"You should get that arm looked at," Maru said as she tied the bandage around the young man's arm. Zillions of things went through her head, including where Sebastian, her older half-brother, was.

"Are you okay?"

Because that was the logical thing to ask when he 'd been the one to push her out of the way of those strange dinosaur-like creatures. Certainly, Sebastian had forewarned her regarding the dangers lurking in the Alliance of Free Cities—that it was different from how things were in the Ferngill Republic, and yet she'd not bulked in coming out here to Sandrock, finding herself shaking her head at the young man next to her. "Don't you think that you should worry more about yourself?"

Eyes drifted down, allowing the young man to look at his arm. Frowning, he said, "This is part of being a member of the Civil Corps."

Glaring at him, of course, wouldn 't do anything as he was like Sebastian, thinking nothing wrong with getting a scrape, or in this case, a bite. He wasn't phased at all, which honestly bothered her as someone actually trained in first aid, knowing full well that the bite he'd received keeping her safe from that dinosaur-like creature wasn't like the minor scrapes Sebastian came home with. "I think it's worse than you think."

"Justice would likely say the same thing," the person muttered, confusing Maru even more as she finished tying the bandage.

"Know what kind of dinosaur that is?" Maru asked. Listening, she could hear the creatures moving outside. "My thoughts are they're some kind of T-rex or some other kind of raptor-like dinosaur."

"Not sure what you're talking about," he said.

"Oh, I mean, they're not likely actual dinosaurs which were before even the old world, but they're definitely were dinosaurs back then. Prehistoric times I think they called it," Maru muttered, trying to distract herself from whatever was happening outside. Quaint wasn't their talk.

"Really don't understand what you're talking about," he said. "They're called the Geeglers. Someone—or so I've been told—thought it would be a good idea to create them during the Age of Corruption which led to the Day of Calamity, but now we've got to deal with them."

"The Age of Corruption?" Maru asked, confused as they didn't hear that kind of terminology in the Ferngill Republic, nor had Sebastian told her anything about this terminology.

Unabashedly he said, "You don't know about the Age of Corruption?"

"Very obviously not."

"Why?"

Xenial, their conversation was not, so Maru stayed mum.

"You really don't know?"

Zagging the question wasn 't an option. And she honestly didn't know how to explain that. "Because we don't have an Age of Corruption in the Ferngill Republic?" Maru said. "Can't figure out what time frame you're referring to, to be honest. Definitely wasn't something my older brother—half brother—thought to tell me. Except it seemed like it is important?"

"Funny you should say that," the guy said, "And I don't know what to say to explain it, beyond the fact they were creating the Geeglers, adding human-like features to animals such as reptiles, among other things they shouldn't have been doing."

"Genetic manipulation, I think, is what you're referring to," Maru said. "Hybrid—genetic hybrids is what they were trying to create, and I'd heard a rumour that something like that had gone on somewhere, but I always thought it unfounded rumours or rumours that were so far-fetched not to be true. It would make sense that they used genetics from dinosaurs to create them because if there were a way they could create hybrid creatures, they would be able to access DNA from fossils."

Jeers from the Geeglers outside the spot they were hankered down filtered in, making Maru feel tense.

"Kind of get what you're saying, though there's a chance it will eventually go over my head, this whole dinosaur thing."

Like that helped them out in their particular situation. Maru let out a sigh, wishing Sebastian, albeit as irritating as he could be, would show up, though she wasn 't sure he could do anything against those humanoid dinosaur creations. Nor was she sure she'd be happy to see him, what with how distant he could be with her. Overhead she heard a sound, and the guy looked up, observing carefully.

"Probably."

Quietly, she lifted her head, confused at what he was saying. Readying herself for something terrible to happen, given the noise above, she meant to say something of the sort, only—

Sebastian called out, "Maru, are you in there?"

Thankfully, he had shown up, and she turned, saying, "I forgot to ask your name."

"Unsuur," said the one who was not the best conversationalist.

"Very glad to see the two of you are okay," said another person, although Maru wasn't sure that Unsuur, having bitten by the genetically altered brought back to life dinosaur-like creature, counted as being okay. "We'll be heading back to town now. You be sure to get that arm checked out at the Clinic, Unsuur."

Zealousness—her zealousness, had gotten her into this situation. And Sebastian was looking at her. Because she knew he would tell her he 'd told her so. "Can you let it go?"

"Do you—are you aware of how scared I was?" Sebastian said, making her look up. Emotionless, he normally was, yet there it was. For once, he was showing emotion. "Geeglers aren't something you just go and mess around with, Maru."

He was obviously upset. "I didn't mean to, really."

"Justice—I'm glad I found him when I did," Sebastian said, making Maru remember Unsuur had mentioned him meaning the person with Sebastian was that person.

"Kind of glad you did," she muttered. "Like, really glad you did."

Maru looked away, expecting a lecture.

"Never do that again," Sebastian said. Ordinarily, she'd snap back, yet she remained silent. "Please?"

Quiet, she remained, then realised she needed to respond. "Really don't want to go through that again, so I promise I'll be more careful."

Sebastian let out a sigh of relief before beckoning her to follow, to stay close, something she 'd avoided before, which in turn had gotten her into the trouble she'd gotten into. "That's a relief."

"Unsuur's kind of cute," Maru said. Very much, she didn't expect Sebastian's reaction.

"What?"