RE:WRITTEN

022: Unspoken Fear

"Are you crazy, Amai?"

I look at Ikimono as she stares at the blonde girl. Her two-colored eyes narrow as she crosses her arms, tapping her foot on the floor. She huffs as she waits for an answer.

"My sister needs to be saved, Ikimono. We have to move fast. There's no time to lose if she's Corrupted." Amai states calmly. "We can do it if we all work together."

"Amai, think rationally," Naomi says. "Several of you are still underdeveloped. Although Soveliss, Ikimono, and I have been training for a long time, none of us have ever dealt with something like this. Corruption is dangerous, and your sister could get hurt, yes. But we need to look out for ourselves too."

I look at my friend. "Plus, Faylen and Voron told us that your Written Form is incomplete. Are you sure you want to go after Violet when you know your powers aren't ready?"

"There's no time to lose," Amai says. "Please, we have to go after her. I cannot rest until she's safe."

Ikimono sighs a little. As she rubs her temples with a slight shake of her head, she then opens her eyes to look at Amai once again. She purses her lips before speaking.

"Alright. If you think we're able to do this, then I will follow you."

Nova stands from her bed. She nods at Amai with a grin.

"I'm also with you. But we need to be safe, Amai. Please don't forget that our own safety is important as well."

Saisho nods in agreement. "Count me on your side. We're here to help, but you also need to trust us. We won't be able to figure this out if we don't work together."

Amai's eyes seem to glow for a moment. She looks at me.

"We can do this. Trust in me."

I sigh. "Alright, bestie. I trust you."

"Did you mean what you said to Amai back there?"

I look down at the fox at my feet. She sits there with her three tails curled around her front paws. Her eyes are wide with curiosity as she watches me closely. I currently hold a bowl with some ground beef from earlier that I was planning to use to make a midnight snack of nachos, so I can't tell if she actually wants to talk to me or if she's begging for the meat.

"I'd like to think I meant it."

"What does that mean?"

I shrug at Snowie. "I'm not sure. But Amai... she was really adamant about going after her sister. I admire her courage, I really do. She's strong, kind, selfless... but she rarely takes time to look out for herself. I'm worried about her, but I need to take care of myself as well. I can't always be her support."

"Why don't you tell her that?"

"It's not that easy, Snowie." I sigh. "She listens to me, but she also likes to listen to a narrative in her head that everything will be the way it was before. While I understand that maybe she finds comfort in that narrative, she also needs to understand that it can be harmful."

The fox tilts her head a little as one of her ears folds back. "So she has hope for things to go back to what they were. But it isn't a good thing?"

"Not particularly," I say. "Only because the way she has hope is through only believing that everything will stay the same or go back to how it was."

Snowie jumps up onto the counter. As she walks over towards me, I lean back to look at her. She tilts her head a little at me.

"Do you think she'll realize that things might not go back to how they were?"