Chapter 14 - 11:00

Twilight reigns above the forest for only thin light passes through the leaves, the green tint far more subdued, the bridge to night being crossed at this very moment. A chill breeze sweeps through the woodlands, rocking the small branches at the ends of the colossal trees that form the umbrella separating ground from sky, the leaves composing that barrier rustling just the same. Between the rustling and the whistle of the breeze itself, despite a lack of proximate wildlife the forest sounds alive on its own, or at least moving with the flow of time. Its isolation tapers as the sound of panting rises from the distance, not just from one source but many, a collection of heavy breathing moving along one path.

That collection runs along the grass, the grounds of the forest between the colossal trees supporting the ceiling, but amongst those trees which themselves are sparse are those trees with the shape of oaks though with white bodies, tighter together relative to the the ones that tower far above it, yet nowhere as densely as the salmon trees. None of these support structures for the outpost is long past, leaving just these trees untouched, spaced enough that only some of their branches tangle together. Still, it's nowhere near the thick salmon labyrinth, leaving enough space for the group to keep a fairly consistent straight line, led by the man whose suit is covered azure streaks that breathe light as the head, running beside the golden cyborg whose body reflects said light especially against the arm. They themselves don't pant very loudly, though their voices do stand out due to the inhuman manipulations that give them a synthetic or even fully electric tone. But the two behind them, not dressed in otherworldly uniforms or armor but just a white sweater and brown overcoat, do pant a noticeable bit more, yet not as much as the remainder of the group comprised of people dressed in similar clothing that sport a green cloak though they differ much in age between an old man and a teenage boy. The heads of the group begin to slow their run, relaying a signal to the following groups to decelerate until the heads come to a full stop beside a few white trees where they turn around to the rest of the group coming to a stop, immediately taking the opportunity to take heavier breaths. A few of them grab their legs and bend down while others including the old gunslinger raise their heads to breathe upwards, the other old man ambling to the trunk of the nearest white tree to rest his back against it. While at first the breathing gets significantly louder, it gradually begins to taper due to the recovery from exhaustion.

While the majority of them just focus on recuperating their energy, the man in blue turns around, his black cape waving against the short gust, facing the way they came from for inspection to find nothing of note, only a continuation of that embedded white forest, still but for the rocking of the branches.

Through parallelogram lenses that shine bright azure light, Meditat examines the group's tail before determining, "We're not being followed, or at least right now there's no presence of pursuit. We should be a safe distance from danger, enough for the rest of you to rest for the night, you've all endured a taxing day."

He then turns to face the group, specifically Alder who stands between Aspen and Pine, before realizing in a tone that jumps in worry: "Right, you all must be hungry, I should've offered food sooner. I can make you all a meal, after which you can all rest and we'll continue our path in the morning. If any danger approaches, we'll move once again."

Alder frowns before raising his head to the sky and debating, "I guess it's a little late, but the plan was to keep going for at least a little bit more, maybe a couple hours, at least staying up a few more hours than the other group should keep us on track to catch up to them."

Aspen nods her head before chiming in, "Yeah let's keep going a little longer, I'm not too hungry anyways, we could probably sit down and have a meal before sleeping."

Up against the tree, Hemlock lowers his head to face the conversation before seeking, "Well I don't know about all of you, but some water would be great right about now, especially after all that running. I don't know how some of you are even standing."

Meditat turns to Hemlock and nods before agreeing, "Right, I'll respect your wishes to advance, but some refresher will help," before raising his open right hand before each finger breathes a concentrated flaming stream to the right palm of each survivor, none of which actually make impact with their skin but instead stop short before the heads of those flames orthogonally split to morph into a cylindrical shape. That shape materializes concurrently as the streams are cut off, each finalizing into a bottle made of a transparent material to allow inspection of the water contained within, filled nearly to the top which is open for easy drinking.

All five of the survivors nearly jump from the sudden act, instinctively clenching their hands which naturally catches the bottles before they all begin examining it out of shocked curiosity to which Meditat clarifies, "That's purified water, no additional elements, I could offer something artificially charged but I'm not sure what you've been accustomed to."

Holding the bottle up before his eyes, Pine stares with wide eyes before asking hesitantly, "Wait…so this is drinkable?"

Nodding his head, Meditat confirms in a sincere tone: "It is, fully safe, I know you may be dubious so if you wish I could show some tests-," before Pine shrugs his shoulders and puts the cup to his lips before chugging a bottle without hesitation, shocking the other survivors as well as the other Bellators who turn to him, watching him chug a few more times before moving the bottle off himself before glancing at the attention he's received. Perplexed by said attention, he just simply explains: "Well the closest water source is hours off and we don't even have a purifier, so unless you all want to drink swamp water this is the best we have."

Despite that logic failing to wave away the suspicion about the health safety of consuming the beverage, the rest of the survivors follow it as one by one they take sips of the water, first being Hemlock followed by Maple, then Alder and finally Aspen. After the first cautious sip, most of them follow up with heavy chugs, clearly greatly thirsty as in fact Alder chugs the entire bottle all at once without breaks. The rest aren't nearly as fast, for the speed even surprises Meditat who turns to face him before offering, "Do you want another," to which Alder smiles and shakes his head to assure, "I'm all good, thanks. I appreciate you making it chilled, we got pretty used to lukewarm water."

While the remaining survivors continue to drink at steadier sips and swigs, enjoying it at a medium pace, the rest of the Bellators patiently wait, one of them being Kokei who gulps before dawning a puzzled expression, one transferred to her tone as she raises her gaze to Meditat before discovering, "Huh, I should be thirsty too but I'm not at all, is that also part of that pill's effect? Like I'm not even a bit parched, that's so weird."

Meditat faces her to answer, "It is, its effects only last for twenty four hours so I may need to give you all another later."

Kokei frowns at that news and lowers her head before pouting in a near whisper, "Oh yay…my favorite meal:…pill…."

After another gulp of water from her bottle, Aspen drops the bottle from her mouth and turns to Kokei before broaching, "So you really are one of them, an Exhuman, still alive and breathing."

That rather sudden shift in topic slightly unnerves Kokei who turns to face Aspen before awkwardly responding with nothing but an extended, "Uh…."

Leaving the bottle in her hand at her side, Aspen's eyebrows curl while she chuffs before recalling, "Now that I think about it, there's not a single Exhuman I know still around. I mean everyone in our village is gone, everyone, and it seemed just about everyone we could get on a channel had the exact same thing, at some point we all figured they were all taken. But I guess it's just our luck like always, you're not from here anyways," siphoning the attention of all the survivors and Bellators.

Kokei takes a short step back from the sudden rise of aggression before she warily informs, "Wait wait, the same thing happened everywhere else, all the worlds who got their reports in said the same thing happened, no Exhumans reported alive, it wasn't just something that happened here."

Aspen takes a step towards her, prompting her to take another step back as the survivor –watched by all including Maple who stands at her side– grills, "Oh I see, so I guess there was just a lucky batch who were spared then, was that it? How'd you figure that? Luck? Maybe you were chosen? Maybe you were just in some way more special than everyone else, did Maple tell you about her fiance? He helped a lot in the village, he was a good man, why wasn't he also chosen," to which Maple lowers her head with a frown and murmurs, "I…didn't bring him up but…yeah…. I do wish he could have still been here, you all would've liked him…," , garnering a grim, guilty glance from Kokei.

Her attention is forced forward again from Aspen following with an aggressive: "Well?" which prompts Hemlock to straighten his posture and step away from the tree to key into the feud.

Quivering in this abrupt berating, Kokei can't even form a response back especially with all eyes on her, all but Meditat who takes a step forth to her side before mentioning, "Remember that I am here as well, she is not the sole exception."

Kokei raises her gaze to Meditat which Aspen does as well before simply discarding, "Well you're..you, I don't know, you die for ten years and then you're back, I don't know what you are." She then faces Kokei once again, stunning Meditat, before she once again scoffs: "So tell me, just so we all know because I'm really curious, why exactly were you allowed to live but nobody else? Just maybe a lucky few out there, a very small few? But certainly not anyone we would've known, no, we buried all of their bodies, and that sight is not one that's going to leave me for a long, long time. But I guess at least you survived, good for you."

Again forced with an impossible question, Kokei just stands in place and awkwardly turns to Meditat, clearly beyond uncomfortable, unable to answer to such a heavy burden being placed just after such an intense experience. Catching her pleading gaze, Meditat then turns to Aspen and locks a stare for a few silent moments, trying to formulate a response that has to juggle the protection of his ally while maintaining a friendly relationship with the survivors therefore not antagonizing them. While it was somehow simple to prevent an altercation when they were literally shooting at each other to take one another's life, here in a conversation is where he struggles, just standing stiffly, burning hundreds of responses for various reasons.

