Sasha
"Everything is so hooooot." I whined loudly.

"Oh shut up, Sasha." Lucia growled in reply from where she trudged at my side.

"Urghhh. I hate Nilo." I grumbled.

Lucia frowned. "It's not so bad during the night." She reasoned.

I sighed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I just wanna go back to Greenhaven and get this over with."

Lucia smirked. "I thought you liked fighting."

"I don't lik- okay, I do. But not in this heat. I'm gonna be roasted alive!" I protested.

Lucia opened her mouth to respond, but Tyler's call of "hey, you two! Keep it down!" interrupted her.

"Yeah, you're gonna get us all caught!" Niko's brother Aiden chipped in. She scowled, folding her arms tightly across her chest. I furrowed my brows, but stayed silent. Neither of us wanted to continue the conversation. I eyed the group, my sight enhanced by Delar, who padded silently alongside me. It took about two seconds for me to scan our team, picking off the pairs as they walked. Navia with Sabien, Tazi and Lizzie, Niko beside Aiden, Tyler together with Hoya and Ryan, as well as... Zay and Zarlo. My hands curled unconsciously into fists, and I had to take several deep breaths before they relaxed again.

"Hey, how much further do we have to go, you think?" Lucia asked, her gaze fixed ahead.

I shrugged, releasing a soft sigh. "Probably quite a bit... but I think it'll be getting light soon."

"I don't really think so..." she mused.

I glanced over, surprised. "How do you know?"

She pointed toward the horizon. "A, it's still pitch black there, and b, I... it's hard to explain, but I'm certain that daybreak won't be for a little while."

"Oh." My eyes followed her finger, and I saw that she was indeed right. "Hm. I guess."

We walked in silence for a bit, then she turned toward me. "Do you feel the same?"

My heart leapt into my throat and I almost choked as the word popped out of my mouth. "What?!"

Lucia laughed softly. "I mean... when you see Zay with Zarlo."

"Oh, that." I chuckled as well. "I'm assuming you mean jealous?"

She shrugged. "Call it that if you want, but... is jealousy supposed to hurt?"

Her question left me stumped. "...no. I don't think... I'm... yeah, I do." I heaved a sigh, looking in her direction.

Her brown eyes met mine, alight with swirling emotions I couldn't read. "It's strange... the way human sentiments work. Sometimes not even we can understand it."

I frowned. "Holy Jhi, when'd you get so deep?"

She snorted. "Oh, haha. Just had to ruin the moment, didn't you."

I shrugged. "It's kinda my thing."

"What's your thing?" Zay's voice interjected as she fell into step with me.

"Him ruining moments." Lucia replied, stiffening. "Anyway, I gotta catch up to Niko. Great talk, Sasha."

"Yeah, anytime." I waved as she jogged ahead, then turned toward Zay. "Where'd Zarlo go?"

"He's with Aiden, Niko's brother." She responded, watching Lucia's retreating back and muttering softly; "good riddance."

I glanced over, confused. "Hm?"

"Nothing. I didn't say anything." Zay answered convincingly, making me wonder if I'd imagined it.

"Oh. Okay." I reached over and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against me. Surprisingly, she didn't resist and leaned into me.

"I hope we're almost there." She mumbled, "this walking is both exhausting and boring."

I laughed. "Agreed. The talisman can't be too far."

She smiled up at me. "I'm glad you and Zar get along so well, Sash. It's really cool of you two."

I bit my tongue to avoid saying otherwise, and replied with a forced grin. "Yeah, your brother's a great kid."

"You're only saying that because you've never been on the receiving end of one of his pranks." The Stetriolian said wisely.

I laughed. "Really? Hmm, that sounds like it'd be a lot of fun... a prank war!"

Zay rolled her eyes. "Oh Tellun, please no."

"Why? Are you afraid?" I teased.

She elbowed me beneath the ribs with a cheeky smirk. "You wish." We continued to walk and talk for a while, our occasional laughter ringing through the warm night. I could feel the heat of our two palms, pressed close together, but for once I didn't mind that I was hot and sweaty.

Then, a howl split the night. We jumped apart, my hand flying to my sword as I dropped into a fighting stance. Zay did the same, her blade gleaming as it slid out of it's sheath. "What was that?" She asked softly, our backs to each other as we circled around to find the howler.

"Not sure." I murmured in reply, straining to see farther in the gloom. "But nothing good." Just then, a pair of shadows entered my line of sight. I raised my sword, then realized that it was just Navia and Sabien. "You to startled me." I growled as they fell into rhythm with us.

"Sorry." Navia muttered in return. "This is getting creepy. The others all vanished after we heard the howl."

Sabien was frowning. "It sounded like a wolf howl."

"But there are no wolves here." Zay stated. "It'd have to have been a hyena or something."

"Don't hyenas cackle?" Navia asked dubiously.

I held up a hand to silence them, then beckoned. They fell into line behind me, weapons out to protect my back as I crept forward. Delar stopped, sniffing the air. I halted as well, almost causing a collision. "What is it, D?" The jaguar met my gaze, then turned to look in the distance. I followed his gaze. "Crap. Guys!"

The others followed my pointing finger, then they swore as well. "Let's go!" Zay leapt forward, Xavier flashing out of passive. Eldya did the same thing, and in a matter of seconds, Sabien vanished from view.

"Come on!" Navia took off at a sprint, Cerco spraying sand as he ran alongside her. I cracked my fingers and tapped Delar's head.

"Let's go, D." I raced after them, my gaze narrowed on the light ahead. It liked at the air. The village was burning. And my friends might be burning with it.

Hiya! I'm evil I know :3 sorry for making y'all wait so long, I was really busy! With what? Uhhh... lowkey not watching all the Marvel movies that exist... I have seen Endgame, and it was realllllly good. Also, a reference cuz I'm lame;

I LOVE YALL 3000!

You're welcome! X3 stay tuned! Next chap up in a bit- ok, maybe a lot.