Zone A -- Lowlands

[Dane Regan]

"Hmm. Suppose the item falls and you decide you don't like it. Regardless, you'd have taken it, got the points for the scoreboard, and have something of ours. I have no reason to believe you would hold up your side of the bargain, should we leave you to take this. Nor do we even know you're capable or able to heal us." 

I sensed Cirno was about to say something uncivil. Call it my intuition from being around her the past days or so. So I more firmly held my arm in front of her. She was definitely not cut out for negotiations.

"If you heal us first, we'll head over to that building. Or just leave this area entirely. Your choice. But we will not stop contesting this spot until you leave or we get our side of the deal."

[The Humble Sage]

The Sage nodded slowly never breaking eye contact. "You are a swordsman who has broken their sword arm. your fairy friend looks halfway between death by bloodloss and death by rage. She will not protect you from me should this come to blows."

The Sage scratched the back of his head, with what certainly looked like a sheepish grin.

"Honestly, if you were less wounded, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. I won't look that good beating up cripples."

[Dane Regan]

And if Clownpiece were here, we definitely wouldn't be having this conversation.
Actually, we would. We wanted heals remember. Our arguments would just be more compelling with more backup.

I laughed. "You'd be surprised." 

"Hey. I could totally beat you if I wanted. I just wasn't trying to or anything because Dane said to be civil." Cirno finally made her entrance to the conversation.

"That said, you've got a few scrapes yourself." I shrugged.

[The Humble Sage]

"Then let us do battle?" The Sage said with a disdainful glance at the continued rain, it would not be a pleasant fighting ground, "I did not come into an event such as this to be toyed with, son. I know that our collars are soon to expire, but..." he raised his voice and glanced at the camera drone hovering nearby, "I ask you, which would Karl's guests rather see? Three pointless deaths or a tying up of some loose ends?"

"You and your friend have two options. Either surrender the item you carry and be on your way, or wait in that bunker and I MAY come and see what I can do for your injuries."

he paused for a moment, then his eyes light up,

"No, you have three options, actually. You and your friend may fight me, here and now, then whoever survives may have both items free of future harassment. That is if you think you can beat an old man."

Sorry, but Sage is getting annoyed at threats from a man with one arm. I issue a challenge to Dane and Cirno. If they drop their item and leave I will not pursue them. If they drop their item and move to safehouse A, I will go there next and may heal them.

[Dane Regan]

"Alright. Let me just consult my teammate here."

We moved back and turned to talk to each other, talking in quiet tones. The man might have overheard some of it, but I was making an effort to be quiet. "Cirno, if we don't get healed, our chances of winning this thing are going to diminish. Yes, we can beat this guy, but the chances are, one of us are going to get hurt."

"Yeah. But he could be lying. He might just take the item drop and run." Cirno was sceptical.

It was easily a bad move on our part. But it might be worth it, I considered. "Then let's keep an eye on him. If it looks like he's going to book it, we'll just chase after him, fight the guy, get the drop item and our thing back from him, or maybe just end up getting us all killed in the process. But, I think this might just be a risk worth taking."

"Well... if you're sure. But if he looks like he's turning on us, I get to beat him up."

I stood up and turned back towards the man. I didn't want to fight. But I would later if need be. He was definitely not someone who would fall for my bluffs.

"We're getting out the rain. Have fun." I placed the item on the floor and began walking back towards the safehouse. "I hope you see the merit in following, once the drop comes."

It was a short silent walk back to the house. Both me and Cirno occasionally looked back over our shoulders at him, always seeing him calmly keeping his eyes tamed on us. I did have a small plan should things go south, but I really didn't want to rely on it.

Dane dropped said item and left it behind. (See PM, Sage and Karl Jak)

Dane and Cirno are moving from A4 to Safehouse A.

[Dane Regan]

"Cirno," I whispered when we were finally just out of sight, having entered the safehouse. "I'm going back there to keep an eye on him. I want you to watch him from the house. If he starts moving in a direction away from it, chase him. If I start fighting him, try to run over to us. If he does head towards the house, try stalling him with a conversation at the door until I can make it in through the back. Now just close your eyes for a second." When she opened them, I was gone.

After exiting through the back door, I walked quietly back the way I came, heading towards the drop site. Luckily, the rain masked my footsteps perfectly. I could not be seen and I could not be heard. Hopefully, everything would turn out alright. But I was ready to bring him down with me if I needed, I hoped Cirno would catch up in time if things turned bad. 

