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Chapter 29

It was the day of the alliance meeting. I had just regained my senses from the temporary relief of living and of all its existence and already a gut feeling of dread rose up amongst the crawling of nerves. My eyes were already adapted to the darkness. Quiet snores came from Mingi's side of the room. The other two beds were occupied. Jongho and Yeosang slept soundly on their respective sides, the mound of fabric rising periodically. Even their mounds were in sync.

Contrary to my stomach, I felt rejuvenated, unlike the past few weeks. It was one of the rarer sleeps that weren't plagued with nightmares. I sat up, suddenly eager to be productive. I was reminded of the incomplete blades. I made a mental note to start the arrowheads later. Those gave quite a headache.

I padded out of the room and down the hallway. I pushed open the heavy door to walk through the clear walled corridor to the workshop. It was pitch black outside. The muted shine from the stars managed to reach down to where I was. The moon was incomplete though it still shone brightly through the film of the neverending sandstorm. I turned the light on in the workshop. The electrical hum echoed off the walls. The workshop felt impossibly huge.

The clutter on the bench marked the previous efforts in creation. Metal slid over metal in an ear piercing screech. I cringed at the loud noise, almost certain I woke up the entire block. With renewed determination, I set my mind onto reshaping the uneven edge of the cut out metal. It shall be an offering of protection. The gut feeling was rarely wrong and at that moment, it churned with unease. I pushed it down in favour of focusing on the small blades. I finished shaping four blade tips.

"I had a feeling you'd be here." Yeosang popped up from behind. I was very close to slicing myself on the reformed metal.

"What do you have there?"

I shielded my work from view with my body. I shooed him away. He tsked but complied. I made sure he was out of view before I resumed the metal work. With each blade completed, reshaping took less time.

By now I had shaped eight blades. The throwing knives were not faring well. They were too light to adequately carry out its function. The blade was not symmetrical to give that streamline body for maximised flight. Even then the aim would be off as the curvature would introduce spin. I decided it was best to make it another day. The materials were gathered into sorting buckets. I had yet to figure out what to do with the uneven pieces.

"It's time to pack." Yeosang called from the other side of the room.

I gathered my newly formed creations in my hands, ensuring the sharp sides pointed downwards. Yeosang stood at the door, head tilted at the objects at hand. His curiosity heightened at the awkward hand shuffling between blades. I drew out a specific knife, denoted by the engraved initials. K.ys.

"It's crooked-" Yeosang took a closer look, "Oh." He was quick to retract his criticism. I stared at him expectantly.

"It's nice." He managed weakly.

I brushed past him when he held the door for me.

"I'm sure the others would like them." He reassured.

His presence offered a quiet comfort that was grounding. It was quite awkward around the others since the last time we grouped together. Living together meant that letting time dissipate the tension was not a viable option.

Wooyoung was up ahead, strapping supplies to the bikes. Yeosang felt the air stiffen as we walked over. I hadn't interacted with Wooyoung after the outburst. Wooyoung froze when his eyes wandered onto me. We stood still for a few moments. Yeosang shook his head. On either side of him was an unusually quiet chatterbox and child-like terror from the person behind.