Departure

Taking a deep breath, Kite straightened his back and reached for the ceiling of the cave. "Never seen a guy touch his toes for that long," said Tracer, without looking up from the collection of bullets laid out in front of him.

Staggering back a step, Kite grunted as he found his balance. "I wasn't sure I'd be able to. You were right, my head feels basically clear. Everything else is still sore, but watch this." Kite jumped straight up from where he stood, tucking his legs while in the air, landed almost gracefully on his toes, and went down to a squat. "If I'd have tried that last night, I would've faceplanted and broke my nose. Lucky I didn't have Fatigue to deal with, or I doubt I could stand on my own right now."

"Keep thinking that," said Broadhead, who still lay on his mat. "Getting hurt makes you hungry, so you overeat, and then you need to find more food. Fatigue just goes away on its own."

"Yep, just gotta not use any weapons for a bit," added Duster, who was similarly sprawled out on his own mat, stiffly clenching and unclenching his fists. HEAT had gone out early, before Kite had woken up, to scout out the surrounding forest and disperse the boar viscera, leaving only the four of them in the cave.

Taking a piece of jerky from his tunic pocket and having a bite, Kite sat down. "Speaking of weapons, how did H make that rifle of hers? It's taller than me, and it has a real-deal scope."

Again, Broadhead responded first. "She didn't. It's like her version of my wrist string and T's elbow action, she needs it to use her rounds."

Recalling the conversation from before dinner, Kite snapped his fingers and finished the piece of jerky. "Oh, it's because she's a Siege class or whatever, right? Makes sense. That gun could fit bullets the size of my arm."

"I said, 'rounds,' for a reason, K. Nothing that big should be called a bullet."

Kite spread his feet past shoulder width and stretched over to touch his left foot. "Fair enough. She must have some mean variants."

The cave went silent for a moment. Kite looked up from his stretch, and Tracer asked, "K, do you know what HEAT stands for?"

"What?" Kite raised an eyebrow and glanced between the gunman and hunter.

"H-E-A-T. High Explosive Anti-Tank? That's what's actually on her coin, and far as we all know, the only thing her gun can shoot."

Kite gave an exaggerated exhale as he reached for his right foot. "Well, that's a relief. Here I thought I'd only need a new ribcage if she'd have shot me last night, but I guess I wouldn't even have a body to worry about." Duster spat a laugh, Tracer shook his head with a smile, and Broadhead just nodded.

"Oh yeah, sorry we didn't get to figure out your variants last night, but it was a long night for all of us. Let me give your arms a look-over."

Kite stood up straight and began to roll up his sleeves. "It's fine. I honestly forgot I'd asked after we ate." Before he took a step, a thunderous crack split the air, and Kite had to drop to one knee, feeling as though a weight had been shoved in his chest.

"Oh, fuck!" yelled Duster, covering his ears.

His ears ringing, Kite saw Broadhead immediately get up and kick the fire pit apart, almost stumbling himself. He tossed the remnants of the fire out of the cave mouth and over the cliff. Grimacing, Tracer helped Duster to his feet. Kite found the hunter's hand extended to him again, this time with a shout of, "Get up! We need to go, now!"

Kite was almost able to find his feet entirely on his own. Hardly able to hear his own voice, he shouted back, "What about H?" Broadhead stripped the remaining bits of jerky off the drying stick, and extended them to Kite. After the squad had woken up, most of it had been distributed. "I told you, I feel fine."

Broadhead took Kite's hand in his and shoved the dried meat into it. "You're still the one in the worst shape."

Kite couldn't bring himself to hand the food back, and instead said, "You could hardly eat last night, don't act like you're ready to take on the world."

The hunter simply scowled and turned to Duster, who batted Tracer away while keeping a hand on his head. "D? You alright?" He took the boy by the shoulder. "You gotta go make sure the way to the river's clear. Can you do that?"

The boy shrugged out of Broadhead's grip and ran his hand through his short hair, blinking and opening his eyes wide. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I've only done it fifty times." Broadhead patted him on the back as he pushed by.

