The terrain blended together as Yuriko and Marron ran back towards the first camp. It only took a few minutes with both of them going as fast as they could. Or rather, with Marron going as fast as he could. Yuriko wasn't even winded at the pace.
They had left the messenger behind and Yuriko expected that by the time they arrived, the camp would already be in the midst of battle. She worried about Gwendith's safety, though Saki and Desire were at the camp, so she should be safe.
When they arrived, however, it was to the usual bustling camp readying itself to serve dinner. There were no barbarians in sight, nor were there any combat preparations. One of the sentries waved at them and said once they were within earshot, "Knights Davar, the commander requested your presence by the command transport."
Feeling relieved, yet somewhat miffed, the siblings strode up to the centre of camp and found a small gathering of Knights.
"What's going on?" Yuriko called out as soon as they arrived.
"Good evening, Knights Yuriko and Marron," Decanus Dumont answered. Commander Perry's aide-de-camp had set up shop next to the command transport, answering questions from incoming Centurions or other Decani. "A mixed force of barbarians and Chaos Lords, in command of an unknown number and type of Wyldlings have taken over the remnants of the Frozen Camp. It's suspected that they'll head over to our position soon. As you two are independents, please indicate which duties you'd like to take." She handed them a list.
"Strike unit, defence unit, road defence, forward camp defence…" Yuriko read through the list quickly. Aside from the first four options, the others listed forager, utility, runescrivening, and cartridge recharger. "What does strike unit mean?"
"Preemptive attacks," Marron grunted.
"I'm fine with that."
"Really? My skills are better suited for base defence. Hmmm." He tapped his chin with his fingers. Marron had some stubble growing on his chin and over his lips. Like Da, he and Kato didn't grow much facial hair, but what he had now made his face a bit more rugged and manly. "Ah, I know. If you want to act as a striker, I'll prepare sniper's nests and support you. I've got an accurate range of five hundred paces."
"That's a tenth of what Da can do," Yuriko teased.
"He's focused on range, I'm not." Marron rolled his eyes.
"Do you want to work with a team?" Dumont asked.
"No need," Yuriko said. "I like to fight without worrying about other people's safety."
"That's not really healthy," Marron sighed, "but now isn't the time to change your methods, I guess." He grumbled under his breath. "Great work, Marron, letting your sister charge in while you wait at the back." He sighed heavily.
"That's 'coz you ain't strong," Yuriko punched his arm, eliciting a yelp.
Marron retaliated with a side poke that she easily avoided, giggling all the while.
"There's another two squads desiring to strike," Dumont interrupted, "but they won't begin until the mixed forces actually enter the forest."
They were less than four leagues from the old camp, twenty longstrides. It was through a pine forest and the builders had done their best to erase their path, so it shouldn't be easy for an army to reach them. Still, it would be best to divert them from the first camp.
"Let's eat dinner and rest," Marron suggested. "We'll begin early tomorrow unless something else comes up."
Yuriko agreed and they returned to their berths. Gwendith and Desire wanted to help and said as much over dinner but Yuriko put her foot down.
"You two protect the camp. I don't want to have to worry about you."
"So you'll have us worry about you, instead?" Gwendith asked stubbornly.
Yuriko stared at the other girl then said, "You need to continue your physical training. If you want to help, you need to become as strong as a Knight. The Ancient's Way is needed unless you've already reached Sollus?"
"No, of course not." Gwendith sighed.
"Patience," Yuriko said, then was struck by the sudden notion that her role and Damien's had been mirrored. Now, she was the mentor and she was the one counselling the other to wait. She felt her Anima and Mien pulse.
"Fine," Gwendith muttered. "But stay safe. Please! Don't take unnecessary risks!"
"Yes, sure."
Desire just hugged Yuriko.
"Am I interrupting?" A smooth baritone voice said. Sheamus Dorn, one of the irregular scouts that Yuriko had picked up when she travelled to Rumiga via the Chaos Sea, walked up to their table.
"Hi, Sheamus," Yuriko said with a wry smile. "No, you're not interrupting."
