“It’s okay, Leader,” Lace soothed with a voice that was far too effective for me to ignore, her hand gripping my shoulder with the warmth of encouragement. “We’re here to help.” “Yeah, Sis,” my sister added, giving me even more guilt about what I was about to do as she held my hand. “I’ll always be by your side, remember?” I felt the warmth of their words permeate through my being as I stood in silence. It was comforting, but I knew that I wouldn’t last. There was a reason I wanted this to be something of a private affair. And I won’t be budging anytime soon “T-Thanks…” I managed to sputter out before shrugging off the two’s gestures of comfort. “I-I’ll call for you both when I’m ready.”<

Having made my peace, I wiped off what few sniffles I had on my nose before calling out to my two companions. If they ever noticed just how much of a wreck I looked like, they didn't comment about it beyond their eyes widening a bit. I was grateful, perhaps; that they stuck around long enough for me to do my thing with my parents. I probably looked like shit while doing so, but I could finally focus enough that I got my thinking face back. Which meant that it's time to think about who the fuck had the time, knowledge, and resources to erect this ornate a gravestone in the first place. "So, any idea on who did this?" I crossed my arms in front of my chest as Lace eyed the errant gravestone. Olivia was also doing her own once-over, but she only held a frown as she ran her hands across the engravings. At first glance, my sister seemed to recognize the

Walking through the caves that got them lost in the first place, Lace briefly let her mind wander as her group traveled in silence with her Leader's self-fashioned little sister lighting the way. It was probably close to sunset by now, judging from the time they had spent waiting for Crimson to do what she needed to be done, but overall, it was still a very productive two days despite getting themselves lost after subtly strong-arming herself to lead their two-man expedition. Heh... she should've admitted that they were lost as soon as she realized she had lost track of their markers. The unfortunate accident was her fault, and she eventually realized it as soon as the temperatures dropped. Crimson had adamantly tried to place her own, but the older woman's pride won out after the younger of the two gracefully relented. And they, unfortunately, paid dearly for it.&

"Mark." In a flash, the three of us dashed from the safety of the treeline all the way to the command tent a few paces away from us. There weren't any guards, thankfully, but the few seconds that we spent running on the open ground was the most dangerous part of our assault. If we had been seen, we were dead on arrival before we even began. The ground shuffled beneath our feet as we quietly hugged the thick cloth that was serving as the command tent. With a fist, I signaled for my companions' absolute stillness as I tried to listen for any sign of movement beyond the thick veil. *rustle... rustle...* The sound of rippling grass with each step... That's one... And another... *How are we not through them yet? We were supposed to be done over an hour ago?!* Someone

Seconds felt like minutes as my staredown with the burly man seemed to stretch on far longer than I was comfortable with. The silence of the forest was only broken by the sounds of fighting in the distance as I felt my heart hammering inside my chest. I knew that I had no chance in hell in beating this guy, and that running was the only viable strat that I had left in my arsenal. The only thing I had to look for was a chance to get away. "I can feel the fear rolling off you in waves, Miss Crimson," the man chuckled, though his tone was pretty teasing. "I suggest you calm yourself before we begin." My shoulders tensed as I heard the man comment on my nervousness. Dammit... was I that obvious? I thought for sure that Mom had beaten the cowardice out of me in favor of making sure that I used logic in fights... wait... Begi