Eyes flying open with the heart racing, Luna looked around the area, unsure of when she had passed out. The sight of daylight and the sound of birds chirping eased her mind until she noticed Saros and Lyzal were not in sight. She turned around, and around again, while getting up, searching the area. The large bag that Saros had been carrying was still nearby, but there was no sign of the two maiaaks. Luna willed herself to calm down. Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath-

“Luna?”

With a yelp, Luna whipped her attention towards the voice. It was Saros, casually walking up to her.

“Where-Where did you go?” Luna desperately tried to control the volume of her voice.

Saros leaned back on his heels. “Check the area-” then raised an eyebrow. “Why? Were you scared?” A grin slowly formed.

“What? N-No. Of course not! I was just-”

“Oh good, you’re finally awake.”

Luna yelped again, whipping to look in the opposite direction to find that Lyzal was casually walking up to them now.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“N-nothing!”

“She’s scared.” Saros teased.

“I am not!”

Lyzal rolled her eyes in reply. “Let’s go and put your barrier back up.”

Luna put her barrier back up as instructed, but as soon as she did, a deep growl interrupted the brief silence. Lyzal slowly turned around as Luna slowly looked at Saros, who had his head tilted with amusement dancing on his face. Luna pressed her lips together as she awkwardly walked up to the large bag, letting out a nervous laugh.

“There should be some apples in the bag.”

Lyzal crossed her arms, slowly shaking her head. “The pain of being human.”

Luna could only give an awkward smile as she dug through the bag, grabbing a few apples and putting them in her smaller bag. Once ready, Saros grabbed the larger bag, and they all started on their way. As Luna took a bite of the apple, she couldn’t help but wish it was the bread that Serahm and Elira had given her. Letting out a sad sigh, she took another bite, trying to think of anything else besides the things that they had lost. Luckily, Saros had kept a grip on the larger bag with all of her provisions.

As the day continued, it was anything but pleasant. Attackers assaulted them three times during the day. Luna didn’t feel like she was such a weight this time, able to provide adequate shields for the two of them when needed. Of course, that drew attention to the attacking maiaaks, but Lyzal and Saros worked together to keep her safe. 

Between the fights, Saros and Lyzal argued, or more like Lyzal disagreed with additional commentary and Saros took the bait. Luna took note that Lyzal really didn’t like men. Almost every jab she had was about men and how they ruin everything. Despite being tired, Luna couldn’t help but find peace in their bantering. 

As the day progressed into night, the same chill crawled its way up their spines. It seemed even colder, and the night seemed darker‌. Luna could have sworn it was breathing down their necks at this point. Trying to keep herself calm and warm, Luna noted how this time she could see red dots through the trees.

“D-do you guys see th-that?” Luna spoke in a hushed tone, trying to keep her voice steady between the chills.

Lyzal and Saros, for the first time, were visibly shivering. Lyzal simply nodded in response to Luna’s question. Saros, instead of sitting, was standing closer to Lyzal and Luna. Looking between Lyzal and Saros, Luna debated standing up to be ready. As she got ready to get up, Lyzal held a hand up, signaling Luna to stay put. Luna slowly sat back down and huddled herself in her cloak. She extended her barrier to Saros and Lyzal, and vowed to stay awake.

At least, she thought she did, until her eyes flew open, greeted by the morning dew and light. Looking around, Lyzal and Saros were leaning against a tree, sitting on either side of her, both wide awake. 

After scanning the area and concluding that they were safe, Luna spoke. “Have either of you gotten any sleep in the past few days?”

Lyzal side-eyed Luna. “No.” Saros spoke plainly.

Luna’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. “I’m trying to stay awake. It feels too dangerous to go to sleep. But I guess I’m just too tired.” Luna mumbled the last line.

Lyzal stood up from the tree and walked off. Luna couldn’t tell if Lyzal was angry at her or just irritated from the lack of sleep. Saros offered the larger bag for more fruit. Luna quickly grabbed a couple of pears for a change and ran off after Lyzal. 

Lyzal didn’t need to instruct Luna to put her barrier back up, as she did it as soon as she woke up. She wishes she could tell how late at night the barrier vanishes, whether it slipped the moment sleep claimed her, or sometime after.

Another day in the dense forest, and once again, they were attacked multiple times. It was becoming apparent that Lyzal and Saros were slowing down and getting tired more easily. 

“Maybe we should take a break?” Luna offered. “At least rest your eyes.”

"So they can attack us? No, thank you.” Lyzal stepped over the detached dead body parts and continued onward.

“But you’re getting-”

Lyzal was suddenly in Luna’s face. “Don’t. You. Say. It.”

With pressed lips, Luna gave a few quick nods. Lyzal started back. 

