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A new season, a new beginning. That's what it should’ve been, anyway. Zam sure as hell hadn't let go of what had happened to her the previous season, and god, she was glad she wasn't a pacifist anymore. That didn't matter as of now though, as the grace period was still active. The village she’d made a beeline to was good enough; gave her enough food to last till she could make a base and get golden carrots.
The only possibly bad thing about this village would be the man on the opposite side. That blue hoodie had barely changed throughout season 6, and she wasn't surprised to see it unchanged, even now. She didn't want to be here, not near him—not after how he’d betrayed her the previous season.
He’d apologised, sure, but… she still hadn't forgiven him. She still wanted to see his blood on her hands. wanted to see his blood on her hands, no matter how genuine his apology had been. For now, though, her best course of action was to just avoid him till she felt geared enough to be able to do such a thing.
She sighed and focused on looting the village. She didn’t want him to notice her staring—that would lead to them talking, and she couldn’t be sure that she’d be able to keep the venom out of her voice when talking to him. She knew she was probably heating up and so squeezed her hands shut tightly, trying to divert her attention away from her desire to kill. It's not like she could kill people indiscriminately; that wouldn't help her with her goal for the season in the slightest, rather it'd just make things more difficult.
She unfolded her fists, her tail no longer moving so obviously in irritation. Zam walked away, satisfied enough with what she had looted.
***
Derapchu couldn't remember much of what happened towards the end of the previous season. Based on the blue staining his hands and face, he could come to the conclusion that he’d succeeded in revising everyone at the end, but not much else. Last thing he truly could remember was Zam trying to kill him. He didn't want to think of that. He didn't want to think of how his ex-teammate had thought he’d betrayed her, didn't want to feel the guilt for something that he hadn't done, just didn't want to think of it at all.
His teammate made that hard, though. He knew Pangi was only trying to help by saying he should leave what happened in the previous season, but it really didn't work at all.
Didn't help that he’d gone to the same village as she did. The comfort of the grace period was negotiable at best—the concept of a mere timer preventing his death didn't feel safe enough. Derapchu could feel the prickling of eyes on him. He knew it was Zam. No one else had gone to this village. Still, he felt the need to check. The feeling of being watched lifted just as he looked back.
He’d been right. It was an unusual sight to see her without any obvious scarring or injury, though she still had that metal arm of hers. He wasn't used to seeing her in colours other than green, but the blues and whites of her new clothes were striking against her golden skin. It paired well with the teal-blue of her fins, though Derap was also conscious of how easily blood would stain the fabric, and how likely it would be to be his own.
He didn't want to stay there for long, not when there was such a risk.
He looked away from Zam, instead trying to focus on scrounging up what resources he could get from the building on his side. He glanced back at were Zam had previously been and just saw empty space.
He walked in the direction opposite that which he was sure his ex-teammate had gone. He should probably focus on getting gear and meeting with his team.