"D," Tracer called, walking up to the boy, who hesitantly turned to face him. The gunman was only taller by a few inches. "You got this. Stay safe, alright?" He presented his fist with a thin smile. The boy smiled in response, and bumped his fist to Tracer's, before flattening himself against the cliff-face and shimmying up the footpath.

"Alright, K, here's the plan. D's going one way to the river, and we're going to take different ones. H knows them better than us three, since her and D scout the most. T, you follow the cliff. I wager H will be easier to spot if you're looking into the forest. K, you're with me."

Tracer simply nodded while pushing everyone's mats into a large bundle. Kite protested, "Wait, what? Are you kidding? We'd be screwed if we ran into a fight. I'm useless as is, and you're still Fatigued."

Picking up his crossbow, Broadhead's mouth tightened as he turned to face Kite with his rock-like eyes. "Listen here." A loud thud drew the trio's attention to the cave mouth, where HEAT was crouched, precariously close to the edge.

'The hell did she come from?'

"Christ, H, I told you to stop jumping down here like that. Last thing we need is for you to slip and end up dead or with a busted leg."

"Sorry, T, won't happen again." Her eyes narrowed. "Where's Duster?"

"I had him go scope out the way to the river. You didn't run into him on your way back?"

"No, thankfully. That's good, means he was quiet. How are we splitting off?" Forming a round as large as Kite's upper arm, HEAT cocked and loaded her rifle, which he noticed had a sling that looped over her right shoulder.

Without moving his neck, Broadhead did a double-take from Kite back to the giantess. "You and I will go the direct route, and K and T will hug the cliff."

"Got it." Without another word, HEAT crouched and threw herself up at the lip of the cave ceiling, catching hold of something with a hollow grunt and making her rifle clatter on the exposed rock. Broadhead started along the footpath as she pulled herself up, and Kite noticed muscles pop out of her forearms and shoulders.

"Jesus."

Tracer tapped Kite on the shoulder, which stopped him staring. "Still makes me nervous. If there's one thing H isn't, though, it's fast. She mustn't have gone far to scout. C'mon, you first." Broadhead had rounded the curve of the footpath when the pair started along. Kite found himself looking to the horizon, where rolling hills that must have been sand dunes seemed to flatten into a plain. The sky was not totally clear, and shadowy patches dotted the orange-brown landscape.

"Jeez. Didn't see all this last night."

"Please keep your eyes where you're going. You still want a crash course on variants?"

Putting his gaze back on the cliff-face, Kite muttered, "Yeah, yeah."

"Here's the biggest thing: If you try to make something that you can't, you'll end up with your, 'standard,' weapon, so to speak. Once, I tried for a few days to make one of H's rounds and ended up with just a bunch of rifle bullets and Fatigue. I think you'd get a shield like that one you made when you first showed up last night."

Kite's brow narrowed as he rounded the curve. "I thought you were asleep."

A small chuckle came from Tracer. "With D breaking all those rocks and yelling at you? I wish. Only thing better than a nap before dinner is going to sleep with a full stomach next to...people you care about."

A smile found its way to Kite's face. "Yeah, I get that." Broadhead and HEAT were already jogging off by the time he got through the bush, but without thinking, he called, "Hey, B!" which made the two wheel around in alarm. 'Damn, I bet I'm blushing.' "Just..thanks. For not leaving me at that tree. I'll do what I can to pay it back."

Broadhead's expression softened, surprising Kite. Softly but audibly, he called back, "Don't mention it. See you in fifteen minutes."

Grinning, Tracer emerged from behind the bush, and started jogging along the cliff edge. He rolled up his right sleeve to expose the gun mechanism in his elbow, and started feeding bullets into it. "They're both big softies, the two of them. They just, well, I guess it's just that they've been at this longer than you or me."

Starting to run himself, Kite put himself on Tracer's right side, closer to the forest, and recalled something Broadhead said when they first met. "Were the two of them the ones that started the squad?"

Tracer's smile became a thin line. "Yep. I still don't know the story of how they met."

To Kite's surprise, Broadhead's sleeptalking and, 'You're adapting pretty damn well,' echoed in his mind. "Huh. Wonder why they haven't shared."