"Oh, good. I heard that the barbarians are chasing us again. I want to help."
"You talked with Decanus Dumont?"
"Yes, she directed me to you." He laughed. "I know we're not in the chain of command, but we're stuck in this plane anyway. I'd rather help than wait and do nothing."
"Oh." Yuriko closed her eyes for a moment and looked for her elder brother. Marron had taken his meal with Niamh, a couple of tables away. The twilight had cast darkness over the entire camp, and the only sources of light were the Waning Moon and a few Animus light orbs. "Ask my brother how you can help. You're a marksman, aren't you?"
"Of sorts, yes. I will ask." Sheamus gave her a short bow and left.
"He's a Knight-level warrior," Yuriko said when she saw Gwendith start to protest.
"Tsk. Fine."
After dinner, Yuriko meditated inside her tent. Gwendith crawled in next to her and settled on a seated meditation pose too. Yuriko released Radiant energy as light, immersing herself within it.
"...feels like the morning sun," Gwendith murmured.
That much was true, Yuriko felt. The golden light felt no different than the light at dawn, and she could even reabsorb it if she willed it to. Of course, the tent dimmed back down and the only light was the one from the light panel at the top. Desire crawled inside the tent after a moment, and Yuriko saw her visibly recoil from the light, though only for a moment. Her expression changed to one of wonder afterwards.
"Are you alright?" Yuriko asked.
"Yes, I'm fine, master. I didn't expect…" Desire shook her head and sidled over after giving Gwendith a side glance. "I need to refill my Chaos Well."
"Already?"
Yuriko muttered though she didn't really mind. Her outer reserves were much higher now when she realised that because her reach increased, it also meant she could somehow cram more Animus into the storage runescript weaving. She channelled her Animus onto her palm and offered it to Desire, who pressed it against her lips and slurped. She stared up at Yuriko's eyes the entire time though, and just when she started to squirm from discomfort, Desire giggled and pulled away.
"Thank you, master."
Desire left after a lingering gaze and a rather satisfied one directed at Gwendith. Her lips curled into a smirk as soon as she faced away. Yuriko blinked in confusion. Gwendith's pulse was racing, and she was flushing all over her body. A moment later, her head snapped towards Yuriko and her eyes darted to the golden light suffusing everything. Then, her heartbeat sped up even more and Yuriko worried that her friend was about to burst a blood vessel or something.
She reined in her Anima, keeping it compressed to within a dozen inches around herself. She heard Gwendith sigh, in either relief or disappointment.
"Is everything alright? Between you and Desire, I mean," Yuriko asked.
Gwendith sniffed. "I'm fine. Thank you. Why you indulge her like that, I don't know."
"You mean feed her?" Yuriko asked with a grin. "She'd die otherwise." She also had the feeling that Gwendith meant something else, but she wasn't about to go wading into that cloudy river.
Either way, she didn't make much progress in understanding a Radiant Ennoia by the time she turned in. She woke up hours before dawn and found herself in a tangle of limbs. An intense dissonant feeling welled up inside and for a moment, she thought that she was back in the World Trials, but it was only Gwendith, Desire, and for some reason, Saki. Though the attendant was awake and extracted herself from the bedrolls as soon as Yuriko sat up.
She wordlessly left the tent and came back inside with a bowl of spiced ration bar porridge. "Your will, young mistress?"
Yuriko took a spoonful and pondered. She could have Saki follow behind her, as an added safety net, or she could have her help protect the camp, Gwendith, and Desire instead. She'd have Marron and Sheamus with her though, so camp security would be more useful.
"Stay and protect these two," she finally said.
"As you command."
Once she'd finished eating and warmed up, she put on her usual gear minus the backpack. She did have emergency rations and a canister of water and Ambrosia in her hip satchel, and she didn't expect to have to spend the night in the wilderness. Although… hmmm, her backpack really didn't weigh that much, and it wasn't obtrusive. In battle, it was easy to remove and easy to recover. As long as she dropped it before she went to melee, then it shouldn't be at risk of damage or destruction. And she didn't even have to use her hands to do either! She'd also feel better if she was ready for anything. She'd already lost enough luggage and gear by leaving them behind in what she thought had been a safe place.
