Voices Amidst murder

"What were you doing talkin' to the hacker?" a random player asked, sharpening his sword simultaneously.

"It's none of your fucking business," V glared at the seemingly slightly elder player.

"Woah, no need to get defensive," the player murmured, eyes wavering here and there, everywhere apart from his face. "But, he's really good; like, insanely good, you know? I wouldn't go after him, especially since you're solo," he warily suggested.

"Piss right off, why don't you? You're a waste of my time," V pierced a hole into the player's now wide eyes, not even bothering to stutter a sentence before he messily jogged away to his teammates.

A familiar head of bowl-cut blue hair flicked into the midnight sky, as the AI leaped and soared across the terrain. As she fluttered across the terrain, her flamboyant voice boomed out a speech. "Welcome, players! This is the Parvaneh Battle Royale; a place to spread your colourful wings, and soar to the finish line! Ten million Won will be waiting for you on the other side! Please, enjoy your time in this battle, and remember to take care! You will be teleported to a random coordinate in this forest, in three, two.. " she smiled cheekily, hovering in the centre, above all players.

"One! I wish you luck!"

Her voice echoed out, as golden flashes sprawled across each player's vision, teleporting to anywhere and everywhere the map had to offer. V's vision was eclipsed, barely able to see anything once he opened his eyes. He squinted hard, rubbed his eyes, smacked his head, and nothing. He couldn't see anything in this pitch darkness. Already growing irritable, he huffed, sulking as he walked, trying to avoid the random trees lurking in the shadows in his path.

Blue, however, dropped steady on his feet as soon as he teleported. Squatting, he laid low, toggling his night vision that came with his high level. His face was morphed into a sombre countenance, for this game determined way too much for him. It determined his brother's life. Growling at that thought, he leaped into a tree branch, flipping across the arms elegantly. His best bet was to stay high up in the trees, and attack from afar with a poison spiked bow and arrow. Get too close, and he'll be pummelled to a pimp by clans; stay up, and he'll avoid close range attacks, and be able to successfully retreat. This may mean him getting a few less kills, but he wasn't in the slightest bit willing to conform to desperation.

Swinging around further, a boisterous bustle of the bushes immediately brought him to a halt, flipping backwards to observe the clan most likely ahead of him.

"There's like, no one here, Mila," a taller man whined, swinging his sword back and forth lazily.

"Be patient, you twat. They're all obviously hiding," Mila deadpanned.

"I want to get V. He's such an asshole," another girl behind Mila chirped, throwing soft punches at the air afront her.

Something in that sentence pressed Erin more than it should have. The single letter alone was enough to send him into a frenzy, blood boiling hotter than a hundred degrees. A scowl overtook his once focused features, as he raised his bow without a single drop of hesitation.

He readied.

He aimed.

He fired.

'Headshot, nice.'

The little girl dropped unto her knees, blood gushing out from the back of her head. It was such a sweet, speedy, silent kill, he'd even go as far as confidently gambling that none of her teammates even noticed. The poison in his arrow leaked, oozing out as the rich purple colour stained her blonde hair.

".. Like I said, Marlo, it doesn't work like that. You can't just go hiding behind a rock until someone appears. They could come from behind, right Lila?" Mila probed. ".. Lila..?"

They couldn't see a single thing; they couldn't, even if they wanted to. Measly levels, no night vision and the lack of torches would be this team's downfall, and Erin proudly stained his hands smeared his skin with their blood. A single shot was all it took to permanently disable the other girl; a single shot to her heart.

Unlucky. How unlucky. He forgot one minor detail. The glowing XP; it would float right towards the player who earned it, illuminating their location as clear as day. The shaking boy browsed up higher and higher, completely and utterly petrified.

"You.. It's y-you! The hacker dude, please, just leave us alone!"

Oh, that was it. He was considering sparing him, and let him run around and die of starvation, but that was the final straw. He didn't care how official the rumour sounded, he was not a hacker. And that's all he cared about.

A text popped into Marlo's vision, as he peered down with quivering eyes.

"Matching player names? Marlo, Mila, Lila. How cute, I'll remember that. Shall I match the way you die with them, too? Would you like that, Marlo?"

Marlo choked out a scream that scratched at his throat, his sword slipping out of his grip thanks to his clammy hands riddled with sweat.

