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[img]https://i.imgur.com/SLW8zWT.png[/img]

[b][color=darkred]Level 1[/color][/b] - (7/10) EXP
[b][color=darkred]Location:[/color][/b] 1-1, Ancient Gardens --> Scrapyard
[b][color=darkred]Word Count:[/color][/b] 534

[sub][b][color=darkred]Road Less Taken[/color][/b][/sub][/center]
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[i][color=darkred]'Breathe, Minako, breathe...!'[/color][/i]

The thought echoed in the teen's mind the longer she deprived her lungs of oxygen, though surely enough she couldn't keep it held forever. Panting as though she'd run half a mile, Minako hunched over, eyes wide and weary simultaneously. Being caught in such a dark trance a moment before seemingly took it out of her, though being behind her allies meant nobody got the chance to see it. Between Michael's sniper rifle and Roadhog's scrap gun, the summoner had ample supply of memories flooding back to her, all of them negative, all involving guns. A cruel reminder of her own PTSD, a fear of death, and of guns.

[i]Especially[/i] revolvers. She was lucky to not have spotted the Courier's yet.

Speaking of, the gungho gunslinger lead the charge ahead, followed by the rest of the group. While she had the time Minako chose to ground herself, focusing on the things around her to steady her heart rate, counting backwards from 1000 in increments of 22 and the like. Thankfully it didn't take long, in part due to the two aforementioned gunmen running off ahead, but that presented its own problem: loneliness.

[color=darkred][i]'Can't catch a break, can we?'[/i][/color]

Desperate to get away from that crushing reality, another slowly encroached beyond a hill up ahead: the scrapyard. It felt similar to the abandoned military base S.E.E.S explored, with all the ruptured metal and broken down machines everywhere, only this time they belonged to actual robots rather than computing equipment.
Speaking of, Aegis wasn't anywhere to be seen, which was both a relief as much as it was a disappointment. If only they would meet in a clear state of mind, away from a battlefield. But seeing the situation before her made Minako doubt that would ever happen. Unfortunate as it was, they would probably meet on a battlefield, which made her stomach knot and her throat close up just thinking about it. Seeing so much carnage didn't exactly help, either.

Looking over the battlefield, Minako was confident she could take on the robots and the rabbits. If she had a problem with robots shooting then that would have developed a long time ago. In her case it was people -- well, as far as one could classify something as a "person" -- with guns that she was most wary of. Most everything before them seemed like they were intent on fighting no matter what it was, no better than Shadows. No, what she was worried about was her [i]allies.[/i] Specifically the Devil, who would be watching over them with a sniper rifle. There was no way she was standing by that.

While most rushed off to regain the Tower's... hat? Minako turned towards the left path. [color=darkred]"I'm scouting up ahead, in case we need another path. This battlefield looks too... clustered for my liking."[/color] She didn't wait for a response, simply heading down the hill towards the left path. So long as nobody was shooting at her, she would be mostly fine, the sounds of combat drowning out particular shots, though anything from Michael's 50. cal would undoubtedly shatter that estranged peace of mind. [color=darkred][i]'Please be an easy route, please be an easy route...'[/i][/color]