ARIYS NIRSA

"Are you feeling better?" Ariys asked as she finished covered up Anish wounds.

"No, but thanks" Anish said bluntly making Ariys feel inadequate.

"You don't need to be that honest. I'm still a little girl who needs a praise you know" she mumbled as her index finger circling the ground.

Anish stayed quiet while looking at her. Ariys then returned to her bed. She tried to sleep again, but her body refused as she was still full of energy from the sleep before. She glared into the woods above her, thinking what should she do with her excessive energy. She planned to talk with Anish, but she was afraid because she didn't trust him. Ariys unconsciously looked at him with a sharp look in her eye.

"Why are you staring at me? It makes me uneasy you know" Anish suddenly spoke and stood, facing her.

"Wait, I'm just looking at him. Why he become so annoying with that?" Ariys felt intimidated by his aura, she then stood up ready for the worse while keep a steady face. They glared at each other for a while before Anish broke the tension.

"You're brave Ariys, I like it" His mode suddenly shifted as he patted Ariys' shoulder and get back to his place. "That was close" he mumbled as his body moved instinctively in response to her action just now.

"Seriously, what was that for?" Ariys questioned. She then took the first step to be open with him.

She sat behind him and leaned against his back. Anish seemed careless about her actions. She thought that was a perfect position for her, as she could push him into the bonfire if something bad happened and had enough time to run.

She began chatting with him. "Anish, since I can't sleep, can we have a chat?" she asked.

"Sure, but don't put high expectation on me" he replied.

"Why you save me?" She asked. She planned to make decision based on his answer whether he could be trust or not.

"Because you're girl. I can't stand still when see a girl in problem" he answered with a guilty voice as he remembered how vulnerable he was when his sister being tortured in front of him.

"His answer is more acceptable than Fri's answer when he saved me back then. He also seem not to hide anything from me" Ariys murmur. "Looks like you have a story behind it, but I won't ask you more about it. Instead do you adventure here alone?" She continued asked.

"Actually, I was lost" he replied.

"What? Lost? Then how do you got here?" Ariys confused.

"I don't know, when I opened my eyes. I'm already at here, but let me tell you first I'm not in some lost memory sickness. I still remember all my childhood memories and where I grew up, it just some event occurred and make me lost consciousness" his answered leaving Ariys in a more disbelief state.

"Wow, it was a one hard to believe story" Ariys stated.

"It's up to you to believe it or not, after all I have tell you the truth. Now it's my turn to asked" he said. Ariys showed thumbs up to him.

"What are you doing here alone?" Anish asked the exact same question as her.

"At first I'm not alone, but then a bad thing happen and he left me alone at here" Ariys' voice heavy as she couldn't talked about it. She always felt sadness if she remember that event as she thought it was her fault Fri died.

"It looks that person hold a dear place in your heart" he judged by her voice that stuttered. "Anyway, where do you plan to going? I can accompany you"

Ariys took a time before answered it, "Innovara, it's a pleasure to have you with me, but you will only just accompany me until we arrive, after that we're on our own"

"I'm okay with that" he turned to face her that was wiped her eyes "Shall we get prepared now?" And gave her a small nice warm smile while help her to move on followed by sunlight behind him.

Ariys also gave him a nice cute smile, she then told him everything they needed before start the journey to the dense fog area. They spend 3 days to gathered food, water, new useable clothes from the woods and one short stone sword for Ariys.

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On the fourth day, before the sun could shine on the horizon they already stood in front of the foggy area with their body tied to each other by a long and thick veins. Before enter Ariys marked an 'x' on one of the tree there, so they could know if they in the same spot or not after comes out from the fog. Ariys entered the fog first followed by Anish.

Inside there, Anish and Ariys barely could saw each other, so instead of talking to keep know how the others doing, they choose to communicate through the veins by pull it. More pull means more dangerous. The veins kept a distance approximately 10 meters between them.

Ariys took the lead, knowing Anish could pull her out of danger if any monsters or threats appeared.

An hour passed with they journey still been undisturbed. Even a roaring of monsters or animals couldn't be heard, she also doesn't bumped into a tree and there was no bad route all the way she walked, it was clear like a new road. Ariys began to think that the fog was just an empty space, but her heart felt unease. She looked behind, the veins was still intact to Anish. She thought she was overthinking something unnecessary and kept walking.

After several steps, she spotted a sunlight near them. She ran right away thinking she finally had passed through the fog area. She comes out from the dense fog, she then stood there waited for Anish to arrive while looked around.

"Wait, isn't this is the entrance we enter?" Ariys questioned as she realized the tree she marked was there.

"Anish, this is bad. We have return to the starting point!" She shouted, but Anish didn't say anything making Ariys turned behind.

The veins that was intact before this had been cut without she realised. Ariys' brow raised " since when this veins has been cut?"

She became panic and felt guilty once again, "no, no, no, no, this can't be true. Please, Anish come out from the fog I don't want to feel this pain again" she mumbled, and fell to the ground while hug herself.

The guilty pain of making someone else died because of her started to fill inside her. Desperate she stood up and went to the fog once again, but this time when she tried to walk through the fog the fog reflected her body to the outside. The texture of the fog had changed; it was similar to an airbag.