The jog back was annoying. Even if he couldn't see me, it was still stressful. What if he noticed my footprints in the grass, for example. It was for that reason, I tried to keep my lower body blocked by the physical terrain. Thankfully, there were enough shallow dips for me to do that, even as I approached the drop site.

The package had arrived now and the mage was examining. I didn't get a clear look. His body was in the way and visibility was poor with all the rain. Even as I got closer, it was still impossible to tell what it was. I began to slow my pace and tread more lightly. He was in hearing range now. If I kicked a pile of rocks he'd probably notice something was amiss, even if he'd likely attribute it to the rain. Not that there were any piles of rocks for me to kick.

Dane moving from Safehouse A to A4. Leaving Cirno behind.

Dane is staying in A4 under stealth (Stealth + Suppression + 5 TEC). If The Humble Sage goes to the Safehouse, Dane'll follow and try to get there first (through the back door) while Cirno (hopefully) stalls Sage to prevent him noticing Dane didn't stay there. If Sage heads in a direction that is not the safehouse, Dane plans to challenge him and hope Cirno manages to turn up and help. That's the plan anyway, but when do those things ever work out?

[Cirno]

As Cirno looked at Dane who decided to just leave the artifact piece behind she didn't know why. Wasn't it more fun to fight for something than get it for free? Humans are weird. "Well ill be off since I have no qualms with you taking it." While she didn't exactly approve of such a tactic she was in no state to fight one on one. Once she was back at the safe house she let her anger loose a bit in the form of the ice aura causing icicles to form in the safe house.

"BAKA! Clownpiece is gone for some reason and Dane is gone off somewhere. You are on your own at this point I think" She put her hands on her head in confusion and anger. At that moment the sage entered causing her to turn around. She decided to wait for Dane just incase he returned to the safe house.

[The Humble Sage]

The Sage ambled over as the parachute descended. He had no idea where the item had been dropped from. There was no audible engine of any kind of flying vehicle, nor had he seen any indication of a portal or any kind. In any case, he would worry about Syntech’s means of production later. For now, he was finally making some progress on his quest. He eyed the marker that continued to beep on his datapad, momentarily ignoring the countdown that dwelled over much of the region’s map. The markers that listed the locations of Cirno and Dane remained in the safehouse, though Dane’s marker was flickering in a way that he found somewhat disconcerting. The man with the broken arm didn’t seem to understand the severity of his position, and the Sage’s eyes darted around to make sure he was not about to be jumped.

He pocketed the item’s capsule and glanced up, the sun showed no intention of returning to the celestial stage, and the Sage was thoroughly soaked from the hours he had spent travelling this morning. He looked towards the soon to be dysfunctional safehouse, it was possibly the most unnecessary bunker that the Sage had ever seen. The surrounding terrain was hills and a would-be attacker could just as easily bypass the fortification entirely, or bombard it from a distance. Further evidence that this island had at the very least been extensively modified prior to the event. The Sage wondered whether Karl had added these bunkers himself or if they had simply been part of the island, and he had selected them after the fact. If they had listened to him, the two half-dead primes would be inside the safehouse right now.

He was highly tempted just to leave. The light seemed to be starting to fail, and the low-key warnings of his collar were getting increasingly difficult to ignore. He stared at the bunker, his thoughts wandering back to his assessment of Tearen during their fight. He had accused the Enigma of preying upon weakness, and labelled it a mark against his purported heroism. What was different about the Sage’s actions here?

I don’t claim to be a hero. came his answer, though it was not one he was particularly proud of. He turned to leave, but stopped. What message would this send to others? Though he was not afraid of either of the two primes, he did not wish to see them throw their lives away attempting to get revenge against him. It would only serve to weaken the Sage’s position, both inside and outside of the Abyss. The Sage rubbed his knuckles against his forehead, and grunted in frustration, then made his way towards the bunker.

Sage moves to A4 to SHA. Dane has given me permission to move him with me when I do, so as to decrease the wait time involved in the situation. (wouldn’t want to go boom and all that.)

[The Humble Sage]

Cirno and Dane were waiting inside the Safehouse when the Sage arrived. The man seemed surprisingly out of breath, but the Sage supposed his injuries were simply worse than he had been letting on during their confrontation.

“There, was that so difficult? Now, let me take a look at those wounds, quickly now! I literally don’t have all day!” the Sage snapped, hand reaching down to the inky blood that still hadn’t dried from his side. It’s a wonder it doesn’t stain… the Sage thought as he pulled away some of the ink.

