The calm, steady swaying of a camel's back. The four rode on two of them, through the sand dunes. Suna normally walked on her feet – she didn't see how riding on a camel's back was any better than walking, it just seemed like it would take longer to respond to a threat – but she sat in between one of its humps, her knees brought close to her body. For she was in thought.
These dunes were a stark contrast to the lush forests, which were only a day's worth of running away for Suna. The Team occasionally encountered groups of hostile beasts, or creatures that ambushed from within the Sand, or even beasts that could 'swim' through it, which really didn't make any sense to Suna. But she was starting to understand something. These beasts… they're not normal. Many of them, like their last quarry, a tank-like large beast, possessed unusual ways to interact with the world around them, like creating earthquakes, for example. Such a feat physically made no sense, yet neither did Magic… Were they… capable of Magic? Lilt and Angie both said no, but then what were they doing, then? Stomping your feet does not result in an earthquake, gyrating your body does not let you swim in sand, flapping your wings does not create streaks of sharp compressed air… or did they? Suna wondered if it was her own understanding of the laws of physics that were lacking, or if these beasts really did have some way of interfacing with 'Magic' in some roundabout way. Suna felt it was important, yet no one else really seemed to dwell on it…
Suna and her friends passed by a caravan. They gestured, sometimes exchanging small talk. Suna just huddled herself on the camel, doing her best to continue her inner monologue. She liked being distracted. It stopped her from sensing those gazes.
Rustle. Rustle? Rouse?
What was this feeling? Nothing was rustling. Nothing was rousing… Wait! Ei!
Suna ceased all thought, honing her inner 'senses' in an attempt to gauge Ei's hard to distinguish 'presence'.
…
Was it… just her imagination?
Lilt called out to Suna. Suna really, really did not want to answer. But she wasn't so rude as to ignore her friend.
She gave a not often seen look of annoyed hostility at Lilt.
"Oh, uh, Sorry, I, uh,"
"No, Lilt, you're fine, it's me. What's up?"
"Oh, um, this caravan, they offered to commission us for protection. Said they'd feel safer, that they couldn't find as many guards as they'd like before they had to leave the last city they were at."
Suna thought. "Are they going to Amadeth?"
"Yep."
It's not like Suna's slow camels were traveling much faster than these people anyways. Yes, she didn't like being with people. But, maybe if she just got better at ignoring them… She'd try. To ignore them. She had been trying, but maybe with more practice, she'll get good enough, to where her mind won't enter a cycle of self-destruction.
After some thought, Suna responded. "'Kay. I'll leave it to you."
Lilt was surprised. "Oh, um, Got it!"
The caravan consisted of people walking on foot, camels carrying passengers, and large four-legged lizard-type beasts, which carried cargo on some and rooms on others. It was a fairly large caravan.
There were other hunters already assigned to this caravan, but she tried not paying attention to them. Angie and Lilt both left to go and acquaint themselves with the other guards and the leader of the caravan. Beryl and Suna stayed on their camel, Beryl continuing to play with Suna's hair, as she had been doing. For a while.
Suna tried to rehone her senses in an attempt, to see if Ei was awake. She had long thought of the things she'd ask him. She had questions. She needed answers.
"Hey."
She was interrupted. It was a guy. She could see their fellow Hunter teammates a short distance away.
"..."
Beryl spoke up. "Sorry, my Friend's a bit shy, haha…" She gave a bit of a dismissing smile and a turned gaze and a shrug.
"Oh, an Apprentice? That's commendable."
"Oh, haha, no, she's our Leader."
The man was a bit stunned. "...Oh."
They tried to move on. "Well, I'm Gary." They stuck out their hand, towards Beryl.
She shook it. "Beryl. This is Suna."
Gary stuck their hand out towards Suna, as well.
Suna didn't want to shake it. But, these people, they were going to be fighting with each other, relying on each other. Not shaking it wasn't really an option.
After some hesitation, she gingerly moved her hand closer. Her fingertips and her thumb gently shook the outstretched tips of the man's fingers.
Beryl gave Suna a look. Of surprise, of Pride, of Joy. Suna whipped back with an annoyed glare, and an eye roll. That didn't deter her from excitedly wiggling Suna's shoulders back and forth. How Ridiculous…
The man, Gary, didn't really know what to make of the 'handshake' they had received, but they tried to awkwardly laugh it off.
"Haha, well, we'll be in each other's care. Oh, yeah, what's your guys' Group name and Rank? If you don't mind me asking."
They weren't being judgemental. This was important information.
"We're plats. We don't have a group name." Suna thanked Beryl in her head for speaking up.
