Harbinger

The Call

BRRP. BRP. BRRP.

"It's Danchou's cell phone." Phinks looked at his caller ID. "Hello?...Are you the chain guy?...Before I do, I want to ask... About the second one. The hostages broke some bones... before we got here."

Phinks looked down at his phone, having been hung up on. Quickly,  he called back.

"Sorry,  I made that up. They're fine..." He pushed his arm out and handed the phone towards Pakunoda. "Paku... the guy can't take a joke."

Instantly, Nobunaga and Pakunoda's strong fists crashed down on his head.

"What was that for?!" He cried indignantly.

"You idiot! This is Danchou's life we're talking about!" Nobunaga scolded him.

"I didn't think he'd hang up!" Phinks yelled back, rubbing his head. "Aren't you mad that he's calling the shots? We could've gotten back at him!"

"Think it through first!" Machi scolded him.

"Hello?" Pakunoda finally answered the phone. Then, she walked away from the group. "Okay. I'm alone... Yes... Yes..."

Eventually, she walked back and handed the phone to Nobunaga.

"Hello?" He answered again. There was a long silence on his part as he heard the rules and orders of the dreaded "chain guy". And finally he gave one final word before handing the phone back to Pakunoda. "Fine. Paku..."

She took the phone and began to walk out of the hideout. Naturally, some of the other Troupe members began to follow her.

"WAIT!" Nobunaga yelled. "The chain guy said to return to the hideout. We let Paku go alone."

"Yeah," Phinks gave him a weird look. "He said not to go after him, so?"

"Wha— Don't you get it yet?! If we defy him and go after Paku, Danchou will die!" Nobunaga grabbed Phinks' collar, threatening him.

"You idiot. Then, we kill the chain guy and that'll be the end of it." Phinks didn't react aggressively, but he was a little bit surprised.

"Danchou would agree. The spiders are priority. Your way of thinking, Nobunaga... is insult to spiders." Feitan glared at the samurai, wondering what he was trying to do.

"I'm not joking around like before. We HAVE to go after Pakunoda!" Phinks continued.

"Yeah, there's no point in letting her go alone. If we keep doing what he says, the fortunes will end up coming true." Shalnark spoke up. This was quickly becoming an issue within the group.

You, however, remained completely asleep, desperately trying to heal from your injuries. Your dreams however, were quite vivid.

In it, you stood around watching as a group of dogs barked at each other. You felt anxious and like you couldn't move otherwise they would attack. The feeling was acute, allowing for you to pinpoint it to being in your gut. It was sharp, stabbing, as if a hot steel knife was being pushed through you. As the barking got louder and louder, your gut seared more and more and the uncomfortable feeling of heat began to spread. Like a supernova explosion, it rapidly expanding in all directions, consuming your chest and legs until suddenly you felt an ice cold presence behind you.

You tried to look behind you, but as it touched you, your body was frozen in space. It cooled the searing pain as it's icy tendrils wrapped around your body.

"Harbinger of Death... Sleep like your victims. I'll come for you."