"Let me go!" he tried to run, but could only get so far not being able to see anything. Erin's vision was arguably as clear as day; so clear, that the painfully obvious boulder goes undetected by player Marlo. All Erin had to do was wait for him to run into it, only priority being the attempt of holding in his laughter. True to Marlo's desires, he ran straight into the boulder, the awfully loud sound of a click echoing from his nose.

"Didn't you want to hide behind a rock, Marlo..?" Blue passively jumped forwards, as the glow of the XP began to dissipate. "1. V is my kill, and mine only," he texted, face twisting and turning into an expression of sheer anger.

Leaping downwards, he activated his rapier, inch by inch, growing warmer to the boy's long neck. Just for a sweet, short moment, his microphone turned on.

"And I, am not a hacker," Erin whispered, almost too low for any living creature to hear. The boy didn't even earn a chance to react, as a sword was already launched straight into his heart. Blood jolted unto Erin's white uniform, cringing at the way it ruined his ensemble.

Hurdling back into the trees, he sprung from place to place, noticing a budding sense of frostiness in the tips of hid fingers. It was getting cold, and he needed to act, and needed to act fast.

As he sprung along the trees, he grew slower. He was losing stamina and heat. Thus, he chose to briskly walk across the thick branches. At the same time, he tried to level his head, before anxiety took the wheel. Kills must not take time; a single shot to the vitals should end them, for he had no time to waste, additionally, he didn't want to inflict too much pain. He had seventy arrows, and twelve poisonous liquids.

He could poison the rivers, or poison his weapons; both worked effectively. About one hundred and sixty players, assuming half of them will die without the help of Blue, he could kill the other half from the trees with arrows easily. Assuming no one else can reach the high canopies, that is. His big plan, in conclusion, is to stay above, where no one expects it, and silently kill, living up to his name as the Grim Reaper. His very end goal, however, is to kill V. Brutally. Mercilessly. His headset was to be removed from any and all servers by officials in twelve days, so he no longer cared.

His stamina started increasing, but he couldn't say the same for his rapidly decreasing body temperature. He grunted a sigh, tensing his body to prevent him from shivering, and went onwards. He needed a few trees crammed together, where he could lay down the tent he had forged days prior to this event. He was prepared, for he refused to be the one on the receiving end of a sword.

He was starting to lose hope, as he almost couldn't move his fingers. Glancing around, he noticed that even his eyes began to droop. Walking a little further, he bounced unto another branch, squinting his eyes as he scanned the area. A nestle of trees were huddled together in a tight hold, almost too dense to even enter. Doing a double take, Erin noticed, and thanked Mr Blue for placing such a secure looking cave-like area so very near him.

Frantically shuffling in, he threw his tent on the ground-like branches, watching it expand across the huddled bark around him. The backpack slung around his shoulders was dropped behind him, as he turned and rustled around until he found firewood and a lighter. Placing rocks on the surface of the place the fire was going to be lit on, he made sure the rocks were secure so his tent doesn't catch on fire. His makeshift flame erupted, as he watched his temperature bar increase, slowly, but surely. A breath of air puffed out of his lungs, tense body now basking in this newfound warmth; for the first time in about an hour, he relaxed.

"Hello, players! Congratulations to all one hundred and twelve players that survived the first hour! As of right now, the map will be shrinking! This map is surrounded by an enchanted ring, and if you are behind it for more than ten seconds, your lungs will create a vacuum and collapse! Goooood luck!"

How joyous of her. Really uplifting. Very refreshing.

There goes his relaxation. Her voice was shrill, and irritatingly happy, when this was anything but. This was like a fever dream, and he knew this battle would give him some type of trauma; that's why the reward was so big. The senses were raised almost two fold, so what he felt was what he would feel in real life. The lines are too blurred, but he still didn't care. His brother and Rae are the only things he care about. He channelled his racing thoughts into his sleep, as his eyes gently fluttered shut.

On the other hand, a frantic V was prancing across the map, killing everyone and everything in his path. He was definitely enjoying this; maybe, a bit too much. He began manically laughing, a genuine smile plastered on his sculpted face. Balls upon balls of XP were floating to his body, not caring if he couldn't see, or if anyone saw him. He loved the dominant liquid of control he was exerting on everything. Similarly, to another player. Similarly, Blue. That's one thing they had in common; they wanted control here, because they couldn't control their realities. Uriel wants everything, absolutely everything anything had to offer, and he would not stand it if someone else, such as Blue, was better. He would make everything his, possessive nature making him undeniably stubborn.

