----

The next morning came, then passed. When Dianne remained asleep, Armin spent most of his time quietly looking out the window, feeding Esme, or reading his old journal. He tried his best not to disturb her, figuring she needed the rest.

He hadn't slept well last night; although Esme had decided to keep him company, he'd felt very aware of Dianne's absence. Even worse, he couldn't bring himself to sleep when the memory of the spiders' eyes glowing in the flare light kept jumping across his vision. As a result, he was a little tired, and glad he had nothing to do except sit in the truck.

{Late that afternoon, Dianne opens her eyes. Groggily, she sits up, propping herself against the wall.}

Dianne: "Armin....Can you get me some water...and ibuprofen...I'm running a slight temperature over here..."

Armin shook himself out of his silent musings, looking over at her. 'Yeah, sure thing.' He went to the supply box and retrieved a bottle of water, as well as a couple of pills from the medkit. He carefully handed them to Dianne. 'Are you sure that venom doesn't have any serious effects?'

As this was going on, Esme was watching curiously from nearby. She seemed less uneasy around Dianne compared to last night, but still didn't get too close.

Dianne: "Yes, I'm sure..."

{Opening the bottle, she takes the pills, leaning back with a tired expression.}

Dianne: "I'll fine in a day or two."

{Looking over at Esme, she squints.}

Dianne: "What's up with her?"

Armin sat beside her, leaning against the wall. 'Uh, well... She saw you show up covered in gore last night. She reacted the same way after seeing Prateorus like that, too. Give her a bit of time, she'll brush it off.'

(Hm, I feel like Dianne's always the one who gets hurt whenever they run into trouble (Agamidae, Calvin, spider horde...).
Kinda want to have Armin get injured at some point, he needs to stop being so lucky. XD)

(Well, being the front line, it's a bit of an occupational hazard.

And didn't that unfeeling stab him in the back? XD)

Dianne: "Ok...So, about last night..."

{She takes her pillow and props it between her and the wall.}

Dianne: "Why didn't you help me? I'm not mad, I just want to know...do spiders really scare you that much?"

(True, though that was ages ago, and I think it's the only time he's gotten injured. Which is odd considering how reckless he is. XD)

Armin looked away, a pang of guilt hitting him, even though she'd said she wasn't angry.

'I wanted to, believe me. But when you threw the flare and I saw /hundreds/ of freakin' giant spiders charging at us... I just couldn't seem to react. It was horrible. And before Titan flew us away, I tried to jump out of the truck and help, but I hesitated too long. I just... couldn't step out into the midst of those things.'

(Huh, yeah. Luck 100 XD)

{Dianne just laughs a little at that.}

Dianne: "Yeah, that's what I figured. Honestly, after seeing that, I'm surprised you got any sleep at all. Don't worry, though, the closer we get to Vallis, the scarcer araneos will become."

(Maybe he'll run out of luck next time they run into something dangerous.)

'Good...' Armin muttered. 'I wish they'd go extinct. Next time we stop somewhere where there might be hordes of giant spiders, could somebody please warn me?'

Dianne: "That's just the thing, Armin, I had no idea they'd be there, let alone in such high numbers. If I had known, I never would have stopped. Sometimes, when you travel, you run the risk of encountering giant spiders."

'Well, let's just make sure we stay really close to the car next time. So we have an easy escape.' He rubbed his head wearily. 'I heard them scuttling when I was walking through the port... they could've ambushed me while I was on my own... dam.n things...'

Dianne: "Yeah, they're generally very opportunistic. I don't know why they would have passed you up. Well, their attempt to eat us has been thwarted and dozens of them were killed, so...I guess we're even then."

'Well, at least we're alright. Mostly. That's the important thing.' Armin fell silent, gazing contemplatively out of the window at the passing sky.

Dianne: "That is true. We're ok. Well, I feel like crap, but at least you got out ok..."

'Well, next time something like this happens, let's /all/ try to get out unscathed, alright? I don't like seeing you get hurt. If we get attacked by something other than spiders, I'll make up for not being able to fight this time.'