"Really? No Group Name? Wait, don't tell me…" They looked at Beryl and Suna with suspicion. Suna shivered. She didn't like it.
"Hey, Stop that!"
"Oh, huh? But, I'm pretty sure, isn't there that one nameless group…?" They looked upwards, trying to recall a rumor they picked up somewhere…
"What's your guys' Ranks?" Beryl tried to distract this man, that just didn't seem to want to go away. She wanted to protect Suna.
"Oh, we're plats, too. There's a couple other groups, mixes of gold and silver, but I think one of them has a plat? I don't really remember…" They shrugged. "Well, it is nice having some more support, I was really worried, it is that time of year, after all…"
Beryl and Suna were both curious what the man was referring to. But neither of them inquired, Beryl just giving a nod of her head, as if she knew what they were talking about.
"Haha, well, we should be fine. With you guys here, we take that side of the caravan, you take this side, the golds and silvers deal with any stragglers, we should be able to make it through fine." They gave a shrug, before walking away, "Nice meeting you two." They gave a gesture as they departed. Beryl breathed a sigh of relief, before turning her attention to Suna.
"...what?"
"Mmmmm I'm so, Proud of You!!" Suna was attacked, by a merciless Beryl. She… didn't mind it. A tight grip around her body, Beryl's head which drilled into the back of hers... Suna sighed, but she couldn't resist the Nectar.
The group of four reconvened. It was almost nighttime.
"So, they'll cover the first half of the night, and we'll cover the second half. The pay's not bad, I think this commission's worth it." Lilt looked around, trying to garner opinions. No one seemed to have any objections or opinions they'd like to bring up.
"Hey." Suna spoke up, getting Lilt's attention.
They looked at her attentively, a slight tilt of the head.
"Um, the guy, they said, it was that time of year… do you know what that means?"
Lilt, and the rest of the group, showed looks of confusion. They didn't know. Suna looked down. It seemed they probably had their work cut out for them.
Sounds of battle. Such sounds, the Team had gotten fairly used to. They themselves had a taste of the strange denizens of the desert, which seemed drawn to the caravan. The caravan was huddled up into a ball, with the defenseless common folk in the center of that ball. On the outside were all the Hunters, with Suna's group close to the wall of Lizards, and the other Platinum hunters spread out, ready to detect and intercept any hostile enemies.
"Well, if more monsters show up," Beryl pounded her clenched fist into her open palm, "We beat them up. Ain't that all there is to it? Hahaha!" The Group felt a bit better. She wasn't wrong.
Her friends were fast asleep. For they'd have to wake in the middle of the night to be on lookout. But Suna couldn't really sleep. Not when there was ongoing battle. It just didn't really make sense for her to leave herself that defenseless. But she let her Friends sleep.
She stared up at the night sky. The stars, were Beautiful. She looked at them. She… kind of wanted to be one. She wanted to be away from this World, she wanted to be free of its human shackles. If she grew stronger… maybe she'd be able to be a Star. Maybe the only gazes that would turn her way… would be those of Awe. Or those of indifference. She wouldn't care. If she was a Star, she would just… Shine. She would sparkle. She could be Her, and no one would be able to dampen her, obstruct her; she would Shine Brightly, Infinitely. How nice would that be…
There was a girl, perched on top of one of the large lizards, the small room on top of it, to be specific. She gazed out. Looking at the resting Hunters? The ones stationed in a perimeter? The Horizon? The Night Sky? The Stars up above, Far, Up Above? Suna didn't know. She kind of wanted to know. So she soundlessly left her sleeping bag.
"..."
"...um."
"...sorry, uh, I can leave, if you want…"
"Oh, no, it's okay, I just didn't know if you needed something. What's up?"
"...I was curious." Suna looked out. "At what you're looking at."
"Oh." The girl thought to herself. She wasn't old, she was maybe around 13. She was still taller than Suna, though. "Well. I have insomnia. I can't really sleep well."
"...?" Suna had never heard of such a thing.
"And, well… isn't it weird? That everyone sleeps so peacefully, when there's Danger right there? I don't really get it…" The girl contemplated.
"Um…" Suna mustered words, "I'm, um, Suna." She thought about extending her hand, but seeing how… at Peace the girl before her was, she didn't.
"Hehe. I'm Amy." Lit by the moonlight, Suna saw her faint smile.
The two sat.
In Peace.
"So… you're a Hunter?"
"Um… yeah."
"...What is it like?" The girl's eyes looked at Suna. "To be Free. To go wherever you want. Do whatever you want. What is that like?"