"Man, fuck reality! I ain't never going back!" Uriel yelled in pure ecstasy. "Hear that? Fuck you Mum, fuck you, Dad! I'm not marrying the skank of a girl you arranged for me either!" He couldn't stop bleeding out elation, as his wide smile was sealed into a thin line, still oozing bliss. It wavered a bit, minutes later, dropping into the same deadpan expression he usually wears. A ball of saline liquid dropped onto his cheek, which snapped him back into reality.

He shuffled around a little as he glanced upwards, now growing confused as the sky was as clear as it could be. Another orb dropped unto his cheek as his hand stuttered, reaching to touch his cheek. He looked down at the wet pads of his fingertips. He smacked his face, aggressively pulling his skin back as he wiped his the saline orbs, rendering him momentarily blind.

"I'm fine-" he said. Just fine. He's rich and unbothered, so he must be fine. He inhaled slowly, and muttered gently, "fucking fine."

His body was wide open, eyes were covered, and sword dropped to the floor. Perfect for a quick kill, since he was practically begging to be attacked. And, someone nearby happened to hear that wish.

A single bullet just barely grazed V's ear, whistling in his eardrum. With a silent yelp, the bullet penetrated a tree ahead of him, halting his actions. He paused, sluggishly squatting lower to the leaved ground, hands now scouring the area to find his sword. A distant voice echoed across the tall spruce trees, sending V into an internal panic.

"Hey, he's there! Advance, team Widow," a hollering voice ripped through the sheet of silence, reverbing across the depths of the forest. His breath grew shallow, and beads of sweat trailed down his forehead. He couldn't move, but there was one thing his natural instinct told him to do.

Run.

With that, he bolted away from the scene, desperately covering his mouth to avoid shouting in fear. Fate had different plans though. He tumbled against the root that stuck out in the ground as his hands flailed away from his mouth, his head crashing hard onto a pile of rocks with a flashy yelp, plastering him beyond dizzy, beyond clueless. The yelp did not help him in the slightest, in fact, it alerted team Widow of his location. He was sprawled against the cold, dirt filled forest floor, head pounding, eyes rolling to the back of his head. Not even ten seconds later, the team of six emerged from the condensed bushes.

"We found him! Stab and run, Jungi!" the leader ordered, pointing his dagger in line with V's helpless body.

"I'm going! Say goodb-"

Said man instantaneously fell limp to the floor, an arrow sticking out of his armoured head, unable to finish his sentence. Faceplanting, his body began to decompose, whilst the rest of the team huddled backwards, warily scanning the map. Eyes wide, hearts racing, skin clamming, they opened their mouth to speak, but alas, were unable to fit a single sound in. A bottle of poison was smashed atop their heads, skin matt, as purple infiltrated their veins, showing through their pale skin.

One sophisticated hop was all it took for the killer to near V's body, as he began to gain some level of consciousness. Marginally shifting his head, a tuft of black hair entered his vision.

"You-" V choked through his clogged oesophagus, half lidded eyes tensing to form a glare.

"You're my kill.."

V could only blink, mouth slightly ajar. He was barely conscious enough to open his eyes, let alone form a string of coherent thoughts. Blue, on the other hand, advanced to him, rapier materialising in his nimble hand. However, a rustle in the bushes threw him off. Eyes doubling in size, a party was emerging from the shadows, causing Erin to internally grumble and groan in frustration. Throwing a teleport crystal, Blue linked arms with V, vanishing into thin air.

"Oh, where'd they go? I swear I heard someone here.."

"You idiot. I should've never trusted you with the hearing skill!"

"Shut the fuck up, I gave you all of my sight skill, so why can't you see them, you bloody bell-end?"

Erin could only peer down from his tent in the cluster of trees, sadistically smiling, sadistically aiming, and shot. With the release of his meticulous fingers, the arrow pierced through the player with the sight skill, to prevent him from running away. This team's disharmony and idiocy would be their downfall. Who just casually announces their skills aloud where another team was supposedly nearby?

Amateurs.

The one with the hearing skill continued walking, completely ignoring the thump of their teammates plummeting to the ground.

