[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/h5xf31C.png[/img][/center][hr][i][b]//Day 1 | Location:[/b] Nameless Forest - Lakeside[/i]
[sub][@OwO][@AThousandCurses][@baraquiel][@Cu Chulainn][@Nakushita][/sub]
The crystal-clear lake certainly didn’t stay crystal-clear for long, once Ayana divebombed it with her face. The shock of the cold was at once surprising and at once refreshing, an icy bath to really rouse her senses. Dirt clung to her clothes regardless, but the very possibility of being able to scrub clean one’s attire was a promising one. And the water itself! It tasted [i]delicious[/i]! Dehydration truly imparted the most wonderful of flavours upon otherwise tasteless water.

It also accelerated Ayana’s asphyxiation as she drank it down. Thankfully, Asahi was around to remind the walking disaster that she could just stand up. The pink-haired youth did feel a bit better, even if Ayana’s screaming wasn’t doing wonders for his migraine. They were safe enough at the moment, and he had proof that his power could be used to heal others. To heal Sasuke. So as long as Sasuke was still alive…

Akito rolled his eyes at Kogen as he rolled his shoulder with the impact. He wasn’t willing to start a fight with Kogen, sure, but if the dumbass was going to start a fight? [b]“Guess you didn’t see it coming either, Kogen,”[/b] the brunette shot back, even as he flipped the fang dagger and held it handle-first to Asahi. [b]“Real lucky your ass was too rancid for even a monster to eat.”[/b]

The short spat between the two nemeses caused only a tired groan from Tsubaki. After all this, they were still acting like children, weren’t they? She raised her stump of an arm up, narrowing her eye slightly, before turning towards Kogen. [b]“I can drink it myself, at least.”[/b] A twitch of her lips. She raised her other hand, waving it back and forth in the water. [b]“Still got one left. And don’t bother Akito, could you? Don’t need a fight between us.”[/b] Not when there were so few of them, enough that there wasn’t even enough people to cover everything that Asahi was talking about.

Before such orders were even declared, Shun had already headed off to the perimeter of the lake, taking a quick jaunt to be alone with her thoughts. There were neither signs of Masato and the others, nor signs of any more monsters. Perhaps the group from last night had been nocturnal? Certainly, the forsaken classmates, regardless of the number of Awakened amongst them, didn’t have the strength to handle the trio of hulk-phants once more. Something else, however, was spotted as she crested to the far-end of the lake. Movement in the brush. A head peeking out of it.

At a distance of twenty meters, Shun spotted a four-legged beast in light green fur, its form similar to a fox and yet entirely lacking in facial features, except for two pairs of long, fluffy ears, and a pointed nose. There wasn’t even a mouth, as far as she could tell. And as she spotted it, it turned its ears too in her direction. Perhaps the size of a big dog. Perhaps the size of a small deer. Perhaps she could kill it and bring back fresh meat. But without weapons, or energy, or allies nearby, perhaps pursuit would be risky.

What came with less risk was Asahi’s attempts at catching fish. There was some trial and error, of course, and the lack of bait meant that he needed to wade after the fish rather than let them draw close. Water resistance made movement itself a chore, and it certainly wasn’t an enjoyable sensation, having his clothes get wet and stick to his skin. Still, the unidentifiable fish didn’t try to kill him and he developed his own method after a bit longer. Four fish, the largest the length of two handspans and the smallest the length of an index finger, were caught soon enough, just in time for Asahi to see Akito and Kogen partaking in a snippy little cold war as the two tried to accomplish the same task of ‘making a fire’ when neither of them were actually willing to help each other out.

And, of course, when neither of them really knew how.

They had the benefit of the burning bus before, after all. Hana hadn’t found a need to show anyone how to build a fire because of it. Maybe sashimi then? But who knew what weird parasites existed in the Otherside?

[hr][i][b]//Day 1 | Location:[/b] Nameless Forest - Clearing[/i]
[sub][@Yankee][@Vertigo][/sub]
His ignorance didn’t last long.

[b]“Curious?”[/b] Hiroshi sidled on by, patting Masato on the shoulder. [b]“Hana found out about it during the skinning, and Daisuke witnessed it a bunch too. Was this whole deal, ya see, ‘bout how the creatures here seem to be extremely resistant to anything that doesn’t come from a specific source.”[/b] The grin grew wider. [b]“A monstrous source. Kunio was able to stab one of those giants with a tooth from one of those fanged deer real easy. Figure the same would apply to the rest. Pretty interesting, eh? Makes me wonder about what the hell all those military folks were doing with their military gear. Think it’s the t-”[/b]

[b]“We’re good to go,”[/b] Daisuke interjected, delivering a light chop on his friend’s head. While Masato had tried out a bit of spear-hunting, the basketball team captain had done his best to get the others motivated enough to keep going. It was the rational choice, after all. Even if they were tired here, they didn’t have enough water to recover, and their energy would drain even as time went on. It was simply a matter of continuing to march on while everyone had the strength to continue on. Not that some of their classmates were all that convinced here. Sohei, in particular, was working up a sweat as he dug through the ruins of the bus, his expression as if he was biting back a scream.

And of course, Ayano, the little princess of their class, was adamant that she couldn’t move a step any further. Fujita was troubled enough by it, but it looked as if Masami was willing to lend a hand. Kumi, alongside Hana and Tsubasa, looked like she wanted to take a bit longer to slice off what chunks of meat they could off the remaining wolfbear corpse. With only a metal knife blunted by fat and overuse, however, it would be slow going. Better to just have Duncan and Daisuke carry the whole corpse.

But then who would carry Yuki and Sasuke? Yukiko could still put up a tough face, but she was fundamentally invalid. Someone would have to help her along. And the way that Sasuke was beginning to hack up bloody spittle in his unconscious state wasn’t doing anyone any favours. It had been Tsubaki last night. She had been bleeding profusely, and the timer on her life was obvious, but the entirety of Masato’s sharpened senses couldn’t help with seeing what Sasuke’s innards were like. And that wasn't even taking into account Yuki's current situation. [i]That[/i] guy could have suffered a crippling brain injury, enough so that even if he woke up again, he'd be unable to do anything but be a burden!

But it was broad daylight too. Whatever choice Masato made…it would be public.