Shadow Slave

Eventually, Sunny climbed out of the sleeping niche and went about the business of managing the caravan. They had made it far into the mountains and were already moving north, toward their true goal.

The blizzard was still raging, reducing visibility to almost zero. The landscape was as grim and foreboding as ever.

Surrounding areas needed to be scouted, maps needed to be updated, reports needed to be received, and a hundred other things demanded his attention.

Before getting down to it, Sunny spared a few moments to stare at the grey fabric and lusterless black leather of the Puppeteer's Shroud.

Who could have thought that he would be reduced to seriously using it again, after all that time?

'It sure is much more comfortable than walking around in a full plate of steel armor. Ah, the old me had it good...'

Actually, not really.

Sunny was ready to climb to the roof of the Rhino when he noticed Beth staring at him with a strange expression. He lingered for a moment.

"What?"

She blinked a couple of times, then pulled her gaze away.

"No, no... nothing..."

Sunny frowned.

"Just say it, will you?"

Beth remained silent for a second, then asked hesitantly:

"Are you... uh... are you wearing makeup?"

it was

would

young woman gave him a dubious

a little different, that's

Sunny grinned.

a

sigh and

how is

shadows and appeared on top of the Rhino, sighing as the

was not that cold. His passive resistance

heavier for better stability, summoned the Memory of Ice, and wrapped the shadow he kept with himself around his body, simultaneously circulating

in no way bothersome. Additionally, the winds were powerless against him. It was

Huh.

he sat down on the roof and closed

can get used

the abomination-infested expanse of the Antarctic Center was still hard and dangerous, but with Naeve

rarely saw each other, communicating mostly over the chain of relays in the military vehicles. Sunny was stationed at the

and when an especially dire threat demanded both of them to fight side by side to vanquish it. Going into battle with the Nightwalker was both comfortable and

'Ah. Finally, a professional...'

and a net woven out of unnaturally durable

his Aspect powers seemed to be under severe restriction, though, so the scion of the

more than

difference between the two of them. It was understandable... after all, the Nightwalker had a family to

perspective was a bit new to Sunny, and made him think about things that he had never considered

things were going... as expected. The caravan continued to grow, several more groups of Erebus Field survivors joining it. By then, Sunny was secretly starting to thank the gods that Naeve's ship had suffered catastrophic damage. Without the additional supplies looted from its holds, he would have to deal with a supply shortage pretty

it was, though, he had enough to feed everyone and arm those who could

change, but in the end, the only other person other than Beth who showed any reaction was Kim. At some point, she gave him a very