By now, V was wide awake, and in in absolute awe. Blue had the most perfect, confident posture, massively contradicting his scarcely shown timid nature; this almost made V pity him more, thinking to himself that he's some 'wannabe tough man'. No matter how much he believed this, he couldn't deny the fact that the boy before him was a natural; a relaxed frame, a twitching sliver of a smile, and the perfect aim, with every single shot. Snapping out of his minuscule daze, he flicked his head around, observing his surroundings.

A band of trees knotted together, allowing a tent to rest in the middle with ease. There were three peep holes, with one facing where V tripped. Blue was watching their every move, 'saved' V, and teleported him here. A pang of fear attacked his heart, as he suddenly began to scramble for escape.

"Don't even attempt to leave, V. If you fall, you die. If you live from the fall, there's one player alive down there and they will kill you," Blue texted, methodically planning anything and everything to keep V to himself.

"Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you? Are you some psycho, or what? It's just a stupid game," V shouted as he read the text, nerves reaching an all-time high as he stood up, grabbing Blue by the collar.

"Get your hands off me, or I'll make sure your death is painful."

"I-"

"Hello, players! Well done to the eighty four players who made it past the seven hour mark! The circle will now be closing in by a square kilometre! Good luck, my lovelies!"

The over-enthusiastic squeak of the AI diminished, leaving both players in a temporary silence.

Blue hurriedly reached for his pocket to pull out his map, scanning the area they're in.

"We don't have long."

"I don't care."

"You will soon."

"What does that even mean?" V sneered, snatching the map out of Blue's hand. Eyes widening, he noticed tens of red dots scattered within the circle, some close Blue's hideout. Worst off, Blue's hideout was less than one hundred metres away from the circle. "What the bloody hell.. You can see player's locations? Are these what the red dots are?"

Blue blinked. His eyes went from neutral, to a dark, piercing gaze, lids casting a shadow over his dilating irises. Seizing the map back, he flung out his rapier, pointing it to V's thick neck. "Stay quiet so I can get a clean cut."

As he raised his wrist higher, he halted upon noticing something tucked away in the deep corners of V's attire. "What is this amulet?" he texted.

"None of your fucking business," V challenged, smacking Blue's wrist away. Raising his sword again, he firmed his grip, as it began to glow a blood red, millimetres away from his neck. "Okay, piss off with that glowing metal stick. It's an amulet, okay?"

"What does it do?"

V reluctantly sighed, averting his gaze. "It grants me access to air particles. So I can speed them up to keep me warm, slow them down to make me cold, and lets me breathe anywhere," he mumbled. That item was a beyond rare drop; it hardly ever appeared in the game, and Erin was beginning to believe that V was really the Cosmos' favourite.

Blue remained silent, caught deep in a trance-like array of thoughts. He glanced up at this temperature levels. They were higher than before. "No wonder you and the other team didn't freeze to death out there, and you didn't care about the circle.."

Remaining silent, V had no more to say.

"Team with me."

His eyes bulged out of his head, almost causing him to laugh at his request. "Are you on crack? No!"

"Keep me warm, and I won't kill you."

Oh, yes he would. As soon as they find the centre of the map and create a mini base, Erin wants to kill V immediately; but first, he needs to make good use of his resources.

"Fuck no. I would never team with a queer hobbit like you," he spat, in disgust.

"You will not make it any farther than you have now without me. Within the span of me being here, you were almost killed twice. Team with me, right now."

"I want sixty percent of the money."

There is no possible scenario where Erin could imagine being nice to the man, all considering. And he doesn't exactly know what it is. Perhaps it's the way he carries himself, the 'I'm better than you' body language, walking around with his chin raised and shoulders back, puffed up with a not so subtle sense of self-importance that didn't escape Erin's notice. He sucked in a breath, before beginning to type.

"No, I'm keeping you alive."

"Well, so am I, you twat."

This argument was going back and forth like a Ping-Pong ball, reaching absolutely nowhere. Erin pondered, and pondered. Even if he agreed to give a portion, V would never receive it anyways, for he'd be dead before then. Any skills V bought was useless without practice; the boy barely knew how to even activate those skills. Even V, with the madly stubborn attitude, knew that very well. Huffing, Blue sheathed his sword, offering a passive hand glowing gold, which formed the alliance between the players.

"Truce?"

