Maggie is kind of weird. Okay, really weird. She's moody and abrasive, hard to get along with even for me, but also?

Holy marshmallow fudge balls is she smart!

She figured out how to use magic, supercharged one of our skills somehow, and even came up with a slightly gross but clever solution to our water problem. I thought Violet was clever—and she is—but Mags is like some kind of genius or something. The only problem is that like many geniuses, she struggles with actually communicating her insights effectively.

Case in point? She somehow just shut herself off.

"Maggie? Mags? Where'd you go?"

"She did say she was going to sleep," Vi says. "I'm not sure she can hear you right now."

It's true that we're not always all "awake" at the same time, but it's not usually something we have any control over.

"That's the second time Maggie has isolated herself like that," I point out. "Though last time it was us that went to sleep."

"I doubt the first time was intentional, and even if this one was, she probably doesn't actually know how she did it."

"What do you mean?"

Violet sighs. It's so weird that we can do that when we're not in front.

"Maggie's the intuitive type," she explains. "She doesn't think, she just acts. Like a sorcerer instead of a wizard."

"What?"

"Never mind. The point is that she doesn't actually understand what she's doing. Or maybe she understands without knowing?"

I scrunch up my nose. "What?!"

"I don't know!" Vi huffs. "I didn't think people like that actually existed, but she's been right too many times for it to be a coincidence. Basically she's just really good at guessing. It's called lateral thinking."

I feel like there's more to it than that, but I'm already confused enough as it is, and Violet's as baffled as I am for once.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to ask her later," I sigh. "What now? I was going to do some more cooking experiments, but whatever Maggie did left me feeling a bit queasy."

"Let's head to the stream," she suggests. "We need to wash out the gecko stomach, and I've got a few ideas myself."

"Okay."

As we creep our way through the dark caves, I can't help but miss [Survivalist] and [Candle Enthusiast]. I can see why we wouldn't want to overcommit to a single attribute, but I've gotten used to having higher Awareness, and it sucks having two max level classes just sitting idle.

I guess I'm still a level 0 [Medic], so I could just swap temporarily? I shake my head at the thought. Switching classes is really uncomfortable.

"Something on your mind?" Violet asks.

"I was just realizing how much I'm going to miss being able to see better in the dark."

"Hmm, I'd almost forgotten how much we were relying on our enhanced Awareness."

It's not like I can't see at all, but the magic candles aren't that bright. It's like going back to that first day, except now I'm used to something better.

"I have an idea," Violet says. "Maggie has a point about our utilization of skills. We need to get more creative with them."

"When did she say that?" I ask.

Vi gives me one of her signature long pauses before moving on without answering my question.

"Let's start by switching our [Beaten Path] skill to [Foraging]."

Oh right! That was how we got around at first, wasn't it?

"Wait, but don't I need [Retraced Steps] to get around?"

"We've made this trip enough times by now that you should remember it," she responds. "That skill is best used to avoid going in circles."

"Oh right. That and whatever Maggie did with it before."

I can hear the frown in Vi's voice as she responds. "Yes. That. We're still not sure how she actually did that, and I'm not convinced it's useful yet."

I stick my tongue out as I quickly swap out the skill. I feel a weird tingle, but it's not as bad as switching classes. I can already see a little better!

"Don't be mean, Vi," I scold her. "Maggie's doing her best, and even you can't deny that getting more out of our skills is helpful."

"Sure, but at what cost?" she retorts. "We have no idea what her little experiments are doing to our head, but the bloody noses and fainting aren't good signs."

"I'm pretty sure that's just exertion," I say. "She's straining so hard that we burst a few blood vessels."

"That's not a good habit to get into."

"No, but it's also a relatively minor injury," I point out. "Kind of like getting a bunch of scrapes and bruises after a failed attempt at parkour."

Violet doesn't respond for a moment. I can tell that she doesn't want to agree, but she also can't bring herself to disagree.

"Speaking of which," she finally says. "That was the other thing I was going to suggest. Our body is still pretty sore from that, right?"