Ariys took her stone sword and thrust to the fog, but still it does nothing as Ariys flew backwards again after it. When she stood up again, Sanguivore and Khakiro suddenly appeared Infront of her out of nowhere.

"Why that monkey doesn't attack the wolf? Isn't it supposed to fight each other and just from where they come?" Ariys confused as that's no way Khakiro would let anything stood near it.

The Khakiro ride the Sanguivore, together they approach Ariys. Khakiro use his long arms like a lance, as they come Ariys leaned down her body and slashed off Khakiro's arm.

"Get lost now or I will be the predator" Ariys said, her face stiff as she doesn't had time to fight them.

Regardless the warned, the duo still attacked. Ariys also step in, she threw a stone knife. The knife stabbed in Sanguivore's eyes and Ariys cut down his head while dodged Khakiro attack. The Khakiro jump into the air and strike her using his right hand, Ariys effortlessly step aside and lunged towards Khakiro. She stabbed Khakiro's head and pulled his head out, a blue rain of blood coming out from Khakiro's neck. Ariys stomp his head and pulled out her sword.

Without care about her victory she rushed to the the fog area, still she couldn't walked through it as she was repel back like earlier, but this time her body was covered with water from the fog.

"It's evaporated" Ariys analysis, she thought she had a chance to went to the fog again, so she waited. As she stood still her clothes had dried and her body started to sweat rapidly, wetting her clothes. "Why it's so hot suddenly?" Ariys questioned as she kept wiped sweat.

Suddenly a loud roar echoed in the sky, Ariys looked above. Her sword fell off from her hand.

There was Flareonix roaming in the sky above with her feathers already blazing in mix of orange and fiery red. Ariys was scared, even her legs couldn't be moved as she saw her nightmare. The Flareonix began to thrust down with her beak.

Ariys shouted Fri name out of afraid. A great explosion occurred as the Flareonix reach to her.

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"Ariys, wake up, Ariys" Anish shouted, his hand shook her shoulder.

Ariys woke up with her eyes tearing. She was confused.

A minutes of rest passed, Ariys and Anish set a camp near the fog. "So I was pass out after I enter the fog" Ariys said.

Anish nodded, recalled what happened. Just about Ariys entered the fog area, she immediately lay down on there. Anish quickly pulled her out from there.

"I see" she exhaled, glad because all that just happened was not real. "How long have I been passed out?" She asked.

"Just a ten or twelve minutes. I wake you up because you're screaming someone name while your face looks in miserable pain" Anish replied his tone casual like it was nothing serious for him.

As for Ariys, her face covered in redness of shy. "Anish really is a nice person. If it's Fri. I swear he would laugh at me and not try for once to wake me up" she imagined. She then thanked Anish for his kind action.

"What should we do now?" Anish asked. "Should we try again or do what?"

Instead of giving him answer Ariys replied him with a question "Anish have you try to enter the fog?"

Anish shook his head. "Want me to try it now?"

Ariys agreed, Anish then stood and walked through the fog. After a minute he returned.

"It seems you're not affected with the fog" Ariys said.

Anish frowned, not understand what she means by that. "Oops, I forgot to mention actually while I passed out, I don't even know that, since I could feel all my senses were still working like normal when I entered the fog. Maybe this fog affected me with some illusion or dream" Ariys gave her opinion.

"But how can you resist the mental attack?" Ariys asked.

Anish shrugged, he also doesn't knew the answer. Ariys then just goes on with that, "As long as we have a way to get through it, I don't care about the mystery. Could you wait for a while. I will need a full concentration to thinking our next move" Ariys said before closed her eyes.

Anish come back, he guarded Ariys while waited for her to set up planning.

In under twenty minutes Ariys' eyes open slowly. She called Anish.

"Done already? That's quick" Anish said while took a place Infront of her.

"Yeah" she replied, Ariys' face seemed upset. She then continued "our next move will be like this, you will need to navigate through the fog area alone while carrying me on the back"

Both of them looked at each other, " Is that all?" Anish asked, he already warm up.

Ariys nodded, Anish then kneel immediately to let her hopped behind his back.

Ariys was flabbergasted by his straightforward action. "Wait, don't you not want to ask the next part of my plan?"

"Nah, I know what to do, if I'm going to navigate this place alone then it doesn't matter at where we get out as long as we passed through here" He shared his judgement based on Ariys' face and voice.

Ariys repeatedly nodded, amazed by his skill to judge. "But there are still one more thing to added" she proudly talked to herself.

As she raised her hand to speak. Anish interrupted nonchalantly. "I'm also need to be fast, yeah, yeah I know. Get here already. We need to be fast or we will be in danger when the night comes"

Ariys was left quiet as he was right, since Ariys could be affected by the fog, she doesn't wanted to stay in that dream too long and that's the reason why she was upset earlier. Knowing she had to enter the dream again made her feel hurt, because it reopened her old scars.

Ariys hopped up onto his back, with they body still connected with the veins, they entered the fog. This time when Ariys could resist the fog for a seconds, she saw a strange scene where she and four other people with one little animal stood in an open area look into the twilight skies before entered the dream realm again.