While those thoughts cannot be registered from outside, the discomfort given merely by the language that his body moves in can, at least to Pine who watches on the other side with a frown. He then turns to Aspen before asserting, "If it wasn't for her, there's a good chance we wouldn't have gotten out of there alive, and honestly I'll be the one to admit that it's my fault we got in that mess so I'm not sure if we would've gotten through all that if we just went by ourselves either."

All attention is diverted to Pine, including Meditat with a slightly stunned head tilt, listening to the boy reason to his companions, "She's here, risking her life for us, so how can we complain that she gets to live? It's their choice to spend all this time just to help us, why would we try pushing them away?"

It's now when Aspen is the one left unable to answer an impossible question, leaving her just standing in place, stumped now to her own position. She frowns and contemplates for a few moments before just breathing a sigh and turning around before surrendering, "Just…tell me when we're moving on." She takes another swig from her bottle, exiting the conversation but in a show that she herself couldn't carry that argument, leaving Kokei alone who sighs in relief as Meditat nods to Pine who frowns awkwardly, seemingly ashamed despite his act.

Simply glad that the insults have ended, Meditat raises his head to the green ceiling before noting: "If you wish to continue the trail before resting, we should resume promptly. It's already becoming dark, this should help with the continuation of travel," leading to him raising his open hand to again fire another five flames though upwards, each of their heads morphing into spherical drones that, once materialized, autonomously fly to one of the survivors, stopping to hover over their right shoulders, about the size of a tennis ball. They all then project a light in the direction that each accompanied survivor is facing, the lights facing straight at the group dimmer than those like Hemlock's who turns to gaze aimlessly around the forest, finding that the projected lights concentrate stronger to provide a further range, seeming to not only track his body but his own sight.

As all of the survivors marvel at the drone, although Aspen dampens her reaction seemingly still spiteful of the argument, Kokei turns towards Meditat before sheepishly requesting, "Could I…get one too? I'm not really super well trained in the dark." To that, Meditat briefly answers, "Here," before firing a single extra flame from his pointer finger which manifests a drone that hovers to Kokei's shoulder. While Kokei admires the perfect synchronization of the drone's targeted light, Meditat faces Ekitai who notices his gaze to which the old man is quick to assure, "I got the eyes of a bat, I'll be fine." Quick to trust him, Meditat then turns to the survivors, Pine specifically taking one more swig from his bottle to then declare, "Let's head on now, you're good Hemlock?"

Dazing off casually, Hemlock's attention is once again dialed back in to focus on Pine before confirming, "I think my legs will move for a little longer so sure, as ready as I'll be." That confirmation is enough for Pine to then begin strolling down the same direction they were racing previously, moving at a calmer hiking pace, quickly leading the rest of the survivors and Bellators who distribute themselves mostly into their original sets, Meditat by Pine and Alder, Ekitai by Hemlock, however Kokei lingers instead by Dana, leaving Maple with Aspen, which Dana notices immediately though chooses not to interrogate, simply accompanying her friend who still seems troubled, Maple's mood also soured after the mention of her former loved one.

Gradually, that twilight dwindles the deeper the group continues into the forest, and eventually fewer white trees fill the environment, the region's edge being reached. The group remains in the same formation, each of them glancing off on their own sides in wary observation, their companion drones shining stronger lights concentrated for better vision, similar to the concept of high beam lights which automatically dim when they glance at each other so as to not blind each other, adjusting without delay.

Eventually there are no other white trees left, just the space far more open, almost like a field if not for the giant towers that still reign supreme, pillars scattered over the earth yet distant enough that they don't necessarily oppress the group ambling through. The ground isn't flat as there's a downward slant indicative of a hill, guiding the group as if the forces are pushing them along. Without any other trees to block the way, just facing upwards from anywhere allows for a straight sight to the top ceiling of the woodlands, in fact Alder's accompanying drone shines a focused light straight into the blanket, only the part lit up easily determined to be green as the twilight has passed onto dusk, only a minor air of light still being breathed, just enough that there is an extent of ambient light even if very much dim, just enough to reasonably make out shapes in the distance but with little color.

Only Meditat, Dana, and Ekitai are without drones, Meditat and Dana having their own enhanced sight built into their masks and general cybernetically enhanced body whereas Ekitai simply chooses to go off his natural senses, not having any substitution but raw sensory skill perhaps from living a long life of adventure. Meditat helps lead the pack beside Pine and Alder, Pine in the center, facing forward as indicated by the direction of his drone's light whereas Meditat just turns his head to scan the environment through glowing visors in his mask, his body itself functioning as a light source, the strongest concentration being his chest.

Like a highway, the open forest merely connects regions together even if along an empty stretch, though the destination is typically distinctly defined by a mass of activity. Similarly, deeper along the trail the colossal trees are no longer the sole elements of the forest, but weaving through the pillars are a collection of trees nowhere as wide nor tall; in fact in stark contrast to the goliaths whose leaves hover so high that they're practically the sky, the trees that compose this region hang their leaves low, enough to be obstacles, blending in with the bushes and shorter plants that cover the ground. The density of the vegetation is nearly intoxicating, not simply contained to individual units as the trees were cleanly separated, but rather melding together with the bushes, distinguished merely by the orange tone of the trunks that light shines on. Those lights project from the group trekking along, shining their lights on those leaves which are highlighted as a yellow color, same as that of the bushes and plants.

There is less space between trees when compared to the white oak region, enough that some of the light emitting from the spherical drones gets caught on the bark or leaves, thinning the guiding rays and requiring more attention to follow the group as a perfectly straight line isn't possible. The survivors aren't as concerned with the individual trees but rather pushing through the thick leaves, needing to make constant adjustments, making sure not to stray from the rest of the pack, at least being able to use the light from their allies to keep a tab on their locations at all times. Observing the wide leaves of the tree, the light splitting between the ends, Maple notes the area while still beside Aspen, their hands free as none of them carry bottles anymore for it appears they've all finished by now.

Her attention diverts down and ahead towards the group she's following, naturally tailing Kokei's back, the light again splitting to fire a ray between her and Dana. Noticing the light projection, even if dimmed down, Kokei instinctively turns her head just as Maple jerks hers away, leading the drone to shift its beam elsewhere, locking onto another tree in passing which leaves Kokei just watching those survivors gazing around, seemingly unfocused on her. A frown creeps on her face from the lasting anxiety left after the argument, especially as she can't help but feel as if she was being stared at just now, but only finding everyone to be focused elsewhere, she ultimately faces forward again.

There comes a point where not a discernible wisp of natural light can be detected through the trees, rendering the forest in absolute darkness on its own, distant trees impossible to even read the shape of as they all just blend into the black fog, a void that conceals where has been past. Only the lights projected from the collection of drones give visibility to the group, their intensity best contrasted as there's no longer a filling natural light, for beyond their range is the pitch dark. Without any of the group facing up, there cannot even be glimpses of the green ceiling, for the pillars beyond the orange trees have no visible top but rather fade into the darkness before the trunk splits into branches, leaving them just as colossal poles that rise into the fog. The only deduction to allude to a ceiling being present at all is the complete lack of a cosmic sky, no gleaming stars or dazzling nebulas, just the simple blank sheet looming over, lifeless.

Those gargantuan trunks along with the crowding orange trees are lit up only by those beaming lights, many rays all firing out from the one consistently illuminated patch, the group huddled closer together than earlier. The ground has since flattened more or less, that hill's slope surprisingly long. The ordering still hasn't changed dramatically, the leader with glowing azure eyes at the head alongside the boy and man, him being one of the few not to rely on the lights as he faces up at the sky still dark. Further in the back of the group to monitor and guide both Aspen and Maple roams the golden cyborg, her body glistening from the reflections of light cast by the edges of the beams. Despite lacking visible eyes, or even in her case a visible set of goggles, both her and the lead glowing blue let their gazes wander without showing any need for luminescence. Aspen glances at her before looking away to the ground, seeming more distant as opposed to her conversational self from earlier, exuding senses of shame or guilt from how she jerks her head away and keeps her posture reserved.

