Auras

Aware that the nutcrackers were able to hide from Logan and Andres' sensory abilities earlier. Dani made thorough searches relying purely on eyesight and explosions.

Once cleared, she positioned her gingerbread men around a trench. Logan checked it for traps before allowing everybody else in. They were all beaten and drained of their energy.

Andres sat, staring at a map, "We go over this bridge and that's it. The angel of death will be waiting for us in his castle".

Logan rubbed his dirty forehead, "We'll still have to beat that commander who took out Kuraokami with a single hit".

"Wait, you mean the Japanese Shinto God?" asked Vanessa followed by a quiet gushing squeal.

Dani slightly smirked while staring at the bottom of the trench, "Yeah. We managed to kill him like yesterday I think".

Snacking on a bag of soy wrappers, Leira was helplessly looking around. There was a feeling of emptiness inside that she couldn't get over. Sure she was new. But Leira was very competitive and wanted to win her first game.

"We can still win this," she said with a cracked voice, "We can just sit here. Rest up and then finish the game. We did it earlier".

Logan looked over, "Couple of things wrong there. One, don't expect to just walk into the game and beat the harder content. This is the second hardest difficulty of the game and we're about to fight an angel".

Leira paused her eating to pop her neck he continued, "Second, remaining in a singular spot or refusing to progress will cause the game to launch a swarm of opponents at you. So if we don't move, it is likely that we will have to face more nutcrackers led by that general".

Just when Leira thought Logan was full of it, she had remembered that though she may not like his attitude, he did offer wisdom that would carry her through her years.

Leira popped another soy wrapper, "So Dani, Logan, what do you guys think we should do"?

"Without a healer? Nothing much to do," said Logan.

With her hand on her chin, Vanessa squinted her eyes at Logan, "Buuut Jaivva and Mina are not healers".

Logan exhaled, "Jaivva would be a great healer. I got her to learn a few healing abilities back in October. I can't believe you never realized her healing throughout our times together".

Vanessa looked around the trench, witnessing everybody locking eye contact with smirks at her. Slapping her hands onto her cheeks Vanessa's face reddened. Logan was about to continue until Vanessa hushed him to spare herself further embarrassment.

Dani relaxed her shoulders, stretching her arms. Vanessa noticed Dani's eyes were filled with tears. They made eye contact causing Dani to wipe them away.

Jeff looked up at everybody saying, "Look, we will go back to the castle. Relax there for a bit. Try again later. It's that simple".

"I'm not giving up ground," said Logan in a disdain tone.

Vanessa had ignored it for far too long. It was clear now more than ever that Logan and Jeff weren't friends. In fact, Logan appeared to hate Jeff whereas Jeff seemed to be afraid of Logan. Sure Logan was a more competitive player, but Vanessa saw no reason for him to be so harsh towards Jeff.

She walked over to place her hand on Logan's shoulder, catching a scornful glare from him. Dani got up with her to break them apart.

Andres announced, "Jaivva and Mina are alive".

Everybody, except Vanessa and Logan who were locked onto one another, stared at Andres as he rose to his feet. He stood outside of the trench, yelling for Jaivva and Mina.

Logan continued adamantly sitting in his spot waiting for Vanessa to make a move. On the contrary, Vanessa maintained her grip, wanting him to calm down, and understand that the game wasn't worth forfeiting friendships.

Mina was being carefully guided over by Jaivva through the snow. Sight of Andres gave them relief.

"Yall alright," asked Andres.

Jaivva shook her head and rolled her eyes. Mina hugged her ferret as she carefully stepped inside of the trench. Tension between Logan and Vanessa frightened her.

"Jeff," called Andres, "What are we doing"?

Jeff gestured his hand towards Logan and Vanessa just as Jaivva walked over to help separate them.

Andres threw his hands, "Forget about them! What are we doing leader"?

Leira signaled Mina to come to sit next to her. Hugging her ferret tighter, Mina ran over to Leira's side. The two girls hugged, eating soy wrappers.

Vanessa walked to the other side of the trench with Dani. Everybody was now silent waiting for Jeff's call to action.

Dani yelled, "Jeff, what are we doing"?

Jeff began fidgeting, "Yall keep fighting. And Logan wants to bite my head off".

Dani yelled louder, "What are we doing Jeff"?

Mina still didn't feel comfortable with Logan. But given that he was the only one against Jeff's leadership made her feel protected against any threats.

"Alright!" yelled Jeff, "We finish the game now! Is everybody happy"?

Just as Logan was heading out, Vanessa announced, "Yes. Beecause is our leader's decision".

Andres checked his stats, noticing that he was nearly completely recovered now.

"Do you guys need to heal up?" asked Jaivva.

Dani shook her head, "No, you're healing auras are doing fine".

Jaivva crinkled her face, "I don't have healing auras".

Without care of the sudden recovery, Jeff began ordering, "Alright, so Mina will be with m-".

"No," she whimpered before running out to Logan.

Jeff saw the glares from Jaivva before continuing, "I'm not even gonna argue".