"We're so dead!" Mikel breathed as he stared down the cliffside. "We're never going to make it home, not in one piece."
Fear, anxiety, and worry, among other unnamed but distinctly uncomfortable emotions gnawed on his guts, along with the various other phobias he kept suppressed throughout his entire life. He felt someone punch his arm.
"Knock it off!" Krystal glared at him with her alluring green eyes. Her oval face was framed perfectly by her fringe, while the rest of her black hair was gathered into a bun, quite unlike Yuriko who had hers in its usual ponytail.
"Right," Mikel murmured. He tried to control his fears but succeeded only in pushing it down. The pressure of keeping his emotions bottled up would have explosive results, he knew, which was honestly what he was counting on. He felt so foolish for holding back on inlaying his Facet when it presented him with such an elegant solution to his troubles and he wanted to kick himself for hesitating.
Yuriko was staring down at the swarmlings, her eyes glowing gold, a shade that matched her gorgeous tresses. With a start, he realized that she had an inner radiance that seemed to be barely contained by her skin. It was mesmerizing, especially with the way she looked. Her light tan was fading, he thought, matching the rest of the creamy complexion that she had inadvertently given each of them a tantalizing peek.
He gulped. Even now, while they were in grave danger, he couldn't help but look at Yuriko despite the fact that he didn't want to be anything more than her friend. He'd noticed that she had that inner radiance just before they left the Watchtower but it faded away when they began the mission only for it to reappear now.
Yuriko's eyes returned to blue as she stopped using her Animus. She nodded at them and crawled back, away from the ledge. She led them farther away though he noticed she mostly walked in spots where the sunlight continued to bathe her skin. Once they were about twenty paces back, they huddled.
"They aren't doing anything," Yuriko said, "other than sit there, I think."
Mikel nodded. He noticed that too.
"They're just sitting?" Orrin asked. "Why though?"
"If we knew that, we'd already know what to do," Heron growled.
'Ah yes, Muryh's trademark hostility,' Mikel thought. The rivalry between Muryh and the Foster twins was quite amusing to watch and it had started almost as soon as they met. Meanwhile, the object of their fascination was unknowingly fanning the flames and Krystal gleefully added fuel to the fire whenever she could.
"More importantly," Krystal cut in, "We have to determine what we have to do."
"I couldn't see much past the canopy," Yuriko said, "but the glimpses I saw were of more brown and grey. More swarmlings, I think."
"Wouldn't this mean that all of those swarmlings escaped from the Watchtower's Gemheart? And...and, wouldn't it also mean that they managed to get past the outpost?" Mikel said worriedly. "Is the outpost even still there?"
Krystal shook her head.
"We cannot assume anything. Unlike the Watchtower, there's nothing in the outpost that will keep the swarmlings from avoiding it. I…I think we need to find a different path and I think we should still try to head to the outpost."
"Do you think you can find a path?" Yuriko pressed.
"I can try."
The sun was about to disappear in the mists though and Mikel worried about travelling at night. The light of the nearly full moon was more than enough to see but it was no replacement for sunlight.
"Are we going to march all night?" he asked.
Yuriko hesitated for a moment then replied. "Only until we find a good place to camp. We might run into more of them without realizing it."
"Who knows what the situation will be like tomorrow," Heron insisted. "We should press on. It will only take us a couple of hours from here to get out of the woods."
Yuriko's brows furrowed. "Well…"
"It's too dangerous," Orrin rebutted. "We should be as cautious as mice in the granary. The cats are prowling."
Mikel noted with some amusement how Orrin and Heron had taken opposing views checking, most likely, whose opinion Yuriko would favour.
Heron glared at Orrin who stared back placidly. Krystal just leaned back and Mikel could tell she was fighting to keep a grin off her face. In spite of the danger they were facing, she still had the gumption to enjoy her little games. Still, this wasn't the time to be foolishly brave.
"We should remain cautious." Mikel supported Orrin. Of course, it had nothing to do with the fact that he and Heron were often at loggerheads. At least, that's what he told himself.
"What do you think, Krystal?" Yuriko finally said.
"Either way works for me. Both options have their inherent dangers, so pick your...uh poison, I guess."
Yuriko nodded. "Find us a path down there. Let's find out how far the swarmlings have penetrated the Shillogu Woods."
Heron covered his smirk with a hand. Orrin just nodded.
Krystal started to pick a path. Her eyes glowed blue for nearly a minute before she pointed at a direction, which happened to be where they came from.
Unsurprisingly, they found another boar trail though Mikel supposed it could have been made by any other game. The entrance, however, was through another lavan berry bush, much like the other boar trails before. This one had green berries, still far from turning ripe.
Yuriko's hands twitched when they passed by the bush but she bit her lip and kept her hands firmly by her side.
Krystal ranged further ahead, maybe by twenty paces or so, keeping mostly within sight of the rest of them. The trail sloped downwards, though sometimes so gently that Mikel didn't notice until he looked back. The trail switched back some time later, then started going down again.
The Full Moon had risen by the time the trail ended behind another berry bush. Krystal waited until the rest of them came to her position.
"Take a look please," Krystal said while pointing up a tree.
Yuriko took off her backpack, Heron claimed it before she could set it on the ground. Nodding in thanks, she made a standing jump and shimmied up the trunk and into the branches in the blink of an eye. She dropped back down less than a minute later shaking her head.
Heron returned her backpack and she nodded up the way they came. Keeping quiet, the five of them walked about a hundred paces back and huddled.
"There are more swarmlings past the bushes," Yuriko said. "They're digging into the ground and nesting."
"Chaos! What do we do now?" Mikel blurted out.
