71 071 CaveXFeelings

The next day on the quiet river side where Lara was ambusbed, a male Naga's head is hidden behind a large rock. It would surface then sink again as if waiting for something.

After repeating the action for thirty minutes, it eventually left the area.

Another 15 minutes later, the silence was broken by a voice.

"They left." Silver announced with his Batears active while having his eyes closed.

"How many were there waiting?" Slade asked. Slade is currently in full combat gear in black and orange with a katana strap on his back. A metallic masked half black-half orange also cover his face. Different cold weapons attached to his body as if he is going to war, samurai style.

"Including the one who left first, there are 8 of them." Silver answered without opening his eyes.

"Alright, time to work. You know your tasks."

Lara and Marco left the cover of the forest and went to the river to do some digging. Slade had his back on a tree looking at the direction of the river upstream to check if any Nagas choose to return. Grylls is just nonchalantly following Silver around. He has the most lax task for the day yet crucial so he intends to stick to the role as intended.

As time pass by, the group realized that the clues and evidence the two Hunter finds are leading them upstream to where the Nagas seems to be coming from.

3 hours later Silver 'saw' a group of Nagas enter his 200 Meter range swim underwater. He waited for them to reach 100 Meter before whistling to the group.

*chirp* *chiiiiiirp* *chirp*

Everyone immediately hid behind the trees and used In to hide their presence.

Silver saw the group of Nagas passed their location.

"They're gone." -Silver.

"This is the third time in the last 30 minutes. We may be nearing their den. We should scout ahead."  Slade suggested.

The group agreed and traveled an hour upstream before stopping. In front of them is an underground cave/river system where the current river is connected to. At the top of the cave is one of the mountain of the Begerosse Mountain Range.

They all have different expressions on their face as they take in the situation.

"It will be an adventure." Lara started with optimism.

"Death is not an adventure, my lady. Never thought I'd die adventuring side by side with a kid." Grylls sighed in reluctance.

"What about side by side with an apprentice?" Silver looked at him.

"Aye, I could do that." Grylls answered back.

"You two can go ahead, I'll take dibs on both of your shares after this." Slade commented under his mettalic mask.

"All of you be quiet. We need a plan."  Marco is getting none of their bs. His eyes are on the prize. "Silver, how many Nagas can you detect?"

"Give me a few minutes." Using his 'Echolocation' Silver concentrated on the river and the entrance of the cave. He actually doesn't need a few minutes to determine them but still acted as if he needs them. He counted a total of 27 Nagas with 13 way beyond his '100 meter range'. He could also make out 10 rocks sitting at the bottom of the river and thought might as well count them.

<5 minutes later>

"I can confirm 11 moving source and another 12 large unmoving source below. They can either be big rocks or Nagas in waiting. Wait... the other group from before just returned. We now have 17 of them and 12 unconfirmed." Silver concluded as he saw the counts increase from 27 to 33 after the group of Nagas returned from their trip downstream.

"It looks like this is their den indeed. However, the clues we currently have leads us to the underground cave." Marco surveyed the surrounding for a while and look at the mountain.

"Silver, you and Lara stay here and monitor the entrance. Take note of the source at the bottom in case they are Nagas in hiding as well. Us gentlemen will try if we can see the entrance above the mountain. Will meet back here in 4 hours. If you'll be late, go back directly to the camp."

As the gentlemen left, silence took over the area.

"You know, the first time I learned about your ability I thought it was a waste of your talent. But after today, I changed my mind. Although it is not combat oriented, you can actually use it like En on such a large scale without actually alerting them you are watching. Not everyone can do what you are doing." Lara seriously said.

"But don't stop there. Every ability can be further enhanced, you just need to have the correct direction and vision. Something that keeps you going. Something that pushes you."

"I'll tell you a little secret, big sis Lara. Can I call you that?" Silver asked in sincerity.

Lara was surprised to the suddeness of the request. She then felt a little warm on her heart and answered. "Sure you can little one, what is it?"

"I am only telling you this because your heart is pure, I can 'hear' it. Or feel it for better lack of word. Ever since I activated both of my ear nodes, I can somewhat feel everyone's emotion through one's heartbeats. I know you were surprised earlier and I know you are feeling trust to what I am saying at the moment." Silver paused for a while to let Lara understand what he said.

"Your heartbeat and Grylls heartbeat are warm and full of adventure. Although there are other minute feelings it is mostly on those two. I'd say if I were to trust anyone in the camp, it would be you two." He paused again.

"Bradford's is mostly boredom and just recently turned to anticipation. Maybe because he has been trapped in the camp for more than a week and now he is anticipating to show off his skill." Silver explained.

"Next is Slade. I can only feel coldness and calculating from his and nothing else at the moment. I can only think that he has trained his emotion to the level no one can get anything from him on the surface. It might be because he is a mercenary or I lack further practice on this." Silver deduced.

"The former might be the case. They do what they are paid for and emotions can be a hindrance to that." Lara added.

"Then we have Marco. I can feel desperation and excitement from him since this morning. However when we chanced upon the cave, I felt insatiable greed was overflowing. This dagger we are looking for must be of extraordinary value for him to have such greed for it." Silver felt curious, very curious.

Lara's eyes also turned serious and somewhat cold.

"Lastly, we have Nellie." *sigh* Silver can't help but feel guarded and terrified. "Despite all the laugh and joy she is showing in the surface... if I am not wrong, I can feel pure killing intention from her since I gained this ability. She may not be what she is showing in the surface." Silver paused.