"Wake up. We have to move!" Aquafinn said in a whispering tone as she woke Devin up from his slumber. The skies weren't bright enough to be called morning or dawn. In fact, it was as dark as midnight, but the purple sun or whatever it was still hung in the sky.
"What? No. I'll go tomorrow," Devin mumbled, still half-asleep as he turned on the mat he slept on. Aquafinn could feel her eyebrows twitching, but she calmed herself down and kept tapping him.
"Urgh. Do I have to wake up?" Devin finally opened his eyes to see Aquafinn crouched beside him, holding a glowing orb of light in her left palm.
"If you want to stay here and become a slave to borderwalkers, you're free to stay." Aquafinn stood up.
"Wait. What? That light... Wait, slave? I thought that stopped in the 1960s or something," Devin mumbled as he sat up. Aquafinn didn't have time for his rambles as she just walked away, dismissing the light orb. Devin, out of necessity or whatever, finally stood up. He scratched his brown waves softly and began following her from behind.
"Explain yourself. What is a borderwalker? Why would we become slaves to them?" Devin asked her from behind, and she rushed to a building's side to hide from presumably nothing. To Devin, he couldn't see what she was running from, but he had to hide if she hid.
"I didn't mean 'we.' I meant you," Aquafinn whispered to him without facing him. That was a nice choice because if she did, her nose would be assaulted by his morning breath.
"Why me? Aren't female slaves more usef—" Devin tried to make a joke, but Aquafinn eyed him, causing him to be quiet.
"Lower your voice, idiot," Aquafinn crouched.
"Why are we hiding? There's no one there!" Devin looked out into the open space with his full body, and Aquafinn yanked him back into cover. Just as she did, an arrow landed where his legs were supposed to be.
"Damn, that was close." Devin finally adjusted his voice to a whispering one. She looked at him again, and this time he was smiling.
"You're a freak, you know that? Shhh, someone's coming." Aquafinn covered his mouth with her palm. He was confused but still intrigued by the uncertainty that lay ahead of him.
Finally, Devin could hear footsteps coming closer to their location. It was slow but steady and belonged to a single person. Devin was relieved that it was bipedal, then he realized that whoever it was, they weren't friendly as they had shot an arrow at him on sight.
It wasn't human.
Its body was clad in armor that didn't reflect light but seemed to drink it in—smooth and layered like the hide of an insect. Its face was triangular with long fangs from its mouth and eyes that glowed orange. It carried a device shaped like a crossbow, but sleeker.
"I found them. One's a Traverser, the other's a normie." It spoke to nobody, but in reality, it was speaking to its comrades. They could hear it talk as they had enhanced their hearing capabilities.
"Don't move too quickly. If you resist, things are going to get ugly." It pointed its crossbow device at them.
Aquafinn's posture shifted subtly, hand reaching to her back where her twin swords were strapped.
"Don't," the Borderwalker said, its voice cold and synthetic. "I'll blow your little companion's legs off before you even unsheath." It clicked its tongue after its sentence.
"Charming," she muttered.
Devin, caught between confusion and fear, stood frozen. His heart pounded in his ears. "Okay, okay. Let's talk about this—"
The Borderwalker fired.
Aquafinn's sword flashed in one fluid motion, deflecting the bolt mid-air. Sparks burst off the blade, and Devin yelped, diving to the ground.
"That's one," the creature hissed before clicking its tongue twice. Two more silhouettes dropped from the shadows—sleek, light-drinking armor and their spears at the ready.
"Oh, hell no," Devin muttered, crawling backward.
"Take the normie alive," one barked. "He's fresh…"
"I'm not fresh! I swear!" Devin yelled, instantly regretting it.
The Borderwalkers lunged.
"Stay behind me," Aquafinn said shortly before becoming a blur.
She dashed forward, closing the distance with inhuman speed, slicing through one's thigh joint before spinning and disarming the second. Her twin blades sang through the air, one defensive, one piercing. Sparks exploded as steel met the armored carapace.
Devin scrambled to his feet, only for a Borderwalker to swing at him. He barely ducked in time, the strike grazing his shoulder and sending him tumbling again.
"I told you to stay behind me!" Aquafinn shouted as she ducked a strike and kicked her attacker's knee backward with a crack.
"I'm trying!" Devin yelled, throwing a rock at the one charging him. It bounced off harmlessly.
One Borderwalker tackled him, driving him to the ground. Its breath stank like sulfur and ozone as it hissed, "You're worth more alive, runt. Don't make this harder."
"Not today, you bug-eyed freak!" Devin shouted. He reached for the knife Aquafinn had given him—he hadn't trained with it, but adrenaline didn't care. He slashed wildly, barely nicking the attacker's arm. It screeched.
Just then, Aquafinn's blade punched through its side. She yanked Devin up by the collar. "You get one save. One."
"Okay, okay, I—"
She spun, slicing another bolt out of the air, then shoved Devin into cover. "Stay down or next time I'll stab you myself."
The last Borderwalker tried retreating, firing cover shots. Aquafinn didn't give it the chance. She blurred forward and, with two final slashes, cleaved its crossbow in half—then knocked it unconscious with the pommel of her sword.
Silence.
Devin panted on the ground, holding his bleeding arm. Aquafinn stood among the defeated, breathing steady.
"Are they… dead?" he asked.
"No," she said. "Inchoids don't die easy. These are scouts. If they tagged us, others are on their way."
"We need to move?" Devin asked, getting to his feet.
"As fast as possible," she added. "They'll track your pulse signature just because."