"Truce."

Blue hopped out of the tent, immediately feeling the warmth V was irradiating leaving his body. Swinging against the trees skilfully, V just eyed him.

"Wait!"

Pausing he hung off the tree by his arms, twisting over to face his new teammate. With a raised brow, he glared at V impatiently.

"I don't have a baboon skill like you do. So, carry me."

"It's not a game skill, I learnt it."

"Well, guess you're just a natural baboon then. Carry. Me."

V was already getting on Erin's last few nerves, anger seething from every pore in his virtual body. Swinging back, he flung an enchanted rope across V's waist, before pivoting round to begin his leap.

"Wait, no! What if my face gets-"

The sound of a loud thud echoed and resonated through Erin's eardrums, craning his head downwards to pinpoint the source of that chilling noise. His nose flared as he pressed his lips together to prevent a stifling laughter. Seeing the arrogant V's face smacked against a towering tree has brought more joy for Blue than he can say. His body swung away from the bark, revealing the red skinned boy wearing a deep scowl on his face.

"-Hit." He sucked in a breath through the cracks of his teeth. "Bitch. You're a fat, fucking bitch! I can never go out again after this! Drivel piss cunt, ass sucking, toe licking bitch!" V spat an array of profanities endlessly, expressing his pitless anger and hatred for the man carrying him.

Erin wanted to reply, but knew he'd break out into unpreventable fits of laughter even if V was trying to appear intimidating, so instead just threw a sprinkle of his healing kit below him, landing on his sore face. Upon feeling the powdery substance, he instantly calmed down, his face warming up from within.

Minutes passed by as such, V hanging off Blue's body, wearing a helmet and groin shield just in case another little accident occurs.

"V, come up. There is a team lower down." Blue warned through messages, as usual, which V ignored.

"Yeah, no. I don't listen to queers."

Erin is starting to grow even more annoyed with V's dated comments. At first, they were small things he could ignore, but now, they are starting to get to him; how can someone with such a lulling voice bring themselves to muse such words with it?

His voice clearly makes up for the maturity he lacks.

"My stamina is depleting. Give me yours, or come up."

"N, o, spells no."

Sighing, Erin yanked V up, taking him by surprise, as the rope began to squeeze his waist a bit too hard.

"Oi, what is this, a fucking drag race? Why're you squeezing my waist?" he struggled, trying to loosen the enchanted rope keeping him firm within Erin's grasp. The shorter ignored him, wanting to waste as little time with him as possible. Pulling V up by the rope, he stumbled forward trying to find balance after not being on solid ground for a good five minutes. Too bad, V couldn't find that balance, and landed straight unto the smaller. His backside landed directly on Erin's chest, winding him massively.

"Thanks for the pillow. Where's the other team? Get them already." V huffed, hands on his hips as he stood up, already ordering Erin around.

Speechless was the word to describe the latter, right now. Not only did he land on top of him, he winded him, and is now ordering him around all in the same breath. Regaining some oxygen in his slightly crushed lungs, he stood up, dusting off his chest.

"Do you have night vision?"

"No...that exists? It didn't come up in the paid catalogue."

"That's because it's a gift when you manually earn level 90, which you clearly didn't do."

"So why ask me if you know?"

All they knew to do in each other's presence was argue. Argue in the trees, argue on the floor. Just, arguing. V's hysterical voice resonated across the tall, menacing trees, alerting every nearby organism of their presence.

A single, sharp arrow darted past V's hair yet again, only just about missing the tip of his ear. Dragging him downwards, the pair stood against the thick branch, crouched down. Instantaneously, Erin gave twenty percent of his sight skill to V, knowing he'd need it. Silently nodding as a thanks, V ducked his head under his arms.

"Control your heat, you're allowing other's to live because of that amulet," Erin suggested, pulling the amulet out of his shirt, examining it. Caught off guard, V smack the latter's wrist away hurriedly.

"Don't touch me. I'm controlling it just fine, thanks but no thanks."

"Control it," Erin scoffed, almost whining because of just how irritable he becomes when he's near the former. "Or I will kill you."

"You wouldn't. You need me."

