“I didn’t mean to blow it up,” Mizu protested, “it was an accident.”

“Was the sentient green thing an accident too?” Oldum asked.

“Yes,” Mizu replied hesitantly.

“Are you sure about that? You made a living thing accidentally?”

“It wasn’t living,” she snapped, “sentient, yes. But not living.” Mizu flushed sheepishly, “And fine, I might have had an inkling it’d do that.”

Sayhas whispered into Oldum’s ear, purposely loud enough that Mizu would hear too, “She was confident that it would make it.”

“Sell-out,” Mizu accused, pouting.

Sayhas shrugged. “How much of the flower did you harvest?”

“Three stalks. One for study. One for experimentation. One for my garden.”

“Have you forgotten what happened the last time you played with a remote flower?” Oldum asked, eyeing the thistles warily.

Mizu put a finger to her lips, “Shhh. You promised to not talk about that,” she whispered, “it never happened.”

Oldum rolled his eyes, showing agitation only Mizu could provoke, “Why did we ever get to know her?” Oldum complained affably.

“Cause she wasn’t always so annoying.”

“Nope,” Mizu said, looking at her nails. “You guys got mature.” She put ‘mature’ in air quotes. “But still, it was your fault.”

“My fault?” Oldum echoed incredulously

“I always tell you guys not to disturb me when I’m working. But you walked in on me. You deserved the sludge,” Mizu ground out.

Oldum blinked at Mizu, a stupified gesture. “That happened almost two years before the toxic green thing.”

Mizu shrugged, “Overdue punishment. And it wasn’t toxic.”

Oldum sighed. He jerked his head at Sayhas, “Help me.”

“You brought this upon yourself,” he deadpanned.

“Gah, blades above.”

Sayhas smirked. It was nice to see someone other than him on the wrong side of Mizu’s verbal harassment. However, Mizu seemed to be losing steam, it’d be a matter of time until she turned her attention to him. Luckily it was then that Dismas began to stir.

“Cinders, where am I?” Dismas said. Finally Sayhas thought in exasperation. Kirin had already awoken with a deep red blush ages ago. He had scurried off quickly with a quick mumble of thanks; smart of him to avoid Mizu's quick tongue.

“Wrong question,” Mizu said without missing a beat, “how am I or why am I.”

“Ignore her,” Sayhas advised, “if you value your sanity.” Dismas painfully chuckled at that. “Alright kid?”

“I’ve been better. Also been worse. But I’ll be fine.” He shimmied his body, “Could you put me down?”

“Can you walk?”

“One way to find out.”

Sayhas chewed his lip, “Wait a bit,” he said, “I can see our horses.”

Clive and the rest were waiting by the horses. Taed looked better; much more colour in his skin. They overlooked the plains. It was a beautiful moment. Four men, gazing at the setting sun from atop a cliff with nothing in the distance.

“Set me down. I want to use my legs.” Dismas said.

Sayhas complied staying close by. Dismas wobbled off towards his mare, stumbling but never falling over. He kept a watchful eye on Dismas as Hysiedies helped saddle Dismas in.

“Feeling good? Any problems?” Hysiedies asked when he finished.

Dismas smiled, “Nope. Got the blood flowing, everything is fine.”

“Good to hear, holler if you need anything.”

“Miss me Dreamis?” Mizu asked, coddling her white horse. She scratched behind Dreamis’ ears—she loved that. “I’ll give you a nice scrub when we get back. Promise.” Mizu fed her a handful of mixed oats, “Good girl.”

Sayhas jumped onto his big mare, Alouette, idly scratching its neck. He was bored, Sayhas could tell by touching him. “Hey girl, ready to run?” Sayhas whispered. Alouette gave a little hop, obviously ecstatic to finally move.

Clive clapped his hands, “Now that we’re all settled,” Clive said, peering down the sheer drop down to the plain, “anyone has any clue how we are to get off this splinter?”

Mizu perked up, hair dishevelled after nuzzling Dreamis. “Can’t we just go—” she frowned looking around, “this flaming thing moved didn’t it?” She sighed, swinging off of her horse whilst muttering an apology to it. She kicked a rock off the drop grumbling to himself, “Flaming sack of rocks.” Mizu patted her hair and flourished a dagger tossing it off the drop with a backspin, She craned her neck back, “Sayhas are we moving right now?”