Whereas she has positioned herself in the back, Ekitai who has chosen not to take his own drone has moved further up to Kokei's side, between her and Hemlock. Ironically enough, Ekitai concentrates on mimicking the head movements of Kokei, focusing along the beam of light that her drone is projecting, as if trying to rely on that for visibility after his bold declaration of not needing accommodations. She doesn't bear much mind to the silent defeat, casting a side eye to simply note his presence before keeping her focus ahead, letting him ride off her torch, choosing not to comment perhaps in maturity or simply a lack of energy. That answer is maybe answered from the yawn she can't help herself releasing, doing her best to at least muffle it by covering her mouth, though the unhinging of her jaw is still noticeable. She drops her arm and blinks twice rapidly before jerking her head side to side in an attempt to force herself to keep awake, understanding the significance of maintaining keen awareness of her surroundings, battling against her own urges pleading for rest.

Batches of the thick, flap-like yellow leaves glisten by just a simple shot of light, absorbing as much light as its wide surface area permits, though the scattered remains pass deeper, potentially through to the trunks which themselves aren't very thick. Those yellow leaves shimmer even when the lights are pulled away from them, down to eye level as most drones face, a decent distance down from the tree as they still greatly tower over the group close together. The lights they shine primarily catch onto the other thin trees further ahead or the yellow bushes at their feet, Maple specifically watching her own feet step once after the other, shining a light practically straight down off her shoulder.

 Peregrinating between the patches of yellow, the leads of the group keep aware of the obstacles they approach, making the subtlest adjustments in turns to keep the path as smooth as they can, doing the best to leave as little of a challenge to follow them. Meditat scans the forest ahead with slow pans, his lenses shining bright, nearly beaming light themselves onto the tree, two of them in a parallel pair. His pencil emblem similarly glows as do the streaks that swarm his suit, his body a natural flare as even without the lights it'd still be possible to follow him just off his body's radiance. It however is far weaker of a light source than the concentrated rays firing constantly out of the drones hovering over the shoulders of the two survivors at his side, their lights pointing forward but also constantly shifting aim as the drone rotates to track their heads, paving the way forwards for ultimately it was them who knew the route, shooting light down from the trees to the very patch of grass they approach.

For what has felt like hours, it has primarily been those orange jungle trees that have been passed, as most areas have either only been populated by those colossal pillars or at most an additional species. Though as the group treks onward in more or less a single direction, their sharp light rays firing in all directions to capture visual information such as those very jungle trees, the boy in the lead faces forward to find a tree not of either of the two species, but rather one whose bark is more of a golden shade, composing an interesting trunk as rather than a single thick log of wood there are instead multiple coiling around, giving the trunk less of an even surface and something curled.

The man beside him notices that tree as does the one in the blue suit, their heads rising to find it not standing perfectly upright but at a tilt, drooping. The leaves droop from those branches like icicles, their color purple, the tone more or less amethyst.

Upon examining those leaves, the boy's gaze naturally leads ahead to find more of those trees along their path, and to that discovery he releases a relieved sigh, as it seems that these trees have indicated that they've been following the correct trail despite the chaos that could've very easily warped their trajectory. The other survivor similarly lets out a subtle smile to this same understanding, two reactions the man with blue eyes glances at.

Transitioning into another biome, less of those orange trees remain and in its place is a greater concentration of these golden ones, which aren't nearly as vigorously crowded as the the blending of bushes allow them to cover more space whereas this area has a simpler ecosystem on the floor, permitting the trees of this region to extend itself longer, both due to the branches reaching horizontally more and the trunks themselves being tilted. In many ways, this allows for easier travel as there isn't as much pushing through leaves as before, though due to the bent nature of the trunks there must be more of a distance from them when passing, making weaving not very feasible to begin with. While at least this is an avoidable problem and this forest is ultimately easier to navigate through, there is an air more unnerving, their silhouettes creepier which doesn't help as there's no telling how deep into the night they are.

Trudging along with a fatigue building up as the aching from the day's exercise is catching up, Alder more tightly grips his backpack straps to alleviate some of the burden from his shoulders for even a short moment, a brief motion Meditat notices before offering, "Want me to carry it? You've had that for some time now," while Pine, in the middle, locks his gaze onto something off in the distance, his eyes sharpening in intrigue.

Alder turns to Meditat and lets out a soft smile before shaking his head and assuring, "I'm fine, no worries. We do hikes like these all the time, I'll let you know if I need help."

Pine then turns towards Alder –leaving little light to project straight ahead– to timidly recall, "I had a lot of stuff in that bag…I should've tried keeping ahold of it better."

Alder faces Pine and shakes his head before comforting, "Nothing to be sorry about, really, what mattered was you getting out of there, not just some bag. Besides, it seems like we're doing fine on supplies so we'll be alright, right Meditat?"

He then glances at Meditat who nods to him and confirms, "Of course, you'll all be sustained for the duration of the journey, your safety is the main priority here, I can handle the resources." He then faces forward casually straight at the darkness unlit before suddenly extending both arms to hold back Alder and Pine just as he announces gravely, "Everyone, stop and focus ahead, I need higher concentration as we're entering unsafe territory," which prompts both Pine and Alder as well as all the other survivors and allies behind them to face forward, finding that now amongst the golden coiled trees and the gigantic pillars is another set of what at first appear to resemble trees in that they rise from the ground and branch out, even with a similar shape, however its bark is not any color adjacent to brown for the bark is completely black, all but for the subtle white caustics on its texture. Also, while they do thin out into branches, they carry no leaves on them, nothing to capture light to survive, for they don't live off light at all. Each base root is about as thick as the golden trees, not as densely packed as them but there are still quite a lot moving forward, with there even seeming to be more packed together beyond.

Observing that change in density, Meditat pans his gaze to find that the concentration seems to only be straight ahead, as they are still decently spread apart on both sides, as if they were at the edge of a circle that clumps closer to the center. Recognizing this pattern, he turns to the rest of the survivors before advising, "We should walk around the perimeter where the concentration is manageable, though I want all of you to keep your focus on your surroundings, avoid any contact with the roots. We'll lead you," before he turns to face both Pine and Alder to ask, "Ready?" Both of them however show grim expressions, but upon the prompt, they try to gulp down those fears as Pine nods and Alder answers, "Let's start moving," to which Meditat advances on, passing the two of them as they let him march slightly ahead of them.

Whereas earlier half the lights were dimmed down to face inside the crowd, with some facing out just aimlessly wandering to the sky and behind, all the lights now are concentrated ahead in a formation close to a cone, functioning such way too by the nature of the changed positioning. The head of the cone, who scans through glowing blue eyes, leads the group with smooth turns to navigate between the tall black roots that reach even higher than the golden trees, some of the splintering roots intertwining with the golden branches as well like an invasive species. They move along a steady circular track, as even in a short glimpse Maple stares towards the center of orbit to examine the tighter cluster, one that would be far more nerve wracking to trek through. Just at a glance, she notices some sort of green elements by the ground, resembling tarps or canopies, but upon approaching another root she faces ahead before formulating a proper judgment. 

Similarities can be drawn in the shapes of the roots and trees as both do diverge into branches of thinner size over and over before reaching an endpoint, a distorted reflection, as Aspen swiftly glances up at the branches of a passing root, her light being split against the tubes which don't brighten as if they don't react at all to light, yet they chop the beam up into fragmented rays.

She drops her head back down to maintain priority on the obstacles not looming over her but standing in her way, sliding closer to Dana's side who keeps a watch on both her and Maple while staying aware of her own movement. She can't help but glance up at those roots covering the skies though, practically invisible without the light on the ground to distinguish it.

At the head of the cone, Meditat paths and directs the group meticulously, needing to balance safe distance from the roots as smoothly as to make the path as digestible as possible, as throwing off anyone behind him could result in a costly mistake.

Behind him, Alder also focuses ahead to follow Meditat closely, the same as Pine, though the boy does trail his sights towards the center of this loop, curious about the noticeable crowding of the roots as if they were planted onto a specific target. His eyes sharpen to peer more keenly upon noticing that in the center of the whole nest are those green tarps, which he examines to seem to be tents propped up, multiple of them in a small batch together, accompanied with a small pile of logs that could've been used for a campfire. All the tents facing him have visibly open lips, allowing just a minor glance inside to find what look to be sheets on the ground to pad the floor. After scanning all there is, he faces forward again just in time to strafe in avoidance of another root, panic in his eyes from nearly having walked straight into it out of sheer ignorance. He huffs in relief, and while properly fixing his gaze, he relays his discovery: "I think they're all crowding a campsite, there's a lot of tents there."

Behind him, Hemlock hums before considering, "Well with all the people who were moving to the city for the past couple weeks, that makes sense. This is a pretty good rest point."