"I don't care, anymore. So control it right now, or someone else will kill us before I could even try." He texted whilst unsheathing his sword; he only slightly pulled the rapier out of its case, enough for it to glimmer under the moonlight. Panicking slightly, V decreased the volume of air he controlled, now limiting himself to a radius of about three metres. Attempting to remain nonchalant, he masked his fear with an expressionless countenance, but that couldn't fool Erin, for he's done it too often himself to not be able to tell.

V can be pretty submissive sometimes. He's all bark and no bite. Definitely some useful information Erin will store.

"They are a team of eight, and two of them are archers," Erin informed as he observed the red specks on his map. "Go down, and kill two. I'll handle the archers," he devised in an authorising tone, scrolling his map up and shoving it into his pocket.

Knowing better than to fool around, V got up, listening without any questions asked for once. With Blue's assistance, he leaped downwards, landing flat against the soles of his feet. Needless to say, Erin was marginally perplexed at V's behaviour, but pushed it to the back of his head for now. This 'game' could easily traumatise someone, no questions asked, and V wanted to be the one to do that. For once, he was going to take action.

Two players immediately ran to attack V, swords wavering in the air. Pathetic, Erin thought. They were clearly newbies, judging by their level twelve swords; those things couldn't harm a fly even if they tried, but, V was also new. High levelled thanks to his rich nature, but nonetheless, new. Paying extra close attention to V, he aimed his arrow towards the players surrounding him. A sudden chill crept down Erin's spine, reminding him to finish this as soon as possible, or he would be freezing to death.

Ready, aim, fire.

"Switch to twin dual blades, V." Erin guided as he aimed for the player's head, and without hesitation, V followed through.

The player to the left of V dropped to the floor as the arrow penetrated his skull, XP fluttering closer to Blue's body, illuminating his feet. Cursing mentally, he flattened the orbs surrounding him, desperate to keep his location as hidden as possible. Alas, that wasn't meant to be. A bullet went straight through his foot, thudding loud against the tree, clutching the wound to prevent any extra blood spillage.

V looked back in an instant, momentarily distracted as he moved his head in different angles to see what had occurred. He wasted time dawdling as he tried searching for any sign, not paying attention to the man wielding a grenade the size of a pear behind him.

"V, watch out!"

Explosion.

A vast, nuclear like bomb settled against the ground, flicking parts of trees, rocks and dirt in all directions, but V ducked behind the tree Blue was standing on, just barely dodging a tennis ball sized rock hauled in the direction of his neck thanks to Blue's warning.

Blue's voice echoed in his skull, almost as much as the mini-bomb. V pondered to himself, curious, and bewildered.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he reaffirmed his grip on his swords, remembering the technique Blue used against him. He sliced the joints, making them immobile, and went straight for the heart. With a deep breath, he ran out back into the field, mimicked his killer, carving the joints out of the player ahead of him. Jumping backwards when the sword in the player's hand dropped near his torso, he smiled a bit, unquestionably. He felt a new rush, proud of himself for achieving something, at the very least.

Meanwhile, Erin could barely stand, feeling tears pool in the corners of his eyes. He's never had to feel this before, and to say he was scared was an understatement. He could only briefly peer at the battlefield, bewildered at how V managed to learn his signature technique. He only had a handful of poisons and teleport crystals left, and he full well knew that now was the time to use both. Smashing a crystal against V's body, he teleported him back up to the trees, throwing a bottle of poison against the ground.

An eery sight to behold. A bombed field with granules and tree branches littered across the plains, and twitching players gasping as the poison stained their blood a plum colour, showed in the veins under their now grey skin.

V laid warily against the branch, watching the scene before him with disturbed eyes.

"Where did you get that poison?"

"I made them. Takes a while to make a single drop." Erin informed in the chat, tears in his eyes sucked back in, refusing to cry in front of anyone. As the heat began to re-enter Blue's body, he sighed in relaxation, pressing his back against the trunk of the tree.

Snatching the map out of Blue's pocket carelessly, he scanned the area, seeing no red dots close to them, as they were mainly located up north, and they were in the middle-south territory. Blue would fight back, but barely had the energy to breathe.

Silence overtook them, as Erin continued to rest, eyes closed, jaw clenched, while V just continued staring at the scene. The hush coated the cadet grey scene, as the unceasing tickling of the cold breeze occasionally caressed the napes of their necks. Through the delicate split of the trees, a pearly white body and its twinkling companions peeked right through the dingy field and irradiated it.

