Isaac opened his eyes and quickly sat up. He looked around and saw Tiy sitting by a makeshift fire, as well as Exo sleeping while leaning against the wall of the cave.
A burning pain radiated from his eyes due to the amount of blood that flowed out of them. Isaac attempted to stand but fell back down onto the stone that he slept on. A thud reverberated around the cave that caught Tiy's attention.
She turned around to see Isaac looking into his palm, where a red seed sat. She stood up, walked over to him, and crouched in front of him.
"You sure know how to make an entrance, Isaac."
Isaac looked up from his palm to Tiy, who was looking into his eyes. He quickly broke eye contact and looked towards the magic circle, which had lost all its glow and now sat dormant at the entrance of the cave.
Tiy followed his gaze, and also landed on the circle
"That circle sure is something. I am surprised that it even worked. The amount of mana that it must have used would take years to gather. How is it you managed to make it work?
Isaac worked up the strength to walk, but had to lean against the wall for support. He walked towards the circle and replied to Tiy.
"To be honest, I don't know. I just tried to use words that would use less mana, but that have big meanings. I even got that guy over there to help, and his bug, but even then it took us a while."
Tiy watched as Isaac pointed to Exo with disgust. She walked over to Isaac and helped him walk over to the fire before she helped him sit down. The two of them sat by the fire in silence, which was common for them.
Tiy eventually broke the silence.
"You know it's only been a day, and I have so many questions for you. It's like each time I turn my back on you, you get yourself hurt."
Isaac let out a hollow laugh.
"You're not wrong, but I like to think that it's becoming less and less by the day."
Tiy gave him a side eye and then handed him a bowl of random berries, only a few of them Isaac recognised, but he didn't have much to lose, so he began eating. While doing so, he answered Tiy's questions on what happened yesterday, so he began recounting the day.
After some time of them going back and forth, they finally caught up to when Tiy was in the circle.
"So yeah, we began pouring in all our mana, and it worked somehow, but to be honest, it was a Hail Mary, but it seemed to work, but I would still like to do some healing on you to make sure."
Tiy nodded with satisfaction, as that was what she was going to ask, especially since she still was not feeling a hundred percent.
Isaac looked at Tiy for a moment before pointing at Exo, who was still sleeping.
"Who even is Exo, and why do we have to work with him? I mean, I know that he knows your plan, but I don't see why you didn't kill him already, since that seems to be easy for you?"
Tiy looked at Exo, and then quickly, back to Isaac.
"He is a cousin of mine, from my father's half. We both got the trait to track due to that half. His mother's family is mainly on farming and animal domestication, so he can control bugs and track them. Oh, and apparently he can see through their eyes now."
Isaac looked at him before letting out a noise that expressed his discomfort with him.
"He gives me this feeling like bugs are crawling all over me. What happened to not liking males for the Wind Blessed, and from Grassciair?"
Tiy stood up, walked out of the cave a little bit, and looked into the sky.
"I still don't like them, it's just Exo is needed for now, he can always be dealt with later. Let's change topic, what's with that seed you keep holding on to?"
Isaac stood up and slowly walked over to Tiy and showed her the seed.
"To be honest, I don't know. I seem to have got it because of one of my traits, but besides that, I don't know what it is. I have a feeling like I know I have to do, but I am not sure. I would also have to go to the glade, which is a bit of a walk from here."
Tiy looked at the seed and listened to Isaac speak before responding to him.
"Well, last time you had a 'feeling' you were able to pinpoint the glade full of mana berries, so I say that we should check out your feeling as soon as possible."
Isaac nodded once Tiy finished speaking. It seemed like the night was stretching on for a while. Isaac began twiddling his thumbs nervously, almost like he wanted to say something, but was embarrassed to say it.
Tiy looked at Isaac and scoffed.
"Come on, Isaac, what is it? We have saved each other's lives before and been practically naked in the same cave before. What is it that has you so nervous?
Isaac swallowed deep, trying to muster up the courage, while Tiy rolled her eyes at him. Isaac picked up his bags, grabbed Tiy's hand, and began dragging her into the forest.
Tiy let out a laugh again.
"Come on, Isaac, you're being so weird. Don't tell it something you don't want Exo to know?"
Isaac nodded, and Tiy rolled her eyes. Tiy's teasing persisted as Isaac dragged her to the glade, but this time it lacked the weird dragging feeling that was always present. By the time they made it into the glade, Tiy had stopped teasing Isaac.
Tiy spoke with a hint of curiosity and a lot of annoyance.
"So what is it really that you dragged us all the way out here for?"
Isaac looked around the glade, but the tree that stood tall was now gone, almost as if it didn't exist. Isaac walked over to where it once stood and dug and spoke.
"I want to tell you my traits, and I want to know yours."
Tiy gave Isaac a look of offence.