“Know, I want both of you to listen to me, and well. Without this aid, you are in no shape to fight someone. You have given me a piece of something that is as useless to myself as it was to you, but I could have gained it just as easily by taking it from your dead corpses.” He grabbed hold of Dane’s broken arm, efficiently, not taking particular care to avoid hurting the man, it would help him to realize the severity of his situation. He applied the ink-blood to the breakage, the strange black tendrils starting to pull and push at the wound, forcing the bone back into a semblance of position. Dane’s face was a mask of pain, and he said nothing in reply to the Sage’s declarations. The aging scholar turned towards the touhou fairy.

“This encounter is me defeating you.” He made sure to pause, letting the sentence sink in, “I am healing you here, expending my own resources to give you a fighting chance to get back into this competition. But you are not to interfere with my stratagems on this island. You will not challenge me upon my departure, nor will you oppose me when other items are at stake.” He took hold of the fairy’s mangled hand, but what little ink remained after helping Dane was not enough to fix what had been broken. The Sage did the best he could, resorting to some of the training he had gained amongst the wood elves. If he could not magically fix this injury, he would at least keep it from getting infected.

“There are many threats on this island, don’t make the mistake of letting stubbornness or pride cloud your judgement.” The Sage straightened back up, and turned to leave “I would wish you luck, but in the end, we are not allies during this event. May you meet an end befitting your journey.”

The Sage stepped back out of the bunker and began to make the trek out of the deadzone.

Sage uses 1 SP for a group healing application. If my understanding of the rules is correct, it should heal himself, Cirno and Dane for 1 point each. 2/5 SP remaining.
EDIT: I didn't realize that I needed a supermove to do a group healing effect. I have spent 1 SP healing Dane, since he was the one who had the most need of it. 2/5 SP remaining.
Sage moves from SHA to A9

[The Humble Sage]

The Sage made his way back across the lowlands, setting as quick a pace as he could muster after spending all day marching through constant rain. He was soaked utterly to the core at this point, the time he had spent in the bunker had been a welcome relief, but his soaking wet clothes were quick to remind him of what awaited him outside.

In the end though, it was his mental strain that spurred the Sage’s desire for motion. The island was too small to hope for a break in the rainwater to alleviate his liquidity, and nothing short of a sunny day would dry his clothes enough to make them comfortable again. He focused on walking to avoid the questions. He had just admitted indirectly that he thought himself a worse person than the… man?... who had sacrificed a village full of gorons to show his power over a largely dormant dragon. He had heard that the journey to the Underverse had changed Tearen dramatically, stories of the Engima from before his banishment were…disconcerting.  But whatever the truth of these accounts, it still could not be denied that a person’s mentality stretched only so far without snapping. Sage had thus far in life survived by striking the middle path.

However, the uncaring scholar was far easier a position to hold when one could not change their lot in life. That was before he had been given the power to change the world as he saw fit. His opinion now carried sway in the course of history. Could he really afford to abstain from its proceedings?

The constant fall of the rain was starting to get to him. The Sage adjusted his cloak, attempting to shake off some of the water without soaking his back any more throughly. The foothills rolled up into his sight once again. The journey into the deadzone had been a profitable sojurn, but now he needed to get back to his initial journey.

Sage moves from A9 to A12, something feels familiar….

[Dane Regan]

It was time to get moving because I really didn't feel like dying today. Cirno was definitely starting to get frustrated with my impromptu leadership, which could become a problem. Understandably, she was annoyed after gaining nothing herself despite us losing both a potential new item and me giving away an old one. 

Yes, I could have bluffed. Or actually fought to the death over the drop. I'd probably have won, should I have been more assertive. But I just wasn't feeling it. Not today. That said, I did regret it. It wasn't particularly infuriating, however; I'm not an angry person. Anger is useless. Anger is irrational. Anger will only make your situation worse. And now, I was going to deal with this situation by moving to a better location. Maybe back to the mountains again. I didn't want to head in the same direction as the old mage.

Even more annoyingly was the fact my arm was still somewhat broken. Superficially, it looked fine. But internally it definitely was not. I suspected there was still some fracturing, or maybe the bone hadn't completely fused back into place. The swelling, however, had gone down. And I could at least feel my hand at this point. Quickly, I fashioned a splint on my arm to reinforce it while taping it down. Hopefully, it wouldn't snap with a slight knock, but it definitely was not durable - there was no way I'd swing my longsword or hold a shield with it. Maybe use a shortsword for feints, if the need came. But that did still risk undoing the healing that cost so much.