Nodding to herself, she strapped her backpack on and left. She arrived at the command transport in less than a minute and found both her brother and the older scout already there.
Wordlessly, the three of them headed towards the northeast, following beside the former road. Only crumbled stone remained of the slabs from before, and after about fifty paces, the path had been covered with snow.
Marron easily led them while Yuriko kept her eyes peeled. Enhanced Sight was only useful when she had a clear field of view, but the other Enhanced Senses technique covered the gap easily enough. With her hearing and sense of smell elevated, Yuriko was fairly certain that there were no hostiles within easy reach. The forest was alive with bird and animal calls, which were muted when the three of them came near. Yuriko spread her Anima footing, allowing her to walk even over freshly fallen snow. Sheamus and Marron had equipped snow shoes and were waddling along. She gave them an amused glance while both men rolled their eyes at her.
They crossed four leagues in a couple of hours despite the awkwardness of the two men's gait. They were less than a league from the former Frozen Camp, and in truth, the artificial hill and walls were visible from where she was, from certain angles. Most walls had collapsed, as well as the interior buildings and certainly the underground chambers. There was campfire smoke drifting up from behind the walls, and the area around them was quiet, as though the forest critters were either missing or collectively holding their breaths, waiting for the Wyldlings to leave.
Along the way, they slew several hundred swarmlings and about a dozen Wanderers. The Chaos dust was swept up with the dust collectors and they meticulously extracted the shards from the bodies.
Yuriko's hand absently went to the pouch hanging on her belt. It was filled with metal ball bearings, though she wasn't sure what the exact composition was. More importantly, they were each of uniform size and weight, at around twenty-five HiJin each. She hadn't used them against the swarmlings or Wanderers since even compressed snowballs laden with a bit of Animus was enough to kill them. They would be a boon for long-range shooting though.
"Right," Marron said when dawn arrived. "Now we need to look for a good fallback position and a kill zone."
"You do that," Yuriko said with a fierce smile. "I'll go see if any of the barbarians are exposed."
"But how will you know where to fall back to?" Marron protested mildly.
"Er, send a messenger crane?"
Her brother gave her a pointed look while Sheamus coughed.
"Fine," she muttered sourly. "I'll climb a tree and see what I can see from there."
She jumped up and used her kinesis to secure herself before Marron could say anything. This particular tree in the coniferous forest was tall and straight, with its leaves and branches appearing only after nearly a dozen paces from the ground. The bark was smooth but proved no impediment to her kinesis and she quickly reached the upper branches.
The height gave her a perfect view of the outpost. And of the barbarians exiting the camp and fanning out into the forests. They moved in groups of twenty or so, though each group was within shouting distance of the others. The swarmlings avoided the barbarians, though there was the odd Wanderer that clashed with a raiding group. The Wyldling had been put down, and its blue blood smeared across the warriors' torsos in spiralling patterns.
At least that meant that the two groups weren't exactly working together. It was a small mercy all things considered. Ah, she saw a familiar silhouette, or rather three of them, on top of the rubble. The Weaver of the Warp and Weft of the World's three incarnations. The one she had bisected looked fine now.
As if feeling her stare, they suddenly oriented towards her direction, and with Enhanced Sight active, she saw each of their faces smirk. But they didn't move.
The next moment, a burst of white flame blossomed next to the sorrowful Weaver and revealed a slender woman in a set of loose robes. She was a bit top-heavy but it didn't look like she was a warrior anyway, from how the flames danced around her body. The Weavers gracefully made way for her.
Yuriko recognized the woman, of course. The last time she saw her was back at the plateau. It was the Chaos Lord riding at the head of the behemoth.
Before anything else could happen, she dropped back down to the forest floor and called out to her brother and Sheamus.
"Trouble."
Marron just raised an eyebrow. "Did you expect anything else?"
Yuriko shook her head and smiled.