Dianne: "Alright, we'll do our best. I know you don't like seeing me get hurt, but there are some threats I'm more capable of handling, like that ice dragon. Since you're unwilling to learn how to effectively use megafauna forms, I'm all we got."

'I can use them if I have to. I'm just not very fond of shifting into unfamiliar forms... I did use my rhino form to buy us some time at the Agamidae museum,' said Armin. 'Are you saying that, when we run into trouble, I'm useless? That I might as well just stay back and let you handle everything?'

Dianne: "Well...no, but, there have been a lot of situations lately where...you can't or won't do anything..."

Barnabas: "Yup, you're useless."

For a moment, Armin just sat there quietly, staring into space. //Hardly surprising... What have I contributed to this trip? I couldn't even stop her nearly dying in Agamidae. There were too many hunters. And I pretty much abandoned her fighting the spiders. I'm insane if I think I can actually help when the hunters attack Vallis. She could end up /dead,/ and so could Rex and Fred, and I can't save any of them...//

He stood up, walked to the back doors and opened them. Without a word, he leapt out, shifting into hawk form as he went.

{Dianne sits frozen for a second, trying to process what happened. Coming to, she bolts to the door and leans out.}

Dianne: "Armin!? Armin! Where the hell are you going? Armin!?"

Armin didn't reply, though if she looked down, she would see his hawk form flying a good distance below the car. He seemed to be keeping up with them, not flying away.

{Dianne looks down, catching sight of him. Rubbing her face wearily, she calls out to Titan.}

Dianne: "Titan, put us down for a minute."

{With that, Titan lands and puts the car down.

Armin veered out of the way as Titan deposited the car on the ground. //What are they stopping for?// he thought, though he could guess. //Can't I get five minutes to myself to brood?// He swooped off a short distance, landing in the high branch of an oak tree.

{Dianne steps out of the car, closing the door behind her.}

Dianne: "Barnabas, stay with Esme."

{She then walks to the base of the tree, looking up at Armin.}

Dianne: "Hey, you want to explain to me why you just decided to jump out of a flying vehicle?"

//Because I wanted a bit of time alone. Why do you think? You know I can fly, so why is me jumping out of the car an issue?// Armin responded, his telepathic voice subdued and distant. He stayed up in the tree as he spoke.

Dianne: "Why is it an issue? Because you offered no explanation!! You just got up and left, and that's deeply concerning. What is going on with you?!"

Armin gripped the tree branch a little harder with his talons.

//I'll tell you what's going on; I'm terrified. There's a huge threat coming to Vallis. You seem pretty da.mn sure you can beat the hunters, but they're also confident that they can beat /you./ Fred and Rex will want to join the fighting, which means I could easily lose every single person I love. I've already watched you get hurt multiple times because I couldn't stop it. You nearly died in Agamidae, and there was nothing I could've done...//

Dianne: "Armin..."

{She stops for a moment, sighing.}

Dianne: "I get it, really, I do. But, man, you gotta pull it together. We can do this. My getting hurt is not a reflection of your inability to protect me, ok? What happened in Agamidae wasn't your fault, in fact, you're the only reason I made it out alive. You saved /my/ life. As for Fred and Rex, they can handle themselves. They have for decades, if not centuries. Trust me, we are going to be just fine."

//Why are you so sure of that?// Armin persisted. //Paxton wouldn't attack you if he thought he was going to lose. Maybe he has something up his sleeve, some plan or weapon that'll enable him to beat us. We can't know for sure. And how exactly did I save you in Agamidae? We escaped because of Barnabas, Billingsly and Titan.//

Dianne: "I'm so sure because Paxton isn't the first a$$hole who's tried to have me killed. I've had hunters, monarchs, mercenaries, inter dimensional beings, and all points inbetween try to take my head, and after all the stabbings, shootings, poisonings, light weapons and magic, I'm still standing while they're all dead. And you did help in Agamidae. You helped get me out when I couldn't walk, you distracted Paxton long enough for Titan to get there, and you stopped me from bleeding out. Don't sell yourself short."

