The right dwarf in the wrong place. (DRG x Arknights)

Chapter ten: "The faces of tired men and women"

"Dialogue"
'Thinking'
Shout

A few minutes earlier:

"Huff... huff... huff..."

"We manage to lose them..."

*SLAM*

"DAMMIT!"

"Uwah!? Miss Nearl!?"

The brick walls of the building cracked after such a heavy impact.

Nearl: "We shouldn't have left him behind!"

Dobermann: "Nearl! You must understand, the longer we stayed there, the harder it is to get out of this place alive without any more casualties!"

Nearl was frustrated, tears were already falling from her eyes, the sight of Thorn covering their escape for them made her feel powerless.

The sight of Nearl at this state surprised the entire group, given her personality and her reputation as the Radiant Knight, this was new; the calm, collected and serious image of Nearl was now shattered, in front of them was a frustrated woman in tears filled with pain and anger.

Even though they had only met Thorn in a day, they grew fond of the old man with his bravery and courage to help out others despite him getting hurt in the process, some even consider him to be an actual grandpa to those who never managed to have one in their lives, but for Nearl, it was different.

Thorn had reminded her of her own grandfather, how he takes care of Nearl when she was still young, memories that Nearl greatly treasures alongside her little sister, even with the short amount of time that Thorn and Nearl had interacted with each-other, she had considered him as another important person in her life, another grandfather she could look up to.

Nearl: "Its not fair... ITS NOT FAIR!"

*SLAM*

Medic: "Miss Nearl! Please stop! Your hands are bleeding!"

Her shout surprised everyone, indeed it wasn't fair, if someone else was in her shoes, being unable to repay the man who saved your life, not once, nor twice, but three times while also saving your friends is indeed frustrating, especially if they were their 'grandfather'.

Some of the members of the group looked down in sorrow, recalling the events that had just happened for them, guilt welling up in their minds for being unable to do more or to help out more.

"Sniff...*Hic* sniff"

Some of the members eyes trailed to the source of the cry, it was Amiya who was hugging her knees while silently crying.

Dobermann's eyes widened, it was serious; the leader of Rhodes Island crying slumped against the wall, defenseless... it had made the others feel more guilty, the overall morale of the group was dwindling.

For Amiya, it was a fairly new experience for her, she had considered Thorn as her grandpa as she was unable to experience what it was like to have one, she had been raised and trained by Kal'tsit herself in a way she could be considered as her mother, but to have anyone else that she could consider as a close family in terms of relatives, it was only Kal'tsit.

But to leave the one she had considered as her grandfather, as a close family member, it took a heavy toll on her.

Right beside Amiya was the Doctor, staring into a concrete wall across them, she had the thousand yard stare, her facial expression was still, unmoving.