Tera stares at the group, expecting thunderous applause, but instead, Sunny simply nods.
"Alright, you can join us."
Tera sighs, smiling, and continues down the hallway with everyone following. As she walks, she rushes over to Luna.
"Why is your hair white?" she asks curiously.
Before Luna can answer, Tera dashes over to JJ. "You're tall, but you smell old."
JJ raises an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean!?"
Ignoring him, Tera bounces over to Jamal. "You smell like an instrument."
Then, she rushes to Sunny. "You smell like gunpowder."
Finally, she circles back to Luna. "Why are your eyes silver or grey?"
Luna shrugs. "I mean, I don't know why my hair is this color or why my eyes are this color."
Jamal raises an eyebrow. "Wait, your parents' hair and eye color don't match yours?"
Luna shakes her head. "Nope. Mom has blonde hair and green eyes, and my dad has black hair and brown eyes."
Sunny turns to face Luna, intrigued. "Really? What about your grandparents?"
Luna shakes her head again. "Nope. Grandpa has black hair and blue eyes, and Grandma had black hair and brown eyes. On my mom's side, Grandpa had blonde hair and green eyes, and Grandma had brown hair and green eyes."
Sunny, surprised by the revelation, nods. "Huh. That's strange, partner."
Before they can continue the conversation, Tera suddenly leaps onto the ceiling, causing the group to stop in their tracks.
"What are you doing?" Sunny asks, confused.
Tera's eyes narrow. "Those pale monsters and a deer monster are up ahead!"
Sunny unsheathes her sword, coating it in fire before sending a wave of white flames down the hall. The weaker wendigos are quickly engulfed in the flames, but the larger wendigo—one that resembles a weaker version of the monster they fought earlier—remains standing.
Something is off. Its skin gleams in the dim light, looking almost like iron.
The wendigo roars as it leaps toward Sunny, but she swings her blade, clashing with the beast and stopping its charge in its tracks.
Tera grins, eyes gleaming with excitement. Her hands twitch, revealing sharp claws as she lunges at the wendigo, slashing across its face. She lands gracefully, but then looks down at her claws in surprise—they're chipped.
"Oh, deer creature is tougher than it looks!" Tera exclaims, genuinely impressed.
She watches as JJ steps forward, cracking his knuckles before swinging a powerful punch at the wendigo, striking it across the face. At the same time, Jamal snaps his fingers, igniting the monster's head in flames. The impact from JJ's punch causes a chunk of the wendigo's iron-like skin to break off, and Tera quickly snatches up the fallen piece.
She licks her lips before popping the shard into her mouth and swallowing.
Luna's eyes widen in alarm. "Wait, no, don—"
Before she can finish, Tera's arms suddenly shift, turning into the same iron-like material as the wendigo's. Her claws grow back, looking sturdier and sharper than before.
Tera smirks and charges again, slashing at the monster's heels. This time, she carves out another chunk of its iron hide. Without hesitation, she eats that piece as well.
Luna sighs, realizing they've picked up quite a strange one—but at least she can hold her own in a fight.
Tera's grin turns wicked as her arms grow even bulkier. With her newly reinforced claws, she lunges at the wendigo and drives them deep into its back. The creature howls in pain before swatting her away, sending her flying toward a wall. However, Tera twists in midair, catching herself before she can crash.
Luna, determined not to sit this fight out, swiftly unravels her fists, wrapping her threads around the wendigo's legs. The monster stumbles, losing its balance. Not wanting to be yanked around like a ragdoll, Luna quickly detaches the threads, letting them fall away as the wendigo struggles to regain its footing.
JJ swings at the monster, concentrating his psychic waves into his fists. He strikes the creature several times, each blow cracking its iron-like skull. As JJ leaps back, Jamal charges a firebolt and fires it directly at the monster's face.
The wendigo shrieks in pain, swinging violently at nothing, blinded by the flames. Seizing the opportunity, Tera leaps over and slashes at the monster's head, this time ripping a chunk of its skull away. The creature stumbles before dropping to its knees. Without hesitation, JJ ignites the inside of its exposed skull with fire, finishing it off.
Sunny smiles happy she didn't need to get to involved in the fight though she knows that monster wasn't to strong while it looked menacing it was just a full grown wendigo and that's it however she's certain that theirs a primal wendigo here and if it is then that will be an uphill battle.
She walks over to Tera and she gives some head pats "You did good!" Tera smiles as her ears twitches from the head pats. The group sees a tail spring up that appeared to be wrapped her waist as sways left and right. Luna looks Tera with a head tilt "Umm Tera why did you hide your tail?" Tera turns arounds to face Luna "Cause it gets in the way duh!"
Luna shrugs her shoulders and gives Tera a head pat before walking over to Sunny. The group continues making their way through the facility, trying to make sense of this entire place. These wendigos aren't normal—first, the one with tentacles, then the wraith hybrid, and now the one with iron skin. So many questions, yet very few answers.
They carefully search room after room, but none of the papers or documents provide a clear explanation for what's happening here. Sunny suspects it has something to do with survival and evolution—after all, if a species doesn't adapt, it will eventually perish. However, wendigos naturally grow stronger over generations, so why accelerate the process?
What truly worries her is the creation of more hybrid monsters. The wraith hybrid was only easy to kill because the hunter's body wasn't meant to undergo such a transformation. But what if they encounter a wendigo or a spliced hunter that can withstand such a mutation? What then?
The group continues through the eerie facility, hoping to stop whatever is happening here, put an end to these monsters, and hopefully find answers to all of this.