( then —— at alice. )

she’s effectively homing beacon.

do not go to the coasts. do not venture into the mountains. and do not —— 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 move back up north. those are your critical vulnerability zones, understood?

—— this is a genuine calamity beyond measure. that thing that swept through here, I cannot stress enough, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 return if you linger. it will be stronger, it 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 kill you. 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 of you, with or without executive approval from in here.

( gesturing — tapping her temple. you know. )

( a moment of hesitance . visible within the darkened azure eye of the Huntress; ultimately, gaze connects again, expression once again void of the casualness of moments ago. )

I’ll keep this formal and concise, then.

you can’t stay here. obviously. for any number of reasons that immediately come to mind, and every reason that doesn’t as well.

. . . and, my apologies.

well, don’t you remember your manners. here, I’ll give you something to ponder on the trip —— the answer to that is simultaneously “under 100” and “way older than you”.

. . .

so, now for the bad news, if you aren’t in opposition?

. . . if it were quite literally 𝐚𝐧𝐲 other hunter experienced with Guardians, you’d both be in hot water right now, is what I’m getting at.

call it luck or see it as fate, but there’s a reason they requested I handle the bounty here. moreover, there’s a reason —— well. one of them, I suppose —— that I ended up on the eastlands’ commission in the first place.

( a moment of quiet. then, a cordial nod. )

. . . you’d be surprised, boy.

which means I don’t have to kill you. which is why I haven’t killed you.

but, t’would seem my duty as a hunter is once again made obsolete by my duty to my patron ——

I mean, with a purpose of being here. and people back east to get home to.

I’m just a cranky old woman.

nothing to apologize for, except for wasting my time, which I have too much of regardless. live your lives, kids.

. . . we’re still workshopping a term for all this. you get the idea.

your point of reference was “for adults”, not for ——— . . .

“spontaneous” is a very important distinguisher here, i will add.

( tired lizard blinking )

. . . no. no, the latter few are not.

crystals. last I checked most guardians start doing that when their bodies begin decomposing, so keep an eye on that and stop eating yourself.

okay.

okay. are you two done now? can we have a conversation like adults without you two spontaneously crying, fucking, running off into the forest, disappearing into an unreachable metaphysical realm hidden in the recesses of your minds, or getting killed?

thats just not what i meant at all

yeah, no, I’m not allowed to go anywhere near them, sorry.

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀
⠀⠀. . . forgive me. I have overstepped.
⠀⠀

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀
⠀⠀yes. of course.
⠀⠀