Next to him, Kokei frowns before murmuring worriedly, "Oh…I hope nobody was here when this happened…."

Curiosity rises in Pine as does his eyebrow before he contemplates, "Do you think…they'd be in-," before Meditat interjects: "They aren't there, trust me. We'll find them, just not in there. As much as I'd like to conduct thorough investigations, we should keep our objectives. I'll mark this area for later."

Pine frowns and lowers his head, his thoughts being registered before translating entirely to speech, mumbling back: "I guess so….," to which Alder pats the boy's shoulder to comfort him, understanding the gradually growing desperation.

Through the harrowing route, weaving between these tall branching stakes that can only be identified by shining a light and discerning the splitting of those rays given that the stakes themselves shine with no color but the subtle caustics too dim to reliably use for detection, the group circles around the nest at a steady but effective pace. While there's no worry of roots slumped on the ground due to being close to the grass floor, as being elevated in the trees was definitely more tense from the branches, the darkness leaves its own great challenges. Despite the best Meditat does to draw out the perfect trail, much responsibility is still left to every survivor and ally to exercise utmost caution, constantly monitor their surroundings for total awareness, even maintaining perfect spacing between each other as being too close risks bumping though they're wary of distancing themselves too.

Nonetheless, along the trail Meditat begins to slowly orbit in the opposite direction around the left rather than the right, abiding by the same smoothness criteria he set for himself, but clearly diverging from the track. The group follows along, too focused on their steps to seek answers. Gradually, that orbiting straightens out, leading eventually to Meditat marching in a straight line, only making subtle tilts in the path to step around the roots ahead of them. Those answers come naturally as ultimately they seem to have completed the circle, and after passing a few more of those dark roots, there's none left ahead of them.

A collective sigh of relief releases from the group as the survivors and allies calm themselves after the passing of the nest, and Meditat slows his pace down to slip back beside Pine, letting the boy return back to the center, returning to their former positions to allow the boy to resume his role as navigator. He turns to Pine who flashes a grateful expression with just the slightest hint of a smile before he faces forward again, now once more able to reliably lead the group without those fears. Meditat glances back to find the rest of the group right behind them: Kokei, Ekitai, Hemlock followed by Maple, Dana, and Aspen, all accounted for, all of them safe. He faces forth to follow along the trail, relinquishing control.

Back on track, the group returns to a more box-like shape with no singular leads but rather a unit that moves in an even herd. Only needing to consider strolling around the golden coiled trees which would do no harm regardless, a gentler air surrounds the joint squad, air as soothing as the breeze that whispers over them.

All of the survivors as well as Kokei point their companion drones to project intensely focused rays of light onto points of the forest that interest them, their gazes wandering to the tall green ceiling above or the short grass below. Kokei admires the purple leaves hanging from the trees, which rustle to the winds, knocking into each other playfully, as even this late into the night the forest is very much alive. Aspen notices the upward light and stares up to the same batch of purple leaves, studying it for a few moments before tracing the ray down to the source, her own light dimming just as it settles on Kokei's back, her long pink hair picked up by the winds too, waving like a cape over the white hoodie.

Aspen frowns as her eyes roll to the side and she turns her head away, a brief one-sided interaction Dana notices but doesn't engage with, only subtly shaking her head. In front of them, Kokei doesn't notice as she's still focused on the rustling of the leaves mixing with the breeze, leaving Ekitai to peer over her shoulder and try following Alder's light to examine the path ahead, easy to do given their height differentials. His yellow eyes sharpen curiosity upon hearing a third natural sound mix in with the rustles and whistles, something that sounds like a whisper or rather a hiss, which ahead of him Meditat analyzes to recognize as the sound of running water. Pine does as well, as a flash of delight washes his face for a moment, as that sound isn't surrounding them like the other two but instead is distinctly directional: specifically originating straight ahead. Alder keys in on the sound too, showing a similar relieved expression with a gentle smile. Noticing both of these reactions, Meditat then faces forward in anticipation, for it seems they are too.

By simply continuing down the same path, the hissing of water grows louder, simultaneously becoming clearer, crisper. Interest brews within the group as that hiss rises, which reaches a peak when Meditat, Alder, and Pine pass another bent tree to which the two survivors are overwhelmed in astonishment as Meditat shows intrigue, those reactions then reflecting backwards as Kokei, Ekitai, and Hemlock lean between their shoulders to catch a glimpse of the same sight which entrances them the same.

That sight which lays before them is beyond just a few more trees, where the ground depresses just slightly until beneath the level of a vast body of water almost like a lake. Unlike any lake however, many other trees poke out from the water even deeper towards the center, some of which stand on small islands low to the ground. The grass is noticeably darker due to moisture by the water, water that extends to as far as they can see ahead, though then again that sight is obscured by the trees in the way.

Regardless, the body that better resembles a swamp now stands before the group, Aspen, Maple, and Dana also witnessing the sight which leaves enthusiastic impressions on those survivors as well as Hemlock. The reason for which is then explained by Pine: "This is it, if we go straight ahead then this swamp should lead to a river which just goes straight and bends when it gets really close to the end of the forest so we could drop off there."

Meditat scans the environment before noticing a few isolated logs sitting by the edge of the water, many of them chopped up into long yet thin boards, some of which are tied together by some rope, forming what resembles rafts. He notes that discovery: "It appears that others have done the same, potentially your group."

Alder locks eyes with the rafts before corroborating, "That was the plan after all, at least we got past the hard part. I guess we can try using what's left here to make something and row ourselves to the drop spot. I think if we leave now we should be able to get there come sunrise."

He then begins to approach the logs before Meditat extends his hand towards him and offers, "Rather than you all remaining awake to row a boat, I could build us a motorized one to automate that function. Therefore we'd be able to continue progress while resting, which would allow all of you necessary sleep."

Pine turns to Meditat and frowns before reminding him, "Well remember what I said about vehicles, it'll get us spotted, honestly we're pretty lucky we didn't get found after all the flying earlier but we definitely shouldn't risk it."

Meditat shakes his head before elaborating, "I understand, though given that this would simply be a boat, it'd be easier to employ simpler technology for automated traversal. Honestly even an automatic propeller would be adequate in moving us, which should keep us below the radar if they're using the scanners I assume they have."

There's a slight discomfort in Pine's face, hesitant about the plan as he brings up, "I mean that makes sense but…say we did that and all rested, we'd be out in the open for anyone to get the drop on us. Honestly we could just stay up, it'd be only one day."

Meditat shakes his head again to then offer, "You need rest, especially after today with no knowing of what will transpire tomorrow. The Bellators and I will remain awake to guard us, and in the event of an incident we will immediately awaken all of you."

Sighing from the unease of delegating such responsibility off himself, Pine lowers his head in contemplation, however after a few moments of thought he raises his head and apprehensively nods before agreeing, "Okay…fine…but if anything happens, or even if you think something is happening, get me awake. I don't care if you need to shock me or something."

Stunned by the last statement, Meditat just stares at Pine before muttering, "That's unnecessarily…never mind." Focusing on the core subject, Meditat receives the confirmation and approaches the water beside Alder as he extends his right hand for the edge between the land and lake. His white palm flares azure before breathing a concentrated flame from his whole hand, a fiery stream that strikes the surface of the water before spreading out into a curved long blade functioning as the base of the boat that widens out to shape a floor that lays the foundation to build upon a cabin in the back with an open deck at the front. Upon completion of the shape, the flames harden before materializing completely, rendering the boat with a matte black finish with an elegantly sleek design, the cabin walls curved such that they blend into the railings of the deck which itself has a bench to face forward along with two against the sides behind it, made of a samely colored leather. In front of the bench facing forwards is a console with sticks and a wheel, oddly ancient mechanisms unlike a sleek holographic screen, for it's clear that the design is as primitive as possible. While the boat itself is composed of various materials, they all fit to that one sleek profile, not flashy like his pods but intentionally reserved, functional. The boat itself is additionally fitted with its own strips of light, both around the rim of the deck as well as the interior of the cabin.

The nose of the boat slightly digs into the land, allowing ease to step onboard which Meditat does first, simply grabbing onto the railings to throw himself over before turning to the rest of the group and gesturing them towards him with his hand, that gesture also igniting all of the drones shining light, erasing them now that another source is present ahead of them.

