Lucia

As the others spoke with Skye and Tyler about the plan for the rest of the mission, I sidled up to Zay, who looked about as thrilled as I felt to have a new member. "So that's it," I muttered quietly. "They show us some spider tattoo and they're on the team?"

Zay's mouth twisted in a grimace. "I guess." She answered lowly, reaching up to run a finger over Olraz's scales. "I don't like it."

"Me neither." I agreed, keeping one eye on the new kid. "Especially not since they tried very hard to get away from us."

"Makes you think that they'll have no qualms about betrayal, huh?" Zay ran a hand through her hair, causing it to stick up in spikes.

I set my jaw and couldn't bring myself to reply. If Skye did betray us, I suspected that there would be very little of the team that ever trusted again. My heart fell to my toes as I realized I would likely be one of those that wouldn't.

Zay was quiet for a moment, clearly wrapped up in her own thoughts as well. Then she shook her head. "That kid rubs me the wrong way. Something about them just... fits. It's too easy. I don't like it."

I tilted my head to one side and studied the group. Zay was right. Skye fit in, almost perfectly. Despite my initial distrust of the kid, I couldn't help but feel the connection they made. "Yeah, I see it," I agreed.

We'd made the mistake of not trusting Zay's gut once before, and it had nearly cost us her life. I wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Okay, team!" Tyler clapped his hands, silencing the conversations instantly.

We all turned to him, eager to hear the plan— eager for leadership.

"We're planning to return to Greenhaven, have Skye take their vows and become a Greencloak," he paused and glanced at them.

Skye shrugged. "It's been a while since I've been part of something." They said it with a forced kind of nonchalance, eyes roving the group with a challenge in them.

Tyler nodded and continued. "The other thing we will deal with in Greenhaven is that... creature we came across. Though I have heard no reports of other such beings, we may not be the only ones to have encountered them."

"Maybe someone has found a way to actually kill them." Sasha mused. "You know, in a way so it'll stay dead."

Sabien made a face. "Well, it's not really a surprise that human methods don't work on it. It's clearly not human."

"Not human anymore." Skye corrected.

Everyone looked at them, startled.

They shrugged. "I've been around here for a while. That thing was human once. It came to my farmhouse, begging for shelter, hoping to be healed. I turned it away." They lifted their chin defiantly, but no one challenged it. "A few days later, that thing came back. Chances are that they're the same person. Or they were."

Navia frowned. "What would have the power to transform a human into something like that?"

"That, I can't tell you." Skye looked over at Tyler. "But it sure sounds like your Greencloak buddies may be able to."

"They're right." Tyler agreed. "If we want to find answers, we have to head back." He readjusted his axe and looked over at Hoya. "I don't suppose you'll be joining us?"

The pink haired woman shook her head, her lips quirking slightly. "Nah, it sounds like you've got it covered. Besides," Hoya winked at Sabien, "I have to find my informant."

"So they're not just an informant!" Sasha exclaimed triumphantly.

Hoya laughed, but didn't elaborate. She patted Sasha's shoulder. "I'll see you kids around. Feel free to visit anytime."

Tyler smiled and offered his hand to shake. "Take care."

"Always do." Hoya responded cheekily, shaking his hand before she started off in the opposite direction of the city.

We watched as she disappeared into the woods.

Skye cleared their throat. "Dang, I liked her. She was funny."

"Ah, don't worry, she'll be back." Niko grinned. "She can never seem to stay away for long."

"I can't imagine why." Tyler muttered, but his tone was affectionate. "Anyway, shall we start heading back?"

I glanced up. The sun had started to sink across the horizon, warning that there wasn't much daylight left. "Are we planning to stay at an inn, or what?"

Tyler followed my gaze. He frowned. "I didn't count on paying for inn, I figured we'd be roughing it, like we used to, if we had to stay a night or two."

"Well," Skye gestured to the farmhouse. "If you're all used to roughing it, you can sleep in there. That beast ain't using it anymore."

Tyler looked over at the old building, then back at us. "Sounds good to me. Any objections?"

From beside me, Zay shook her head. "As long as it's quiet and not trying to kill us, I'm good."

The others echoed her sentiment, and I sighed with relief.

"Well, in that case," Tyler turned back to Skye and smiled. "Thank you for the offer."

"Sure thing." Skye nodded. They walked ahead, disappearing into the dim farmhouse.

We all exchanged looks, then Tyler shrugged and followed. We filed in after him.

The farmhouse was pretty empty, with a few dilapidated machines in the corners and hay littering the floor.

Skye waved their arms. "Welcome to my humble abode, I s'pose." They looked around, as if savouring the view. "The water still works, if you wanna wash or whatever."

I let my gaze trace the paint that was peeling off the wooden walls, the overturned buckets and water troughs, and wondered for a moment how long Skye had been calling this home.

"There's enough space for pretty much all your animals," Skye added, "unless all of you summoned rhinos."

Tyler chuckled. "Don't worry. The biggest animals we have are a bear and a horse. And neither of those take up much space, anyway."

"Good, cool." Skye tapped their lips. "Yeah, that about sums it up." They shrugged. "If you need anything, I'll be up there." They pointed up to the loft.

I frowned, not seeing a ladder.

Sasha apparently had the same thought, because he went to ask. The Zhongese stopped, however, when he saw Skye just scale the wall.

"What in Erdas—" Niko muttered, dumbfounded.

The spider summoner seemed unaware of their audience, sticking to the wall with practiced ease as they climbed up.

"Well, I think that settles it." Sabien murmured. "They must've summoned the spider, or else that would definitely not be possible."

I had to agree. It seemed we'd found our spider, after all.

9/08/21
yes skye can stick to walls
it's fine
hope you enjoyed!!! xx