Devin laughed nervously. "Okay. Cool. Love being threatened. Feels great." He reached into his pockets, pulled out a pre-rolled joint and lighter.
"Not with the burnt garbage thing." She rubbed her nose bridge as she moved. He followed her closely from behind.
"I need it. Unlike you, I'm barely surviving." Devin puffed out smoke.
Aquafinn turned, face dead serious. "Then get stronger. Or next time, I won't be here to bail you out."
"Like I could do that in a day. I'm hungry," Devin complained.
"You're hopeless, you know that?" Aquafinn reached into her pulse space and pulled out a sealed biscuit, throwing it at Devin, who fumbled to catch it.
"Noice. What flavor?" Devin looked around the wrapper but couldn't see any labels or anything. Aquafinn didn't answer him as she increased her speed, causing him to do the same.
They moved from the abandoned town to a rocky plain with big, tall rock structures. They kept moving for about 10 minutes on a stretch, and Devin couldn't keep up anymore. This was due to him smoking while running and his loss of stamina. They had to stop at a cave that Aquafinn had sensed was safe.
"Oh my... I think I have better chances facing those bug-eyed people than keeping up," Devin heaved in large breaths as he rested his back on the cavern wall. His joint was no longer in his mouth—it fell when he was sprinting, and according to Aquafinn, it wasn't worth picking back up.
"I didn't expect you to be that weak, to be honest." Aquafinn also sat down, resting opposite him. She wasn't fatigued in the slightest—it was as if she could run for three hours on end before becoming tired like Devin was.
"Sorry that I'm... I'm not a friggin samurai." Devin's breathing was heavy as he tried regaining his composure. His fingers trembled, and he began using his index fingers to scratch his thumb.
Aquafinn noticed this. "You good?"
"Y—Yeah. I just ran more than I've ever done in my life, and I don't even have any more weed to cool down." Devin smiled sarcastically and dropped the smile immediately after he was done speaking.
"That thing is bad for you. It causes impurities to build in you—" Devin waved her explanation off with his hands.
"Spare me the details. Do you have water in your inventory or whatever you called it?" Devin asked as his breathing began to normalize.
"Yeah." Aquafinn reached into the pulse space then brought out a bottle of water alongside a weird-shaped fruit. The fruit was long, curly, and red—like a banana with an identity crisis.
Devin opened the bottle and gulped until it was empty. "What's with the devil fruit?"
"It's a Link fruit." She noticed Devin wasn't taking her seriously, so she stopped for a while before continuing. "Eating this fruit strengthens your link to this realm, hence increasing your pulse level."
"So basically it does what?" Devin raised an eyebrow.
"Makes you stronger," she said flatly. She handed over the fruit to Devin, who looked at it with a weird expression on his face. "Eat it. I want to teach you how to cultivate your Pulse."
Devin took a small bite, tasting the fruit to see if he could handle it. He tasted a mix of strawberry, wheat, and a hint of soap as the fruit melted in his mouth. He made a weird face and tried to return the fruit to Aquafinn.
"The other way to increase your Pulse is to actually meditate and link yourself to the realm. The fruit saves you days of meditation." She didn't collect it from him; instead, she pushed it closer to him.
He finally gave in and ate the whole fruit, ignoring the sweet, sour, and soapy. He didn't feel anything different after finishing the fruit—he even looked at Aquafinn with a look that read: Really? That's it?
"Now try to clear your mind. Don't think about anything specifically," Aquafinn said, placing her palm on his chest without warning, which startled him a bit. He recoiled but later composed himself and closed his eyes, trying not to think of anything.
Okay. Now I'm not thinking of anything. But wait, isn't thinking about not thinking of anything just me thinking?
Devin's mind rambled on. He felt clearing the mind was an impossible task.
Would have been easier if I had some weed, Devin thought.
"That's not working? Then think of one thing specifically. A color, a person, or anything so your mind is balanced and not distracted." Aquafinn's voice sounded in his ears like music as she spoke in a more humble tone than before.
Black. Devin chose to picture the color black as it was the closest to nothing he could think of. His mind was pitch black, but he began seeing a figure in his head. The figure of a woman smiling.
Sandra. Devin's eyes jolted open.
"Try to focus," Aquafinn said, looking directly into his eyes. He looked into hers as well, and he tried his best not to show his panic outwardly. He kept wondering why he'd see Sandra of all people. After all, he didn't care about her. Or so he thought.
He closed his eyes once more and could only think of one thing. Sandra. He didn't know why, but he kept thinking about her. Thinking about what he could have done differently back then.
"Good. Your mind is stable." Aquafinn's soothing voice entered his ears once more. "Now, forget whatever it is for now."
He did as he was told, and for some reason, it worked. He forgot about Sandra. For a moment, his mind was a blank slate. Maybe not so blank. He saw a pale liquid in his mind, but he didn't recall seeing a floating liquid ever.
In the pale liquid, there were some black spots in it. The black spots were varying in size and were contaminating the liquid.
"Try moving the liquid around," Aquafinn instructed. She smiled as she could also perceive his inner realm; it was at its infant stage.
He tried moving the liquid around, and it moved after a few attempts. It was mesmerizing to see it move—he could even feel it moving in his chest like a soothing warm spot that he could move around.
"That is your inner realm. Although it's impure, as you have conflict within you," she said as she perceived the impurities in the liquid.
"How do I remove them?" For the first time, Devin said something he actually meant. His eyes were still closed and his mind was focused on the liquid that was called his inner realm.
"That is up to you," she said softly, removing her hand from his chest—but he didn't even notice.