Allow me to paint you a picture: You open your eyes and behold a world devoid of colour, sketched in lines of black, white and grey. The whistling wind, tweeting birds, gleeful words of even the most cheerful people muffled as they reach your ears, intermingled with a constant droning buzzing sound that burrows into your skull.

  You raise your heavy head with strain, a sharp electrical sting preceding the movement in the depths of your utilized muscles, as it does with all motions. Painful, or at least it would be if you were capable of feeling pain, luckily like most other sensations, such aspects of life are dulled to the extreme.

  Monochrome image, muffled sound, numbed feeling of touch, all processed by the mind. A mind as stitched as the body, as stitched as the soul. Fragments forming a whole. Like with all stitched creations however, no matter how well done, those fragments always carry an echo of what came before.

  "See." "Listen." "Dark." "Quiet." "Live." "Kill."

  Repeating at the core of the soul ad nauseam. Ever present, always heard, a fact of your existence. Well, not yours, but its. The creation that has accepted the name Eve. The creation seeking to understand, to comprehend. Perhaps even to belong. Ridiculous. But alas tis a necessary pursuit, if it's to achieve its true purpose.

  Sadly, nothing worth doing was ever easy to achieve. The road looks to be long and plagued with distractions, between tin soldiers, petty prophecies, and the arrogant cultists that seek them out. Speaking of the last, it's about time we stepped away from this little peek inside, and returned to the outside.

  - - -

  "What. Were. You. THINKING!?"

  The assorted Storm Followers hurriedly packing up their tents all flinched at the sound of their leader's roar, her clenched teeth doing nothing to mitigate the animosity in her words. Although such only halted their steps for an instant, knowing that if they were not swift enough in making their escape before the soldiers' return, the slow-footed cultists would be the next to receive her ire.

  Lilac meanwhile, the current recipient, withered under Char's ferocious glare. Quite unlike the girl standing beside her, Eve, who paid little to the shift in tone and demeanour, perhaps not possessing the necessary life experience to consider it negative.

  "... We just wanted to hel-" Lilac began to stutter out.

  "We? You. Had one job. To keep the Foci safe and out of sight. Now they know it exists. Do you even understand why that's an issue?"

  Uncertain if the question from Char's words was rhetorical or not, Lilac struggled to think. Looking to the subject of their one-sided conversation for help, Eve only returned a quizzical head tilt, violet-sparking eyes yielding no assistance.

  “... They called her a Refin, right? They don't know she's the Foci, so we're fine!” Lilac puffed out her chest as she turned back to her leader, resolute, confident.

  Only to shrink back in pain from a sharp slap across the face from Char, squeezing her mouth shut to prevent a yelp from escaping.

  “You IDIOT! People and monsters don't work together, they subjugate each other. Either we're controlling one that can make Refins, or serving one able to that's actually sentient. Both mean we're a threat they can't ignore. And that means we're fu-” Char ranted as she stepped to close the distance the retreating Lilac made, moving her hand to strike again.

  Only to yank it back this time, in turn with a back step, as she looked at her partially eroded wrist. The shape of fingertips outlined by now exposed muscle, the layer of skin protecting it brushed away. Char's teeth gritted as her other hand grabbed her wrist protectively, instinctively, turning to look at the source of the damage.

  The Foci with its own hand outstretched, protecting Lilac from suffering a second hit presumably. Turning its eyes to meet Char's, blue light behind its eyes flicking to black as they did so. Falling silent and ceasing to move afterward for a moment, simply staring.

  “...”

  Char assessed the two in front of her during the brief interval. Lilac attempting to get the Foci's attention to calm it down despite the swelling starting to form on her cheek. The Foci's ignoring of those attempts, while simultaneously making no further efforts to attack Char, perhaps not realising it did harm her, rather than just stop altercation.

