Rava walked alohrough the forest, her steps heavier than usual. The trees whispered above her, their brairring in the wind. She hadn’t realised just how much she’d e to rely on Vivienne’s presehe strange woman had bee an enigma, a force that both uled and intrigued her. But now, with the gap betweeretg, Rava was left with only the quiet of the night and her own thoughts.

  She had seen Vivienne ge. Not just physically, though that was the most obvious part, but in a way that had been almost frightening. She had grown more monstrous, more distant. It wasn’t just the form she took—Rava had seen enough creatures twisted by aether that kind of corruption. It was the way Vivienne seemed to surreo it sometimes, as though the hunger would e her entirely if she let it.

  But there had been moments... moments when Rava saw something else. The woman who fought beside her, who still carried the fai hint of the person she used to be. The glimmers of the life she had before, the ses of her personality that couldn’t be erased, no matter how much aether she ed.

  Rava sighed, shaking her head. What was she doing? She had to be practical. She had to focus on their survival. Yet, the image of Vivienne—her eerie, powerful presehe way her eyes seemed to pierce through to something hiddeh—lingered ihoughts. She didn’t know what to make of it.

  The few times she’d seen Vivienne vulnerable—when she seemed to hesitate or falter, even for a moment—Rava had found herself... protective. Was that foolish? She had never beeo coddle anyone, least of all someone like Vivienne, who had clearly lived through hell and e out oher side far strohan most. But those moments, those rare cracks in Vivienne’s otherwise cold exterior, had drawn Rava in.

  Rava ched her fist, frustration bubblih her calm exterior. She chastised herself for indulging in such thoughts. There was too much at stake—her people were ting on her, and she couldn’t afford to let herself get distracted. She o get back to her , to waro help them prepare for what was ing.

  Vivienne was so infuriating. Her relentless barbs, her smug gloating, that maddening, unshakable fidence—she carried herself as if the entire world were beh her notice. It wasn’t just arroga was an art form. Vivienne could stare down beings of overwhelming power, creatures capable of erasing her existeh a thought, and still have the audacity to crack a joke. To grin. It was as if she thrived on defying the natural order itself, and Rava loathed how that defiah uled and impressed her in equal measure.

  A, gods damn that creature. Against her better judgement, Rava found herself starting to care. Not just as a begrudging ally, not as a means to an end, but as something... more. A partnership of venience was ohing, but this? This felt dangerously close to trust. To attat.

  Her ears twitched at the thought, her tail flig irritably behind her.

  Rava exhaled slowly, trying to steady her he night around her was quiet, the forest bathed in moonlight. She’d made camp in a small clearing, far enough from the road to avoid wandering patrols but close enough to feel the tension of being huhe faint sounds of noal creatures stirred in the underbrush, a remihat the world moved on even as her thoughts ed.

  Vivienne had rushed off before they’d even discussed where they would meet! The thought made Rava growl under her breath, her ears flig ba irritation. What kind of reckless fool just runs off without a pn? The kind who leaves their so-called ally in the dark, apparently. And now here she was, alone in unfamiliar territory, with no idea if Vivienne had survived her little stunt or if Rava herself was walking into a trap.

  She paced bad forth along the treelihe faint glow of the tower in the distance a reminder of the chaos Vivienne had left in her wake. Every so often, a far-off shout or flicker of movement caught her attention, and she froze, muscles tensed, prepared t into a if need be. The night was growing colder, the chill biting through her fur. It only deepened her unease.

  If Vivienne was alive, she would have to be smart enough to head toward their agreed dire—or so Rava hoped. But if not…

  She shook her head. She couldn’t afford to waste time dwelling on the what-ifs.

  Rava crouched low to the ground, her sharp eyes sing the darkness. She’d give Vivienne some time, but not much. If the aetherbeast didn’t show up soon, Rava would move on without her. It was a harsh thought, but she couldn’t risk waiting too long and endangering her mission—or her .

  Rava sighed, leaning back against a tree and looking up at the stars barely visible through the opy. The stillness of the forest was eerie, a stark trast to the earlier tensiohoughts drifted unbidden to her family: her brother's ugh, her mother’s stern but loving gaze, the lively chaos of their gatherings. It had been so long since she’d seehe distance hurt more than she’d admit, especially now, wheakes were so high.

  She had to get back to them, to warn them. A... a part of her hesitated. What would they think of Vivienne? How could she expin bringing a creature like her into their midst? Would they trust her judgement—or would they see it as a betrayal of everything their stood for?

  The sound of snapping twigs jolted her from her thoughts. Her ears twitched as she honed in on the wasn’t far. She crouched low, muscles taut, her cws flexing against the soft earth. Was it Vivienne? Or something else?

  "Vivienne?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

  The sileretched, broken only by the rustling of leaves in the wind. Then, a shadow moved in the distaoo fluid to be anything natural.

  Rava’s heart pounded as she prepared herself. Whatever—or whoever—it was, she wasn’t about to be caught off guard.

  “I should have asked for more dire than simply ‘that way,’” Vivietered, her voice carrying an edge of irritation as she hovered through the dense forest. Her current form—the revenant she ed—moved with eerie grace, her feet never quite toug the ground. The smaller size cked the sheer intimidation of her colossal form, but there was a certain charm in gliding silently above the earth, unnerving and spectral.

  She shifted her cwed hand experimentally, marvelling at the way the faint, glowing trails of her aetheriergy followed every motion. Iingly enough she also adopted the missing arm it was missing too, though she never got the sword. Shame, that. This form was more delicate, less overwhelming, but it afforded her a surprising fluidity that her rger forms couldn’t match. Still, it felt limiting. She hated that.

