𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒓: 𝑬𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒕 (𝑹𝑬𝑾𝑹𝑰𝑻𝑬)

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚-𝑶𝒏𝒆- 𝑰𝒓𝒌𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆

Apexis and Azulis were sharing some food. Sentara and Elm had conveniently left most of their supplies at their previous campsite. This meant they had plenty of food, water, and water. Besides, they were all used to not having much food or water from living with limited supplies. Apexis paused for a second. "I'll be right back," she said, scurrying behind a bush. Azulis was confused but shrugged. "Uhh...can I borrow your sword?" She asked quietly, reaching out for it. "Um, sure. Why?" He handed it to her, still puzzled. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bush. Azulis covered his mouth with his hand, shocked. "Your hair..."

"I cut it. I assume it's not perfect, but-"

"Oh, Rendor. Uh, it might need some improvement."

Tygren took another cautious step back, eyeing Deveni carefully. "What?" They asked, arm still extended, waiting for a handshake. "I don't know, maybe the fact that you stalked me for four months? It's kind of weird if you ask me." He squinted at them, taking a more defensive stance. "I'm not going to hurt you, don't worry." They sheathed their weapon. Tygren looked skeptical, staying in his stance.

Finally, he started to walk away, leaving Deveni in silence. "Don't follow me," Tygren demanded, not bothering to look back. After walking for a while, he found a nice spot to sit down and clear his mind. He almost immediately spotted a shady-looking cat. It took a few steps closer, now only a foot away from Tygren. "I find you fascinating," the cat said quietly, padding even closer. Tygren threw his head back, sighing dramatically. "What?"

"I take it you don't listen?" He asked, irritable. Deveni shifted out of the cat form, now appearing as a human again. "Maybe, depends on who you ask," they muttered, smiling innocently. "What even are you? Some sort of shapeshifter?"

"Precisely. I suppose you've never seen anything like me?"

"No, I haven't- I spent most of my life on that mountain, so my experience with the more...eccentric creatures of Ardonia is minimal." Tygren crossed his arms, sighing again. "Anyhow, I'm going to continue lecturing Apexis. Stop following me," he stood up, turning to leave, "your consistency is irksome."

"Thank you." They bowed, a wide grin spreading across their face, leaving their horrifically sharp teeth on display. Standing up straight again, they shifted into a cat. Tygren knew they'd follow him anyways, but didn't have the patience or energy to deal with them. When he strolled back into the clearing, his eyes fell upon a disaster.

"Hi." Apexis frowned. "Were you mauled by a rabid creature? What the hell happened?" Tygren shouted, gesturing to her hair. "I cut my hair." She shrugged.

"Cut? You fucking chopped it off. Listen, I'm no hairdresser, but this is absolutely egregious- atrocious, even," Tygren rambled on about how terrible of a job Apexis did, before coming to a halt and looking at Azulis. "Azulis, can I talk with you?"

He nodded, following him away from Apexis, who crossed her arms. "I'm going to need you to restrain her while I fix that abomination of a haircut. Thank you." He drew his sword, which worried Azulis slightly. "I guess I could," He muttered. "Don't feel bad, it'll be fine."

After a while of fixing her hair, Apexis was still horrified to see what Tygren had done to her. "What does it look like?" She inquired, feeling her hair. "Next time we find another stream or river you can find out. We should get moving soon." Tygren sighed, sheathing his sword.

Apexis huffed, crossing her arms. "Are you still angry at me?" she asked, looking at Tygren. He exhaled sharply through his nose. "Yes, I am. However, your curiosity is less concerning than Ingressus finding the other Prime Songs. Speaking of, you still have them, right?" he asked as Apexis nodded. She handed them to him. The entrancing effect that the Primes typically had on people of all species seemed not to affect Tygren.