"Cirno. We're going now." I walked towards the door.

"Idiot." She glared from within the icy cocoon that was forming around her.

"Cirno. There's no time for this. We need to get going."

"Fine. But next time, I'm calling the shots. And we're going to beat everyone." All the ice around her shattered as she finally got up to follow me.

"That's the spirit." 

And so we headed off, back to the mountains.

Team Dane (Dane and Cirno) moving from Safehouse A to A4. Dane isn't bothering to stealth just yet.

From Sage's post earlier: Dane has healed 1hp, Dane's right arm has been healed from broken-as-fuck to just ‘broken’.

As noted, Cirno has not been healed.

[Dane Regan]

Hills. Hills. More hills.

I could see the mountains when I stood on top of said hills. It may not have been wise to head back there, but I figured it was better than dying or following the wizard guy. In a better situation, we could have discussed magic and all the fun stuff. Not that he'd have any solution to my low mana problem. Although being able to survive with such a low and efficient magic usage, even if it would never bypass what a normal trained person could be capable of, did have its advantages. Being able to remain hidden from those with sensing abilities, for one. My magical signature was about as readable as that of the air (i.e. not very).

Cirno had been taking the lead this time. I didn't particularly care about our travel routine for this journey. There were no drops to be collected anywhere in the lowlands. No one would be attacking us. And if they did, I'd just see to it that they died as well. Or maybe let Cirno have the death battle she wanted and sneak away.

Currently, however, I wasn't trying to be stealthy. It was a waste of effort. I just walked as usual, with my shield on my back, bag and swords at my side. I took a swig of water from my waterskin using my bad arm. It was doable. But waving it around was something I wouldn't try.

What I did have to do was decide on what to do with Cirno. Was she just annoyed in the short term? Would she turn on me? Would she be happy again once Clownpiece came back or we recovered another item? These were all things I considered.

Reasonably though, Clownpiece seemed to be, while the 'craziest', fairly reasonable. I doubted both fairies would turn on me just yet. Anyway, I was useful to them. As long as that continued, they should have no reason to do anything rash.

Team Dane (Dane and Cirno) are moving from A4 to A5

[Dane Regan]

We were getting closer to the mountains. Not quite close enough to warrant the use of my stealth, but close enough that it might have been worth keeping an eye out. That said, Cirno was still happily taking the lead. I didn't contest her assertion that we'd do as she said next time, so maybe she was simply trying to act like the leader of us both.

I decided to look at my tablet as we walked. There weren't any item drops for us to get. Or at least, any we could get. Flicking through some more notifications, I noticed Clownpiece was doing fairly well in her fight. Sure, she might lose, but she wasn't about to die anytime soon - which was nice. Both because I didn't want to lose a potential teammate, and because I bet on her.

I still wasn't doing well in the rankings, however. But, I guessed that was probably a good thing. It kept the attention off me. I doubted anyone would bother straight up attacking me after I conceded to Sage. Clearly, I had nothing of worth. There were enough other competitors that I was just a waste of time, resources, and effort. That said, it did still mean, that as things were, I had no chance of winning. I needed to push. Really push. Cirno and I needed to get something good. Hopefully, we could find a useful and available item drop. But as I'd learned over the past few days, even when you can get there, it won't necessarily actually be useful.

I eyed one of the camera drones watching me and threw fake fire at it for my amusement. There was, quite frankly, not a lot to do. "Don't you have anything better to watch, ya stupid drone? I know I'm great and all, but I'm literally just going for a walk right now. Screw off and come back for the fighting." I paused. "Unless you're not actually broadcasting right now, I guess."

Team Dane (Dane and Cirno) moving from A5 to A6

[Dane Regan]

My tablet made a ding noise, and a notification popped up on the screen. Item drop at subzone A3.

Hahahaha. Fucking brilliant. Well, that was a colossal waste of time.

I closed the distance between me and Cirno as quickly as I could. Running to catch up.

"Cirno. We're going back. There's another drop. If we hurry we'll be able to make it and get out before everyone here dies."

Cirno's expression turned grim before she looked up more happily. "Then what are you waiting for, let's go! And if that guy from before tries to get it, we'll fight him for it."

I needed to make sure we got this drop. It was, quite frankly, our best shot at something to bring Team Dane™ back into the running. We had a reasonable chance at getting it. And, even if that plan failed, we'd take everyone else there down with us.