  “... Forget it.” Char finally breathed out, tone exhausted and displeased. “The man is a blowhard, they won't act on his word. At least not quickly. And we have the curse excuse to work with, they’ll jump to her looking dead or turning into something else sooner than any other extremes.”

  The leader took another step back, turning and walking away. The only other word being an order for bandages barked as her graze dripped blood onto the dried grass. Eve finally turned her lavender eyes to Lilac’s shoulder tugging, expression more curious than concerned about the latter's condition, from what Lilac could discern in any case.

  “You didn't have to do that, it's fine, really. This is important, I know that. Char is just trying to make it clear how much.” As plain as it was on Lilac's face that her excuses were mostly for herself, she hoped Eve wouldn't notice.

  Which given the small nod and hands falling to her sides, seemed to be the case. The stitched girl's gaze mostly fixated on the newly reddened mark on Lilac's face.

  “Huh? Oh, uh, don't worry about it. It'll heal quick enough, I'm used to-”

  “Lilac!” A familiar voice called out, as Blaze rushed to the pair's side. “Are you alright? Why didn't you stay- No, sorry.” The boy began, out of breath, about to chide before he saw the swelling.

  Eliciting a small laugh from her, as she attempted in vain to put his mind at ease. “Don't worry about it, I really don't think sometimes, do I?” Smile faltering despite her efforts for a moment as his discomfort and concern only grow. “Er- Anyway, where did you run off to?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “I… Whenever an incident happens, I have to record it. You know tha- That's not important right now. Do you want to help me pack up?” Blaze gently asked, looking in the direction of the tent Lilac and Eve were in, one of the few that haven't been taken down yet.

  “Oh, sure! Don't want to hold things up any longer, haha. Let's go, Eve!” Calling out chipper as ever, as she marched ahead first to hide her wincing face, Lilac headed off.

  Leaving trailing behind Blaze and Eve, the latter staring ahead while the former stared at her.

  “... Didn't catch much, but you stood up to Char, right?” He asked, before continuing after a short pause as he received no response. Perhaps because the target didn't realise she was being spoken to. “Well, in any case, thank you. To be honest you still kind of give me the creeps, but… I didn't really need to say that. Sorry.”

  Blaze awkwardly fumbled for the right words as the strange woman finally took notice of him, looking over with nary a sound uttered.

  “Um… You can talk, right? You answered that weird guy, why don't you talk more?”

  “Why do you not talk more?” Eve emotionlessly parroted back with a small shift of the head, maybe weighed down to one side by the bolt in it.

  “I- I mean it's hard to speak up sometimes. I guess… Wait a minute!”

  “Hurry up, I'm not doing all the work!”

  Lilac shouted, her call cutting across the frustrated Blaze, resulting in the trio falling into silence save for hurried footsteps. Together packing away the tent, delayed by Eve’s assistance needing to be warded off to prevent further holes.

  - - -

  Night falls and day passes as the Storm Followers march, rest coming sparingly as they made fleet their flight. Heading north-west for their journey, they first veer true west towards the kingdom of Noit's border, in hopes of misleading potential Jorn pursuers into associating the cult with their long-standing rivals and focusing their efforts on the latter. Traveling through two nights without sleep through barren grassland, scarred and left empty by past quarrels between the two nations.

  The first break the group was allowed by their tireless leader the following morning, was brief. Enough to grant their pained feet respite but little else, the refuge granted by the long-abandoned scraps of wood once called a village offering nothing beyond unsound shelter. The few craftsmen not even given that luxury were forced to slapdash together a pair of metallic slippers; plates beaten into shape and bound by the most flexible straps they could cobble together. Although it lacked any attempt at comfort, not even an insole to protect the foot from the hard iron, the wearer forced to don them appeared to be unphased.

  With the overt tracks of dead grass finally covered at the source, for the meantime, the thirty returned to their original course. Until they were to stop that night; some finally collapsed from exhaustion barely into their north-western trek. One of those being the scholarly Blaze, who was carried into a tent the moment they were set. Held by both arms of his assigned personal guard as they entered; trailed by the concerned Lilac, and Eve.

