Present times,
"They're wrong... They're all wrong..."
A muffled, pulsating rumbling fades out into the echoes of heartbeats...
"Vari...?" Sem's voice was laced in concern—returning us to his group within the forest.
"Malin— Your heartbeat... Why hasn't it changed?!"
Variann's eyes were wide, glossing over in trepidation.
Malin stood frozen, stunned by the words of hiscomrade.
"My heart...?"
Then—everything clicked.
Variann threw her arms around herself, her staff collapsing on the ground, as she shook in terror.
In an instant, Variann froze for the briefest of moments, as images flickered in her mind—ending with a face she has never seen before.
Variann's senses surged—feeling every particle of her being rushing... —crashing through her like a storm.
She shuddered, as a chilling realization clawed its way to the surface.
"We're going to die..."
These were the words trembling through Variann's voice.
As Sem, Kenrir, and the others stood still, alarmed by both Variann's drop of the staff and the piercing terror in her voice, Sem was the first to snap out of their daze as he instinctively dove to her side.
"Vari—!" he called out, as he could already see Variann dropping to the ground below.
Sem had caught Variann by the shoulders; just as his knees hit the ground.
Surging, Variann's brainwaves were vibrating like no other, all of her other senses were gradually becoming null and void—her eyes vibrating violently in a muffling panic.
"Vari, what's going on?" Sem's voice was muffled, masked by the defly ringing vibrations storming through Variann's mind. "Vari, talk to me. What's happened?"
As the vibrations seemed to echo away, a violent cough tore through the deep. Variann jolted—and out from her mouth, a mist of blood.
Sem's widening eyes shrunk instantly, his pupils constricting to a fine point.
"VARI—!"
A mix of saliva and blood strung from her lip—her hands shaking on herself in a violent fit.
Witnessing the sudden mist, Sem's hairs stood on end—his shock, growing more intense.
"Vari! What's happening to you?!" he called out to her, shaking her in fright.
Variann shuddered, as she soon lifted her head to gaze upon Sem with desperate eyes.
"Sem..." the strand fell on her chin—her voice trembling, "What did we do...?"
Sem's pupils too vibrated, as he met Variann's eyes with gritted teeth and a small huff of uncertainty under his breath.
"Do...?" Sem repeated back curiously.
Kenrir had approached Variann and lowered himself to be at her level, as he then tucked his arm in under hers to lift her from the ground. Seeing this, Sem let go of Variann, allowing all her weight to be supported on Kenrir's shoulder. The three stood up together, and Kenrir's expression was serious, whereas Ulva's—who was close by—was a mix of seriousness and shock.
"Did she just say... 'die?'" Ulva asked.
"We need to cancel this search. Variann isn't in any condition to be out here," Kenrir insisted, "We need to get her back home. There should be a shipment of supplies coming in, and the ones bringing them should be able to figure out what's wrong."
"I'm not going to disagree, but wouldn't that be a high risk?" Malin inquired, "If she sensed something in each of us, then isn't there a possibility that whatever is happening to her could be contagious?"
"If there is something, in which case I don't doubt, then I believe it to be within our best interest to figure out what it is immediately. This isn't a concern I can simply ignore," Kenrir replied.
"Kenrir is right, even without what just happened—if Vari says something is wrong, then we need to figure this out—and fast," Sem added in.
Kenrir's demeanor remained calm, though startled, while Sem and the others were very clearly disturbed.
"But what... what could possibly be infecting us, that Malin isn't infected by, and when did we come into contact with whatever this is?" Ulva asked.
Malin and Sem took a moment to try to consider the options, though after just seeing Variann's experience up close, he was finding it difficult to think about much else. Sem weighed Malin's words, when something eventually clicked.
"It's not in each of us..." Sem pitched in, his eyes squinted in collected thought, "Whatever is happening to Vari, it's not the same for Malin. She already expressed that much..."
