The River.

Izanami pulled her AR15 off of her shoulder and cocked it.
"You guys continue your conversation." She told them, shifting the gun in her hands. "I'll keep on patrol for anything in the water. Nothing on land usually comes in the water, and nothing in the water leaves. I'm really familiar with this terrain."
At that, Izanami spotted a large distorted shark heading to the boat. Letting one bullet loose, she made her group safe for a while. She remained quiet.

"Gage was more into combat than I am," he smiled sadly. "But I did learn quite a few things," he looked at Ceadda, "I hope you understand that I am fighting for myself and the people I have lost. Not that man."

Ohanzee saw the flash of concern that had crossed Ceadda's face.
"I know enough, I suppose..." he said, "I will admit I should probably get better with using a gun..." he admitted. Like Aaron, he had reasons for helping too, he just decided not to voice them at this point.

"Heh, alright. If I had known you guys were gonna be here, I would have grabbed my extra rifle. But I do have a spare handgun, if either of you need gun. And I have a couple extra daggers. If we ever have some downtime, I'd be happy to train you," Ceadda said.

"Oh, and don't worry about not telling me why you're here, Ohanzee. I assume your reasons are more complex than mine."

He smiled broadly at the boys.
He was trying to make sure they were confident, because in combat, doubting yourself can lead to your death, and the death of your comrades. He pulled out his book and began to write in it.

Ohanzee looked at Ceadda's book curiously.
"What's that?" he asked. He was interested now, too much to not ask Ceadda about it.

"I'm good right now, We're actually heading to my cabin, I've got plenty of guns there." he looked at Ohanzee. "I've got some horses too, Ceadda, would you be interested in keeping one? They're great to have." he sighed happily as he rowed on, "I've got three wolves that like to come and go, but they've gotten more and more dangerous. They almost attacked my second best horse the other night." he felt like he was rambling now so he simply blushed and closed his mouth.

Regenard dove into the river and shot across, fighting the strong current.
"Don't worry, I'll be just fine," he yelled. He spotted a fin coming at him, and slipped his knife from his pocket, jabbing down into the murky water. The fin slowly sunk below the now red water. Regenard swam to the other side and waved.
"Come on, friends, we've a schedule to keep!"

"Ah, Ohanzee, this book is where I record my thoughts. I write poetry and the like. I'm not the super masculine warrior filled with bravado I may appear to be. But confidence is key in combat, so I do my best to maintain it. It's rather personal, but maybe someday I'll let you all read some," Ceadda said.

He turned to Aaron, "And I may or may not keep one. I find it hard to take care of animals with my job. I'm glad you've got weapons, because the weapons I don't use are pieces of shit. But better than nothing. But my chosen weapons... they're beautiful. Especially the sword I got from an old man I met. Beautifully crafted weapon."

"We'd best listen to Regenard and get going though, lads."

Aaron quickly rowed to the other side and hoped out of the boat. He helped Ohanzee and Ceadda out but he looked at Regenard and held the boat steady. It was obvious that he liked the girl, so he'd let him be the gentleman.

Regenard shook, water falling from him. He walked over to the boat, nodding slightly to the man as he passed. He held his hand out to Izanami.
"Miss Izanami," he said, looking at her.

Izanami stayed quiet, keeping patrol of all sides of Regenard and of the boat. When a fin approached him, she had nearly shot it, but he had taken care of it. She clearly wasn't needed here, so why was she coming?
She began to remember days of her childhood. Her father's friends and colleagues would visit for conversations in findings of radiation, and whenever she would run to him, she would be turned on her heels. "Go, go, Nami." He would insist firmly. "Leave the men to talk."
She gripped the gun in her hands, her knuckles turning white and one tear sprinting down her cheek. She silently ignored Regenard's gesture, hoping out of the boat on her own.

Regenard knelt down and inspected the ground. He looked up to Izanami and whispered.
"Is everything alright?"

Ceadda stood by waiting. He had no idea where he was or where they were going. But he really didn't care. He liked the boys. They were refreshing compared to his regular company over the years. Incompetent brutes made just to fight. That's why he always led.

"So where to now exactly?" he asked.

He then looked and saw Izanami obviously stressed.
"Are you alright, Izanami?" he asked walking up to her obviously concerned at her sudden change in behavior.

"I'm fine." Izanami murmured. "It's fine."
She walked away from the two men, rubbing the tear away before gripping the gun tightly again.
"Where are we going, Aaron?" She asked bitterly, unsure of everything.

Regenard stood up and glanced at the Merc. Not a glance of anger, but of mutual concern.
He walked up to the man whose name he still didn't know.
"Ah, Aaron, that's what it is. Yes, do tell, where to, lad?" he said. He looked at Izanami, dreadful concern hidden under the red lenses of his mask.

Aaron smiled a little and pointed up the hill. "It's up there, just start walking and you'll see it." as he said that he started walking, his hands in his pockets. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

Ceadda felt the connection he and Regenard had made. If they didn't have anything else, besides their fighting skills to share, they both cared for that woman. They didn't need to compete. Just to protect.

He silently followed, watching Izanami to make sure nothing terrible happened.

Ohanzee followed Aaron. He could tell both the men, Regenard and Ceadda, deeply cared for this woman, so he didn't want her to be upset, but sometimes people got like that. He just silently walked as he began feeling the affects of the cold.

Aaron jogged ahead, he needed to get away from everyone.
He wondered if Gaia was alright. He saw red snow in the distance, it stood out above everything.

EXIT THE RIVER.

Izanami waited for the lot of the group to start their way up the hill before she soon followed. She dragged her feet through the heavy snow and kept her fingers wrapped around the gun, ready to kill at anything that pounced. She let the tears fall as they pleased now.

When she assumed she was out of earshot, Izanami hummed to herself a song that her father sang as he died in her lap.

"Little drummer boy, keep marching on," she sighed sadly.

Regenard slowly followed, glancing back to Izanami on occasion.
"Alright, mates, come on. We can rest for tonight at Aaron's cabin, if he'll let us. Let's go," he said, following Aaron's footsteps.
Then he heard Izanami singing. Her voice was gorgeous. He turned back to stare at her one last time before clearing the hill, and he froze momentarily, staring into her eyes.

EXIT THE RIVER

Ohanzee jogged too, he figured it would help combat the cold at the same time. He let Aaron have his space though. He saw some red snow and felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

EXIT THE RIVER

Ceadda followed Aaron at a distance so he could better watch everybody.
He still made sure he could see Izanami, and he felt saddened, because even at that distance, her body language showed him she was crying. He felt useless.
EXIT RIVER

Although she stared at the snow floor, she was able to avoid Regenard as he stood on the hill, spotting his stance out of the corner of her eye. She continued to sing past the hall.

EXIT THE RIVER.