Ryoiki: Ranger of Light (4)

CHAPTER 11: Survive

Fern sat Sakuna down in the abandoned store backroom, placing her close to the fire.

"Thanks Fern..." she mumbled, staring at the fire...

"No problem Sakuna- good idea to head here...what do you need the fire for though?"

Sakuna smiled a bit...

"Warmth...light..." She mumbled again, seeming dazed.

Fern looked at her weirdly...was the sickness getting to her?

"Well I'm going to try and scavenge something to eat...maybe backtrack and snag some of the rations..."

Fern quietly left Sakuna.

He slinked outside the backroom into the main shop...the many isles were empty.

He used his digital binoculars to scout outside...it was only around 2PM, he had a lot of time...

He put his binoculars away and went outside.

He walked around the area with his rifle drawn, carefully peaking corners and clearing rooms. Hoping not to run into anyone...

And he didn't, but his journey wasn't successful.

He disappointedly slipped back to the store, and into the backroom.

Sakuna hadn't left her spot at the fire...

"Sakuna?" Fern asked, walking over and holding her shoulder.

She was sleeping deeply, her chest gently rising up and down...

Fern sighed in relief...then crawled over to the other sided of the fire and fell asleep himself.

Sakuna wasn't doing better the next morning, but they only had a few hours to reach their exfil...it would be a rough time.

Fern helped get the still weak Sakuna to her feet, but Sakuna was able to walk herself, minus occasional breaks.

The walk though the Cerentian city was quiet.

Ryoiki's bright sun shined down on the duo as the walked, the only sound being their footsteps. Which echoed through the destroyed city.

They moved as quickly as Sakuna's body would allow, and tried to stay out of easy ambush spots or potential patrol routes...easier said than done.

But they found the exfil zone, a decently large courtyard which was flattened by bombings...

Sakuna and Fern hid in a corner covered in shade, letting them see the entire courtyard.

"...Pretty sight." Sakuna commented, mesmerized by how light reflected off of some of the destroyed structures which were once so beautiful.

"I suppose so, has a lot of corners though. How do we know we aren't being watched?" Fern observed, he always had a keen eye for spotting...

"Heh...You wanna know how I know we aren't being watched?" Sakuna said, then pointed at a random bit of the destroyed courtyard.

"There is 3 bugs sitting in a crack right here." She giggled.

"...How do you know that?" Fern asked, looking at her confusedly.

"I can sense them...their lil movements...silly things..."

Fern looked at Sakuna confused, she was acting dazed again...

"And how can you sense them?" He followed up.

"Cause their in the light...I can sense anything in light...cause me a goddess, so if anyone tries to spy on us I can just say where they are and banggg! Ya gottems..." Sakuna mumbled and fell over when she said 'Bang!'

"...You should take a nap." Fern suggested.

"...yeah your right..." She mumbled in approval...then drifted off.

Fern let a small chuckle out, and went back to sweeping the view...

He didn't see anything for a little over half an hour...and began to get a little bored. Deciding to play mental games with himself.

It took him a bit to find one, but he eventually decided on a little multiplication game...how high could he go with multiplying 2?

He mumbled to himself as he began to think...going down the long list of multiplies of 2, going higher each time.

Sadly though, Fern lost count when he noticed a small black jeep pull up to the exfil zone...

Fern gently nudged Sakuna awake...

"Hm...what is it...?" She mumbled as she stirred, rubbing her eyes.

Quickly though, her senses kicked in.

"...12:15, 4 guys, heavily armed but not heavily armored." She stated, simply getting a read from her ability to sense them...

"How many can we take?" Fern asked.

"All of them, dumbass. Just make sure they don't radio in..." Sakuna advised.

"...Think you can go over there and get two if I can snipe one, then the other?"

Sakuna thought for a second, then ignited her Holo-knife.

"Yeah, just say."

Fern smiled, and waited for the 4 men to leave the vehicle...

He had his sights trained on one of the heads...their rifle's were clearly high power, but not designed for long range.

And Fern was a sharpshooter.

"Payo." He said and took his shot.

His target fell, and in a flash of light. Sakuna was behind two more of the men.

She stabbed one in the throat with her holo-knife, then stole his pistol and fired it at another solider in the head.

The final standing man had turned to Sakuna, but the splatter of blood out of the sides of his head told her Fern had hit the shot.

Sakuna dropped to her knees, and fern ran over to get her.

"Hey, Hey, Sakuna. Sakuna!!!" He yelled, holding her in his arms.

Sakuna was on the verge of passing out again...

But the sound of roaring engines above them put fear into Fern...and he gripped his pistol. Turning to face it.

A Kenaian drop-pod.

They were out.