The Second Survivor (An Ara x Reader Story)

Chapter 14

I had to do a little research on Sander dungeons before writing more...at least I got my Ain leveled up a bit.
____________________________________

It was as if getting rid of Zhu made him even more aware of his surroundings. Without the fox's constant presence and frequent comments, (y/n) did actually feel a bit uneasy. His eyes darted to everything that moved in front of him. He trusted that the Search Party behind him wouldn't let anything attack. Even without Zhu nearby, (y/n)'s senses remained sharp. The only problem was that he didn't have too much control over them.

He heard everything, including the whisperes that the team spoke about him. He saw everything, including the occasional Trock moving far off in the distance. He smelled everything from the baking desert sand to the strangely pleasant scent of someone's perfume...or perhaps it was a scented oil that he smelled. Either way, he had a terrible headache to go along with his overheightened senses.

"Is that Sander? I think I can see it from here!" Elsword exclaimed. His voice was a bit too loud on (y/n)'s ears causing him to wince. Elsword was correct though. Sander was indeed there and (y/n) could clearly see Vapor standing just outside the city waiting for them with two bags sitting next to her. No one said anything else until they were closer to Sander. "Oh, that's Vapor standing there. I was wondering who that was," Lu spoke. "She must need to tell us something important," Ciel added.

Vapor was relieved to see them but something was definately wrong. "Vapor, we have important information to share with you," Elesis announced when they were close enough to her. "So do I but I'd like to speak first," she said. (Y/n) didn't stop and stand there to wait for her like everyone else did. He went to the pools of water outside the city and sat right in one, laying on his back and allowing himself to be covered by water.

Of course he wasn't drowning himself. The water was just a quick way to cool off and he didn't mind his clothes getting wet. "Don't mind him. He always does that," Vapor said when a few of the Search Party members were about to try pulling him out of the water. Even with his ears submerged in water along with the rest of him, (y/n) could hear Vapor perfectly clear.

"I sent Emirate out to the Caluso tribe's village to warn them about Anduran's kidnapping but he hasn't returned. I fear that something may have happened to him there," Vapor stated. In an instant, (y/n) was out of the water, his attention caught by the news. "You want us to go check things out don't you?" Rena inquired. Vapor nodded. "Yes but first, i want to know how things went with Trockta. Did he tell you anything useful?" Vapor said.

"He told us that someone by the name of Karis tricked him and gave him some amulet of darkness that started controlling him. If something is wrong in the Caluso tribal village, it could also be that Karis was there too," (y/n) said before anyone else could speak. "Also, he told us that Anduran was taken to go help Karis revive Behemoth. It doesn't seem like a good idea for us to ignore that fact even if for the time being," Raven pointed out.

Vapor nodded in agreement. "Well how about this. Your group is large. You can split up and half of you can go to stop Karis while the other half can go and see what's going on with the Caluso village," Vapor suggested, looking to Elsword since he was the leader. "That does seem like the best course of action," Eve agreed. "Then that's what we'll do. I'll take half to stop Karis and the other half will go with Elesis to save Emirate," Elsword said with a nod.

(Y/n) actually wanted to go with them this time only to check up on the village he had been trying to go back to since his arrival in Sander. "Zhu, where are you?" (y/n) asked within his mind while Elsword split up the team. If the fox was nearby, he wanted his senses restored. Going to the Caluso tribal village with extra sharp senses was not a good thing. The Caluso would pick up on that and exploit it to make his senses become his weakness. Loud noise was already his main one while in his current state and that was without the fox ears.

"I'm heading to check things out with Karis. The name sounds familiar. You'll be okay on your own," Zhu replied. "Don't go that way! Why won't you just go to the Caluso village?" (y/n) thought. "You're going there. It's best to spread out our forces. If we split up, it should make the teams equal. I'll just be an outside force until you decide to introduce me," Zhu answered. (Y/n) sighed knoeing that he couldn't convince the fox to turn around now.

"And (y/n). You'll go with them won't you?" Elsword said. (Y/n) looked to the knight and tilted his head. "Why wouldn't I? The Caluso village is important to me," (y/n) said as he stood up from the water he had still been sitting in. "Alright! Then everyone, let's head out. We'll meet up here in Sander once things are over with. Do your best and stay safe everyone," Elsword said. He was nothing but positivity and not the sickening kind. It was more like someone couldn't help but get along with him.

"(Y/n), do you mind leading the way to the village? Vapor is going with Elsword so we'll need you to guide us," Elesis said. "No problem. Don't expect me to slow down though," (y/n) said before shaking himself a bit to get rid of excess water. Whatever water that did cling to him would help him out during his travels since it would be keeping him cool until the sun stole it all away. For now, the water weighed down his clothes a bit and made them cling tightly to his figure.

He glanced around at the group he'd be leading to see who had been included and caught Ara staring at him. She didn't seem to notice that he'd seen her and simply kept staring but (y/n) didn't mind. The group consisted of Elesis, Ara, Raven, Rena, Chung, Ain, and himself. "We won't get there any time soon so we don't have to rush until tomorrow morning," (y/n) informed. The Caluso village was a goood distance away from Sander.

(Y/n) knew the best way to take and he knew what could serve as potential food along the way. Vapor had planned to split the team amyway or else she wouldn't have made two bags of supplies but it was strange that Vapor had known the team would have to go to two different destinations. And usually Vapor would send someone else to lead a group off into the desert instead of going herself.

"(Y/n), do you live in the Caluso tribal village?" Ara asked, breaking (y/n) away from his thoughts. He glanced back at her surprised that she would ask him about himself when he'd already warned the group not to do so. "Yes and no. I'm a bit complicated," he answered only since Ara had the courage to ask. "You said the village was important to you. Do you have friends there? Or maybe family?" Rena inquired.

(Y/n) stopped in his tracks at the mentioning of the word family. He had never really thought of Vegar and Star being his family. "No. I have no family. It's just me," (y/n) said before continuing. No more questions about him were asked but the group did not stay silent. They talked for the remainder of the trip mostly among themselves until dark when they had to set up camp.

(Y/n) again kept his distance and waited until everyone was asleep but without having to worry about releasing Zhu, he found himself wondering what he'd stayed awake so long for. He was a bit startled when Ara suddenly rose up from her sleep, her hair turning white the moment she did and nine white fox tails with matching ears appeared along with the hair color change. "What? Did you sense something, Ara?" (y/n) asked only ever seeing Ara in such a form during a battle.

"Ara isn't here right now. She's still asleep," Ara said but her voice was different and as she turned to look at him, (y/n) saw that her eyes were different too. (Y/n) carefully stood in case he'd need to fight but so did Ara. "I've been meaning to talk to you, Zhu. It sure has been quite a while...hasn't it you soul sucking lowlife. I'm not foolish enough to fall for that fake name of yours and no matter how much I warn Ara, she doesn't listen to me the second presence in Ara said.

"What are you talking about. I'm not Zhu. Who exactly are you?" (y/n) said unconsciously backing away from possessed Ara. Before he realized it, possessed Ara had jumped on him, pinning him to the sand. "You'll regret playing dumb. I'll make sure you don't forget me again," she growled. (Y/n)'s eyes instantly glowed green and he allowed his own tails and ears to appear just before throwing possed Ara off of him.

He winced at her landing in the sand hoping that he hadn't harmed Ara. The team would likely blame him for it regardless and he had a feeling whoever was currently speaking through Ara wouldn't tell on herself. "Now you've done it. I don't care who you're pretending to be. I'll make you realize the mistake you made all those years ago!" Ara snapped.
____________________________________

And I'm just going to end the chapter here for the time being. Until next time you incredible readers!