“It makes us look weak.” Saros quickly spoke in a hushed tone.

Letting out a sigh, Luna simply followed, not sure how to convince a couple of stubborn maiaaks on how to rest. She suspected that ‘rest’ wasn’t in their vocabulary. 

Luna felt fortunate that they avoided being attacked for the rest of the day. Despite that, they were exhausted. Between the battles and the lack of sleep, Saros and Lyzal were running out of energy. 

Luna looked up at the sky to see that it was turning dusk. Letting out a low groan, Luna couldn’t help but think of how the comfort of night had long left her. Ever since they had entered ‌this forest, the night had done nothing but leave a creepy feeling. It forced Luna to wonder if the night was ever truly comforting. While the uncertainty of night was always there, it didn’t feel like they were being hunted like they had been for the past three nights.

When she looked back at the sky, the sun was still setting, but the sun's light was dimmed, as if a veil covered the sky. The temperature in the area suddenly dropped. The hair on Luna’s neck stood up as she realized that once again, they were all alone with no other maiaaks nearby. Suddenly, the sound of a stick snapping forced the three to freeze. Lyzal was the first to look back at Saros, who looked back at Luna. Seeing the alarm on their faces made her stomach drop. Slowly turning around, there were a bunch of red dots glowing past the trees, and if she didn’t know better, they were approaching. Holding her breath, her entire body froze as her pulse thundered. 

“Luna,” Lyzal spoke in a harsh whisper.

She didn’t have to say it; Luna knew. She had to run. But by the hand of Meraki, her legs were frozen in place. No sound dared to escape. The group of dots slowly separated into three sets. The one that went towards the right lunged out at Luna, revealing a shadow-dog-like creature that was darker than the night itself. Saros grabbed Luna from behind, yanking her back and around. By Meraki’s miracle, Luna found her legs and sprinted forward.

“-Run!” Lyzal yelled a tad too late, as Luna was already running past her. 

Saros was close behind as Lyzal took off after Luna. Discovering a newfound speed that she never knew she had as she whipped past the trees, scratching herself on the outstretched branches. But no matter, whatever those things were, they were keeping up with ease. One on each side of them, running with ease. Hearing their paws landing on the terrain. A deep howl and growl made the blood in Luna’s veins run cold as she kept running as fast as she could. Maybe even faster. She couldn’t tell anymore. All she knew was that she had to get away.

“Argh!”

Luna skidded to a halt, just as Lyzal ran past and did the same. Looking back, it was Saros, one of the dogs had grabbed the large bag that he was carrying. Eyes growing wide in pure panic, Luna lunged at Saros, grabbing both his arms, and pulling him back. Lyzal went to attack the dog with her levix, however, the power only seemed to be absorbed. Giving up, she grabbed Saros and pulled with Luna. Suddenly, the dog was shapeshifting into a large blob shape that Luna couldn’t put into words. The bag was disappearing into the black. Luna’s face paled.

“Let it go!” Luna shouted.

“But-”

“Drop it!”

Saros dropped the bag and fell onto Luna from the force of being pulled. The bag disappeared into the blob. Luna scurried to her feet as red dots from the side got closer. Panic rose as the blob took the shape of the dog once again. Without a second thought, Luna went back to running. Saros pushed himself up in mid-run, catching up with Luna with Lyzal still close behind. Catching up to Luna, Saros wasted no time in picking her up in his arms, and running at an even faster pace. Lyzal didn’t have a hard time keeping up. Luna yelped when she saw red dots still following alongside ‌them.

How fast are these things?!

Luna wished she could do something, anything. But knowing that she was just slowing the two maiaaks down, she just grabbed onto Saros’s shirt tightly and closed her eyes. 

“I think it dips.” Luna could barely make out what Lyzal said.

“Yeah,” Saros replied.

“What dips-?!”

Saros was now skidding down a hill, dodging the trees and bushes. Lyzal used the trees to propel herself off of them, down the hill. Getting to the bottom and skidding to a stop, Luna looked up. For a moment she could see the moon clearly. Far more clearly than on the previous nights. 

Did we… get away?

Luna could still feel her hand clenched around Saros’s shirt as she looked around. She noted seeing a light not too far off. Fire, maybe? Saros slowly put Luna down, and Luna reluctantly let go of his shirt. She looked down at the ground to make sure she had her footing when she noticed the ground go black. Saros quickly turned around, putting his back to Luna, and Lyzal stood behind Luna, keeping her in the middle. The moon disappeared from the sky. Sets of red dots surrounded them all around. They were creeping closer. No longer able to control her fear-

Luna let out a scream.

Her entire body glowed. The area went bright. Then it was dark.

“Well, that’s one way to get noticed.” A voice spoke from the woods.