Varelius bowed slightly before stepping back. He raised a hand high, signalling for a Noctryix to come before mointing it. Skov rode one beside him, moving ahead of the TerraRider.
Skov grumbled under his breath,
"Come on, we don't have all day. Your flag's location is very far. Make sure you got everything you needed."
Sheng Yue suddenly beamed and grinned,
"Definitely all prepared !"
She took out four, or maybe five suitcases from the front seat of the TerraRider. All of us stared at her in disbelief, blinking slowly as we tried to process what we were seeing.
Shin Hayato shook his head and told Sheng Yue to place them at the external cargo racks instead. Cassandra suddenly walked up to me and poke my shoulder hard enough to make me yelp.
I turned to her, rubbing my shoulder,
"What was that for!?"
She pulled her hand back, expression calm yet laced with a small hint of anger,
"You have a huge wound. Mind telling me where you got it ?"
I glanced at my shoulder. The fabric around it was torn. Beneath it, an uneven injury stretched across my shoulders, the skin split and bruised from the impact of the spinning gyro.
The wound looked raw and angry, swollen with dirt and oil form the GSSC, though it wasn't bleeding heavily anymore. When I tried to move, my muscles suddenly felt stiff and uncooperative. Maybe the reason I hadn't felt the pain earlier was the adrenaline from seeing that Noctryix.
I sighed,
"So... the GSSC was very close to the stabilizer arm thingy and I got too close to the spinning part so I could slam into the stabilizer arm... and I almost fel—"
Without any warning, Cassandra gripped my other shoulder tightly, her eyes widened slightly,
"Who told you to do that ?"
I hesitated,
"Uhh... I told myself to do that thin—"
"Arlo, get your ass here !" Cassandra shouted as Arlo rushed over, stumbling slightly. She forcefully push me down to Arlo's level. I pointed at my shoulder, silently telling him to treat it.
Arlo nods and grabbed his medical crate. He placed his hands on a scanner that detected his fingerprints before automatically opening. I tilted my head and pointed at the scanner.
Arlo glanced at me before rummaging through the crate,
"That's a Lifeprint Scanner. Mostly used for safety or privacy, like a vault. Just scan your hand and tadaa, you get access."
He pulled out a compact medical canister marked with red medical symbols and a banner reading 'BioSeal Spray'. He pulled the safety ring, releasing a fine mist.
As it touched my wound, a thin, translucent layer formed over the torn skin.
Arlo grabbed a handkerchief and carefully wiped away the dirt and oil,
"It's a temporary skin. Not real, just call it a bio-layer. That's what I learned from a book. Your bleeding should stop now."
He turned away and rummaged through the crate again, pulling out an injector.
I flinched,
"Uhh... w-what is that ?"
Arlo raised it closer to my shoulder. I tried to crawl backward but Cassandra stopped me, she had been standing behind me the whole time.
Arlo activated the injector,
"This will only hurt for a moment. Once the uhh... numbing liquid goes in, I guess it should stop the pai—"
I screamed before he could finish. Everyone stared at me in confusion. Cassandra immediately called Sheng Yue over to help hold me still while Arlo tried to inject the serum.
Shin Hayato, who had been talking with Skov and Varelius, turned toward us,
"What's going on ?"
Sheng Yue grabbed my wrist,
"This damn Blondie doesn't wanna take his medicine from our little doctor. Cassandra told me to hold him still."
Before I could protest, Arlo suddenly injected the numbing liquid.
I let out a huge scream. Sheng Yue quickly let go as I curled into myself, clutching my knees and rocking back and forth.
Sheng Yue placed a hand on her waist,
"Yup. Our Blondie is overreacting again. Welp, guess we've got another problem to deal with."
"It hurts a lot, you know !" I protested.
Out of nowhere, Arlo pulled out a small stitching machine,
"So uhh... you guys need to hold him still again. I need to seal the wound."
