"IF HELL IS REAL, I'M LIVING IN IT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as an orange scorpion the size of a small shed chased her down the streets of the deserted, sandstone town.

  The seekers cshing on the rooftops paused to look at the running Eine as the monster followed her. Seekers running around the streets ran in the opposite direction, away from the two of them.

  As Eine looked behind her as she ran as fast as she could, she stared at the predatory arachnid.

  "Look, I'm sorry for eating your child! Okay?! Leave me alone!" Her eyes darted all over the creature. Inspecting every inch of visible death. The sharp, slim pincers were intimidating, but even more intimidating was the darker-shaded tail. The stinger is a deep brown hue with a bulbous base and a much sharper tip.

  These were the signs of a scorpion with venom. Eine's eyes looked at the base of the stinger... it was shimmering?

  Eine was able to connect the dots. "The token!" she excimed as she turned around immediately.

  She charged towards it, unsheathing her sword as it ran towards her, just as fast as before. As it reared its stinger, Eine took this as a signal to dodge. She slid in between its legs, the stinger barely missing her cloak. As she slid under it, she used her sword to chop off two of its left legs.

  Sliding past it, she stopped her momentum by stabbing the ft tip of her sword against the ground. Immediately charging at the base of its tail.

  'It's immobilized; it can't turn that fast!' she thought as she was ready to slice off its tail. Her sword, however, bounced off its hard exoskeleton.

  "Should've figured... It's harder than everywhere else. Makes sense, it's thicker and everything," she mumbled as she jumped back. The scorpion is turning around.

  "Shit, I guess I have no choice," she said as she sheathed her sword and aimed her right hand at the scorpion's eyes. All five fingers aimed at its cold, beady eyes.

  Before she could do anything, a silver sword came flying and nicked the tip of the stinger. Chopping off the bit that makes up its sharp point.

  Eine lowered her guard and stared at the sword... confused.

  It kept moving and swinging about in the air, as if it were possessed. As if it was being... controlled. In the sunlight, she then saw something translucent tug at the chain tied to the stinger...?

  "The token!" Eine screamed as the token got pulled off and flew off with the sword towards the top of one of the buildings.

  It seemed a figure in a white cloak the same as her was watching her; obscured by the sun, she couldn't make out their silhouette no matter how hard she squinted her eyes. Their face was obscured by the white hood over their head. As they opened the cloak, the sword flew into their sheath and the token into their grasp. It was another Seeker.

  The seeker turned their head to look at her before immediately running off.

  "Hey! Get back! That's mine!" she compined as she immediately jumped onto the roof of the building. Leaving the scorpion behind, she chased after the Cloaked Seeker.

  ***

  From rooftop to rooftop. This seeker kept trying to lose Eine, periodically looking behind them to see if she was still chasing them. Eine, showing zero sign of her legs getting tired, was gaining speed on them.

  "She's stubborn," they mumbled as they abruptly switched directions. Instead, run towards the direction of a nearby, ruined pyramid.

  They jumped onto the sand, running through the crevices of old houses. Eine, looking at this, elected to rather chase them down while running on the rooftops.

  Almost losing her, they ran into the entrance of the pyramid. However, Eine followed them in. Hearing the echoes of the footsteps, she followed them up a flight of stairs.

  Her own metallic footsteps echoed throughout the pyramid. She ran into a dark room headfirst; she lit the torches with her sword as she looked around. To see herself surrounded by vases and piles and piles of unused sandstone.

  "Where the hell are you! I know you're in here somewhere!", she screamed furiously.

  Shatter

  Eine heard a vase shatter behind her, turning around as fast as she could and—

  Thud.

  She got punched at the back of her head, knocking her off bance. She turned around to immediately attack the seeker, but... nothing.

  She turned around to see no one standing there.

  Thud.

  She punched again, and once again no one was behind her. She waited for another hit, and—

  She was able to grab the hand that kept punching her, but as she turned around... nothing again? She looked down at her hand to see...

  A blue, translucent hand. She gripped it with force with her left hand.

  "Ow!" The hand vanished as she heard the voice coming from behind a sandstone pilr. She immediately threw her sword as hard as she could towards the seeker. However, they rolled out of the way as the pilr crumbled. Dust particles filled the air as the seeker was on one of their knees, staring at Eine with their hood finally down.

  With long hair, they finally stood up in front of her. A skinny frame with tan skin. He spoke with a voice deeper than what you'd expect.

  "Caught me," he said as he sent out another hand at her. She ducked and dodged the punch.

  She then held up an offensive stance and charged at him, throwing punches with such velocity that her cloak flew in the air like a fg. However, the man dodged every hit, every punch, and predicted her every move as if he could see the future. He jumped back.

  "Your name?" he asked as he sent one of his hands away from the fight.

  "None of your business," she replied, cautious to not let her guard down; however, she felt a soft pressure on her scalp. She touched it to feel... a hand?

  He paused for a moment. "Ah, Eine Perez... I see," he said as Eine's sword flew over to him. He snuck a hand under his cloak to pull out a small... purple cigarette and pced it in between his lips, his canine revealing for a moment. Eine was gagged; she didn't know what to say or how to react. She was outmatched, and all she knew was that she had to take him down.

  Lighting it with her own sword which he now controls, she could only stare at the small fme that lit up under his breath. "Ah, where are my manners?", he said.

  "My name's Vak, Vak Diaz," he said as his silver sword floated to his other side.