The next morning, Greed and Pride set out to scout the area. The two of them find an opening in the treetops that is large enough to pass through. Greed stoops to let Pride step on his shoulder. He quickly stands and Pride lunges upward, thrusting his wings once he clears the tree tops. Greed makes his way back towards the others where he initially notices Sloth fiddling with his boot. EV is sitting, back against a tree and seems to be wiping his palm off on his knee but he doesn’t seem to be paying attention to that. He seems distracted.

Greed has several decorative chains strung around his neck. His hand is against his chest and his thumb is absentmindedly brushing against them as he reflects on his task. I haven’t forgotten, he thinks. It feels like I’m getting closer. He becomes distant for a moment as he thinks about that. I know, I’ve said that before—but it really feels different this time. Really. I’ll find what I need to save you and then I can finally come home to you.

“Hey,” Gluttony says, bumping into EV. “You awake? You seem out of it.”

EV shakes his head. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Greed walks over and turns his palm over to help EV up. EV looks at the gesture, confused due to the angle not seeming like an offer to help him up. He finally nods and lets Greed help him up. “You alright big guy,” Greed asks.

“Yeah,” EV says, more enthusiastically. “Just trying to get my bearings. Still a little tired, I think.”

“Alright,” Greed says, nodding along. “Look, Pride will be back soon and we’ll try to make our way back to the road. Don’t sweat over what he said earlier. He can be a bit of a mother hen sometimes but he means well.” Greed has a gruffness to his voice but there is a sympathetic nature to the way he speaks. EV seems to be more at ease and Greed looks back over to Gluttony. “Have you brought them up to speed on everything?

Gluttony’s head waffles a bit as he begins speaking. “For the most part, yeah. I haven’t really explained the guardians yet though.”

“Wait,” Sloth chimes in from behind them. “Those things are real?”

Gluttony turns to him and looks genuinely injured. “Of course they are. Why would I lie about something like that?” He may have appeared insulted but that didn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as Sloth became withdrawn again.

“Alright,” Greed says, speaking louder. “EV and Sloth, you need to pay attention to this. There -is- a guardian and it -is- indestructible—well, that’s not entirely true—they can be broken up for a moment but it just puts itself back together again. The only way to put it down for good is to take out the Yoi. Lust will likely be the one to focus on that while the rest of us distract the guardian. You don’t have to fight back. Just draw its attention when it's necessary and draw it away from whoever is attacking the Yoi directly. Once the Yoi goes down, the guardian just becomes another heap of dirt.”

“What is the guardian,” EV asks.

“Physically, it's just part of the landscape but they take different forms. It will emerge when it senses a nearby threat to its Yoi. Most of the time, they take the form of some kind of fighter.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me there would be impossible monsters,” Sloth interrupts. “Next, you’ll be asking us to ice skate uphill. How are we supposed to manage any of that?”

Gluttony slaps Sloth on the arm. “Easy, just wait for the hill to thaw or maybe skate around it? Why would we need to be on the hill anyways?”

Sloth looks over to EV. “Why aren’t you bothered about this?”

EV shrugs and looks back over at Greed. “I mean, I’m sure they’ve done this before. Right?” Greed and Gluttony nod together. “So maybe we just follow their lead. See what we can learn on this first one?”

Sloth raises a finger in the air as if to say eureka. “I’m sure that lessons aren’t meant to be taken to the grave and if they are, you’re only going to get one of those. Are we sure this is that lesson?”

“I hear what you’re saying,” EV says. “But as Gluttony told us last night, we can’t plan for everything and not everything is going to be easy. In fact, the best things never are. So, I’m going to keep going. I want to see where this road takes us.”

Pride walks up as they talk. “Is everyone about ready?”

Greed nods. “Just going over what to expect out there.”

“Good,” Pride says, nodding. “I found the bridge but it won’t be necessary to go back to that road. There is another road nearby that will be a more direct route into some city ruins that are ahead of us. It looks as though the Yoi may be located in there somewhere. We’ll make our way to the new road and then into the city. Let’s get moving.”

EV watches as Pride and Lust peel off to head towards the road. Greed follows and Gluttony places his hand on EV’s shoulder before following as well. EV nods. “Yeah,” I’m coming.” He hears several knocks and turns back to see Sloth having to weave his weapon through the trees as his usual carrying method proves to be ill suited for narrow passages. Sloth continues to carry it on his shoulders though and just turns as an end bumps against another tree. What a waste, EV thinks. He turns to follow the others.

Envy, this one is the only one you need, says the voice. Where was Pride when you were exposed? Pride was sleeping. This one is the only reason you weren’t sleeping during the rift.

Yeah but why was I even out there, EV thinks frustrated. I didn’t roll that far. And all I have is this stupid knife. He shapes the blade in his hand and brushes his thumb across the engraving on the blade. It reads: Envy. He dissolves it again, never feeling comfortable carrying it out in the open. I just don’t get why everyone else has better protection than I do. EV looks to see Gluttony walking ahead of him. Gluttony is carrying his mace with the head resting just over his shoulder. Greed is walking just ahead of Gluttony and his spear is affixed to his back. EV thinks about how useful it had been having the spear serve like a campfire. If I had something like that, I would be much better off. Why doesn’t he have a knife instead of me? He has those long arms so having a knife would be about the same reach as anyone else having a spear. If I had a spear, I wouldn’t have to get so close—and maybe I could fend off multiple attackers. EV starts nodding to himself as he thinks it over. EV looks back up at the spear as he continues to entertain the idea of using it. Yeah, I’d have more range which would be better for offense and defense. I really do—

Greed stops abruptly and looks out towards the marsh around them. Pride stops and looks back at him. “What is it,” Pride asks.

Greed scans around them but shakes his head. “I’m not sure. I felt—something. A pull, maybe.”

EV scans around with the rest of them but he isn’t searching with them. He is just going through the motions as he plays something back in his mind. Was his spear glowing green?—It was never green at camp. It always had that blue color. Maybe green is some kind of warning?

Sloth catches up with an uneven stride, one boot sloshing with every step. “Ok, I’m back,” he says. “Thanks for waiting. Lost my boot back there.”

Pride looks back and down at Sloth’s feet. “Hmph. I don’t think anyone noticed you were gone. I guess that explains why it was so quiet.”

“Hey—well that’s rude.” Sloth stops and looks around with the others. “What are we doing?”

“Looking for trouble,” Pride says. “Greed thinks there is something out here with us.”

Sloth nods. “Yeah, it’s probably those damned rifters out here.”

“What are you talking about,” Pride asks, bewildered.

“You know, the rifters. The ones that stay behind whenever the rift closes.”

Gluttony walks over and thumbs over into Sloth’s upper arm. “Can you believe this guy,” Gluttony asks, shaking his head. “Where would anyone come up with such a silly idea?”

Sloth’s gaze narrows and he starts to point at Gluttony. “You—”

“No Sloth,” Gluttony says, grabbing the finger and pulling it back down. “Rifters don’t stay behind when the rifts close. They collapse just like the rest of the rift. Now, quit being silly.” Pride raises an eyebrow as he looks back and forth, between the two.

Greed sighs. “It’s probably nothing,” he says. “Let’s just keep moving so we can be back on the road.”