"Pretty, no?" Erin texted, as he fondly gazed at the Moon through the cracks of the leaves.

At the sudden text, he glanced at Blue, before looking up at the sky. "I mean, I guess." Leaning back, he shuffled against Blue's foot, watching him snap his leg back and cringe. "What's with you? Did you trip and sprain your ankle, you oversized klutz?"

"No. Don't like contact."

Though Erin's text was secure, his face wavered, contorting into all different expressions, desperately clinging to his neutral one. V smacked his foot with force, watching Blue's eyes crack shut. "Don't tell me you actually fell over."

"I told you, I didn't."

V hesitantly reached for Blue's ankle. He mentally cursed at his wavering hands. Telling himself to get a grip, he firmly grabbed the ankle, sliding him towards V. A fat bullet was lodged right in the middle of his foot, with dried blood surrounding the wound. With furrowed brows, he observed the foot, before glancing at Blue. To say he was confused would be an understatement. Why wasn't he whining and crying, asking for help? That would be the first thing Uriel would do, factually.

"Why didn't you say something, you fool?"

"It's nothing."

"Use one of them healing things you used on my face, I can't be asked to deal with an unable teammate."

Erin peered towards the sky. "I used all I had on your face," Erin confessed, looking away bashfully, whilst V remained speechless for a short second. His caring nature would be the downfall of him. Truth be told, he didn't know why he did that. Why the hell did he heal something so minuscule? Because he cared, or because he was scared?

Regardless.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to have a bullet in the centre of his foot, or his enemy, that essentially would be the reason he's dying painfully in real life, become his teammate. He was supposed to be solo, lurking in the shadows like a grim reaper. In what strain of the multiverse would teaming be a good idea? He felt like an idiot.

"Blue...Blue! You spaced out, I hate being ignored," V growled, straightening his posture to reflect his dominance.

"What did you say?" Erin curtly replied. He figured, the best way to deal with V was to only assert when necessary, but shortly reply in moments like these.

"I asked why you didn't have more healing crystals," V repeated.

"There were more things I had to buy, and a healing crystal wasn't one of them."

Another gentle gust of wind coolly stroked the patches of their exposed skin, tugging them to be cradled in its soothing arms. Oh, how much Erin yearned to be soothed, to be hushed, and lulled, but instead, got a boy who saw Blue's injury as a burden.

"C'mere," V mumbled, barely audible. Such a small voice could've easily been carried away by the wind, but Erin just about picked up on it, ears perking at the realisation. Why did he want Blue near? "Hurry up, you're wasting my time."

Not wanting to push his buttons, Blue etched closer, foot now resting comfortably against V's lap. A small, red crystal appeared in the large palm of V's hand, squeezing it, watching the powder of the healing crystal dissipate into Blue's wound. Peering downwards with doe eyes, Erin felt the wound heal; such an inexplicable feeling, since he never had to once use this. It felt as if a gentle, soothing flame erupted in the sole of Erin's foot, healing him from within. Now, he had more questions than ever. The very boy who had his way with the game developer was now healing his foot. V just looked in the other direction, chucking his foot off his lap as his back now faced Blue.

"I don't give a toss about what happens to you, but I want that money. Don't get this twisted," he snarled, turning his head just enough so Erin could see his side profile.

Erin took what he could get, weakly smiling with a nod.

The sky before him was a pool stained indigo, bits of flaking glitter shining on the surface, wispy clouds masking the moon, yet it beamed strongly, and Erin liked to believe it was because of him. He knew he was being delusional, but he had to choose between being delusional, or downright depressed, so he chose the former.

There was something nibbling at the edge of V's mind, as he was desperate to know why Blue never turned his mic on, or turned his mic on just this once, so, being the careless, insensitive person he is, simply asked.

"Why'd you speak mid battle?"

Erin flinched, unaware V remembered that small detail, especially in the heat of the moment. Darting his eyes across the sky, he huffed, beginning to type his answer on his virtual air keyboard. "You were in danger, and typing, even mental messaging, would take too long and be distracting."

Humming at the answer, V asked another question. "Why don't you keep it on?" he enquired, now turned to face Blue dominantly.

Erin knew the answer, everyone in the hospital did. His brother knew, even his little feline friend knew. His voice is...something. Something he doesn't like. And that's the one thing that his headset couldn't enhance about him.

"My voice is ugly."