I immediately jumped to my feet and ran for my life, with Sheng Yue and Cassandra chasing after me. Cassandra eventually pinned me down and shouted for Arlo to start the stitching.
Varelius crossed his arms and nudged Skov,
"You sure that's not your long-lost twin ? Kinda reminds me of you when you were little."
Skov went quiet,
"...Don't."
◇ ◇ ◇
Arlo finally stepped back after finishing the stitching,
"So... your wound won't fully heal yet. If I remember correctly, I read a book that said this kind of injury will take about a week to recover. So... take care and don't push yourself, okay ?"
I nod, contemplating my life choices as my dignity officially died.
Skov suddenly shouted at us to hurry up as he pulled the reins, urging the Noctryix forward of the TerraRider.
Eventually, all of us got into the TerraRider except for Varelius and Skov, who were mounting on the Noctryix. Varelius gestured with a hand signal and the creature moved forward.
I tried leaning back in my seat but couldn't stop worrying about the stitches bursting out. Cassandra, sitting beside me, pushed me so I could lean properly.
I yelped,
"What the heck was that for !?"
Cassandra sighed,
"It's just a wound. It'll heal eventually. Like Arlo said, don't 'overwork yourself'. For now, we should stay alert around those two."
She pointed toward Varelius and Skov, who were leading the way as Sheng Yue drove the TerraRider behind them. I nodded and rested, waiting to reach out destination.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Hey Blondie wake up !"
I yawn and stretched, looking around and realizing we had arrived in a remote village. Everyone was gone except Sheng Yue, who sat beside me.
Sheng Yue flicked my head,
"Come on, let's go. They're waiting for us."
I jumped off the TerraRider and followed her deeper into the village. As we walked, the villagers constantly stared at us in with disgust and suspicion.
A child ran up to me excitedly but was quickly pulled away by his mother. As we continued waking deeper, I noticed how different the houses were from those in France, perhaps I could use this as a drawing inspiration later.
Eventually, we arrived at a house.
It stood on a short wooden stilts above the dusty grounds. Its woven bamboo walls showed different shades, some fresh and others are nearly gray with age. A rusted metal roof rattled faintly whenever the wind passed.
A narrow wooden platform stretched across the front, shoes were scattered near the entrance. Sheng Yue stepped onto the platform and knocked on the wooden door.
We waited. No response.
Sheng Yue groans,
"Urgh ! What are they up to !? This freaking rusted metal roof is already hurting my ea—"
The door creaked open, revealing Varelius. He bowed slightly,
"Sorry, we didn't hear the knock. The wind's pretty strong today, huh ?"
He stepped aside to let us in. Sheng Yue led me to the living room where everyone, including Skov, sat on floor mats. I sat down and looked around. A family photo and some clothes were hung on the wall.
Varelius joined in, crossing his legs and lightning a candle so we could see clearly,
"Well... before you attacked me. Your flag isn't in Bangladesh anymore..."
Sheng Yue slammed the low table,
"What !? What do you mean by—"
"Your flag isn't with us or my unit." Varelius interrupted,
"As you might have noticed, units usually has five members. But as you can see... my unit only has two right now, me and Skov."
Skov continued,
"So the deal we're offering is related to this. We'll help y'all find your flags, but you'll help us retrieve our missing members."
Shin Hayato tilted his head,
"And I assumed both our flag and your crew members are in the grasp of someone ?"
Varelius nodded and sighed,
"Another unit is taking hostages, both flags and crew member. So... I suppose we're all on the same page now, right ?"
Everyone nodded.
Outside, the roof rattled violently. A sound of movement echoed nearby.
Shrik... Shrik...
Varelius stood and opened the door. It was simply a Noctryix walking around.
Varelius sighed and turned back to us, eyes half-lidded,
"We'll continue this tomorrow. Let's get some rest."
As Varelius walked away, the Noctryix's eye slowly changed its color...