Chapter Text
Cherri hated towns. At least when she was out in the middle of nowhere she knew exactly what the dangers posed to her were. Exposure, environmental hazards, wild animals, and the like. She could prepare, she could be careful, there were steps she could take to quiet the voices in her head that kept her eyes open and watchful all through the night. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but at least it was something.
In a town, there were people. Cherri had learned a long time ago that people could be just as dangerous as any wild predator, and far more persistent and intelligent in their goals to hurt or frighten. Hell, she was a perfect example of that. People were dangerous, towns were dangerous, and she tried to avoid them as much as possible. But now she no longer had that luxury.
Cherri’s hand buzzed uncomfortably with static as she pushed testingly against the weird green energy barrier. It didn’t budge. They were stuck. She was stuck in this strange town with a bunch of strange people and she couldn’t even reach her bounty and she couldn’t escape from here and Apo was staring at her why was Apo staring at her-
Cherri could feel her chest heaving with hysterical laughter at a situation that was about as far from funny as she could get. “Of course. Of course this stupid wall goes up just hours after I show up, of fucking course.” She threw a punch at the wall, but all she got for her trouble was a sore fist. “And now we’re stuck.”
“What are you so panicked for?” Apo sniped. “You don’t have anyone sticking a crossbow bolt in your face every ten seconds.”
Don’t show your fear, don’t let yourself be prey, if you’re prey then they’ll hunt you. “I’m not panicking.”
Apo’s expression went from annoyed to incredulous. “I mean, clearly you are-” She went silent as the crossbow was pointed between her eyes.
“I said, I’m not panicking.”
Apo nodded silently, eyes wide with fear, and that was that.