//So you're convinced that you can beat this hunter clan without a problem, just because you've beaten other people before?// said Armin. //Do you think that because you've survived so long, you're invincible? And that just because Fred and Rex have survived a long time, they can't die either? Anything could happen.//

Dianne: "That's not what I meant. All I'm saying is...have some faith. Yes, life is scary, and uncertain, but if we just assume the worst, we're just going to make ourselves miserable the entire time. Yeah, Paxton's strong and has an army to back him up, but that's nothing we haven't beaten before."

Armin hunched his shoulders, feathers fluffing up as he stared off into the distance.

//...I know, I'm trying not to be pessimistic... I just don't want to lose more people... It's hard to believe we're going to get through this with everyone alive. After I already lost my wife, daughter, and countless friends over the years. I don't want to lose anyone else...// He sucked in a shuddering breath.

Dianne: "I know that feeling too well...But, I'll be damned if I let anybody die on my account. I will use everything in my repertoire to keep us all safe. There will be no more trading lives. So, please come down, Armin. Let's go home."

Armin stayed up in the tree for a moment, almost considering not moving. Then he reluctantly swooped down, landing heavily a few feet from Dianne and shifting back. Without saying anything, he turned away and began to head towards the truck. He wiped his face on his sleeve as he walked, looking like he'd been holding back tears for the last few minutes.

{Dianne walks behind him with a concerned look. Once they were in the car and flying, she speaks up.}

Dianne: "Armin, come here, please."

Armin, who still hadn't said anything, hesitated uncertainly before shifting over to her.

{Dianne proceeds to wrap her arms around him in a hug. To the touch, she does feel a little warmer than usual.}

Dianne: "We're going to be just fine. All of us."

Armin was still for a moment before leaning into the hug, closing his eyes. 'You'd better be right,' he said a little thickly. 'If you die, I'll kill you.'

Dianne: "Right back at you, buddy."

{She starts rocking slightly with him, positioning her hand to stroke his hair.}

Armin let out a long, slow breath, feeling a measure of calm return to replace the raw emotions. He let himself relax, enjoying her stroking his hair.

'...If you do that too long, I'm going to fall asleep on you,' he said, in warning. 'Didn't sleep much last night...'

Dianne: "If it wasn't for the fact that we need to stop for dinner, I would suggest we just lie down right here."

{She stops stroking his hair, but continues to hug him.}

'...Mhm... yeah. I'll go to sleep as soon as we're done with dinner. We'd better not get attacked by giant freaking spiders again...' he said drowsily as he let her hold him.

Dianne: "Then why don't we cook now, while we're still by the ocean. We turn inland tonight. We get the food now, then we settle down for a nap. Sound good?"

'...Alright,' Armin agreed. With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself away from her, into a kneeling position. He rubbed his eyes, trying to stay awake. 'Let's do that.'

Esme had been sitting quietly on the driver's seat, away from Dianne, but at the mention of food, she pricked up her ears.

{Dianne proceeds to order Titan to stop on the beach. Once they landed, Dianne hops out onto the sand.}

Dianne: "Armin, go ahead and get a fish. Barnabas, collect some wood."

Armin yawned and stretched as he stepped out of the truck. 'I'm on it...' he mumbled, before shifting and flying off over the water. He had no intention of spending time searching for the biggest or best fish, so he just looked for something adequate.

Esme decided to stay in the truck, sitting by the doors and watching the proceedings with slight interest.

{Dianne dug the fire pit. Once she finished, she leaned wearily on the shovel. Barnabas appears with the wood dropping it into the pit.}

A second after Barnabas returned, Armin did as well, walking up in human form while carrying a medium-sized fish. 'This is kind of small,' he observed tiredly, 'but you and Esme can have all of it.' He eyed Dianne with a bit of concern. 'You alright? You should take it easy; I know you're still running a temperature.'

Dianne: "Yeah, I'm ok. Hold on, I need to light the fire."

{She proceeds to shift, light the fire, shift back, then sit down.}

Dianne: "Ok, I leave the rest to you."

(Posting new room)