Seeing Kestis's strong reaction, Talen smirked. 'What do you take me for, Kestis?' he thought, standing up, jian clenched in his fist.
Talen knew for a fact Kestis had been actively trying to mislead him. The where, how, and why were the questions, questions to which he only had two possible answers.
The first was a logically sound possibility. However, for the same unexplainable reason he was suspicious of Kestis, he doubted it the most: that Kestis had been telling the truth.
'As if.' Talen thought, scoffing inwardly.
The second, however, was one Talen had more confidence in. To him, it made the most sense, considering Kestis's history and Talen's observation of him. That possibility was: Kestis was plotting to guide them in a certain direction.
Kestis's plans were a mystery to Talen. Nevertheless, one thing that was not a mystery was a simple fact: he could not allow those plans to come to fruition.
Talen stood clenching his jian, his eyes locked on Kestis. 'What are you planning?' he thought, observing every single muscle on Kestis's face, desperately trying to discern his intentions.
'Let's try something else.' Talen thought, recollecting all the events leading up to his current predicament.
The Chaos Monsters he encountered in the forest were much more dangerous than the ones he encountered along the stream.
'The stream is the safest area. Upstream or downstream, we need to stay close to the stream.' Talen thought, glancing downstream.
'Damn it.' he cursed, his grip around the jian tightening.
He was back to square one.
It did not matter how much thought Talen put into it; he simply could not make sense of it all.
If he had slightly more information, it wouldn't have been such a headache.
He stood unmoving, his mind simulating hundreds of scenarios and possibilities, each one resulting in nothing.
Talen's grip around the jian tightened steadily.
Kestis sat next to Talen, occasionally glancing at him.
He was having the time of his life, spectating as Talen's caution clouded his judgment.
'And I didn't even lie.' Kestis thought, silently snickering.
Sat innocently and confused between the two chess players was Henry.
He was well aware of who Kestis was, but not what he was capable of.
To Henry, Kestis was just another ego-inflated noble, albeit a bit twisted.
'Why is Talen overreacting?' he thought, trying his best to understand.
But quickly, he gave up.
Glancing at both of them, Henry sighed. "Talen, you are overthinking this whole thing?" Henry intervened nervously.
Glancing at Kestis, he continued. "I have had my fair share of Kestises." He paused.
Taking in an exaggerated sigh, he declared. "They are professional jerks, but most importantly they're all big fat cowards." His tone rose.
Standing up, he continued. "So do you really think Kestis would lead us to danger with him in tow?"
Henry's foolish yet wise words cut through Talen's maze of thoughts; his grip on the jian loosened.
Realizing the truth in Henry's words, Talen relaxed slightly, but he remained on guard.
'He's right. Kestis would not kill himself just like that.' he thought, glancing at Kestis on the log.
Kestis clenched his fist into a white-knuckled grip on his knees, but his face remained unmoving.
All his meticulous planning was at threat of being destroyed by Henry, of all people. 'I will ensure you die first, wretch.' Kestis thought, taking in a deep breath.
Noticing Talen about to make his decision, Kestis interrupted him.
"He speaks the truth." A familiar vicious grin appeared on his face. "I am far too cowardly to lead you and myself into danger." Kestis continued, the grin on his face turning ghoulish.
Following what seemed like an outburst, Kestis's face froze, as if realizing his mistake. Promptly, his ghoulish smile disappeared.
He clenched his fist, biting his inner lip.
Observing his outburst and reaction, Talen smirked. 'You're not as good as you think you are.' Talen thought.
Kestis's slip-up was all the confirmation Talen needed. "We're heading upstream in the morning." He announced.
Turning around, he began walking to the stream.
With every step he took, the physical and mental tension from his battle dissolved away.
As he walked, Talen thought about Henry's words, realizing how naive and relaxed Henry was. He sighed.
'When is he going to understand?'
Talen still did not understand Kestis's intentions behind preventing them from traveling upstream. Nevertheless, he knew one thing: Kestis's crude intentions must remain purely intentions.
Back at the camp, regret froze Kestis's face not quite reaching his eyes, however.
Seeing it, Henry sighed a sigh of relief. 'He had me there.' he thought, even more scared of Kestis now.
Turning around, Henry walked to the stream and sat next to Talen.
Immediately after Talen and Henry were far enough away, Kestis burst into quiet laughter.
Calming his laughter down, he thought, 'Now, was that not grand?' He giggled.
At the stream, Henry sat next to Talen, his shoulders sunken.
"S-sorry about that." Henry whispered nervously.
"We would have been in some monster's mouth, or poisonous swamp tomorrow because of me." He continued, fidgeting with his fingers.
Glancing at the nervous Henry, Talen smiled, his empty smile. 'Some things never change.' he thought.
"It's fine." Talen replied.
