"Na-ri!" Xander yelled as he and Hana both ran over to her now that the bear was out of sight.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Na-ri yelled as she crashed to the ground, out of energy. The injury sustained from the bear tearing a chunk out of her while she was using her sun trait wasn't lethal, but it would definitely slow her down for a while.
"Na-ri, are you okay?" Xander asked the second he got to her, at the same time beginning to heal her using 'Vital Spark.'
"Yeah, I'm fine," Na-ri said with a weakened voice, her adrenaline from the fight finally starting to wear off.
"I told you we shouldn't have fought this fight. It wasn't worth the risk," Xander said in frustration, but Na-ri seemed to be ignoring him, only looking in the direction of the young boy.
"Na-ri! Na-ri!" Xander started to raise his voice to get her attention.
"Xander, take it easy on her; she's in pain and out of energy," Hana tried to calm Xander down.
"No, she has to realize the situation we are in; with her injured, if we run into another F-rank beast, we could potentially all die. If she wants to sacrifice her life for some stranger she barely knows, she's welcome to do it, but she should do it with her own life, not me and yours as well, Hana," Xander said all in one breath.
"She was only trying to save a life; don't you at least understand that?" Hana asked.
"I understand that the kid died in the end anyway, and now we're all at risk of dying as well. We can't make it out here on our own; that means we have to work as a team, and to be a team, we need to make decisions as a team. She can't just run off and do her own thing and make every decision on impulse," Xander continued.
"But…" Hana started but was cut off by Na-ri.
"Xander, I know you only care for yourself, but can't you at least try to look at it from my perspective? To me, his life is no less valuable than my own, and as you said, we need all the help we can get. He could've been a valuable new member of the team. Look what Hana brought to the table with her trait. Without it, the bear would have likely killed us," Na-ri said.
"Also, didn't you risk your life to save mine when I was in trouble? You attacked the bear all by yourself with no help from anyone else. Why are you willing to save my life but not his? Is it just because you know me?" Na-ri asked.
"It's different. I have something to fall back on. You've never seen me use my death trait, have you? I was never at any risk of dying, but now I am. If something happens to you, me and Hana probably won't last too long," Xander said, his voice starting to turn more serious. "I need you to make a decision right now: from now on, we make decisions as a team, and if we have to cut loose ends like the boy, we do it—no questions asked. Can you agree to that for the betterment of the group?"
Na-ri, without missing a beat, answered back, "Do you not remember our conversation from before at all? I have my morals, and nothing will make me cross a line I don't want to cross. That means if somebody's in danger and I have the opportunity and ability to save them, I'll do it without a second thought. If you can't agree to that, I think we will have to part ways here."
After hearing her rebuttal, Xander just stared at her, and she stared right back at him. After 30 seconds of silence, he finally answered the dreaded question, "No, I can't agree to that. As dangerous as it is on my own, I think with my trait I can survive better on my own than with the risk of your choices."
"Fine, if you think that, I won't stop you," Na-ri said, acting as if she didn't care one way or the other.
Xander, having said his piece, stood up, ready to go his own way, but then he remembered Hana. He looked in her direction, and when she saw his gaze, she quickly looked away in embarrassment at the situation.
"So, Hana, are you going with me or her?" Xander asked. He didn't really think his chances with her would increase, but he didn't think it would hurt to have her, especially with her trait.
Hana looked down at the ground, not able to look Xander in the eye, and whispered something.
"What?" Xander asked, not sure what she had just said.
"I... I can't leave Na-ri alone with her current condition, so I think I'll just stay with her," Hana said, with a little more confidence this time but still unable to meet his eyes.
Xander nodded his head. "Okay, stay safe."
Then he was on his way.
Xander continued in the direction the group was going before, only this time, instead of going northwest, he went more northeast.
***
After walking for about 20 minutes, he kept coming back to Na-ri and Hana's faces.
'Is it really okay to just leave them alone like that? Maybe I should have just stayed with them and tried to knock some sense into Na-ri's crazy head,' Xander began to think.
'No, the decision has been made, and there's no going back now.'
***
Another 15 minutes went by.
'I wonder what they're doing?'
'Has Na-ri already found some way to kill them yet with her stupid impulses?'
'Stop! Just stop thinking about them. You've made up your mind,' Xander thought with finality.
***
Another 10 minutes go by.
'Maybe I should have… no, no, no, stop! Dammit!'
***
Another 5 minutes.
'F*** it! I can't stop thinking about them. I'll just go back and follow them from a distance. If they need my help and it's reasonable, I'll help them. If it's not, I'm sorry, but I tried my best.' Xander finally made up his mind and decided to go back.
***
An hour later, Xander was back at the place where they fought the bear, and he quickly found their tracks heading northwest.
It didn't take him long to find them, but he made sure to stay out of sight, never getting too close. He didn't want them to know he was following them because he knew Na-ri would just start to include him in her crazy plans.
***
***
***
[Name: Alexander Stone]
[Rank: G-rank - Entry] - [Saturation: 1%]
[Death Core] - [Attunements: Death 100% - Life 10% - Other 50%]
[First Trait: Reaper's Revival] - [Death Charge: Fully Charged]
[First trait Rank: Divine]
-
[Rank: G-rank - Entry] - [Saturation: 1%]
[Lightning Core] - [Attunements: Lightning 100% - Other 45%]
[Second Trait: Mirage Realm]
[Second trait Current Rank: G-rank]