[b]Aliya Montcarre:[/b]

Aliya’s eyes slowly crept open, and a tiny slit of light greeted her. She shivered despite the blanket around her shoulders, and looked around in confusion. She had expected to be back on the [i]Leone[/i], sailing back into Lavas waters, but instead she was surrounded in dirt and rough wooden supports… and then it struck her. 

She remembered arriving at the mouth of the river, and just barely avoiding beaching the [i]Leone[/i]. A small, gnarled wretch of a man standing in a clearing to pick up their cargo. The feeling of dread that came over her before an otherworldly force marched her three hours from the river to an isolated outpost… the screams and shouts of surprise as she and her away team were ambushed there. Blindly charging at the enemy in a rage, and then getting separated from the rest of her crew; save for her first mate. A night of cursing and fleeing from a slowly-shambling enemy.

She noticed she was alone, and panic welled up again. 

“Madeline? Where are ya?” she called out, but no reply came. 

Last night they had been extremely lucky to stumble onto a hunting blind and subsequently have enough time to stuff its viewing slit full of dirt, leaves, and branches. While the horde shuffled around the blind, none of them ever set foot near or on it. Unless the enemy had wandered off, there would have been no time for Madeline to slip away. 

Aliya realized that the blind’s viewing slit should have been stuffed shut. Something had cleared away the debris.

She stood up and pawed around the dark interior until her hands chanced upon her voulge. When she tried to reach for the shaft, she only grasped air. 

[i]“Must’ve taken the shaft and gone out,”[/i] she thought, and she stumbled around the blind until she found its hide-covered exit. 

Without stopping to check if there was any danger outside, Aliya stepped out from the blind and into the forest’s dim morning sunlight. Her landsickness buzzed in the back of her mind already, and she stumbled over a tree root as she looked around. Madeline was nowhere to be found. 

Anxiety began to creep up into her thoughts. She didn’t care much for being alone for the most part, but being alone in a forest seemingly filled to the brim with ungodly creatures bent on killing her was not ideal. Her grip on her voulge tightened, and she held it at the ready. Shadows that were once benign started to make her jump, and the rustling in the trees was greeted by the end of her weapon. 

“Captain,” came a voice from behind her. Aliya jumped, and swung around to find a weary-looking Madeline staring at her. “This certainly isn’t your element, is it?”

“Oh, bloody fuckin'ell,” Aliya sighed as she relaxed. “Had me worried. Thought you’d gone and gotten yerself killed while I was sleeping.” 

Madeline stifled a laugh. “With all due respect, Captain, I think that I’m the better [i]on-land[/i] outdoorsman than you are; given I was raised in a forest like this one.” 

Aliya feigned annoyance, but then smiled. “Well, I’ll give ya that. Glad you’re picking up my slack, as always.” 

The wind rustled the trees again, and Aliya looked to Madeline. She motioned to get back into the blind, and Aliya followed.

“What were y’doing out there anyways?” Aliya asked

“Gathering these,” Madeline started while she unfurled her shirt to reveal a bounty of berries and nuts, “...and I also took the liberty of climbing the tallest tree I could find to check both for enemies and for landmarks.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Well, the good news is that it seems that the beasts have wandered off somewhere to the west. Doesn’t even look like they left anyone behind to watch out for us.”

Aliya frowned. “Bad news?”

“I have no idea where we are,” Madeline stated bluntly, and Aliya deflated. “The river’s well outside of my sight, and as far as I could tell, there’s us and this forest, and that’s it.” 

They looked at each other in silence, and the situation weighed heavily on them. Aliya’s landsickness seemed to worsen for a while, and Madeline was markedly uncomfortable-looking as well. To pass the awkward silence, they absently began to snack on what little food they stumbled upon, but all it seemed to do was increase their appetites. 

“I really wish we had just chosen to go on leave now,” Madeline said wryly, and she threw some pebbles around. 

“Would’ve been nice t’visit those clearwater isles, yeah,” Aliya sighed. “I don’t wanna die on bloody [i]land[/i], of all things.” 

Silence fell on them again, and Aliya began to grumble. “We can’t just sit in this blind n’die—though you’re better company to die with than most.”

Madeline nodded. “I don’t want to just slowly starve to death either.” 

“What say we take our chances out there? If we take an arrow to the neck or get hacked t’bits at least it’ll be quick.” 

“I will always follow you, Captain. ” Madeline replied firmly. "Lead the way, and I'll be right behind you." 
 
Aliya clapped her on the shoulder. “Good lass.”

She rummaged around the blind, and found the blanket she had been using, along with her rucksack. The thing was heavy with a locked box and a few of her personal belongings. She waited for Madeline to gather whatever she might have lying around, and led the two of them out of the blind. She turned around a few times before stopping, and started walking in that direction. Madeline dutifully followed. 