Ugh, why'd she have to remind me? I'd kind of gotten used to tuning it out, but my entire body is like a giant walking bruise.

"What the heck, Vi?" I complain. "Are you the kind of person to go around saying 'Wow, it's a real scorcher today' during a heat wave?"

We might have intractable differences after all. That's some absolute sociopath behavior.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"No, sorry, I was just thinking that maybe you could increase your Awareness by trying to treat those injuries. That's how your [Medic] class works, right?"

[Tier 0 Medic]*

Level 0/10

An aspiring healer, applying first aid and treating minor injuries.

Skill - First Aid: Increased Awareness and Ego when treating recent injuries.

Attribute bonus: Ego.

Advancement: Treat injuries.

[Not applicable for upgrading]

[Not applicable for fusion]

[Remove]

I blink at the description for a moment. "Hmm, maybe? How should I actually treat it, though?"

"I don't know. Stretches? Massage? Anything we can do on the move."

That's an interesting suggestion, but I'm a little skeptical. "Will that count, you think?"

"I have no idea," she admits. "But nothing about the skill says you have to successfully treat injuries. It's worth a try."

"Alright, I guess..."

I try to keep an eye on the path while I probe my aching body for something to work on. Now that I'm paying attention to it, I'm in rougher shape than I realized. The wound in my leg has scarred over by now, but I still have a slight limp in that leg. There's some kind of weird click in my shoulder when I try to roll it—maybe from Violet's faceplant or the fight with the gecko. My calves and thighs are burning from constantly walking around, and don't even get me started on my poor feet.

I decide to focus on the shoulder first, carefully testing the range of motion to find out where it hurts and if any movements or stretches help. As I do, I feel more acutely aware of the movement of my muscles beneath my skin. The click happens when I try to reach up, and while it doesn't hurt too badly, it feels almost as though the joint is misaligned or something. Or maybe I'm just making things up.

I try massaging my shoulder gently while I explore the range of motion, and the cavern seems to light up slightly in front of me.

"Huh. It works," I comment aloud. "That's kinda dumb."

"It makes a certain amount of sense," Violet says. "Better Awareness can help you spot problems or complications while treating someone."

"Sure, but I don't really get how that translates to seeing better in the dark."

"I guess it can't or maybe just doesn't apply in such a narrow way. Maggie is right, we need to start checking our assumptions."

"No arguments here," I mutter, continuing to roll my shoulder carefully. I find a particularly nasty motion that locks up my whole arm and sends tingles down to my fingers. "Ow!"

"Are you alright?" Vi asks, immediately concerned.

I nod. "Yeah just...ow, I think you might have dislocated my shoulder earlier."

"Oh no! Allison, I'm so sorry!"

I wave her off, smiling. "It's fine, I think. Might have been made worse by Mags climbing down that cliff, but if it was really bad it would probably hurt more, right? I think I might be able to..."

I try to push my shoulder against the spot that keeps clicking. I don't really know what I'm doing, and this might be a really bad idea, but if it hurts too badly, I'll just stop.

"Allison," Vi warns. "Trying to relocate our own shoulder is dangerous and might make the injury worse."

I stop walking to focus on what I'm doing, gradually pulling harder against my shoulder and my face twists up in concentration.

"I...know...but I don't see a doctor around, do you?" I point out, grunting with effort. This isn't comfortable, but it isn't really hurting yet either. "I'm the closest we've got so—ow, frick!"

My shoulder pops painfully. "Crap! You were right, oh gosh I think I just—oh wait, actually this feels way better."

I wheel my arm around to find that I've regained a full range of motion. No more clicks, and no more pain aside from the lingering throb from popping it back into place.

[Level up!]

Medic is now level 1.

+1 Ego.

"I did it!" I exclaim happily.

"I guess," Violet mutters, and I can hear the frown in her voice. "That was lucky, but we should be careful."

"Oh, let me have this!" I huff. "We all have to take some risks, right?"