First is Alder who was already ahead of the group, approaching the nose just as Meditat did. Following the procedures, he grabs onto the railings to hoist himself up, nearly tossing himself over before Meditat catches him and eases his landing, planting him on his feet. Alder glances around before turning to face the cabin and approaching the open doorway in curiosity all while Meditat extends his hand forwards, prompting Pine next to approach him. Reaching the nose, Pine hops to grab the railing and pulls himself over before being helped by Meditat to ease his landing all while a line forms with Hemlock next, then Maple and Aspen as the three Bellators let them get on first.

Entering the cabin through the opening, Alder is astonished to find it decently spacious with five separate beds along the walls, each one about the size of a twin XL. All of the beds are attached to the walls themselves with clean white mattresses and physical blankets, and upon spinning around he finds that against the wall of the door are a few cabinets.

Pleasantly surprised by the cabin just from the quick glance, Alder slips through the doorway to find Meditat helping lift Aspen onto the boat over the railing, planting her on her feet.

Aspen lowers her head and thanks sincerely, "I appreciate it," before stepping to the side, all of the survivors now on board with Kokei next to grab the railings, Meditat aiding her too.

As the remainder load on, the survivors find the benches along the sides to be perfect to sit down on, the first time they'd be able to in what's practically been all day. All but Pine toss their backpacks on the floor and let their backs rest against the leather cushioned seats, sinking into luxury, able to fit with extra space too not counting the third bench towards the front. Hemlock stretches his arms over his head and admits, "I won't lie, I don't think I would've been able to row for even ten minutes like this so hey I'll take the rest. After we get to the city, I don't want anyone expecting me to be up for a week."

Alder chuckles before facing the boat's nose to find both Kokei and Ekitai onboard, Dana able to carry herself over as Meditat simply monitors. After she boards, the four of them approach the survivors, though Meditat stops at the console to stand behind it and begin pressing buttons, leading Dana to pause in order to observe him while Ekitai sits beside Hemlock and Kokei on the bench in front of the console, back to back with Meditat. 

Staring at the series of buttons and switches, to Dana it's as if staring at ancient scriptures as she then faces Meditat before querying, "Uh…you sure you know how to use this?"

Flicking a series of switches, Meditat sighs before reminding: "I just made it, of course I do." One of the switches then activates a powerful light that fires from the nose of the boat, straight at the forest though as a cone, functioning like headlights. Still turning switches, Meditat demands, "Give me a second, just need to do this and-," before flicking one more switch, to which a sudden growl comes from the back of the boat, causing Pine and Maple to leap out of their seats in horror though Meditat casually turns around to calm, "That's just the engine, my apologies."

The growling calms too as Meditat then faces the console again and grabs the lever before pulling it towards himself, and almost immediately the boat itself begins to drive backwards, the motion immediately noticed by all the survivors who glance around in astonishment, able to see over the railings.

Meditat glances at Dana who catches his gaze before admitting, "I don't even remember the last time I worked with interfaces like this, I'd probably have failed some exams now."

Meditat shakes his head as he grabs the wheel and turns it, resulting in the boat not only driving backwards but beginning to rotate, completing a full turn around to have the land they were just on now facing behind the cabin. Meditat then pushes the lever away from himself, resulting in the boat now driving forwards, deeper into the swamp lit up ahead as the growl rises again before tapering, switching but quick to find its ground. He then turns to Dana to ask, "Could I leave you in charge of this for a moment," before, without waiting for a response, letting go of the steering wheel to approach the survivors. Without being given another option, Dana quickly assumes his position in front of the console and grabs the wheel, already uncomfortably pleading, "Wait uhm, can you tell me what any of these buttons do first?"

"Just turn the wheel away from the trees," Meditat briefly explains before focusing on the group of survivors already seated to which he recalls, "Right, I'll make dinner for all of you before you sleep, I apologize for the wait." He then extends his hands, one towards each of the side benches as they both ignite, though Kokei's eyes shoot wide in absolute horror upon recognizing his next creation, prompting her to stand up and grab his arm before exclaiming frantically, "Wait Meditat, you can't just give them those pills-," yet he just then releases those flames, projecting five streams in total, each to the laps of the five survivors.

Shocked by the fire to the lap though it doesn't burn or even leave an impact that can be felt, the survivors watch that flame take the shape of a round bowl, and inside that open bowl are contents which materialize as the flames harden and dissipate, leaving behind a dense stew accompanied with a metal fork. The stew itself has chunks of cooked venison meat, but among it are chunks of potatoes and slices of carrots, seasoned with peppers and embellished with sprinkles of bay leaves, all of which steams as the stew releases a vapor that rises into the noses of each survivor, attracting a pleased reaction at least from Hemlock and Maple, the first immediately grabbing the fork to plunge into the stew and stuff it in his mouth. He chews it quite rapidly too before remarking, "Oh man this is actually good, I needed this," which prompts the rest of the survivors to take their forks and plunge it into their meals, each taking a bite and processing it, all with similarly pleasant expressions.

Kokei drops her hands off Meditat's arms, those arms dropping to his side too as he then turns to Kokei before innocently asking, "Sorry I wasn't focusing properly, what happened?"

Flabbergasted, Kokei just slowly lowers her head before muttering under her breath, "Never mind…."

Perplexed by the change in mood, Meditat ultimately faces back at the survivors and announces, "If any of you wish for more, don't hesitate to ask me." He then turns around and returns to the console where Dana struggles to operate the boat, her arms raised and tense, and upon noticing such Meditat slides against her which prompts her to let go and step to the side, letting him take over as he just simply holds the wheel loosely, slowly turning it to the left as they approach a tree in the water.

Passing the tree, Meditat turns to Dana before explaining, "We should eventually reach a river, from there we'll likely be able to let this boat run on its own. I've installed a decently simplistic autopilot system with basic obstacle avoidance."

Dana turns from Meditat to face ahead where he does to watch the swamp pass them or rather the other way around. She pauses to just stare ahead next to Meditat doing the same, though her attention breaks upon hearing a burst of laughter behind her, leading her to turn back to find Hemlock with his head high, trying to control himself as Alder chuckles before arguing lightly, "Okay hey, it wasn't that funny," only for Aspen to shake her head and remark sarcastically, "Oh no I don't think you saw yourself, you had that face where you were begging for someone to carry you."

Pine compounds snarkily, seeming to now open up: "I think you even looked at me for a second, I thought you were going to break every bone in my body on a whim or something."

Alder raises his head up and grunts in exaggeration before vindicating, "Okay okay I was not going to ask you to, Maple maybe," to which Maple immediately grabs her mouth, still chewing her food, struggling to hold it in as she nearly spits it out on reflex. Pine turns to Maple and pauses to stare at her for a few seconds in examination before determining in a jest, "I think she'd get you a good five minutes before one of us would have to carry her, and that would have to be you."

After swiftly swallowing her food, Maple turns to Kokei before summoning, "Okay wait at least now I could carry him pretty well if I tried, come on help me out here," to which Kokei throws her hands in the air and deflects with a giggle, "Hey I don't know what to say, there's really only one way to find out but let's at least try it on the grass, this would hurt a lot," before stomping her foot on the hard surface.

Aspen giggles instinctively, garnering everyone's attention before she clarifies, "Even with grass I don't know if I'd feel so safe, she'd still get crushed," her mood with Kokei having lightened up. She turns towards Hemlock before recalling, "Hey, you used to carry him all the time, you were basically throwing him around."

Hemlock leans forward and considers, "Well tell you what, have Alder drop maybe a couple feet and give me back my old body and I'm sure we can make it work" before he lets out a burst of laughter and knocks Ekitai's shoulder.

As Hemlock and Ekitai let out a burst of laughter, Dana just watches beside Meditat in silence, her face of course covered though she has a relaxed stance, leaning against Meditat –who still faces forward to focus on navigating the swamp– all as Dana carries herself as though finding therapeutic relaxation simply by listening in on their conversation.

While Meditat remains at the helm of the boat, driving through the swamp, the survivors along with Kokei, Ekitai, and eventually Dana continue to chatter, laughing at each other's remarks in between bites of the stew. Despite the fatigue they clearly bear after the long day, they're lively all throughout their meal, speaking gleefully as their bowls gradually empty as they pluck meat and potatoes or sip the stew from the bowl's edge.

It doesn't take too long for those bowls to be completely cleaned, and it's Hemlock first who places his bowl on the floor by the bench before rising to his feet, waving with his goodbyes, and departing to the cabin inside for rest. The remainder of the group wave back to him and continue their conversations, but eventually Aspen and Maple choose to leave their bowls and amble into the cabin for much needed sleep, leaving Pine and Alder.

