𝙏𝙃𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 // 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙚

// Change P.O.V //

"Their scent's this way," you said of the missing members of your group. Sting and Rogue limped alongside you, their arms around each other for support. Sting's other hand gripped his chest where he had been previously assaulted by the strange bat-woman. Rogue's was in his brown satchel, and he was beginning to pale again.

"What's this?" Rogue's voice came as he slowed to a halt. You stopped alongside he and Sting, trying to work out what he was talking about.

"Down," Sting guided you, putting his hand on the back of your head and turning it to face the ground. Your eyes widened at the cracks running beneath your feet and widening only a negligible few metres ahead of you.

"Oh shit," you said.

"Oh shit, indeed!" a pitchy voice giggled, "hi! It's been a while, huh, Sabertooth? I remember you two little lovebirds!"

All three of you whipped around and came face-to-face with none other than Yoko Chain, the girl you and Rogue had been defeated by the previous year during your stakeout in the town of Girasole.

"You!" Rogue hissed.

"Me!" Yoko nodded with another childish giggle, "I guess you guys are here for your little tiger cubs, right?"

Sting gritted his teeth and growled, "where are they?"
"Well... what if I toldja they were down below?" the pink-haired girl covered her mouth to suppress another laugh.

"What?" Rogue raised his brow.
"Yup! Right down below!" she pointed.

Your eyes followed her arm to the ravine now behind you, formed from the many cracks in the ground.
"What have you done?" you snarled.

Yoko giggled again in response, "you'll see!"

In a flash of gold and only a split-second to react, her double-edged axe came careening out of nowhere. The blunt end knocked you right between your ribs and sent you, alongside your partners, into the rushing river below.

You gave a shriek and Rogue gave a stream of curses before your back hit the water. Your first instinct was to gasp for air, having been winded by Yoko's axe, yet only water filled up your lungs. All at once you broke the surface, saltwater spilling down your chin in spurts. Your head snapped around desperately for a glimpse of either one of your teammates and just about caught Sting flailing helplessly.

It took you little time to piece together that, obviously, he had never learned how to swim after the experience that started this entire escapade in which you had saved his past self from drowning.

"Sting!" you called out to him, making your best attempt to swim to him with the current against you. That was entirely futile when a log of driftwood came from virtually nowhere, smacked him in the head and sent him under and then came for you as well. You latched yourself onto it, gripping the wet bark like your life depended on it (it did.)

You watched the figures of your teammates struggling in the water quickly get further and further away, although taking all into consideration this driftwood could be your only chance of survival.

And then in a blink of an eye, the back of your head thwacked into what you could only assume was a wall before you promptly blacked out.

// Change P.O.V //

Rogue gave a couple of heavy pants as he dragged his partner from the brackish, frozen waters and onto dry land. His survival knowledge, strangely, was incredibly extensive, and his hands worked quickly at removing Sting's many external layers of clothing, and then his own cloak.

The blond himself was unconscious and seemingly not breathing. Rogue quickly rolled him onto his side and, like magic, after a few gripping heartbeats, he sputtered to life, water splashing from his mouth as he coughed it up.

He slowly sat up and Rogue thumped him on the back, holding in his own coughs.
"Rogue..." the White Dragon Slayer turned to his companion, eyes tired yet thankful.
"Learn to swim, dick," Rogue crossed his arms.
"You're a lifesaver," Sting just grinned wearily.
"That's a first," the black-haired man replied sarcastically.

In comfortable silence, the two relaxed slightly. Until—

"Shit!" Rogue said.
"What?" Sting blinked.
"Where's [Y/N]?"
"Fuck."

Both men looked around wildly, eyes searching for their friend.

"Oh... Rogue, look!" Sting scrambled forwards and grabbed a small, damp object from the ground ahead of them, next to the water. Upon closer inspection, it was the blue flower clip that Yukino always wore on her hair.

"It's Yukino's flower," Rogue's brow furrowed as he took the small adornment from Sting's open palm and brought it to his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled, lips parting in an attempt to catch her scent. However, he choked on the remnants of the water still in his throat and a brackish droplet trickled down his chin from his mouth.

"Never mind," he wiped his mouth and sighed.
"I can smell nothing but that fucking water..." Sting hissed in defeat.
"How will we know which direction she's gone in if we can't catch her scent? Or if she's even okay?" Rogue looked at the flower in his hand, and then to Sting.

The blond's eyes had drifted down to the water, wide.
"You don't think..." he started quietly.

"No," Rogue shook his head firmly, "no way. Everyone's fine. [Y/N] and Yukino are both capable of looking after their own and I've got no doubt that they'll probably end up taking out the God Slayer before we can."

He bit his tongue on the fact that he, too, was privately worried for his guildmates, so as to not concern his partner more than he already was. With the clear fact that Rush was sending his underlings to pick off the Sabertooth members one-by-one, alongside the knowledge that his condition in terms of magic deficiency was once again worsening, and that his girlfriend was missing or worse, it was difficult not to be frightened.

On the note of his sufferances, he reached into his now damp satchel, pulled out another bottle of ethernano potion, popped the cork and chucked it back.