  Vivienne gnced upward, the faint light of the distant tower filtering weakly through the opy. It had been a risk to retreat rather than press forward, but the burning light of the Dawncaster had forced her hand. Her skin still tingled, scorched in pces where that relentless radiance had mao pierce her defences.

  She clicked her tongue, irritated. “ime, I’ll tear her glowing little head off,” she muttered, though the promise felt more hollow than she would have liked. The priestess had been formidable. Annoyingly so.

  The forest stretched endlessly around her, a byrinth of twisting trees and shadowy underbrush. “Rava better not have wandered off,” Vivienne said to no one in particur. Her irritation sharpe the thought of the wolf-woman abandoning her after their little 'arra.' Still, some small part of her doubted Rava would leave. That one had a sense of duty thicker than the skull of a Nexus Arbiter.

  A soft rustling sound snapped her out of her thoughts. She halted mid-air, her form drifting to a near-perfect stillness as her many eyes sed the surroundings.

  Something—or someone—was nearby.

  Vivienne’s lips curled into a faint smirk, her sharp teeth glinting faintly in the dim light. “I hope you’re smarter tha one,” she murmured, letting her voice carry just enough to bait whatever was lurking.

  A flicker of movement darted betweerees. Too fast, too fluid to be an ordinary animal. Vivienne’s smirk widened, a low, guttural chuckle esg her throat.

  “Well, well,” she said, her tone dripping with mockery. “e out, little mouse. Let’s see if you bite as hard as you scurry.”

  The shadow paused, and for a moment, there was only silehen, with a sudden burst of motion, the figure lunged—a shape shrouded in darkness, but unmistakably humanoid.

  Vivienne shifted to dodge, her revenant form slipping like smoke out of the assaint’s path. As she turned, her grin faltered. The figure wasn’t a simple soldier or scout—they were something else entirely, their body brimming with an unnatural aetheriergy that pulsed and writhed. Uhe guards she had drained, but also uhe aetherbeasts she had devoured, this one was... something iween.

  “Oh, you are iing!” she cooed, her many eyes narrowing in intrigue. “Did they send you after me? I feel so special.”

  The figure remained silent, stepping into the pale light of the three moons. Their red eyes glowed like embers through the hollowed eyeholes of a featureless white mask. The mask itself was unadorned, eerily smooth, and only added to the uling aura they exuded.

  They wore a loher coat, the hem brushing just below their knees, its weight suggesting hidden partments or armour beh. The gleam of metal glinted faintly as the figure shifted, revealing hints of vials, tools, and other objects carefully secured within the folds of the coat.

  In one hand, they gripped a stiletto—long, thin, and cruelly sharp, designed for precision strikes. Iher, a leaf bde shimmered faintly with an unnatural green light, its edges humming with tent energy.

  Vivienne hovered slightly above the ground, her single cwed hand flexing. It still felt unnatural to her, this ck of symmetry in her form, but she relished the challenge of adaptation. “Silent treatment, is it? I do so love the brooding type.”

  The hunter didn’t wait for more taunts. They lunged forward, a blur of motion, their bdes striking in a calcuted assault. Vivienne’s revenant form shifted and twisted unnaturally, her smoky edges bending around the stiletto’s thrust. She retaliated with her lone cw, aiming to swipe at their face, but the hunter anticipated her move. They twisted out of read brought the leaf bde down in a tight arc.

  The bde caught her across the side, a pulse of green energy radiating through her form. Vivienne she energy disrupting the cohesion of her revenant shape. She floated back, her glowing eyes narrowing.

  “Oh, that’s nasty,” she hissed, cirg them slowly. “Your toys are impressive, I’ll give you that.”

  The hunter’s reply was another vial, this time hurled with startling precision. It shattered midair, releasing a burst of silvery mist that g to Vivienne like a shroud. Her movements slowed, the mist disrupting the dark aether holding her body together.

  “Clever,” she muttered, her form flickering as she struggled to maintain its cohesion.

  The hunter pressed their advaheir movements precise aless. The stiletto darted forward, f Vivieo twist sharply to avoid the strike. The effort left her open, and the leaf bde sshed across her shoulder, sending another pulse of searing energy through her.

  Vivienne growled, the pain sharpening her focus. “Alright, fine. Let’s see if you keep up.”

  She lunged forward, her cw arg toward their mask with a vicious swipe. The hunter ducked, their agility uny, and tered with a thrust of the stiletto. The bde sank into her side, and Vivienne gasped, the unnatural energy radiating from the on tearing at her essence.

  “I’ll give you credit,” she rasped, her voice tight with pain. “Yood. Annoyingly good.”

  The hunter remained silent, their glowing eyes fixed on her with an iy that was almost inhuman.

  Vivienne released a burst of dark energy from her form, f the huo retreat momentarily. It was a small opening, but she seized it, her cw sshing toward their chest. The hunter narrowly avoided the strike, but the movement forced them off bance.

  Vivieook the ce to retreat, her form flickering as she floated bato the shadowy trees. The huhrew another vial, but it shattered harmlessly against a trunk, the mist dispersing into the air.

  “ime,” she hissed, her voice carrying through the darkness, “I’ll eat you first.”

  Her form wavered as she fled deeper into the woods, her body struggling to hold together after the relentless assault. The hunter didn’t pursue immediately, instead watg the spot where she had vaheir glowing red eyes narrowed behind the mask, and they sheathed their ons with deliberate precision.

  As Vivienne pushed further into the forest, her thoughts were a whirlwind of frustration and grim amusement. Whoever that was, they weren’t ordinary. But she had learned enough for now. She roup, recover, and—most importantly—find Rava.