While they remain longer to speak to the allies who've defended them throughout the day, there comes a point where Alder bumps Pine's shoulder and alerts him, to which Pine agrees on leaving the bowls on the floor before the two stand up and part with the Bellators before walking into the cabin, leaving only the team left on the deck, sitting around aimlessly.

Through those gleaming blue lenses, Meditat stares out while guiding the boat by the wheel, both hands steady with minor turns both ways to smoothly pass the trees and islands. He remains standing up, the only one on the deck doing so as Dana sits on the bench right behind him, and both Ekitai and Kokei have taken over the side benches, Ekitai on the left and Kokei on the right. Ekitai's arms rest over the back of the bench, his forearms sitting on the railings whereas Kokei lays her back as if it were a bed, staring up at the black sky whereas Dana's the only one to maintain a posture more proper, her hands on her golden lap.

Ekitai glances over at the golden trees, staring at the purple leaves dangling above them before he comments, "You know, all things considered we did pretty good today. I mean hey, we actually got away from those beasts this time, so I guess we're starting to get better. It's something at least."

Kokei sighs, her left arm lazily slumped off the bench as she recounts exhaustedly, "It didn't feel much better, we were way too close to getting jumped way too many times. I feel really dumb for trying to even hide my powers, I was just putting everyone in danger for nothing, sorry about that."

Dana turns to Kokei before delicately soothing despite her electric voice, "You're fine, it's understandable why you were hesitant about it, but what matters is that you helped in the end. And speaking of which, what you did back there was something! I know we were already exhausted back on the mountain but you really can hold your own against them, it's so cool."

Still facing the swamp ahead, Meditat inserts curiously, "I apologize for the interrogation but…Kokei…are you aware of how you did survive? I haven't had the time to ask, and to my understanding that is quite an anomaly."

Behind him, Kokei turns her head to place the side of her head against the bench before wearily muttering, "I…still don't really know…honestly I think I almost felt something but…I don't know, it's hard to explain…sorry…it shouldn't have just been-."

Quickly picking up on her trail, Meditat swiftly interjects, "Don't, please," successfully halting her as she just stares at him follow up, "You have nothing to apologize for, you have no burden to bear, don't plant that on yourself. Regardless…after all that's happened…I'm glad you're still here…."

Kokei tilts to place the side of her head against the bench, her eyes averting to the floor before sheepishly responding, "I…thanks…," before turning away.

Meditat sighs softly before asking next, "So after I had…been taken away…those creatures started spilling from those roots and attacked you? How many of them were there? Were you fighting them the whole time?"

Dana turns around to face Meditat but pauses, however it's Ekitai who turns to Meditat and answers, "Oh boy there were a lot, a lot more than today to be honest, and they just kept on going too. We were running from them for a while, that was basically a whole army fighting us, I mean it was overwhelming even the Sea Hats so you know, it was pretty bad."

Meditat slightly lowers his chin which Dana notices, tilting her head before trying to calm preemptively, "I mean hey, we did figure out a way to retaliate, actually it was Kokei who figured it out." She turns to Kokei who perks her head up to the mention, listening to Dana recount: "After that I'd say things were actually looking up pretty decently, for a while at least until…yeah."

Meditat pans his head to survey the swamp ahead before spinning the wheel. He then contemplates for a moment before simply uttering: "Pawns."

At once, Kokei, Dana, and Ekitai all turn to Meditat in perplexion, listening as he clarifies while facing the other way in a voice somewhat shakish: "That man…being…whoever it was, it called them Pawns. They were talking about it constantly when we were fighting, I had no clue what they were saying except that you were all in danger…I tried so hard to get back to you but I didn't even know where I was most of the time…it was like my first year all over again, I didn't know anything."

Ekitai frowns for a moment, but curiosity beats him with a raised eyebrow as he's compelled to ask, "Like you didn't recognize the Earth you were on? I guess making a break for it mid fight probably wouldn't have been very doable though."

Meditat shakes his head before turning to face the three who raise their heads to listen to him elaborate, "No, not like that. At first it was just different Earths, then I did attempt an escape, but they brought me…somewhere else. It wasn't some Earth, it was somewhere I've never seen before, first there were different planets like the ones I learned about once composing the solar system, I thought they could've taken me to just another solar system that coincidentally seemed familiar yet then I was taken elsewhere to places I've no familiarity to. In fact, many of them shouldn't be regions possible to exist in our universe simply by the inconsistent physics, it all stopped making sense."

On the right bench, Kokei sits up straight and tilts her head before curiously wondering, "Wait…like it was just a completely different reality? Like nothing felt real but it was?"

Meditat fixates on Kokei and pauses for a second to contemplate, but ultimately finds himself agreeing, "That's…a fairly accurate definition, yes. They were speaking about universes, dimensions if I recall correctly. I apologize as it's difficult to remind myself still of that discussion ...."

Kokei scrunches her forehead and lowers her head before murmuring, "Dimensions…?" Both Dana and Ekitai appear bewildered as Kokei's eyes dart aimlessly. They're keyed back in as Meditat concludes, "Regardless, my best efforts did nothing, and I did truly do all I could. It's…something I'll just need to live with," before he once again faces forward to avert his gaze.

The three turn to Meditat and frown, hearing the subtle sorrow in his voice, as despite what he just advised Kokei he too sounds weighed by guilt. Before being able to explore it though, Ekitai's instincts kick in and he releases a heavy yawn, stretching his arms which infects Kokei too who can't help but yawn, breaking her from her deep contemplation. Dana glances at Ekitai after the somewhat inappropriate timing, Kokei doing the same. Finding himself crossed, he shamefully shrugs his shoulders before admitting, "Okay look, we were up at like six or something, and it's been a while since I've really done a good all-nighter. Don't worry, I just need to let the good 'ol reserve engine kick into gear, once you stay up long enough you just stop getting tired."

Again facing away from the deck, Meditat simply offers: "Honestly, you could all sleep for the night too, realistically only I'd need to remain awake. Like I promised, in the event of danger I will notify everyone onboard, but we may face greater adversity tomorrow so I'd wish for you all to be well rested."

The three face him promptly, Kokei frowning before asking: "Are you sure..? We're still part of the team, we should still be taking responsibility, I can stay up."

Meditat huffs lightly before persuading, "You've done that, rest tonight, it'll boost you tomorrow. Especially now that you may be our best protector, we can't risk you being fatigued all day."

Kokei's face slightly reddens and she lowers her head before muttering, "Oh…," though Ekitai is quick to stretch his arms again and dismiss, "Well I'd try my hand at being more mature and trying to argue you but honestly this is a battle I'm fine with losing." He then turns and promptly drops his back against the bench to lay down as if it were a bed, yawning one more time before tiredly wishing, "I'm just going to pray…that you'll actually let us help you…if anything happens…," before just two seconds later he falls to silence as his eyes shut tight, dropping off of consciousness.

Stunned by the speed of sleep, Dana glances at Ekitai while Kokei lets out a sigh and admits, "Well…I guess yeah you make sense, I don't want to be stupid and hold us back." She then drops back down to lay on the bench before announcing, "I'll be going to sleep now then, just please wake me up if…we…," however she drifts off, or more accurately dozes off as she closes her eyes and promptly falls into slumber. Dana turns to her next, doing a double take between her and Ekitai, astonished by just how quickly they fell apart as if they were on the verge of passing out.

Without needing to glance back, Meditat lets out a sigh as a gust of wind knocks into his cape, brushing it to the side while he simply assumes, "I take it that they're asleep. You may too, Dana, I'll wake you up early tomorrow."

Dana turns to Meditat and shakes her head before standing up from the bench, instead ambling towards him as she declares, "Come on Medit, between us I'm pretty sure I'm actually better for staying up all night, healthily at least. I don't even really need sleep, it's basically a hobby for me. Besides, I couldn't leave you here all night, you'd be bored out of your mind."

Meditat sighs before trying to contend, "You speak as if I've not done that countlessly, and regardless there's little that I'm doing, I can see the end of the swamp approaching and once we reach there I should be able to let this boat continue on autopilot. I'd be doing nothing but sitting here."

Stopping at his side, Dana faces the same way he does before prodding, "Oh come on, I won't even attempt to persuade you into alternating watch so at least just deal with me. Besides, you should know I'd just lay down and pretend I'm sleeping so at best you can feel like you won."

Meditat lets out another sigh, heavier this time, before submitting wearily: "And now I'll know I haven't, you're right aren't you? Fine…just note that if you're tired at any point, you're always free to-."