"I don't think we can fight our way past them," Yuriko said grimly. "There's too many."
"Why don't we look for a campsite first?" Krystal said quickly. "They're not moving now and at least they won't stumble on us while we rest."
"Then this would be the best time to sneak past them," Heron insisted.
"If there were less of them, I would agree with you," Yuriko said. "But they're practically rubbing shoulders as they sleep. The only spaces between them are where the tree trunks are."
Mikel shuddered at the thought. How did so many of them get here? More to the point, how many were there, to begin with, that so many of them slipped past the Watchtower?
"Tree trunks…" Yuriko muttered while looking up to the canopy, her eyes glowing gold.
Mikel followed her eyes up but in the darkness, he could barely see anything other than the silver light coming through the canopy.
"What are you thinking of?" Krystal asked.
"Have you ever seen a swarmling climb a tree?" Yuriko asked.
"Not unless they're after something, I think," Orrin interjected.
"That's a crazy idea," Krystal said flatly.
"We could tie a rope around our waists and cross the branches," Yuriko continued. "Maybe we can get past the nesting swarmlings."
"And what if we get spotted? Those creatures can easily cut down any trees we're on."
"Isn't stealth your thing?"
Krystal sighed. "Yes, it is, but my Animus can only cover myself, and it's just camouflage. I can't make us invisible or anything like that."
"Do you think waiting around will help us cross?"
"We could just go around them. Less risk that way."
"We don't know how spread out they are."
Krystal looked like she wanted to continue protesting but Mikel could see that she wasn't sure of her solution either.
"What do you boys think?" Yuriko asked.
"Let's do as you say," Heron and Orrin said in unison. Mikel rolled his eyes of course they would agree.
"Krys?"
The dark-haired girl sighed. "Fine. Let's try this out."
Mikel nodded in agreement but as the majority had already agreed and he didn't have a better idea, there was not much else to say about it. Plus, anything Yuriko wanted to do, the other two boys would agree to just to suck up to her.
'I hope they grow out of this,' he thought.
Yuriko looked back up the canopy and moved into the undergrowth. She stopped at a tree that looked easiest to climb. The branches were lower and the trunk was a bit crooked. She climbed it gracefully, backpack and all. She didn't even take off her boots but she looked as surefooted as if she was on flat ground.
Mikel grimaced and tried to climb. His forceweave jacket and trousers slipped on the bark and he wound up on his back staring up at the night sky. Heron snorted in amusement, but when he tried to climb up, he slipped and fell on his bottom too. Mikel grinned while Heron glared up at the trunk. Orrin managed to climb up the trunk, though he had a few close calls, too. Krystal just stared at them in silence.
After a while, a knotted rope dropped down and Krystal walked up to it and started climbing.
"Wha-?" she squeaked as the rope suddenly pulled her up. She disappeared amongst the branches and, after a while, the rope dropped down again.
"After you," Heron grunted.
Mikel took hold of the rope and was swiftly pulled up. When he reached the upper branches, he was shocked to find that Yuriko was the one pulling them up, her body giving off a slight golden glow.
"How did you do that? I didn't think you were that strong," Mikel gasped.
Yuriko shrugged. "Next step to Recovery is Boost."
"Ah."
The branch he was on was several inches wide. Yuriko stood on hers easily even though it was a bit narrower. Krystal was hugging her branch with a death grip, eyes closed and murmuring entreaties to the Ancestors. Orrin was leaning against the trunk and he looked ill at ease.
After a minute, Heron climbed up laboriously, his boots connected by the laces and hanging around his neck with his socks stuffed inside.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Mikel said. He still couldn't muster up the courage to stand up.
Yuriko looked at the rest of them. Other than Heron, it would be a miracle if they could even cross the arboreal roads.
"Get used to it first, I guess. I'll scout ahead," Yuriko muttered.
"Wait, I'll go with you." Heron volunteered.
She observed him for a while then nodded. She had the good sense to leave her backpack behind, securing it to the trunk using the knotted rope. Then, she strolled down the branch, as surefooted as a cat. She crossed several branches before she disappeared from view. Heron gingerly made his way down the same branch after securing his pack next to hers.
Mikel patted Krystal's back. She squeaked.
"What?"
"Are you doing alright?"
"No."
"Think you can open your eyes?"
"No."
"I didn't think you were scared of heights."
"I'm not scared of heights."
"I find that hard to believe."
"I'm not," she insisted. "I'm scared of falling."
"What's the difference?"
"Guess!" she growled. "Now leave me alone!"
Mikel shrugged. He wasn't scared of heights or falling but he didn't trust himself well enough to be able to walk on the branches. Orrin was trying his best but Mikel could see his face was soaked in sweat.
"I don't thi-think this was a good idea after all," Orrin stuttered.
"Well, lie in the bed you made," Mikel grunted.
Orrin smiled weakly. "A man can change his mind."
Mikel crawled up next to the trunk and leaned back against it. He removed his boots and socks and then he attempted to stand up.
His bare feet gave better purchase and at least the branch wasn't wet. The path was wider than his foot and he could actually stand with his feet together, so it was far from precarious. It was the thought that they were nearly thirty paces off the ground on nothing but a branch less than a pace wide that gave his stomach nervous flutters.
Still, he was making progress finding his nerves and even Krystal had opened her eyes and was trying to sit up. She squeaked and squealed adorably every now and then.
Flashes of gold and blue lights in the distance caught his eyes.
'Those are the colours of Yuriko's and Heron's Animus.' Mikel thought nervously, but he could do nothing but watch. He could barely even walk on the branch.
"I knew this was a bad idea."