A low mist covered the forest floor as a group of four people pushed through the thickets as they quietly moved along the river to their right. They kept the same formation as they had been, with the only exception was Fatty was now on point. Yuki was still dealing with pain in her chest, so Fatty was now taking the lead. They stopped at a large rock that had a tall tree that leaned over the river next to it. 

Fatty turned around and pressed his finger to his lips. He then reached down and wrote the number three on the ground. They all knew this meant there were three demonic beasts nearby, but when he wrote the word snake after, the girl’s eyes lit up. 

The group did not stick around but instead retreated to formulate a plan. They found a  decent spot near two large trees that grow entangled together. “So, how should we go about this?”

“I am not sure. I find it weird that there are three together. While we do need the scales from a rank three horned snake and its eggs, the fact that there are three is a bit….” Yuki did not know what to make of this. They could easily swoop in and kill the snakes there if they could sneak in quickly enough, but the problem with horned snakes was the poison they could spit out. The poison was not like the ones you would need to consume but very corrosive, like an acid that would melt a person’s body if they got it on them.

“If we can lure one away, we can kill it and get out scales easily, but the other two will be an issue. Also, the cave that they are around might have more, so to get in and see if there are any eggs will not be easy.” Nana added.

“Then let’s do this. I am the fastest one here, so I will try to lure one away to a designated spot. If I get more than one, I will just escape into the sky. Once we kill one of them, we can skin it and then move on to the second plan, which is to lure all of them away while another goes to inspect things. I think Nana would be best for inspecting the cave, Fatty and Maiko will stand outside and guard to warn if the snakes come back or not. 

“If we can only get one to chase, the one left can be taken out. Making things simpler since I can kill the other one.” Yuki felt this was the best plan. She did not know what the others thought, but she hoped they would enjoy it.

“It’s a good idea, but we will change tactics. I agree with you about pulling the first one, but I will do the next one. I may not look it, but I am quite strong. I can kill a rank three demonic beast.” Fatty was also doing this to reduce the burden on Yuki. They still did not know what exactly that man did to her. So he wanted her to not work as hard. 

“I agree with Fatty.” Nana nodded. She was thankful that he was being thoughtful of Yuki. While it was true that Yuki was the fastest here, she should also not be the one to take everything on herself. Otherwise, if something happened, she might end up in another situation like she was with the wind wolves. 

“I also agree with Fatty.” Maiko nodded. She did not want Yuki to overexert herself.

Yuki pursed her lips. She did not know why everyone was being so protective of her. Nana was one thing, but even Fatty and Maiko were going with the flow now. But she could not say no to this since everyone else already agreed. “Alright. We will go with Fatty’s plan. But I think we should rest for the night. It is already getting dark.”

“I agree with this.” Fatty nodded. It would be bad to fight in the dark. Even worse to be running blindly through the forest. “We will backtrack a bit. I saw a nice spot near the water we could use. Although, we will need a strict night watch. But having a decent water source would be good.”

Everyone agreed and quickly yet quietly made their way back down the river. The sounds of demonic beasts filled their ears as the nocturnal demonic beasts began waking up from their slumber.

The spot Fatty was talking about was a place that was a dugout under a huge tree. It was probably once a demonic beast’s lair, but now it was empty and filled with cobwebs and overgrowth. Fatty cleaned them out before asking the girls to come in. It was a perfect place to make a quiet camp since it was in perfect darkness. It was never good to start a fire at night unless you were in a safer area. If it was the outer ring, they could easily have a small cookout. But because they were in the middle ring, the ones on lookout could only whisper in a low voice while the others slept.

Nana had Yuki sit in her lap, which was quite a normal position for the two of them. When they closed their eyes and cuddled together, Maiko leaned close to Fatty and whispered: “Tell me the truth, are they together?”

“I have no idea. They are either together or just very close.”