[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/h5xf31C.png[/img][/center][hr][i][b]//Night 0 | Location:[/b] Nameless Forest - Clearing[/i]

[sub][@OwO][@AThousandCurses][@baraquiel][@Vertigo][@Cu Chulainn][@Nakushita][/sub]
Around them, there was only ruination. Their shelter was in pieces, what remnants of their school life crushed underfoot by the monstrosities that they couldn't slay. Food and water, containers and clothing, so much of it was turned into paste beneath charred metal and splintered wood. Kogen searched for something to sate his hunger, but there were only scraps left.

They had been forsaken. Left behind. Perhaps it was for the best. Masato must have made the decision to prioritize the lives that could be saved. But now...there was no sign that Masato was returning, was there?

And, as Rin and Shun returned to the ruination that had visited their little shelter, they found out quickly enough that even Masato's quick decision wasn't enough to save [i]all[/i] lives. In the chaos of the night, as everyone prioritized only those in their immediate proximity, it had been easy enough for an individual to slip through the gaps of everyone's concerns. Only Yukiko had gone to retrieve the injured, and she had only the strength to retrieve one.

As for the other?

Yuudai was but a bloody smear and a charred hand now. He too, had been forsaken.

...

The night was long. The darkness remained, perpetual.

It was a small mercy for Shun.

[sub][@Yankee][/sub]

It wasn't safe.

But it would have to do.

In the darkness, none of the students noticed when Masato and Akito broke off from the group. Or, if they did notice, they didn't make any comment when Masato returned without Akito. When Akito returned without Tsubaki. The terror had gradated into wariness. The wariness had fallen away to fatigue. And, with each step through the brush, each yelp at an uneven step, each grunt of an old ache, it was becoming clear. They could not continue any further. Within a copse of soft-enough bushes, they huddled together, their clothes grimy and their countenances grim. Some snatched what sleep they could. Others whispered false comforts into their lovers' ears. A sister wondered where her half-kin was. A twin wished to leave, but couldn't abandon his other half. A girl rocked back and forth, bottling up resentment and frustration. A boy chewed on his fingernails, mouth split into a shark-toothed grin.

There was warmth in human company. With his senses sharpened to superhuman extremes, Masato should have felt it the most.

But instead, all he could feel was the lingering warmth of Tsubaki's blood.

Was it a burden he had freed himself of? Or a burden that he would forever carry?

...

The night was long. The darkness remained, perpetual.

It was another monster, for the runaways to combat.

[hr][i][b]//Day 1 | Location:[/b] Nameless Forest - Clearing[/i]

Day broke slowly, and people woke slowly.

The night had drained them, and hunger clawed at their stomachs. The thirst was worse, though.

They had gained power, and yet had lost their people. Their place in the world. The tears wouldn't dry up any time soon.

Still. It was another day.

They had to keep going, even if they did not know where.

It was the Otherside, after all. If they remained rooted, then what happened last night would simply repeat itself.