  Gently placing Blaze down on a blanket, the guard knelt down beside him and placed his hand upon Blaze's forehead. A grunt of displeasure was audible a moment later, as the man rose to his feet once more and removed his hood, short-cut green hair on display as he turned to face the two girls who followed in.

  “Miss Lilac-” he began, before sighing momentarily as Lilac stiffened and stood straight. Intimidated by his appearance, only a couple of years her senior, but aged by deep-set scars, an empty right eye socket unhidden, and a generally disgruntled resting expression.

  “Oh! Uh, yes Leaf? ” Lilac asked nervously as she craned her head to look up at the face of the fellow more than a foot taller than her. Until she caught movement from his hands, reaching into his pack to withdraw a rag and waterskin, wetting the former with the latter's contents.

  “Could you cool this, please? The sun is unforgiving.” Leaf requested politely, holding the rag out to her, Lilac's befuddled expression lasting only a moment before she took it.

  “... Oh right, of course! Ahem- Watch closely Eve, this is a useful one.” she added after clearing her throat to draw the attention of the silent figure who was simply staring at the large man with her back-lit green eyes. Perhaps surprised by the contrast, she herself being a few inches shorter than Lilac even after all. But she soon enough turned to the one trying to get her attention.

  “Freeze! Chilling breeze, coat with frost's cold seize!” Lilac's voice boomed with theatrical flair as she held the rag out in front of her for both awake to behold. Inhaling deeply, causing the temperature of the tent to drop a few degrees as though she were sapping the heat by doing so.

  Upon exhaling, mist clung to her very breath, which formed tiny crystals of ice on contact with the rag. Although they melted quickly enough after, the magic still successfully cooled the wet rag to a refreshing state. The spectators politely clapped as Lilac took a bow, signaling the show’s conclusion.

  “Thank you, thank you. You're too kind. Maybe you should try that one next.” as pale violet passed the cold rag to green, Eve tilted her head. Proceeding to mimic the deep breaths and open mouth blow in attempts to summon mist as well.

  As those unsuccessful attempts went along, Leaf nodded gratefully and promptly placed the received fabric on Blaze's forehead in an attempt to ward off the heat. Sitting down after to assume vigil, with Lilac for the time being sitting beside him.

  “Will he be alright?”

  “He will.”

  “Are you sure? This is the first expedition he's been on, and by far my longest. He's not exactly made for thi-”

  “He's stronger than you think.”

  Lilac looked away shamefaced at Leaf's interruption. Despite their friendship, she and Blaze did barely know anything about each other. Different fronts but both private people at heart, as were most in the Storm Followers. Leaf surely being no exception, Lilac assumed and therefore inquired:

  “... And how do you know that?”

  Before he had a chance to answer though, another voice was heard behind them.

  “Freeze.” a small quiet voice devoid of the energy that filled Lilac's incantations, to the point it was practically antithetical in delivery. Just as the word almost sapped the energy of those around, the area filled with a deathly chill. Not refreshingly cool or bitingly frigid, but numbing. Muscles starting to grow stiff, as though prepared to move no more, Leaf still managed to grunt out two words to the confused Lilac as she tried to grasp what was happening.

  “... Leave. Please.”

  As she looked to him, she caught in the corner of her eye Leaf’s hand holding Blaze’s tightly, as the latter's breathing started to slow at the shift in the air.

  “Oh. Right.” she answered a second later, rising as her mind finally realised Eve was the cause. Turning to see the stitched girl repeating the exaggerated breaths, apparently not noticing the change in state her incantation caused. Only stopping when Lilac tiredly grabbed her shoulders and swiftly steered her out of the tent, making no attempt at resistance. Eve apparently confused herself at what the issue was.

  She would not receive an explanation though, as Lilac’s energy was not boundless, and exhaustion would finally catch up to her too, passing out once back in their own tent.