It's been 4 days since the three of them teamed up. On the first day they did, they weren't able to find any sources of food, so they went hungry that night. On the second, they were able to find berries but later found out that they weren't consumable from the "events" that transpired. On the third, they were finally able to find signs of food, though it was truly signs as it was just an abandoned campfire and fish bones hanging off makeshift skewers thrown around it. And now the 4th day has come.
"Did you know in the outskirts some of the desperate ones resorted to cannibalism.." Nephis gave him a disgusted look, taking a step away from him. "Don't even think about getting those teeth near me, you... you savage!" Turning his head to her, the edges of Sunny's dry lips from the lack of water curled up. "Don't worry, I've been told that people with no personality taste bitter!" He turned his head, taking a look at Cassie. "I'd rather much eat her instead!" Cassie shivered but didn't bother taking a step away, though she did shoot a glare his way, the blindfold she once had on now tying her hair back so it didn't get stuck in branches. "I haven't had a shower in 4 days... I haven't eaten or drunk anything in 4 days... and you think I'm in the mood for jokes?" He laughed, the smile never leaving his face. "Don't worry, even though you do stink, it's not as bad as that time—" Nephis shoved her hand over his mouth before bringing her finger over her lips and using her thumb to point left, behind the bushes. Before Cassie could say anything, Sunny grabbed her by the wrist and slowly led her to the trees across the bushes, where Nephis followed, hiding behind the sea of branches.
"Damnit! How much longer is this going to take!" A boy with brown hair tied back into a bun let out quiet curses as he kicked a rock towards their direction—it almost hit them. There was a girl next to him; she also had brown hair, though she had a buzz cut. She threw a look at the boy before sighing. "Stop being so loud... you're only going to alert attention to us." She grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from walking. "I'm assuming the only ones left other than us are Lady Nephis and Sir Caster... the two other than them must be some sort of team playing the long game." A smile adorned her face. "So I say we go after the two hiding out and then let the two legacies face each other." The brown-haired boy's eyes lit up, the smile that he would imagine fit the face of a goblin coming across his face. "Then how should we find those two? After all—" Before he could finish his sentence, he felt something wrap around his ankles, holding him in place before tugging him, making him fall down onto the floor. Taking a closer look, he saw strips of shadows wrapping around his legs like tape. Before he could turn and scream for his partner to help, she had already been knocked out. Turning his head up, he saw a tall girl, her short silver hair sculpting her face and her gray eyes holding nothing but confidence... no, it wasn't confidence, it was purely a justified ego. "Well fuck."
---
Sunny was digging through their pack before pulling out three fish in one hand, a smile almost splitting his face in half. "Look, we have—oh... they're rotten." He could see Nephis's eyes grow cold, and he could hear Cassie let out a sigh as if she had been holding in a breath for months. "Despite only being sleepers, we can survive much longer without food and water than mundane humans, but..." Nephis didn't finish her words, but he understood what she meant—it was a mental thing, especially for those like Cassie and her, who must have never had to struggle with food, though for him it wasn't too big of a deal. "Assuming they're right and it's only Caster and the three of us left, then I suppose we rest for tonight and end this tomorrow." She looked at him, though her gaze wasn't as cold as before. "You're in the wilderness course; how can we prepare against sneak attacks?" He looked up at her before looking around their area. "Well, first I say we throw these two into the losers' zone and then find a spot to stay after." He turned his head to Cassie, whose face looked like she just saw her pet get hit by a motorized vehicle. "But I say we shouldn't give up on food just yet... after all, I'm sure he has eaten, and despite being sleepers, our bodies are still affected."
Cassie's face relaxed a little, but she was still tense. Nevertheless, they had to first deal with the two they had just taken out.
