Smell

Drips of sweat drenched my forehead as the corridor rumbled. It felt as if the entire world was shaking. The hand that gripped on to me like a vice was refusing to let go as they owner of the hand used their water arts to keep the putrid slug from reaching us.

I couldn't help but wonder how the beast was able to grow and adapt in an environment such as this.

Slam!

A piece of debris fell onto my arm injuring it slightly. The pain instantly snapped me back into reality and far from my wandering thoughts. There was no time to pick accurate routes and the best we could do was allow ourselves to be taken by fate.

We turned left and right almost whimsically while the beast from behind us followed. I tried to glace behind me but the falling rocks among other obstacles had made it almost impossible.

The beast wasn't using any magic but just a small slap from its tail would send rocks flying in all directions.

I cussed to myself endlessly using every swear word I could imagine.

[ If only we were not in this stupid underground cave then we could use magic! ]

The chase lasted for longer then I dared to imagine. I had actually run out of swear words to the point that I had even made up new words before Nathan's ragged voice called in front of me.

"Up there!"

I looked over and saw that there was a hole in the ceiling just a few meters above us.

"Sora wind magic!" I called.

[ We could just use a little to escape right? ]

But there was no response.

I turned to look behind me before looking back at Nathan.

"The others where are the others?!" I said in panic.

Rumble!

Crack! Crack!

The ceiling was caving in.

" No time!" Nathan responded as he dragged me upwards.

I could help but look behind us as we had sailed through the exit using the spetic water.

Bang!

With a sharp crack the exit was ruined and we were outside.

" We have to go back!!" I shouted as I looked at the hole and began to head back towards it.

My heart at that moment shook. They were just here with us a moment ago and then they were gone. Did they take other exits? We they trapped under the rocks?!

I began digging at the space that had once lead to our salvation as if it had lead to my undoing. Nathan had grabbed my arm and made me look at him. His lips seemed to be moving but I couldn't hear anything except the ringing of bells.

The crashing from the sewer system must had caused damage. I just looked at him with eyes wide open before collapsing on to his chest.

" Everyone…"

A warm and wide set of arms coiled around me encompassing me in their warmth. The ringing in my ears continued so I sat there unmoving. I was in shock and panicked. I had no idea what to do next it was if my brain had completely frozen.

There was dirt under my fingers from digging and a mild pain the engulfed my body.

After a while

" Yu * ring* Undine *ring* okay.." Faintly Nathan voice could be heard amongst the chaos. It was not in complete sentences however.

Nathan used his thumb to pull up my head from his chest and began to speak. I looked at his face motionlessly still in shock.

His face began to become agitated.

His wiped some debris from my face before he stood me up and wiped the dirt of my face with a cloth.

It was then that his voice was finally heard.

" They are okay Yuki, Undie said that they are all safe. We just got split up.. They are safe." Nathan said.

" Safe?" I responded.

In was then that Nathan's face bloomed into a smile.

" Yuki they are going to be okay!" Nathan said as he grinned.

Then something I completely did not expect happened.

A light kiss fell on my forehead.

[.......]

His ears became a light pink hue before he once again wrapped his arms around me.

" You worried me for a moment. I am glad you are okay" Nathan said as his arms wrapped around my head.

His natural smell mixed with earth and a slight whiff of dirty water engulfed me. I decided to ignore what he just did earlier because of his worry he probably wasn't thinking.

It wasn't long before we had to decide what to do next. He released his grip on me and looked into my eyes with his head slightly tilted. I wondered if he was waiting for a response or reaction so I summed up the last piece of my energy and simply said " Where is everyone?"

"Yuki can you hear me?! Are you safe? " I voice said as it reverberated through my mind.

[ Kibbles?! ]

" Yuki! You're safe!!! I was calling and calling but you didn't respond" Kibbles said with complaint.

" Hey Yuki, Undine says he is with a few people but Kibbles, Sora and Loki are unaccounted for." Nathan quietly. He seemed to be frowning.

[ Kibbles are you with Sora and Loki? ]

" How did you know?!" Kibbles said with a hint of surprise.

[ Undine is with everyone else except Nathan ]

Kibbles was silent for a moment before he responded.

" I think Loki and Sora are annoyed with Nathan, they keep talking about wanting to fry him for some reason."

[ Could it be because we left them behind? I need to apologise as soon as we meet up! ]

" Kibbles says that him Sora and Loki are all safe" I said with a smile.

" En, Everyone else is safe too." Nathan said with a nod.

" How do we meet up exactly?" I said to Nathan who was poised next to me.

" Let's find a place to make a fire first and a safe place to rest" Nathan suggested as he looked down at my garments.

I looked over at Nathan and realised how cold I felt.

It must have been from when he used the water magic to send us up. Our clothes were drenched and covered in Cupid knows what.

[ The stench!!!]

" I feel like vomiting" I said unwilling as my senses began to return to me.

" Sorry, I couldn't think of another way to take advantage of that exit." Nathan replied with a shrug.

" We will need a fire and a place to bathe" I said in retorted.

Nathan chucked as he stood and held out his hand.

" Should we get going then?"

We had gone from what could only be described as a herodinist wonderland, to a sewer and then finally a open plain with a crack on the surface. We looked around after he helped me up and picked a direction.

Team Kibbles were stuck in the sewers so they had told us they would plan to find their way out, while Team Undine had ended up in a part of Tama Forest. Since we were up on the surface area we had all decided to meet at the entrance of the forest.

Too much had happened today. I promised if I ever saw that silver guy again I would beat him up a few rounds to make myself feel better.