Mori reached the tower out of breath and shaken up in the mind. At the base, a girl clad in a beige blazer and dress pants waited for her, rose-gold hair spilling over her shoulders.
"Potato?" Mori asked, taking in the stranger's pretty, doe-like eyes and the tint of blush coloring her cheeks.
"That's me. Sorry I cut you off," Perera whispered, nibbling at her fingers where the nails were down to the stubs. "I heard Tsuna coming up the stairs, so I had to make a jump or be her captive audience until we leave."
"You jumped from there?" Mori craned her neck back to squint at the top of the tower. A crow perching on the parapet cawed at her.
"Fall damage wasn't that bad. But you wanted to know what's wrong with being one of the Fearless? I mean—not that anything's wrong, you know." Perera laughed nervously.
"I didn't mention it so Ren and the rest of you wouldn't think of me any differently than you already would as the new team member," Mori said quietly. "I didn't want you to think of somebody who'd need to be hard carried and coddled."
Perera shook her head. "That's not the reason at all, and I highly doubt anyone else suspects a thing. You'd be a recent arrival to the fifth ring in my mind too, except for the center comment." Mori's teammate bent down to the grass and plucked a dandelion, twirling the stem between her slender fingers. "Only the Fearless refer to the seventh ring as the center and talk about reaching it. The rest of us call it clearing the game."
With a small puff of breath, Perera sent the dandelion seeds floating on the wind. "Clearing the game grants the ultimate wish—freedom from FEAR. We're worried the Fearless want to rob us of that. They chose to come here. We didn't get that choice. And now they're intent on reaching their so-called center for what? To prove they can? There's only ten spots." Perera blinked several times, her eyes red-rimmed. "I want to go home, Mori."
"I'll help you get home, Potato." Mori hugged her teammate, Perera's head fitting right beneath her chin. The other girl wrapped her arms around Mori, slight sniffles shaking her compact form.
Mori closed her eyes, trying not to think of how scared Shiori might be. How desperate. Her sister was a fighter, she knew that, but you couldn't fight the dark. She wanted to tell Perera the Fearless wouldn't steal her way out, but what would happen if word spread? FEAR might find a way to stop them.
Cynthia's voice in their ears closed the window of opportunity. "Ten minutes. Make sure your stamina bar is full before we leave."
"We'd better get moving," Perera mumbled.
Mori took the cue to let her out of the hug and followed her teammate as she led them onto a narrow dirt path. "So what can I expect in the sixth ring?"
"Birds," Perera said. Light shimmered over her cupped palms, materializing into red berries. "Want some?"
Mori popped a few into her mouth, eyes widening at the burst of flavor. "These are really good."
"It's because I picked them fresh. Even with the whole fears coming to life thing, it's really nice to be able to travel without worrying about luggage or waking up sore from all the walking."
"Okay, but birds? That doesn't sound scary," Mori said, accepting a whole handful of fruit from Perera who poured it out from her storage.
"Giant birds. Rocs specifically. The sixth ring opens up into different passes. If you enter the wall even a few feet to the side, you might end up in a different pass and the wall locks so you can't get back out for another twenty-four hours. Not to mention the canyons flood every morning."
Perera stuffed all her berries in her mouth except one. With her mouth half-full, she said, "The rocs like to divebomb and pick you up" —her hand swooped down and snatched the berry— "then they take you and smash you against the cliff." Perera flattened the berry against the wall of her other hand, splattering red juice. "If that doesn't kill you, they'll fly up until both of you are specks in the sky and then let go."
Mori gulped. The berry didn't even reach the ground before it pixelated.
When they reached the wall, Cynthia sorted them into two teams. "Tsuna, Yuta, Wraith, you're with me. Perera, Niko, and Mori, you'll go in together. We'll meet up on the overhang."
Ren pursed her lips at the division but said nothing.
"Is she trying to turn us into birdfeed?" Mori whispered to Perera.
Niko overheard as the walked to another section of the wall and shook his head. "No, she's trying to protect us. The birds are attracted to noise. If Yuta has a screaming fit, they'll be on them like flies."
"Which means no talking once we're in and no eating—they can smell the food," Perera added. "It'll be a straight walk with stairs at the other end to climb up the cliffs." She held Mori's hand and reached for Niko's with the other.
"Wait. What kind of screaming fits?" Mori asked.
Perera and Niko shared a look. "Yuta says he can see FEAR," Niko said slowly. "Sometimes he calls us agents of the AI, that we have Demi's consciousness trapped somewhere. It's the worst at night and he almost killed Potato once when she tried to talk him down during a bad episode."
"That was likely my fault," Perera said, her lips pale. "He hasn't known me as long."
"I'm sorry," Mori stammered, mind racing. Had Ronin seen FEAR? Would he have cracked enough further down the line to the point where he tried to kill her? "It must be hard seeing him like that."
