed their lives. In short, theywere nothing like Frederick's fighters. Squad Ress... really was something else. Lyra shrugged.
"You're right. Commander Frederick never leaves Base Miu for anything other than hunting Aberrations. And even that happens rarely. It's reassuring to know that he managed to escape, but..." Panic gripped Lyra's throat. She realized what she'd just said. Frederick had been forced to run away. Which could only mean that he lost. If the creatures had attacked at night, there should have been two hundred soldiers there. And they'd lost?
*
It was three in the morning when they finally arrived at Base Tau. Karabell promptly asked Arago to find a place to hide. The last thing he wanted was for their new friend to get slaughtered by a bunch of angry children. Was it even right to call that creature their friend? Karabell wasn't sure. Arago slowly lowered Een and Shono to the ground before running off.
First and foremost, they had to tend to Shono's wounds. Lyra went on ahead while Karabell helped him climb down the stairs. Naturally, Base Tau was identical to the other two bases they'd been to. At that point, it didn't surprise them. Lyra returned soon enough, proudly announcing that she'd found one of the doctors fast asleep in the infirmary.
After bandaging the large wound on Shono's arm and ensuring his teammates that none of his injuries were life-threatening, the woman went right back to sleep, plopping her head down on the desk. An uncomfortable smile pulled at the Captain's lips.
"Let's get some rest. We'll look for Frederick in the morning. Come on, he's probably sleeping too. Plus, I'm tired. And my leg hurts," Een whined, dragging his feet. Karabell couldn't argue with that logic.
He opened the door slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Those two bedrooms had been unoccupied back at the other bases, but who knew? The Captain blinked a few times and begun rubbing his temples. Was that supposed to be a joke? No, maybe he was still dreaming.