Looking at the setting sun, he continued. "I still don't know where Kestis wanted us to go, or why." He paused, glancing back at Henry. "So who knows, you might be right."
Hearing Talen's hidden praise, an ear-to-ear grin appeared on Henry's face; his fidgeting fingers froze.
'Another mountain conquered by the now brave Henry.' he thought, his smile turning into a slight chuckle.
Taking a deep breath, Henry calmed himself a bit. "So... is he coming with us?" Henry asked, glancing at Kestis.
Grazing his mother's scarf, Talen replied. "Unfortunately, yes." Glancing at Henry, he continued. "You'll be his personal crutch after all. One shouldn't need a reason to be kind." Talen smirked.
Henry sighed in defeat, unable to argue against his own words. 'You're worse than he is.' he thought, dreading the inevitable.
Talen continued grazing his mother's scarf, his legs floating in the stream's warm water as he watched the sun slowly set. Henry sat next to him.
It was a much-needed break for both of them.
To Talen, it was a break from all the exhausting physical and mental gymnastics he had been performing to protect both of them.
To Henry, it was a break from his exhausting yet short journey of defeating his fears.
Glancing at Talen, Henry saw his hands gently moving around that scarf. He had been more than curious about it but was too scared to ask. Not anymore, luckily.
"Uh, Talen, what's up with the scarf?" Henry asked, holding his breath in wait for a reply if he got any.
Talen glanced down at his mother's scarf. "It's my mother's." He replied, remembering the day she gifted it to him and the day she burned.
Beside him, Henry froze, not expecting that reply.
'Oh great, now what do I say?' he thought, cold sweat beginning to form on his forehead.
Taking in a deep breath, he managed a reply. "Oh, uh, that is nice." A wry smile appeared on his face.
Henry returned to watching, no longer interested in asking any questions in dread of the replies.
However, his mind was not in agreement. 'Why does he have it there? It's a scarf.' Henry thought, glancing at Talen's hands over his shoulder.
'Monster blood is always going to be on it.' he thought, confused by Talen's choice. 'I'm really going to put myself through this again.' Henry thought, taking a deep, shaky breath to prepare himself.
"Why do you wear it on your wrist, though?" Henry asked, trying to be as casual as possible.
Talen turned around, looking at Henry, confused by the question.
Talen always wrapped the scarf around his wrist without knowing why; he just did it, and eventually, it became instinct.
Noticing Talen's gaze on him for too long, Henry glanced at Talen, his hands trembling slightly. 'Great, just great.' Henry thought.
"Why shouldn't I?" Talen asked, his tone flat.
Henry sighed in relief. 'He is not angry, at least.' he thought, smiling.
"Because it will get dirty there, and since it was a gift, you should take care of it." Henry explained, his trembling gone.
"That's true." Talen replied, his eyes on the scarf. "Where, then?" He asked, thinking of places to tie the scarf.
Similarly, Henry went into thought.
'Neck, maybe? Or his ankle? Wait, no, that's stupid.'
Henry's thoughts kept flooding in until one stuck.
"I got it." He declared, looking at Talen's hair as he continued. "Your hair. Just tie your hair with it." Henry chuckled.
"Up there, it is much less likely to get dirty, and it's also going to be super stylish."
Talen smiled at the sound of Henry's suggestion. "I'll think about it." He replied, looking up at the sunset.
...
High in the sky, beyond Planet Roku's atmosphere, in the vast and empty space of the Physical Realm, the space plane that transported the candidates to Planet Roku floated in the nothingness.
Inside the plane's cockpit which resembled a shrunken command center more than a cockpit, with its multiple humming and buzzing parts the cockpit was a spacious circular room. In the middle of it was a captain's chair littered with buttons on the armrests.
Around the captain's chair were five holograms, four displaying different parts of Planet Roku.
On the first of the holograms were Valen and Calistis walking upstream.
On the second hologram were Talen and Henry watching the sunset, with Kestis sat far behind them.
On the third hologram was the Bird of Plague's empty nest, three giant eggs laying in it.
On the fourth hologram were the headshots of all five candidates, Lillian's lifeless.
"Four out of a hundred." Garvin scoffed, sitting on the captain's chair. "I remember when it used to be double digits." He sighed.
"Hexagon will remain understaffed for the rest of eternity." He complained, chuckling nervously as he imagined his multiplying workload and the irony of it all.
Garvin went back to attentively observing the first two holograms. "Three days left." He whispered, boredom evident in his tone.
Glancing at the fifth hologram, Garvin sighed. "How busy can an Admir-" However, before he could complete his complaint, the hologram buzzed to life.
Garvin sprang from his chair, standing. "Salute, Admiral Ashen." He saluted.
On the hologram, Admiral Ashen's face hummed, his eyes locked onto Garvin.
"The emergency." He demanded.
Putting his hand down, Garvin's eyes trailed over to Talen's headshot. "A candidate, sir." He answered.