We had time. Easily. We could pick it up and literally walk out of the death zone. But, I was feeling anxious and hasty. I wanted to be able to make a presence on the drop site first. Find a good position. Maybe scroll through my tablet some more. Cirno was already starting to get ahead. After all, she wanted this a lot as well. Dangerously so. Luckily, I could use that. I might be great at bluffing when I need to, but that requires me to be visible. If she's there ready to stand guard, I can play it safe and get the drop on anyone that tries to take a shot at us.

I was still surprisingly calm. Just bored and annoyed that we travelled all this way for nothing. I sighed again, compulsively checking the tablet for more updates.

Dammit Karl. Why you gotta send out the drops now. I'm gonna get this and kill everyone in my way. Or at least make them die as well as me. Do not even care.

Team Dane™ (Dane + Cirno) moving back from A6 to A5.

[Dane Regan]

I entertained myself considering all the fun magical things I could try out after this competition. Primarily the implant I'd designed. It'd be troublesome to find a way to both produce and then use it, however. Coruscant was the go-to place for tech stuff, or so I'd heard. There were, however, some dark rumours about the place - but I'd attributed that to the fact I asked about it in Camelot. I was fairly sure Coruscant would say the same about them. If I'd been more active in the preshow, maybe I'd have more information. But I wasn't so I didn't.

I kicked a small rock on the ground, sending it rolling down the hill, slowly bouncing away from me. Travel was boring. I'd prefer to run, but if I did Cirno wouldn't be able to keep up, and I wouldn't be at the peak of my fitness when we arrived. I knew I'd get some hours to rest, but I didn't want to rely on that. It was inefficient to try and rest your body while also maintaining stealth. My implant, however, should be able to delink the magical core from the body, as well as providing a secondary magical store. The consequences of that being that it was possible for the Lambda value and thus Mu coefficient in the magical law of restitution to reach the critical ratio. Which basically meant you could turn yourself into a mix of a Black Hole and a Wolf-Rayet star, except for magic. Wolf-Rayet stars being thousands of times brighter than the sun in Dane's home planet due to them rapidly ejecting mass. Essentially, letting the caster drain in mana from their surroundings and rapidly eject it. In layman's terms: wizard go boom.

Team Dane™ (Dane + Cirno) are moving from A5 to A4. I'm gonna do this and no one can stop me.

[Dane Regan]

In actuality, the wizard, mage, magician, sage, sorcerer, or just crazy person probably wouldn't explode. At least, they wouldn't 'go boom' providing the implant worked. Essentially, it'd just create a partial vacuum in the magic field and use that to draw in vast amounts of mana, while storing it in a sealed space to prevent it from interfering and repelling the mana. Then, once it continued for about as long as possible, theoretically, by releasing the metaphorical valve on the mana storage, the high concentration of thaumic energy could be directed towards a target. It'd have been nice to get that sorted out before Dante's Abyss. But, I estimated the testing to go on for months unless he could get some serious help.

Regardless of my wishes and musings. I had what I had. And it would be enough, even if it was only one good arm and some medieval weaponry.

"Cirno, the drops up ahead, so I'm going to stealth and keep an eye out. Just stand on top of the hill and look scary. Barring Clownpiece, we're fighting anyone for this drop."

I shivered as my magic washed over me. It was a tingly sensation, but I was used to it.

"Don't fuck this up, Dane. We're going to get this drop." She seemed pretty grim and serious. That wasn't surprising. Still, hearing a little girl swear did throw me off a bit.

I walked away and began patrolling the area, getting a feel of the land, and checking for potential hostiles. I couldn't see anyone. That didn't mean they weren't there, but it was a fair indicator we were the first to arrive. Hopefully, we'd be the only ones to arrive - it'd be good for us, and good for them.

There were two major tree groups near enough to the site to be of use. All other greenery was either grass or small bushes that wouldn't be of use. Chewing some jerky, I climbed up the one closest to the non-safe safehouse. People would come from that direction if any. The sea was behind me, after all. That wasn't to say I ignored the possibility. I did glance at Cirno, behind us, and to our flanks. But I kept a particular degree of attention to the direction the wizard from before left.

Cirno and I, we were ready for this. I hoped for the sake of others that we didn't need to be.

Team Dane™ (Dane + Cirno) are moving from A4 to A3. I'm gonna fight for this drop and you can't stop me.

All who wish to die, step right up. Because even if you can beat me, I'll be taking you down with me.

Dane is under the effects of stealth (Stealth + Suppression + 5 TEC)
Cirno is standing around the drop sight ready to chase people away or fight them or something like that.

