Otter — Dusk

The time of the twilight has gone far past the Guild. The sluggish rays of the day are no longer visible. The Guild had the objective to arrive at Eidsvik was an utter necessity, and taking on the risks that the night could carry was strategically ignored with the intent to reach their desired destination in an appropriate time.

With their newly crafted invaluable torches, courtesy of bulan, the Guild navigated the beginning of the night for as long as possible. Despite the safety precautions, they quickly recognized that the darkness of the night was too great, and eventually stopped to set up their routine campsite. Ever since the Hunter's Moon, the luminosity has faded with each night.

“Gez, you really are in a hurry.” Sasaki remarked tiredly. “It's probably what? Like 11pm or something?” Sasaki quickly sat down to ask the question.

“Just past 10, but we'll get up around 7 for the morning.” The boy translated the time for Sasaki.

“What’s with the freaky torches?” Sasaki asked, as he watched the others place the surreal torches into the ground.

“They help ward off monsters, basically.” The boy explained.

“Humph, monsters?” Sasaki scoffed. “How many of those have you seen?” He asked.

“Huh, well, too many to be honest.” The boy sighed as he answered, to then lay down on the ground.

Sasaki had a slight look of concern. He then noticed three of the Party wandering into the woods. “Hey where are you three going?” Sasaki asked Selene, Bulan, and Luna before they entered the forest with torches.

“We're going to have sex.” Selene quickly remarked.

Sasaki’s eyes grew at the shock and bluntness of the statement, along with the boy. Unsure of what to say, he simply wrapped himself in the blanket he was provided. Selene, Bulan, and Luna continued to go into the forest.

Selene quietly told Purnama to stay and ‘Watch them’ so the three can go into the forest to discuss something. To avoid further questions from the two Beyonders. Quite the clever approach: such a jarring and blunt statement would cause anyone to not follow with any more questions.

“Okay, this should be good enough…” Selene mentioned as she leaned against a tree.

“What did you want to talk about?” Luna naturally asked.

“I just don’t know what to do.” Selene shook her head, gaze fixed to the ground. “One was already a challenge, but two additions?” Selene sighed. “There’s just no way we can get both of them back alive.” Selene then mentioned.

“Once… Once we get to Eidsvik, we’ll be that much closer.” Luna slowly mentioned.

“Yeah! My arm should be pretty much healed too.” Bulan added.

“No… We can’t use you like that. Even if it’s fully healed, your Sorcery is only for extreme emergencies.” Selene quickly remarked with seriousness. “I don’t ever want you to use it on trash like those two.” She hissed.

“Well, let's just get to Eidsvik first. We can make a decision then… And maybe relax a bit too.” Luna proposed, gently touching Selene.

“We can do it this time! Together we’re awesome!” Bulan announced with confidence, as Selene provided a small smile.

Selene released a long winded sigh. “Alright, once we can get some extra coin, and relax a bit. We can make up a good plan.” Selene declared, as the others agreed and they began to walk back to the campsite.

“Hey…” Selene whispered to Purnama, safely back at the campsite. “We’re just going to get to Eidsvik first, and come up with something then.” Selene mentioned. “Did they do anything?” She then asked quietly.

“Okay, and uh, not really, just small talk.” Purnama mentioned quietly.

“So, tell me more about yourself.” Lying on his back, looking at the night sky, Sasaki asked the boy.

“Wha?” The boy sighed. “I, uh, I worked in IT.” The boy mentioned with mild annoyance.

“What’s with the attitude? I just wanna get to know everybody.” Sasaki remarked. Noticing that the boy isn’t going to comment. “I’m just a little excited is all…” Sasaki stated quietly, then squinting at the boy, wrapped in his blanket, with a look of suspicion.

The six soon drifted into the late night. Despite having gone through hell, they’ve quickly returned back to their nightly patterns. Sasaki is also showing patterns to what the boy had on his first night with the Party.

From the light peeps and wincing from Bulan and Purnama’s nightly practice. Sasaki instantly knew what the two were doing. It was easy to tell that Sasaki wanted to stay awake, but was obviously too tired from walking nearly an entire day straight. Probably the most he’s ever worked in his life. Once the two finished, Sasaki soon fell asleep.

Interestingly, the boy appeared to grow annoyed by the activity. For what reason? Hard to say. Still strange, that he hasn’t simply accepted it like Luna and Selene have. The boy is certainly an odd one.

Thinking back to Cassandra with the meaningful life that she found, is so different from what the boy’s experience has been so far. There is of course, the possibility she had similar challenges in the beginning and proudly overcame them. As of the current path, of the boy, and even Sasaki. Only time will tell if they can find a similar fate.