---
"Agh!" Cassie let out a yelp before dropping to the floor, holding her ankle, panic spreading across her face. At first, he assumed she had just tripped or sprained her ankle, but her expression didn't fit that, and that's when he saw it—around five snakes hiding in the bushes, about to strike again. Nephis leapt forward, about to step on one, before he got in front of her and stopped her, a vicious smile on his face. His shadow separated from his body and then lost its form, connecting together with all the shadows of the snakes, holding them in place before it rose up, trapping them and wrapping itself together like a bag. "Well, would you look at that... You guys aren't allergic to snake, right?" He looked at Cassie and noticed she was getting pale, his face turning serious. "Damnation... Were they venomous?" Nephis scowled. "We're taking you to the losing zone. It's better to take the loss than risk real damage." He looked at Cassie to see her gritting her teeth. "I'm sorry..." Her voice was weak, and while she never had a strong voice, this was different. It made him remember memories he didn't want to remember at the moment—no, it reminded him of someone he didn't want to remember at the moment. He sank down to the ground next to Cassie, lifting up her leg. Her eyes shot wide, and before she could ask what he was doing, he located the bite and started to suck on it. He lifted her leg up some more before squeezing onto her thigh as hard as he could. She let out a yelp but didn't try to stop him. In most cases, squeezing above a bite wouldn't be recommended as it will trap the venom in one part, leading to more damage, but he was confident he could get the poison out in time. After around six minutes, he put her leg down before taking her blindfold and wrapping it tightly around the bite. "You do know sucking the venom out of a bite is a common misconception, right? Though I'm assuming you did it based off of us being sleepers and able to handle more than most." He looked at her and smiled. "Pretty much. It's all about damage control." He turned his head to look at Cassie, who was trying to get herself together. "What made you so sure you could get enough poison out in the first place? There's no reason to risk failure; we should have just taken her to—" He stood up and looked at her, stretching his legs from being crouched. "I was completely confident in my abilities. I have a lot of experience sucking... wait, that sounds wrong. I mean sucking like sucking out synthpaste tubes!" He could have sworn he saw Nephis smile a little, but before he could mention it, he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Cassie, now stood up, still pale but much less than before. "Tha—" "You don't have to thank me; after all, didn't the three of us agree to team up until it's only the three of us left?" Her eyes widened a little, but they closed before she opened them once more, smiling and nodding her head. "Yeah, we did." She tried to step towards Nephis but tripped; luckily, Nephis grabbed her before she could fall. "You don't have to say anything, I already know." Cassie smiled once again but looked up at Nephis as she felt her put her arm up on her shoulder. "Use me as a crutch until we find somewhere to rest." He stepped up next to them, the shadow bag shooting to his hand attached by a string. "Then shall we go?"
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"How would we even eat these? They have venom in them."
"Ah, such a cozy life you have lived! Don't you know the venom is stored in the fangs? All we have to do is chop off the head."
"Don't talk about my life like—"
"Guys, let's calm down, please... and just cook them."
He and Nephis had been bickering the whole time until they finally arrived at a spot. It was a piece barren of any trees or bushes, but it was surrounded by them. It was almost like a private sanctuary—or a perfect hiding spot would be the better term. Cassie had been quiet the whole time, but he supposed she had eventually gotten sick of hearing them. Eventually, they lit the fire and skewered the now headless snakes with sharpened sticks. "Now that I think about it, maybe we should have taken the skin off..." Nephis shot him a glare. "So I guess you're not Mr. Know-It-All, are you, Sunless?" He forced out a smile. "Wow... I would never expect a delightful lady to be so rude! Especially a legacy at that. Tell me, did you learn that from your boyfriend Caster or something?" He could almost hear her wretch. "You've gone too far, rodent... to even joke about..." Her eyes softened when she saw Cassie reaching for her skewer. "Well, at least someone has some sense around here..." He grabbed his skewer, leaning back on one arm. "Speaking of sense, which is something you don't have, by the way—we forgot to search for water." Cassie looked mortified; after all, the final battle would be coming tomorrow, and being dehydrated would be much worse than being hungry. It didn't help with how dry the roasted snake was, either. "Say, remember that trap we got you with, legacy mutt? The mud one... if there's mud, there must have been water nearby—after all, it hasn't rained in any of that time. Of course, the mud may have been placed there by the instructors, but there's always a chance." She ignored his provocation and looked at her now empty skewer—wow, she really was a mutt, she didn't even spare the bone. "Despite how unintelligent you may be, you do have a point... but that won't work; if one of us goes to search, there's a chance Caster would ambush them." He could already tell they would be great friends—after all, many ancient friendships ended up with the more good-looking friend slaying the other one... probably, at least. And he was most definitely good-looking—by outskirt standards. "Well, Cassie would still have trouble going that long of a distance, plus, no offense to you Cassie, but... I think you would only do more harm than good. I suppose that only leaves one option." Nephis's eyes closed tight, her lips pursing, already knowing.
They would have to go together... alone.