"You too," Dana interrupts snarkily, silencing Meditat who just lowers his head, understanding it's best to just not try with her.

Inside the unlit cabin, all five of the beds attached to the walls are occupied by each of the survivors, all of them nestled beneath the provided blankets, their eyes closed. Despite the tumultuous day now ending with sleep on an uneven surface, every survivor is deep asleep, their faces relaxed, without worry.

It isn't entirely silent as Hemlock quietly snores, his blanket messily laid over himself, but at least it doesn't seem to bother anyone else. The snore in fact isn't much louder than the gentle engine hum beneath the floor, the floor holding a pile of the green cloaks in the corner of the room, taken off for the sake of comfort.

Just as soundly despite lacking a proper mattress or blanket, Ekitai quietly snores with a calm face, resting on his back with one arm over the railing and another on the floor where the bowls still reside, more or less emptied, the metal forks glistening from the gentle strip of light looping around the deck.

Opposite from him, Kokei slumbers just as well, sleeping on her shoulder instead with her face pointed towards him though her eyes are completely shut. She sleeps silently, her arms wrapped around herself to combat the cold subconsciously, her long pink hair messily scattered over the bench as well as drooping over.

Just as was said, it doesn't take long before the boat reaches the edge of the swamp where a single thin channel branches out, a river that may be less than double the width of the boat though is free of trees, an open channel unobstructed. The hiss of the water running grows louder in fact due to the river's own current distinctly stronger than the comparatively passive swamp, drawing the boat in as it only swerves around a few more trees before having one final island in its way.

After circling said island, the boat is finally able to slip into the stream where it slightly accelerates, moving in a straight line down the current between those same droopy swamp trees, but all now out of water where they wouldn't prove a hindrance.

A series of switches on the console are flicked in sequence with a couple buttons before one last flick is done after which Meditat takes a step back from the controls, his hands now off the steering wheel. He walks around the console to the very nose of the deck, staring over the waters now clear, no trees or even rocks in the way though they're still in the same biome given those golden coiled trees that hang over them, the edges of the purple flowers glistening from the boat's headlight.

After a brief gaze at the path ahead, Meditat nods to himself and turns around to find Kokei and Ekitai asleep on the side benches, as well as Dana laying on the one behind the console with her arms raised, her hands beneath her head. 

Staring down at his cybernetic friend for a stunned moment, Meditat takes a step away from the nose to approach her before murmuring in a near whisper: "Huh…never mind then…."

Immediately Dana sits up, nearly startling Meditat who freezes in place for her to turn to him and seek, "Oh wait sorry, did you say something?"

Meditat releases a heavy sigh and shakes his head before begrudgingly reverting, "Nothing, I was just thinking to myself."

Swiveling her legs to face straight to Meditat, Dana places her hands beside her as she relates, "Yeah that's fair, I was doing the same. Honestly I have no idea how you drove all over the Superverse back when…or…not you, never mind," before her voice tapers awkwardly, lowering her head.

Another sigh though this one gentler, Meditat continues to approach Dana as he calms, "No worries, I could say the same about Razi." He doesn't stop at Dana but walks past, prompting her to turn around to watch him approach the center of the deck between Ekitai and Kokei, deep in sleep.

He stops in the center and scans the floor around himself, specifically the bowls which then automatically light on blue fire, dissolving quickly into flames that rise and disperse, erasing the forks inside. He then extends both arms out towards his two sleeping allies before both hands fire a flame towards them, both of which expand out into sheets that materialize into blankets that slowly fall over them, laying atop Ekitai and wrapping over Kokei.

Dropping his hands to the side, Meditat ambles to the cabin's open doorway as Dana stands up from the bench and glances around, her body subtly seeming to condense as she shortens and her shoulders narrow, her fingers smoothing as her body begins to shape more to her human figure while she watches the deck momentarily as she wonders, "Why does sleep always feel better when in a moving vehicle?"

Entering the cabin as the sole source of light which dims down to hardly reflect off the floor, Meditat surveys the five sleeping refugees through his azure lenses, assessing their state to find all of them in calm conditions, noticing them all having used the blankets, appropriate for the winter chills.

Softly spoken as to not awaken those in slumber, Meditat answers sincerely, "I believe that phenomenon is due to the vibrations of movement as well as the white noise generated from the engine."

Spinning around at the door, Meditat saunters back up the deck towards Dana who hums and raises her head before considering, "Hm, yeah that would make sense wouldn't it?"

Meditat notices her regressed form to which he assumes, "You're conserving energy? You are tired."

Chuffing from the dry humor, Dana places her hands, which are no longer clawed, on her hips before correcting, "My brain is not tired, my body is a different story. Don't worry, at a moment's notice I can transform back, maybe even go full monster. I haven't done that in a long time, haven't I?"

Meditat passes Dana while reminding her, "You'd just rip apart anyone you touch by doing that, we haven't tussled against droids in some time now. I do appreciate you not doing that back in Icarus despite your opponents not being alive."

Dana swivels to face Meditat before retorting, "I think 'he' would've had a lot to say if I did. Wouldn't be a very heroic look...."

While Dana stands on one side of the bench, closer to the two sleeping allies, Meditat returns back to the console just to stare over the deck, surveying their journey as the wind plays with his cape, pushing against his hood.

Gazing over the river through those parallelogram lenses, Meditat stares off in the direction opposite from Dana who instead watches over the two allies deep in sleep. As she pans between the two, she comes to reflect in a soft voice, the electric tuning weakened, resulting in a voice vaguely more human: "To think it hasn't even been a full year since we all met, I feel like this has been one of the longest years in a long time, in a good way. Yet it feels like just a couple days ago I was reengineering the shielding, I still remember how…confused I was that you were hanging out with someone like Ekitai."

Still facing the river, Meditat raises his head and recalls: "If my memory serves me correct, I don't think he had a choice."

That correction warrants a giggle from Dana who nods her head and accepts, "You're right, but still, I mean I guess in a lot of ways he's still the same old silly man I'd never let step five miles near a board meeting, but in so many ways he's changed. Kokei too, I don't think I would've really imagined her doing something like what she did today back then, going out of her way like that."

Dana turns to face Meditat and reminisces, "I mean I know even back at the beginning there was a good cause we were fighting for, we were saving a lot of lives by ending that civil war, and there's no downplaying the impact there. But back then, we were fighting people, sure we were saving more in the long run but now, with what you all did for those staff and now this, I feel like I can actually see that we're saving people. Especially with what happened today, they saved those people on their own, we weren't there to give orders every step of the way, they did it themselves. And I could tell how stressed they were, Kokei especially, the whole thing earlier made it worse but really she did so well. Honestly, I think she handled that save a lot better than the first one I did, that one nearly went so badly."

Meditat contemplates for a moment before turning to face Dana to shake his head and assure, "You did well, I'm not sure what you mean, you got those people out perfectly."

Dana drops both arms to her side and sighs before reminding him, "Yeah, I rescued them from one of my former clients, it was still my fault. And it wasn't 'perfect,' I was diving all over the place getting hit by everything."

"And nobody else was injured," Meditat reminds back, leaving Dana to let out a nervous laugh before diverting her gaze back to them and waving away, "Okay okay my point is, they've grown so much, honestly I think today they both really were heroes," in a voice that has a glint of pride.

First still staring at them, Dana then raises her gaze back to him as she correlates, "And I think they were inspired by you."

Immediately, Meditat turns around and disregards, "Okay Dana, okay," to which Dana takes a step towards him and argues earnestly, "No I'm serious, Medit I'm honestly not sure if they would've agreed to doing something like this a year ago. And it makes sense, people don't do things like this, they don't go out of their way to risk everything for people they don't know. Only certain people do that, and they're those kinds of people now. And let's be real, it helped that there was someone with them who couldn't stop throwing himself into danger for other people. Maybe a little more than he should but…I'm not debating that right now."

"Dana, please don't," Meditat oddly demands as he stops by the nose of the deck, his voice strangely stern despite the sincerely wholesome praise Dana was feeding.

At first somewhat puzzled but taking it as the same dry response, Dana approaches Meditat slowly again while retorting back, "Come on Medit you can't deny-."

"Dana actually, don't say things like that," Meditat again demands in that cold voice, this time halting Dana as the uplifting tone suddenly crashes, leaving her now fully befuddled, completely misreading the mood until it's now shoved in her face.

She just stares up at Meditat who shakes her head before elaborating in a dejected voice, "I should be doing so much more right now, I should've already rescued at least a hundred people today, I'm hardly making a dent in all of this."

