Salome (CH 434/439) opened his misty eyes, rubbing the gunk out of the edges. He stared at the wooden ceiling above him in silence, listening to the various sounds coming in through the open window.

After laying in the bed for a few minutes he suddenly stood up and walked out of the cabin.

"Hngh!" he extended both his arms, moving them left and right to stretch.

The light from the campfire that was still burning fell on his face, followed by a gentle breeze that sent a chill into the very depths of his body.

He shuddered, swiftly retreating back into the cabin for a minute or so, and returning with a long woolen coat.

Rubbing his hands and arms, Salome walked up to the campfire and sat down on the leftmost seat. In front of him laid a small purring white fluff ball. Salome reached out and picked it up, placing it on his lap.

He reached into the coat pocket and took out a wooden comb, proceeding to brush the fluff ball's already pure white fur. He was gentle, so much so that the comb never once touched its skin, only untying the small knots in its fur. Yet that small motion was enough to wake it up.

Zhurong opened his eyes halfway, seeing Salome's face before closing them again with a content smile. This had already become a part of their daily routine.

A few meters away from them was the lake in which a small octopus floated upside down on the water's surface.

Fortis's almost see-through body contracted and expanded by a few inches every second as if he was breathing. His color changed from white to grey to dark purple before transitioning back into his original somewhat transparent body.

It was still dark out, as usual. The night was cold and eerily silent. Everyone had left for the big fight, leaving only Salome and Jin Wang at Hao Xuan's portable camp. But soon after Hao Xuan left, Jin Wang also followed suit and disappeared.

Salome sat in his seat, running his fingers through Zhurong's fur while staring at the fire. With a rumbling stomach, he stayed like that for a long time, recalling the last conversation he had with Jin Wang.

"Alright, I will be back in a few hours so you have to be in charge, okay? Keep the little guys occupied and away from everyone else," Jin Wang said, patting Salome's shoulder.

"But Salome doesn't know-" Salome shook his head, trying to explain that he couldn't do something like this but Jin Wang extended his hand, stopping him.

"You are our brother. Out of all three of us, you are the oldest, so you have to act like it, okay? We trust you, both me and Hao Xuan. You are in charge of the camp and those two little bastards, so don't let us down!" Jin Wang finished with a grin and left with large strides, leaving Salome stunned and at a loss for words.

That was two standard days ago (Authors notes). Salome had been staying at the camp with Fortis and Zhurong during this time. And today was the third day and they were completely out of food.

Zhurong didn't eat that much and only slept if there wasn't any food but Fortis always complained about it whenever he woke up.

Back in his village, Salome either worked in the fields or picked wild fruits and berries to feed himself. He had never taken the life of another living being so hunting was not an option for him.

He tried roaming around the forest to find something to eat but there wasn't anything there at all.

Hao Xuan had been gone for more than three standard days and Salome still had no idea when he would be back. The usual few people that came to visit every day had also not shown themselves lately.

Hao Xuan had specifically told Salome not to go to the other side of the lake where all the buildings were and he had obeyed until now but if he still didn't go, they would keep starving and Salome couldn't possibly allow that since he was the 'big brother' here.

He had taken Jin Wang's words to heart, thinking of himself as the oldest, he had to be responsible.

"Mr. Kitty, let's go look for food today, okay?" Salome rubbed the sleeping Zhurong's head, getting a deep purr in response.

He fed another log to the campfire and got up, walking towards the two largest buildings that were also the dorms for the majority of the participants.

He walked through the fog that drifted from the nearby lake with the billowing wind, reaching the dorms in a few minutes. They were empty just as he had expected.

"Hello, Is someone here?" Salome shouted but didn't get a response or see any sign of movement.

He still waited for a couple of minutes in the cold and only when he was sure no one was there did he proceed to walk towards the city.

Moving along the stone path, it only took a couple more minutes for him to reach the city. It was a completely different scene from all the other areas with tall multiple story buildings of different architectural designs decorating both sides of the pathway that divided into two.

One was going left and the other right. Salome stood at the crossroads for an indefinite period of time, unsure of which path to chose when he heard a singing voice coming from the left side.

"Hm? What is the..."

Before he could finish the sentence his eyes became dull and he walked towards the left side with measured, heavy steps.

***

Authors Notes:

Since there will be a lot of different planets with different day and night cycles that are either larger or smaller than a full earth day, the main measure of time will still be according to the 24-hour period, i.e standard days.

So one standard day = 24 hours and each hour is 60 minutes which is 60 seconds and so on and so forth.

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