[Karl Jak]

End Day 3 - Afternoon

Start Day 3 - Evening (6pm to midnight)

[Dane Regan]

No one else was here. We were alone in the collection or rolling hills. That was good. If it stayed that way, then we'd have got an item with basically no effort at all. But there was no guarantee things would stay like that. We could meet someone chancing an attempt to push us back into the lowlands, upon leaving. Or someone hoping to hold us here. We'd likely bring them down with us, but such a thing was of no consolation to myself. There was no glory or honour in death, despite what some people say. That game from winning the duels, fights, battles, and eventually the wars.

"Let's get going Cirno. I think it's best if we hurry," I said, dropping my invisibility. I'd spent the last hour or so scanning our surroundings. I was fairly sure we weren't going to get ambushed or anything yet. Key emphasis on 'yet'.

"Yay. But we should have done that for the last drop." Cirno started jogging to keep up with my fast walking pace. Over the next minute, my movements transitioned into a jog, and hers a slow run.

She hadn't dropped her pent up annoyance about what she believed to be a bad decision on my part. I'd hoped she would. Despite her general outbursts about it, and her claiming to contest my apparent leadership, she hadn't really done much, however. Which was good for me, the less obstacles the better - especially if some were teammates.

I flicked through my table quickly for the first small distance of our travel. There were no other drops for us to collect. Or anyone to collect, for that matter. Clownpiece's fight had progressed somewhat, and she was managing to do fairly well with that crazy stick of hers. I stowed it back in my bag. I had to focus on myself and then Cirno for the moment.

Team Dane™ (Dane + Cirno) are moving from A3 to A2

[Dane Regan]

Gotta run. Hopefully, this item was worth all the effort. Cirno and I really stuck our necks out for it. Hopefully, we won't have our collars and armbands explode respectively. I hated things touching my neck. The last time that happened...

Anyway, I had no time to think about it. "Cirno, keep moving." She was starting to lag behind. I'd expected her to, but I'd hoped she'd manage to maintain a good pace for longer. It was just a light jog - for me at least. If only her collar wasn't limiting her flight. If only I were able to fly. If only...

But that wasn't the case. Team Dane™ had something to do and somewhere to be. And at this point in time, that was avoiding death by going outside of the lowlands. Annoyingly, these lowlands weren't exactly very low. There were plenty of rolling green hills fresh with muddy uneven footholds. The odd weathered path could be found here or there, but it wasn't anything I could rely on.

"I... I'm trying." The fairy spoke between her short breaths, voice straining. Technically, we did have the time to get out if we walked, but there was no telling if we would hit an obstacle or not. It was best to get as far as we could, while we still could. Neither of us had a leg injury, so I saw no problem with that plan. Cirno probably did, however. But her competitive streak urged her on.

"We'll rest for a minute once we get to the top of that hill." I was hungry. And trying to get food out of my swaying bag while jogging was awkward. I figured I'd probably spill it or something. And thirsty. I was thirsty too.

Team Dane™©® (Dane + Cirno) moved from A2 to A8

[Dane Regan]

"Come on Cirno. We've gotta go." I arched my back, clicking my fingers and sending fake fire and sparks into the air.

"Urgh. I'm on it." At least she wouldn't get sweaty like I did. The girl was a walking freezer.

That was a short rest. Not as long as either of us would have truly liked. But it was enough for me to tear into some meat and get a quick drink. Cirno had a young body, so she'd probably manage with the irregular pace we were making through the countryside. We were over halfway to safety at this point, which was good. I checked my timer. We still had a few hours remaining, so this should be easy.

The forest ahead of us was in sight. I figured it would be easier to stay hidden there, which was actually a bad thing for us. I could hide anywhere with my invisibility, and while the forest would allow Cirno to do the same, that would follow to others. People could get the jump on us. Maybe it was a bad idea. I was more familiar with the mountain area, so I had considered going there first. I just wanted a change in scenery, and had initially contemplated that it would simply be easier to hide as a team.

We traveled closer and closer to the woods. Usually the expression for these things is "we're not out of the woods yet". I found it amusing that for us, the problem was that we had not yet entered them. That said, it could be crawling with people and I wouldn't spot them.

Once we got close enough I spoke and cast my stealth spell. "Cirno, we're following parallel to the treeline. I want to see if we can spot anyone before going in."

Team Dane™©® (Dane + Cirno) moving from A8 to A13.

Dane is invisible (Stealth + Suppression + 5 TEC