Under a false sky (The Promised Neverland)

Goldy Pond

A week passed by in a flash.

The trees overhead loomed over them as they walked through the forest.

"So," Emilia traced a finger over the paper. "Nous and Nouma take this route, usually starting here, then usually make their way past those trees nearer to the left, start walking through the town over here, back to the forest and end somewhere here." She tapped at a spot.

Sonya nodded, her fingers momentarily fidgeting, before she stopped them. She felt as if there was a bundle of nervous energy stored inside her chest, just waiting for the right moment to burst out.

They would succeed. They had to succeed. Meanwhile, Silas was checking that the flash bombs they had made were in good condition and looking around for good spots to hide in.

Plentiful. Sonya could already see low-lying shrubs just perfect for that purpose.

Emila reached over to them and squeezed their hands reassuringly.

"Good luck," the older girl whispered. "You guys can do this. I believe in you." 

She handed the notebook over to Sonya, and gave them a smile. Sonya instantly envied her ability to make people feel at ease. Was Emilia a mind reader? She had some sort of ability to calm them down with just a few words.

"Thanks. We will." Sonya told her, squeezing back and trying to reciprocate her smile.

"Seconded." Silas added. Sonya noticed that the tips of his ears were red, but spoke nothing of it. She could tease Silas about it later, she decided.

Silas saw her looking and gave her a thumbs up. Sonya gave him one back.

Emilia turned to go, only pausing for a moment to say hi to Zack, who had appeared.

"Lucas told me to come with you guys." He explained as Emilia went. "Need any more help?"

"Nah," Silas waved him away, a pleased look on his face. "We—"

The shrill tune of the hunting song burst out from the speakers.

Sonya stood frozen in shock, while Zack cursed under his breath. It was one hour earlier than the usual timing. Even though the hunts ranged from one in every two to three days, they mostly started at the same time.

They had to quickly hide.

Sonya hid behind one of the said shrubs, while Zack carefully climbed up a tree, getting ready to observe. And Silas, the one in charge of throwing the flash bomb at the monsters, quickly moved out of sight to crouch behind a tree.

As per the plan, Nous's and Nouma's raspy voices drew closer.

"It'ssss too quiett." Nous growled.

Footsteps thumped on the ground, as Silas ran out, immediately catching their attention. Sonya could hear them exclaim in glee as Silas dodged their strikes, lobbing the flash bomb at them. Nous leaned back instinctively, but both of his hands were already occupied on his spear, so he got a face full of light.

He screeched in alarm, slicing the spear through the air, thankfully missing Silas by an arm's length.

"Nousss! What's wrong?" Nouma cocked her head, stepping forward warily.

"Stupid cattle! Using their little party tricks! He'll pay for this! Get him, Nouma!" Nous hissed as he stumbled around, seeming to have lost his sense of sight and balance.

It worked! Sonya's eyes gleamed, quickly jotting it down in the notebook. Too late, she looked up again to almost see Nous now on the verge of crashing into the shrub. She hurriedly backed away, unfortunately onto a twig.