"Yeah, so I hope you don't plan on cracking like an egg too." Niko laughed, but it sounded strained. "Babysitting isn't really on my bucket list."
Perera jabbed him with her elbow. "That's enough. We should go. You first, Mori."
Mori took a deep breath before plunging through the wall, as if it were made of water. On the other side, rocky cliffs rose up to close them in. A narrow trail led through the dark, only the barest of light filtering through the sliver of space to the clouds above. When a shadow covered the sun, Mori glanced up to find a huge bird standing on the cliff's edge. Its talons dug into the rock, sending a spray of pebbles raining down.
Then, with a screech, it spread its wings and took off again.
Mori inched forward, careful not to trip on the jumble of rocks or the thin, brown vines that snaked over the crusty earth. Her lungs burned from the dust she inhaled, but she didn't dare cough for fear of drawing the rocs. Behind her, only their heavy breathing let her know Perera and Niko followed close on her heels.
In the more shadowed areas, puddles had formed. Small reptiles lounged at the edges—with wings tucked to their backs, they looked like mini dragons. Mori took a step toward one, but Perera pulled her back. "Don't," she whispered. "They'll bite your fingers off."
Mori tucked her hands into the pockets of her jacket, intent on keeping her phalanges intact.
They'd walked for several hours, the ravine widening the further they went, when the worst came to pass.
"Guys, I think I need to sneeze," Niko hissed in a whisper.
Mori and Perera turned around to stare at him.
"Hold your nose, Niko," Perera said under her breath. "We're almost there. You can sneeze all you want then."
"I'm trying, Potato." Niko's fingers clamped over his nose, but his face reddened. "It's all this infernal dust, I can't—"
His sneeze ricocheted off the cliff walls like a rifle's report.
They froze, not breathing, until a roc's shrill cry sounded in the distance.
"Run," Perera whispered.
Mori couldn't force her feet to move. Her eyes trained on a golden feather drifting down into the ravine moments before a bird's head peered over the edge. Its beady red eyes locked on hers, a shriek like a clap of thunder ringing through her skull.
"Run!" Perera screamed, pushing her into motion.
Mori ran, twisting her ankles on loose rocks, feeling a rush of wind above her. Claws cut into her shoulder and snagged in her clothing. Panicked, Mori drew her rifle and fired straight up. With a cry of pain, the roc sailed into the side of the cliff before crumpling.
"Mori!" Niko called. The blast of a shotgun assaulted her ears.
Turning, she found another bird abducting Perera. Its talons closed on her ribs until they cracked. It banked to smash her head against a rocky ledge jutting from the wall.
"We have to take it down before it flies out with her!" Niko continued to fire, his slugs not as effective long range and only bouncing off the monster's shields.
Mori aimed for the pocket but missed. Her hands shook and bile coated her throat. No. No, not like this. "Potato!" she screamed, shooting the bird again and finally breaking its shield.
The roc screeched and beat its wings, rising toward the gap. One of her bullets grazed it, sending a puff of feathers flying. Then, right as Mori cried out in despair, it shuddered and stopped, suspended in mid-air as if someone had hit pause.
"Potato bought a few seconds!" Niko yelled, running at the bird. "Take the shot, Mentos!"
Putting her crosshair right over the bird's brain, Mori squeezed her rifle trigger. The monster exploded into crimson shards like a firework, letting Perera fall.
Niko caught her and ran back toward Mori with another bird on his tail. "I've got the potato, so let's go!" He passed her and took the first step in stride, the stairs cut out of the cliff itself.
"What if there are more birds at the top?" Mori took down the next roc's shield but had to switch to her pistol when her rifle ran out of ammo.
"The monsters don't leave the ravine!"
Mori emptied her handgun's magazine before dashing up the stairs, the bird's beak nipping at her heels. She threw herself over the edge, rolling onto her back. True to what Niko said, the roc flapped its wings and flew away.
She pushed up onto her knees, taking in the flat top of the cliffs, with several stairways descending into passes. Opposite the ravines, a valley made up the sixth ring's terrain. Mori crawled over to where Niko had set Perera on the ground and set her healing to work.
"That was a close one." Niko sighed. "I'm sorry. My stupid sneeze could've—"
Mori hushed him. "What matters is we all made it." A roar touched her ears. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah." Niko stood and walked to the edge of the cliff. "I think there's another party down there. Hey, Cyn?" he said, reporting to their leader over comms.
Perera groaned, opening her teary eyes. "Where are we?"
"Out of the pass." Mori probed through Perera's hair with her fingers, watching her face to make sure she hadn't missed any injuries. "Niko's contacting the others, but we think there's another party nearby."
Perera pushed up onto her elbows, gritting her teeth. She looked out over the valley, eyes lighting with recognition. "I've seen this place," she murmured.
"Oh?" Mori replied. She moved the gentle patter of rain to her teammate's ribs.
"This is where TofuOfHonor died."
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Chapter Word Count: 1893
Total Word Count: 23754