She sighs. "Until we're safe or one of them gets us killed, yes. Good work, Allie."

"Thank you!" I beam proudly.

The rest of the hike is uneventful. I don't have anything else as severe as a partially dislocated shoulder to address, so I try massaging my sore thighs, but that's hard to do while walking and I give up after a bit.

I shiver as we arrive at the Underground Stream. I forgot how cold it is here. Not eager to get startled by another gecko, I very carefully scan the walls and ceiling for any sign of their camouflaged bodies.

"I think we're clear," I hedge.

"Good. Let's get to work."

I nod and kneel down by the stream, setting up a few candles so that I can see what I'm doing better. I wash my hands in the freezing water and take a few sips. It's bracing and refreshing after sweating so much over the last couple of days. I desperately wish that I could take a bath or wash my clothes, but the water is too cold and too fast. My stench hasn't quite reached the point where freezing to death is a favorable alternative.

Once we've got a way to carry water, maybe we can make a bath.

"Okay, do you want to take over here?" I ask Vi.

"I'm willing to try."

I close my eyes and try to focus on the vague pressure I feel in my mind. I imagine myself stepping back away from my own body and giving into that pressure. I let out a slow breath and open my eyes.

[Allison: Tier 1 Human]

"Dang it!" I curse.

It doesn't always work. Actually it almost never works. Switching on purpose is really hard unless there's some kind of imminent danger or I'm emotionally worked up.

"Sorry," Violet sighs. "I'll try to walk you through it, alright?"

"No problem," I agree. "Let's just hurry, my fingers are already getting numb."

She calmly walks me through the process of cleaning out the gecko stomach, which is mostly just a matter of letting the stream run through it for a while. It's easier said than done—the openings are small and I have to be careful not to lose my grip in the frigid waters as I hold it open against the current of the stream.

After the first few attempts, the water dripping off of it is still slightly brown, but eventually it comes out clear.

I rub my hands together and try to warm up my fingers with my breath.

"Whew, that took longer than I thought," I say through slightly chattering teeth. "I can't feel my fingers."

"We're not done yet," Vi informs me. "We still need to remove the lining."

"Uuugh."

She has me turn the lizard stomach inside out then carefully, carefully scrape the stomach lining off with the knife. It's not exactly easy when my hands don't want to cooperate.

"Go slowly," she urges. "We won't get a second chance at this if you cut a hole in it."

I try to steady my shivering hands, but it's so cold.

"I got that the first twelve times, Vi, can you just let me focus?"

That was more snippy than I meant it to be, but she can really nag sometimes. I don't know how long we end up spending on it, but eventually I manage to remove all of the gross, uncomfortably meaty inner lining of the stomach, leaving us with nothing but a smooth, reddish-brown skin.

"Okay, now what?" I ask, eager to get out of the freezing cold cave.

"Tie off one end, then fill it up," Violet says. "Hopefully this works and doesn't end up poisoning us."

"Love that confidence," I deadpan.

Tying one end of the stomach isn't easy with frozen fingers, and I run into the same problem that Maggie had, which is that apparently the stomach is made of skin, and it's not as stretchy as I thought. After a lot of pinching, twisting, and cursing, I manage to get a single basic knot which I can only hope will hold, because I absolutely don't have enough dexterity in my fingers to manage a double knot.

I delicately lower the makeshift waterskin into the stream, being extra cautious not to lose my grip. I don't even try filling it all the way, or even halfway before pulling it back out. I hold it up in my hand, the top half bunched up in my awkward grip.

It drips a little, but the knot holds and I don't immediately notice any leaks. I've got...a sack of water. A waterskin—sort of.

I sniffle—mostly from the cold—then start to cry. I feel silly about it, but I can't help it. After what feels like weeks desperately trying to survive in this awful cave, this stupid amateur sack of hopefully-not-poisoned water gives me the first real hope that maybe I won't die down here.

This, more than anything, feels like I've finally made a real step towards freedom.

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