[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/h5xf31C.png[/img][/center][hr][i][b]//Day 1 | Location:[/b] Nameless Forest - Clearing[/i]
[sub][@Yankee][@Vertigo][/sub]

Conflict, subtle but present, arose between the decision-making process once more, as the two Awakened students proposed conflicting ideas as to just how much they could do. Hana and Kumi seemed fine with leaving now, though. The dead-eyed girl rummaged through the remains of the firepit, her fingers stained with soot, before plucking out a still-smouldering ember and wrapping it in cloth. Insurance, perhaps. Daisuke eyed Duncan, trying to get a better read on his friend, but Maki elbowed him in the ribs, telling him to get going. She had fashioned a crutch for herself out of one of the spears. It would be slow going, nonetheless, but she wasn’t going to let herself get carried this time…regardless of how much Haruko hovered around her. Juro and Sohei made it out from the wreckage that they had been digging through. Their bounty wasn’t all that spectacular, but they came out of it with a bundle of unbroken bento boxes and bottles, some extra bags and clothing, and, perhaps most importantly, Rin’s toolset.

An invaluable artifact of civilization. One that Sohei was insistent on carrying for himself.

His twin brother sighed at the sight, then scampered off to help Yukiko out with the burden she still bothered herself with. A bit of rest had gotten her up again; though if she fell once more, it was unlikely anything short of a full eight hours of sleep would get her back up. Mayumi oversaw it all, quiet calculations and counts ticking away within her mind, but she didn’t do much outside of shoot a snide comment towards Ayano as she passed by. From the treasurer’s perspective, it looked clear enough that the peppy bitch just wanted attention.

Tensions simmered beneath the surface, but the concerns of food, water, and shelter kept it from boiling over. Duncan managed to heave the wolfbear corpse, their last source of food, over his shoulder. It was easy enough, if not a bit cumbersome. The stench of a day-old kill was a terrible one though; bugs scattered when he had picked it up, but now gathered once more, clustering around him with an incessant whirr. It would have made for a miserable hike, if Tsubasa hadn’t taken it onto herself to swat at the insects with a leafy branch. She looked healthy enough, despite the circumstances. Had plenty of energy to burn, if she was keeping pace with Duncan.

And Masato, abandonment off the table, found himself tasked with carrying Sasuke.

To the stream. Down the stream. And then…

[hr][i][b]//Day 1 | Location:[/b] Nameless Forest - Lakeside[/i]
[sub][@AThousandCurses][@baraquiel][@Cu Chulainn][@Nakushita][/sub]

Shun returned to the others just in time to watch Ayana fall head over heels towards Kogen and Akito. Literally. It was just like the klutz to do something like that, and it was perhaps a blessing of her Awakening too that she could now do that without splitting her skull open.

It was good timing too. Akito was mid-breath, ready to verbally tear Kogen’s ass open, when all this happened. And now, between Asahi’s chastisement and Ayana’s…whatever? It just wasn’t the atmosphere for lashing out anymore. The brunette let out a slow, long hiss. Then he got up and walked the opposite direction, going back to his work of gathering wood. Tsubaki, seeing the brewing animosity, pinched the bridge of her nose, as if trying to both massage away the pain and just the general bad vibes. Boys could be boys, but when one of the boys was superhumanly powerful, any fight that actually broke out would have some one-sidedly deadly consequences. The short-haired girl walked over to where Ayana was. Her right arm raised upwards for a moment, then dropped. She sat down beside her instead, a wry smile forming.

[b]“Nice timing,”[/b] Tsubaki remarked, [b]“But go on and roll over already. And tell me how many fingers you see.”[/b] Concussions were no joke. A durable body didn’t erase the fact that the brain was still the most vulnerable part of a human body.

With the man-children (well, more like just teenagers) scattered, Asahi could see just how far the two had gotten with their fire-making efforts to start: they had been rubbing sticks together. It was an irritating lack of knowledge and technique, but at the very least, he had for himself sticks to skewer the fish with, and the opportunity to scale, gut, and clean them out as well. The fang-dagger was clumsy as a fishmonger’s tool, but he had the experience to make it work.

Kogen’s adventures digging within the lake’s bed had coffered up some results as well. His Minecraft knowledge hadn’t failed him in that regard, at least. He knew he needed flint and luckily, flint was something that could be found within lakes. After his hands began to become numb from the water’s chill, he stumbled back out, with a small handful of sharp, flaky rocks in tow. The fish was ready, the wood was piled up, and everyone was gathered.

Now, it was just a matter of making a spark from the stone.

…

……

……….

Masato and Duncan’s group had been exhausted at this point, but the gradually strengthening of the water’s flow, the transitioning from stream to river, had all given some energy back into their classmates. They marched on at an unsteady, but nevertheless consistent pace, and soon, they could see the lake in the distance.

They could see too, familiar faces.

The classmates they had left behind. The classmates that they had thought were dead. The classmates, currently huddled over a pile of wood, obsessively clacking stones together, but only creating dust and powder from it. Asahi, his face conflicted as he saw Sasuke amongst the crowd. Tsubaki, letting out a laugh of genuine relief, oblivious that she had been left for dead while unconscious. Kogen and Shun, grappling with their respective grudges towards the ones who had abandoned them. And Akito, locking eyes with Masato immediately. Eyes turned to slits, mouth stretched out into a crescent.

Sohei rushed forwards to Rin, but it was Hana’s approach that was more practical. The girl strode over and handed them her knife.

[b]“You need flint [i]and[/i] steel. Won’t be a spark otherwise.”[/b]

And, with that, the prospects for coaxing a flame became all the more likely.