Now further bewildered by this train of logic, Dana shakes her head and again takes a few steps towards Meditat as she lectures, "Huh, Meditat, what kind of thinking is that? You're saving people right now, you know how much this means to them, you're more mature than to start thinking of numbers. You're the one who told me that, think about what you're saying-."

"No Dana, it's more than that," Meditat interrupts, keeping his gaze away from her as he shakes his head and explains, "Dana, he used me. During that fight, he used me to kill all those people, all of them. If I wasn't there, or hell if I wasn't so stupid to just run head first blindly and just throw everything at him expecting it to just work mindlessly, none of this would have happened. None of those people would be dead. If Aspen should've blamed someone earlier, it should've been me, because I killed all of those people. Not Kokei, me."

Frozen once again, Dana's left not bewildered exactly but rather overwhelmed in shock, just standing behind him, still for a few silent moments, unable to utter anything but: "Oh my…Medit…I'm so sorry I didn't know-."

Meditat raises his head to the sky and calculates, "Five hundred billion people, Dana. That's the approximation of how many people perished, five hundred billion people. At least if it truly was about all Exhumans, it's five hundred billion people. And that's believable, because it felt like five hundred billion people. It felt like it when I had to feel..every..single..one..of..them..die."

He then at last turns around to face Dana who's just standing still, and after making eye contact he resumes miserably, "It was so fast, it was so fast I was hardly able to process it all, but I did process all of it, and it went on for so long. It was so agonizingly slow and I couldn't do anything about it. I let it happen and I couldn't stop it."

He averts his gaze around again before recognizing, "I've probably never even saved ten billion lives realistically, and now with all of these monsters or Pawns slaughtering everyone I don't think I'll ever be able to save five hundred billion people. I'm never going to make it even again, I'll end up as the man who led to the greatest casualties in history. That's the mark I'll leave."

As Dana walks around the bench and sits down as her golden head begins to uncoil, Meditat continues frantically, "It doesn't matter if I saved a hundred people today, or a thousand, it doesn't matter how many people I save, I still will always have done more harm than good. I'm not a hero, I'm the worst man to have ever lived."

Facing the river ahead sorrowfully, Meditat stares off before hearing Dana's voice simply call, "Medit?" He gloomily turns around in preparation for whatever speech could be made, already knowing it wouldn't change his outlook on the events he knew were real, though when he turns around he finds Dana sitting on the edge the bench facing him, her body in a state of partial transformation as her head has been reverted to her own, a golden ring around her collar separating the metal armor from her skin to expose her own face, her light green eyes staring back at him as a gust pushes aside her amber bangs. Her hands have also reverted, golden cuffs around her wrists but her hands are skin rather than metal, which gesture him towards herself as she invites gently in her fully human voice, "Come sit here."

Shocked given the startle of his body, Meditat peeks over at the doorway to the cabin before aggressively whispering, "Dana, what are you doing, I thought you were trying to hide your identity."

Staring up with an opposedly calm expression, Dana softly assures, "Don't worry, everyone's asleep, it's just us now." She then pats the bench beside her before again inviting, "Come."

Slightly at ease given her confidence yet still puzzled by her actions, Meditat reluctantly approaches her, staring straight at the cabin's doorway as if expecting someone to exit, yet just as she stated there's nobody awake.

Reaching the bench, Meditat spins around and seats himself next to Dana as prompted, glancing around in perplexity before asking, "So what-," just as Dana suddenly grabs the far side of his head and pushes it down onto her lap with absurd strength, causing his legs to fly forwards just as a tentacle swiftly emerges from her back to coil around his knees and pull him to orient his body to lay over the bench on his side.

Instinctively, Meditat tries to wrestle out of the hold, grabbing her wrists with both hands as he exclaims, "Hey Dana what are you doing-?!" He's quick to receive a delicate response from her: "Oh come on, we've done this before, just breathe," as her tentacle retracts into her back.

"Yeah, decades ago when I was still kind of young, actually even then I was too old for this," argues Meditat just to be swiftly refuted by Dana: "Yeah and I'm still a couple years older than you, so to me you're still young, so to me this is okay."

The fighting slows down as Meditat quickly gives up, dropping his arms in defeat to much of Dana's delight. She then lingers her hand over the edge of his hood, lightly grabbing it before he instinctively frets, "Wait no, Dana they're still here."

While Dana does let go of the hood, she gently assures again, "They're all asleep and will be asleep, come on, they won't even see you if they come out here. Just for a little bit right now could you breathe some fresh air?"

Meditat doesn't respond for a few seconds, not until he quietly murmurs, "...fine….," thereby allowing Dana to once again grip the edge of his hood and pull it off his head, causing his white mask to crack with countless glowing fissures that dissolve the mask entirely, revealing the man's face underneath as his long black hair poofs out from the hood. He stares forward with starry azure irises, frowning in embarrassment which worsens as Dana runs her fingers through his hair, prompting him to again argue albeit softer: "Seriously?"

Dana smiles gently before remarking playfully, "Oh come on, you're still adorable, let me have this just for a bit."

Chuffing from the babyish praise, Meditat diverts his eyes before mumbling, "You know, I used to be your boss…."

Smiling to that dry humor, Dana retorts back: "And you know, you used to be the cute little college freshman, swinging around the city trying to chase down my clients and then me."

Huffing from that reminder, Meditat snarks dryly: "And I defeated you on my first try."

Smiling back, Dana recalls snarkily: "Yeah well you were cheating, I thought you were just some agent in a subpar suit. But nope, you were some kid, some kid who took down an entire drug empire in a year, and then the kid who went on to become the 'Hero of Versepolis.' And back then you treated Versepolis like it was everything, and you put that everything on your shoulders, as if any one criminal could spell the end of the world. You took every single threat with complete seriousness, whether it was an invading army from the skies or just one man who could throw fireballs with his hands, because to you it all threatened the world that you burdened yourself with."

Still running her hand through his hair, Dana lifts her head as she reflects, "But I guess that never really changed. You went on to protect the globe, and then went on some adventures to other Earths to save those sometimes, and then joined The Shield and all the sudden you went from saving one world to a hundred, and you put all hundred worlds on your shoulders. And even now you're still doing the same thing, putting everybody's lives on your shoulders, expecting yourself to protect all of them yourself."

Noticing the return to this topic, Meditat frowns before protesting, "But Dana, this time it really was my fault-," however she continues over him, "And for as long as the Superverse exists, you'll continue shouldering the lives of everyone on your shoulders, even your own allies. You'll keep shouldering me unless I'm the first to go," to which Meditat's face scrunches in a sudden wave of anguish before he pleads gently, "Don't…talk about yourself like that…please…I need you…I don't know what I'd have without you…."

Dana winces from the suddenly heartfelt response, but she recovers to glance back at the sleeping allies before answering, "Well, now you have two new team members who'll have your back, I mean they've been helping you already right?"

Meditat sulks before muttering, "You're not wrong but…it's different…you know that…."

Dana smiles softly before continuing, "Well on top of that, I'm sure you'll pick up some allies, maybe grow out the team a bit once this is all over, I'm sure there's weirder people out there. And even past that, you have all these people who you keep shouldering, everyone alive in the Superverse, everyone who I know you'll help prosper."

She then raises her head to watch the river ahead of them, the trees dangling overhead, glimmers of purple replacing the nebulas that would've been looming over had the trees not been. Facing the stream, she escalates calmly: "You know what, even if the Superverse was gone tomorrow, the Superverse and every one in it, me, them, and everyone else, you would still somehow find someone out there somewhere, and you'd shoulder them next. And you'd dedicate your life to protecting them."

Frowning at that rather morbid thought, Meditat comments softly: "I…don't want to think about something like that."

"I mean me neither," admits Dana, "I'd prefer if I stick around and everyone else, I'm just saying that even if we didn't, I know that you wouldn't just stop. Because you're not just the 'Hero of Versepolis.' You're not even just the 'Hero of the Superverse.' You're just a hero, Meditat, and as long as there's someone out there who needs saving, I know that you'll be there for them. That's just the kind of man you are. That's just the kind of man you always have been. No matter where you are, you're a hero."

Meditat's lips part as if to debate, but as Dana's hand is gently placed on his head again, he shuts his mouth, his miserable expression mellowed out, calmed even if not particularly upbeat. He just chooses silence, his starry eyes instead facing the illuminated river, laying on Dana's lap as she faces the same sight, the two resting under the purple leaves of golden trees which rustle as do her amber bangs, just the two of them in the void.