He strained his ears, scanning for the lifeless rhythm of the Yggdrasil splinter. “Lucky for you, we are not.”

“Perfect.” She yanked on Hysiedies arm, “get off, your first.”

“Why me?”

“Cause I said so, voiceless.”

“Fine,” he huffed. Hysiedies lethargically pulled himself out of his saddle. Mizu, however, was feeling very impatient for some reason and dragged Hysiedies off his horse without warning. And just before the priest hit the ground, they vanished.

“Not catching it,” Sayhas, Oldum and Clive said in unison.

“You’re doing it Sayhas,” Clive ordered.

“What? No,” he protested, “Dismas can do it.”

“Sure, but if he misses, it’s your neck on the line.”

Sayhas glared at Clive and stuck his tongue out. Reluctantly he dismounted, not breaking eye contact with Clive. A dagger flew into the air, Sayhas’ eyes jumped to it. He reached out to snatch it, missing entirely. The dagger crested as Sayhas fumbled, unable to find purchase on the thin thing. He dove for the sliver of metal, catching it by the blade, only to find himself sliding off the cliff. Using his free hand, he cut into the ground with a scythe, pretending it was an anchor. Sayhas found his legs precariously dangling from the splinter and his hand soaking with blood. But he was alive and although that was a small victory, it was a victory.

Mizu appeared moments after, plucking her dagger from Sayhas’ bloody grasp, “I trust there were no problems.”

“Do you really think so,” Sayhas deadpanned, coating his words with as much acidity as humanly possible as he crawled up the cliffside.

“You’re right. You got blood on my dagger.”

Sayhas curled his hands into tight fists, standing up. Mizu was sometimes such a piece of work. He let out a heavy sigh. It could be worse. He’d definitely gone through worse before. Besides for every bad quirk, there were good traits too. That was just how people are. It just so happened that Mizu likes infuriating him. A small price to pay for there years of friendship. Cinders, he could be an asshole too.

“Don’t worry Sayhas, I’ll forgive you.”

His eyes widened, “You’ll forgive me?”

“Of course we’re friends and I’m feeling generous.”

“How gracious.” Sayhas was unable to keep his tone neutral.

She giggled punching him lightly, “Quite.” She threw her dagger. “See you.”

They continued this routine several more times, ferrying someone over each time. Fortunately, Mizu was getting good at doing it efficiently. Even more so, Sayhas wasn’t falling every time; a welcome bonus.

“Sayhas,” Oldum said quietly.

“Why didn’t she use her body swap,” Sayhas grumbled.

“Sayhas,” Oldum repeated, a little more urgent this time.

He turned to face Oldum. His face was concentrated. “Yeah?”

“There’s an ash wolf nearby.”

“What?” An ash wolf. Here? “How do you know.”

“My shield is reacting to something. Like a mating call or a pack meeting.”

“Clive,” Sayhas called as he caught Mizu’s dagger. “There’s an ash wolf.”

Confusion dotted Clive’s face, “How.”

“I can sense it,” Oldum interjected, “my shield reacts to it.”

“Hello boys. What's with this serious ambiance. Did I miss something?” Mizu asked, throwing her dagger up and down with a level smirk.

“Ash wolf,” Sayhas replied.

“What?” she dropped the dagger. “Where? How? Now?”

“Don’t know, Oldum senses it.”

She snapped her eyes to Oldum.

“Are you sure about this?” Oldum asked.

“I can’t make that decision,” Mizu countered.

“You’re the only one who can,” Sayhas stated, “if we get the soul it’ll go to you. Only you can decide if it’s worth it.”

“You don’t want it?” Mizu asked, wide-eyed.

Sayhas gave her a laid back smile, “Of course I do. But in case you’ve forgotten, I own the scythe of Reaper of the Ten Sword Kings.”

“I’m selfish.”

Sayhas grinned, “I’m aware. If that bothered me, I’d have run away.”

“Thank you. Both of you.”

“Humility? From Mizu?” Sayhas jeered.

Mizu smiled wildly, “We’ll do it.”

“Not so fast,” Oldum said, “there's still one problem.”

As if controlled by a puppeteer, the three faced Clive at the exact same time.

“I don't think I can stop you,” Clive began, “so be safe. Promise me.”