Chapter Text
Traveling with a fake Aerin was...unsettling, to say the least. Cass found herself staring at the false image quite often. She looked exactly like the real Aerin, but something was off, and she couldn’t place a finger on it.
They started on a small path up the mountain. Cass couldn’t say she wasn’t a little bit excited about this trial. She couldn’t wait to be able to swing her sword again. She just wished the real Aerin was here with her.
“We must make it to the top before the eclipse, or the monster will spawn and we won’t be there to kill it!” Fake-Aerin said with an unnaturally wide smile on her face.
She didn’t sound right. Like she was reading off a script. Like a robot wearing Aerin’s skin.
God Cass missed the real Aerin. Her real smile. Forget cool monster fighting. Cass wanted out of this stupid simulation.
“Cass!”
Cass quickly turned to the fake Aerin.
“What? What’s wrong? Did you see something?” Cass spoke quickly.
“Hm? I didn’t say anything. Did you see something?”
Cass blinked at Aerin. “Um...no. Let’s just move on.”
“Okay!” Aerin chirped as she turned to face the path once more.
Cass wondered how the real Aerin was doing. Were her trials as strange as Cassandra’s? Was she in danger?
Cass’s thoughts were abruptly cut off when a disgusting roar echoed from the trees. She quickly took out her sword and scanned the area.
Then, a hideous monster emerged from the forest.
It’s head was shaped like a cats, with ears to match. It’s enormous body resembled a lion, and it’s long tail appeared to match that of a fox. In summary, it was not pretty.
“Oh no. It’s the Gulon!” Aerin screamed as she hid behind Cass.
“The what? How do you know that?” Cass asked, but she never received an answer as the Gulon lunged at them.
Cass dodged the attack quickly as Aerin screamed. Great. Not only did the fake Aerin act creepy, she was also scared of monsters. That’s helpful. And also very inaccurate. Who designed this terrible off brand Aerin?
The Gulon was quick to turn around and go in for another attack. Cass swung her sword at the beast's front leg and heard a gruesome slice as the blade came in contact with the animal.
The Gulon screamed as it glanced down at it’s injured leg. But it didn’t linger for long, as it once again went in for another attack.
“I think you just made it angry!” Fake Aerin called from the side.
“Ya think? ” Cass called as she stepped out of the line of attack.
Cass scanned the area for something she could use to her advantage. Then she got an idea.
The animal looked ballistic. Yep. It was angry all right. It looked her dead in the eye before going in for the kill.
“That’s right. Come get me.” Cass muttered as she turned to climb the nearest tree. She settled on a thick branch and looked down at the monster. It had cat-like claws, it’d try to climb up after her. She needed to be quick.
“You can’t just hide in a tree, Cass! We need to get to the top!” Aerin yelled.
Cass rolled her eyes. This fake Aerin was getting really annoying.
“I know, Aerin! Just..let me work!”
Cass looked down at the branch she was sitting on and started sawing away at the base with her sword. It was a big branch, she needed to be fast.
The Gulon stared up at Cass as if it was trying to figure out what she was doing. Only for a moment, however, before it slowly started climbing up after her.
She was almost finished, only a few more slices to go and-
With a loud crack the branch broke away from the tree, falling to the ground.
Cass reached up and grabbed a smaller branch moments before she tumbled down.
There was a sickening crunch, and the small whimper as the branch landed on the Gulon.
Cass jumped down and landed next to the dead monster, kicking it to make sure it was dead.
“Alright. First monster dead, let's get moving.” Cass said as she reapproached Aerin.
“Good. We have to make it to the top before the eclipse.”
“Oh, do we? I had no idea.” Cass jabbed. She glanced at the sun and realized it was getting late.
“You wanna set up camp? It’ll be an easier trip when we’re rested and can see the path better.” Cass suggested.
Aerin seemed hesitant, but eventually agreed, but only after Cass assured her that they’d get up early and move quickly. She really wanted to get to the top of this mountain.
They found a small patch of grass to rest for the night, not too far from the path. Cass laid on her back and stared up at the sky.
“Cass!”
Cass sat up quickly, eyes wide.
“Aerin?”
Aerin sat up and looked over at Cass.
“Yes?”
“Did you...say my name?”
“No.”
Hm. That definitely was Aerins voice, Cass didn’t question it. So if it wasn’t the fake Aerin calling her, was it the real one?
Cassandra laid back down, lost in thought. Was Aerin trying to reach her? Did she need help?
Cass eventually decided that worrying about it would do no good, she needed to finish the trial if she wanted to see Aerin again. So she closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
-
Cass was awoken by screaming, which she found odd.
Her eyes flew open and she quickly assessed the situation. The first thing she noticed, was yet another monster.
This one looked almost human. Everything was normal...except for its legs. Which looked like they belonged to a dog, or a wolf. And it was attacking the fake Aerin.
Without hesitation, Cass reached for her sword and swung at the beast. Unfortunately it noticed Cass approaching before she could land a decent hit. With one swift motion, the monster punched Cass and kicked her away, knocking her into a nearby tree.
The monster turned back to Aerin who was still lying on the ground.
“No!! Aerin!!” Cass screamed as she tried to get up, but stumbled back to the ground.
Cass couldn’t let the monster get to Aerin. Real or not, she couldn’t just lay here and watch her be killed. She didn’t want that image to be a part of her memories.
Cass forced herself up and held her sword tightly. She took a deep breath in, and started running to the beast.
This time, Cass was silent, and the monster didn’t hear her coming. She dug her sword into the back of the monster, and threw it off of Aerin.
Cass held out a hand to help Aerin up.
“Th-thanks Cass.”
“Don’t mention it.” Cass responded. She looked down at her ankle, which was probably sprained. Great. That wouldn’t speed up this quest by any means.
The sun was starting to come up and Cass wanted this trial to be over. So they decided to pack up camp and start their trip again. The sooner they finished, the sooner she could get to the real Aerin.