Suna thought. "...Free?" Suna looked up. At the stars. "...The Stars are free. What am I? I'm… I…" Suna stopped herself from tripping over her own words.
"..." The girl politely waited, for Suna's response.
Suna thought.
"...I'm… scared."
"Scared? Of What?"
"...That… that no matter what I do… I'll… I don't know. I… I don't know what I'm scared of…" Suna thought to herself. Was she scared of being Abnormal? But weren't the Stars Abnormal? Yet they looked so, so bright… No, no, Suna was seeing it. She was beginning to understand. She was scared… Of Herself.
Suna shivered. Deeply. Down to her bones.
Why? Why am I scared of myself? Of… of what I can become… of what I Will Become… Why?
Suna saw herself. She saw a Monster. No, this whole time… did she really care about what others thought of her? No. She didn't. For they… were small. Their judgements were meaningless. Before the Stars, they all… were Meaningless…
Suna was scared. Of herself. Of herself, for coming to such conclusions. Surely… such thoughts had to be wrong. Surely, Surely!!
Suna jumped up, scaring the girl. She ran, she dashed, as fast as she could. She slid into Angie's sleeping bag, suddenly waking her. She grabbed her. Tightly. Very tightly.
"Hey. Hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm… I'm scared, Angie." Her voice shook. She herself, Was stopping it. She was making herself scared. What? What was she thinking? It was so much. Suna couldn't take it. She dug her face into Angie, she didn't want to think, she was scared, she was scared. Of Herself.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay, it'll be alright."
Angie comforted Suna. She rubbed her back. Suna's rapidly boiling insides were slowing, they were calming down, she was calming down. She breathed. In. Out. In. Out. She, eventually, calmed down.
But. But it was there. Something. Something. That she was scared of.
Oh no. Oh No! Oh, Oh… Suna saw. As Something infiltrated her. It planted itself, deep, into Her. Oh no… Suna saw, with Terror, as Her changed. It was contaminated. A seed had been planted. One that would rip her away from her Friends, it would grow, Breaking Her. She knew what would happen. With Terror, she watched. She was Terrified.
She could no longer hear Angie's comforting words. She couldn't see, as her Friends all came together to comfort her. She couldn't see the concern on their faces. All she saw… was Herself. She shook. She let out groans of pain. She clutched her forehead, as if doing so could keep It there, as if it could ease her Pain. But it did nothing. It all did nothing.
Suna awoke. Sounds of Battle. She was alone. Her friends… they were fighting. She wouldn't let them fight alone. She moved. Like a bolt of lightning, she moved, across the flat fields of Sand. Her knife… felt Light. It felt Sharp. Her body moved quickly, very quickly. Her breathing staggered, but it eventually smoothed out. She set her sights on the Monsters that her Friends were holding off. They were all grouped together, facing a small wave of large Insects. The other Hunters dealt with smaller groups and stragglers, which attacked from separate directions. She was going to help her friends, but… she saw. In the distance, something she could barely make out with her eyes, in the Darkness. It was a lot. She smiled. She would be able to direct this Pain, this Terror, at something. Maybe she'd feel a bit better?
She ran. She dashed. Past the hunters. They threw questions at her, but she didn't respond. For they soon saw. A whistle. The camp came alive, preparing for an onslaught of enemies.
Suna dashed. She didn't care. She didn't Care. She Didn't Care. These were Literally Bugs. Meaningless. Valueless. She didn't care. So she would remove them. She would Kill Them. She smiled. A Hollow, Empty Smile. As she ran.
Slash. Slash. Slash. Parry. Slash. Dodge. Slash.
Every part of her moved in perfect harmony, as smooth as the perfect edge of her Knife. She dismembered, she decapitated, she spun, she swung with her feet, taking lives with each passing second. She… Was she happy? She didn't know. But she continued. She simply Did. She enacted judgement on these thoughtless, meaningless things. They could not keep up with her. They weren't a threat. They were BeneathHer. She killed them. She killed them All.
There were no more. A few other hunters came to back her up, but they elected not to interrupt her killing spree, her Fatal Dance. They did Not want to get anywhere close to her.
She saw them. They looked at her. As if she was… aMonster.
She laughed. She smiled. And she walked by them.
They were stunned. Speechless.
She came across her Friends. They looked at her. With Surprise, with Joy, with Excitement.
Heh. These guys… She Loved Them. She happily let them Embrace Her.
But… was any of it the Same? No. She had Changed. Yet again. In some Weird way, that Suna struggled to even keep up with, to even comprehend. This time… she would think about it later. She just wanted to indulge herself. In Her.
The team kept watch, and then rested shortly, before continuing their Trek.