Yves understood that the three paigen had sought to stay unnoticed within the ruins, likely anticipating the passage of the Vicha.
He descended from his sled and took slow, deliberate steps towards the foremost cave, revealing his intent. The first paigan emerged from behind the wall ruins, the second from within the dwelling. Yves relied on his second sight to perceive their movements, since the downpour obscured his first sight, even with just a few meters between him and the beasts.
The creatures found themselves torn between brutal aggression towards his injured, suffering form, and fear of the overwhelming Vicha presence. Conflicted and struggling to reconcile these unnatural, contradictory impressions, they engaged in an intense staredown.
Yves struggled also,
controlling
the precarious balance
between
asserting dominance and avoiding
provocation.
His m i ᑎ Ｄ
Ｓ ⎳ Ｉ ᑭ Ｐ ᗴ Ｄ
ＥᐯＥᖇ Ｙ丅Ｈ Ꮖ ＮǤ hurt
He was about
to pass out
Stay awake. Center yourself.
Please,
not now
One, center yourself.
What do you see?
Nothing
What do you see?
Paigen
What do you feel?
I can’t –
What do you feel?
.
.
.
Paigen.
Two, secure yourself.
Paigen.
Focus. Secure yourself.
This is
as good
as it gets.
Three, assess your resources.
What?
Three, assess your resources.
I am
so
tired
Four, assess your knowledge on your enemy.
Paigen.
Four, assess your knowledge on your enemy in detail.
.
.
.
Five, stay awake.
Yves
lifted
his hands
to his
upper
body.
Forming a fist
with one
and supporting
it
with the other
hand,
he PresseD
his hands
into
his
stomach.
He had done so
repeatedly
throughout the journey,
using
the
𝑠͢𝑢͢𝑟͢𝑔͢𝑒͢𝑠͢ of ⦏𝚙⦎⦍𝚊⦐⦏𝚒⦎⦍𝚗⦐
to combat
꙲ ꙲f꙲ ꙲a꙲ ꙲ t꙲ ꙲ i꙲ ꙲g꙲ ꙲u꙲ e꙲
It was
a dumb thing
to do.
By now,
it barely
worked
anymore.
He had
𝑒̢ 𝑥̢ . ℎ̢ 𝑎̢ 𝑢̢ 𝑠̢ 𝑡̢ 𝑒̢ 𝑑̢
the effect, and also,
pain was
by now
his general state of existence.
It did
not
work.
He drew in
a
s l o w d e e p b R E ѦT Ӈ
s
l
o
w
d
e
e
p
b
R
E
Ѧ
T
Ӈ
delib..erat.ely..swal..low..ing
some
of the
//////////////// >>T Ø 𝝌 IC< 𝘳̸𝘢̸𝘪̸𝘯̸
The ᛢꖾᛜᛈᛕ
and the s༙྇i༙྇ȼ༙྇k༙྇
brought him back.
Yves grasped at the first discernible thought that came to mind
— Paigen —
and focused on that to maintain his consciousness.
Yves struggled also,
controlling
the precarious
balance
between
asserting dominance and
avoiding provocation.
His m i ᑎ Ｄ
Ｓ ⎳ Ｉᑭ Ｐ ᗴ Ｄ
ＥᐯＥᖇ Ｙ丅Ｈ Ꮖ ＮǤ hurt
He was about
to pass out
Stay awake.
Center yourself.
Please,
not now
One, center yourself.
What do you see?
Nothing
What do you see?
Paigen
What do you feel?
I can’t –
What do you feel?
.
.
.
Paigen.
Two, secure yourself.
Paigen.
Focus. Secure yourself.
This is
as good
as it gets.
Three, assess your resources.
What?
Three, assess your resources.
I am
so
tired
Four, assess your knowledge on your enemy.
Paigen.
Four, assess your knowledge on your enemy in detail.
.
.
.
Five, stay awake.
Yves
lifted
his hands
to his
upper
body.
Forming a fist
with one
and supporting
it
with the other
hand,
he pressed
his hands
into
his
stomach.
He had done so
repeatedly
throughout the journey,
using
the
surges of
⦏𝚙⦎⦍𝚊⦐⦏𝚒⦎⦍𝚗⦐
to combat
꙲ ꙲f꙲ ꙲a꙲ ꙲ t꙲ ꙲ i꙲ ꙲g꙲ ꙲u꙲ e꙲
It was
a dumb thing
to do.
By now,
it barely
worked
anymore.
He had
e x . h a u s t e d
the effect, and
also,
pain was
by now
his general state of existence.
It did
not
work.
He drew
in
a
s
l
o
w
d
e
e
p
b
R
E
Ѧ
T
Ӈ
delib.erat.ely.swal.low.ing
some
of the
/////////////// >>T Ø 𝝌 IC<
//r//a/i//n/
The ᛢꖾᛜᛈᛕ
and the s༙྇i༙྇ȼ༙྇k༙྇
brought him back.
Yves grasped at the first discernible thought that came to mind
— Paigen —
and focused on that to maintain his consciousness.
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