 
They walked for an hour in silence until Aliya finally got fed up with the bleariness of it and stopped at the base of a tall tree. She pointed up, and set her things down at its base. Madeline followed suit, and took the first few branches herself—her being a touch heavier than Aliya made it better for her to find the stronger branches. Aliya’s landsickness vanished once she got onto the swaying branches, and she sighed in relief. Madeline sat a few branches below Aliya, who sat at the top of the tree and peered out at the landscape. 

She scanned the horizon, and both she and Madeline happened on a small village at the same time. When Aliya looked down, she and Madeline locked eyes. 

“Our luck’s holding out, it seems!” Aliya chimed.

“Always, Captain,” Madeline agreed, and she slid off her branch to climb down to the next one. 

Aliya’s climb was faster than Madeline, and she eventually caught up to her first mate. They looked at each other when she passed, and then Aliya heard the faintest [i]thwick[/i] sound. A moment later, a war arrow tore through the branches and caught Madeline in the arm. Her eyes widened first in surprise, and then shut in pain. Her grip on the branches faltered, and she began to slip. 

More [i]thwick[/i] sounds. 

Aliya let go of her branch and fell twice her height to the next one. Madeline did the same, but landed stomach-first onto a thicker branch. Aliya could hear her breath get knocked out of her just before the arrows struck the branches they had been in. She frantically looked around for where the arrows had come from, but had no idea where the shooters were. At the very least, they had reentered the canopy and would be much harder to hit.

“Y’alright!?” she yelled at Madeline. 

“This’ll kill me by blood loss… provided we even make it to the damned ground…!” Madeline grimaced as she tried to move. The blood streaming down from her wound came out furiously, and Aliya knew that she would have only a few minutes to get her heart rate down and put something on the wound to staunch the flow. 

The last few branches were torturous, and Aliya dropped to the ground well before Madeline did. A stray arrow occasionally landed in the higher branches, and Aliya’s heart skipped a beat as one of them landed a hand’s length from Madeline’s form. 

“Just fall out the ruddy tree!” Aliya called up, and she scrambled into a spotting stance. “I’ll catch you, or you’ll die quicker!” 

“Captain, I would [i]really [/i]love to make it back to the [i]Leone [/i]alive! You better catch me!” Madeline replied. 

A moment after that, Madeline fell back and off of her branch. Aliya stumbled back and forth trying to find the best place to catch her, and was both relieved and astounded when Madeline fell square into her arms. Her sudden weight send Aliya to the ground, and Madeline cried out in pain when her arm slammed into the soil. 

“I actually bloody caught ya…” Aliya groaned.

“You told me to jump and had no idea if you could catch me!?” Madeline complained angrily. 

“You’re alive, aren’tcha? Can y’get to yer feet?” 

Madeline struggled, and with her good arm she managed to stumble to her feet. Aliya rolled towards her things, grabbed them, and leapt up. 

“Can y’walk by yourself? At least to the town?” Aliya asked.

Madeline shrugged slowly. “Got no idea what’s left in me, Captain. The lightheadedness is setting in, and the cold is too.” 

Aliya slapped her forehead. “Bleedin’ fucking flies; that’s right! Hold still while I tie off the damned wound!” she said, and she hurriedly produced her blanket from her rucksack. She tore a long strip of it off, and tightly tied off the flesh before Madeline’s wound--not as tight as a tourniquet, but enough to slow her bleeding. “Can you hold the bottom of the shaft?”

“You’re going to use a [i]voulge [/i]to chop off the rest of it?” Madeline said incredulously. “That’ll probably stir up the wound even more!”

“I can’t just saw it off! It’s the fastest way t’go!”

“Just leave it be! We don’t have time to deal with it!”

“Damnit!” Aliya hissed, and she ducked under Madeline’s arm and lifted her up. “I’ll take the weight off of your legs at the very least, then.”

Madeline made no complaint, so Aliya picked up her voulge in her free hand and started shuffling the two of them in the general direction of the village. Their pace was slow, and they had no idea if their assailants were watching, but she was going to be damned if she didn’t at least [i]try [/i]to save Madeline’s life. 

“Captain,” Madeline wheezed as they picked up speed, “Permission to be honest with you?”

“Don’t you dare say anything sappy at a time like this,” Aliya barked, “You just said that you'd love to get back to the [i]Leone[/i]! You’re making it out of here, and you’re going to be my first mate for the rest of our ruddy [i]lives[/i]!” 

Despite her wounds, Madeline laughed. A bright, genuine laugh; one that Aliya didn’t usually hear from her serious first mate. 

“If I die, what I was going to say will go to the grave, Captain.”

“Shut it! I’m not dying here, and [i]you’re [/i]certainly not!” 

Madeline laughed again, and Aliya felt a slight tinge of dread. She hoped that it wouldn’t be the last time she heard it.