Variann was heaving deeply, her airways wet as she breathed. Her whole body was trembling, and her eyes closed from a strange, intensifying sensation in her mind.
Malin's attention was soon grabbed by Sem's insightful deduction, and Kenrir stood staring at Sem with an almost blank expression.
Ulva turned away from the group—the taste of iron on her tongue. As she felt a dripple from the corner of her mouth, she instinctively wiped it, and saw that it was blood. Her very eyes too trembled at the sight of red lacing over her fur.
"Could it be... some kind of plague?" Ulva asked, somewhat quiet.
"If it were, why not Malin?" Sem added in.
Malin felt a knot in his chest, as stress bottled up within.
"If not a plague, or if it is—how did any of us come to contract whatever it is?" Malin asked. "It's not like we ever went far from our established hunting grounds, and we never ran into anything bearing any symptoms of illness."
Right now, Sem could only look back up to Variann's condition with a deep concern, as that very moment, his wife and daughter came to mind.
"Damn..." Ulva muttered to herself, before turning her head to look back at everyone over her shoulder. Her oversized paw now burdened the very proof of Variann's words, and the ongoing speculation holding some truth.
Soon, Sem squinted his eyes as he began to collect himself enough to think and he took a deep breath.
"So then the question becomes... 'What changed?'" Sem stated.
That is when it clicked, as everyone including Variann—though weakly—looked to Sem as everyone there except Malin, knew what was different.
"Holes..." Ulva muttered to herself, though everyone had heard her.
"'Holes?'" Malin repeated back in question.
"It would make sense considering you're the only one without symptoms," Kenrir chimed in, "However, wouldn't that then imply there's someone else we need to worry about?"
Variann watched what she could, though all of what senses she had this moment were ringing and buzzing, leaving every spoken syllable muffled as all her weight continued to hang on Kenrir's shoulder. Sem's eyes also widened, as the potential horror rose to his attention.
"Sheila...!" Sem replied.
It was then that the thick buildup in Variann's airways, and the overwhelming sensations forced her to jolt. Kenrir recognized her bodily reactions, and raised his hand over Variann's mouth as a sharp cough spewed from her lungs. She now was trembling harder, vibrating even, as her own blood laced over her master's palm. Kenrir stared into his hand, with an expression seemingly unmoved.
"We have to head back..." Ulva insisted, dreadfully concerned for her Sheila, Variann, and everyone back home. "We don't know how fast this could spread—!" Ulva added, as she gritted her razor sharp teeth.
"I couldn't agree more," Kenrir addressed, "Right now Variann is my top priority." Kenrir's eyes shifted back up to Sem. "We will figure out our replacements later, but right now, you should get back to your family—check in on Shiela, and see if she's experiencing anything differently than Vari is now."
For the moment, Sem nor Kenrir were experiencing any such symptoms of their own, but the weight of the matter wore heavy on their shoulders—just as it was for Ulva.
"I'll run ahead and see if I can catch up with those delivering your supplies," Malin insisted, "then if I'm successful, I will be sure to bring someone to help."
Kenrir nodded to Malin, and without another word, Malin made a mad dash towards the village.
"I'm not going to let you carry her alone," Sem declared, as he approached Variann from her other side, "It'll be faster for all of us if we move together."
Variann breathed soft and labored between them, as her weight was now distributed across both their shoulders. Kenrir nodded to Sem in approval, and Ulva shook slightly to herself in silence. With everything decided, the four of them knowingly left their supplies behind as they began making their way back to the village.
Somewhere...
Voices echoed in the unknown...
"The signs are here... the evidence lies in the blood..."
"And as for her readings...?"
"Stabilized... but do we have enough?"
"We will gather for her what we can, but this may be the best we can offer... Are we certain of the cause?"
"The few records we have on the subject..." [muffled speech] "...it's all there..."
A rhythmic ringing fades in, and intensifies.
"That whole village is at risk..."
[High pitched whine]
"The plagthasureus lives..."