Talyndra: S-she's gone! Kaelen, she's gone!

  Abel: Who's gone?!

  "Let me deal with this one. Please."

  You sure? Do you know what's going on?

  "I'm guessing it's something to do with Ela, her sister."

  I don't think-

  "Do you actually want me to trust you with my body or what?"

  Okay.

  -Kaelen-

  The world around him shifted, his mind splintered, before reattaching to his own body. It was his again.

  "Ours."

  Mine. You stole it, remember?

  "Shouldn't you be consoling Talyndra or something?"

  Kaelen: Talyndra. Tell me what happened.

  Talyndra: It's Ela, she went to the Festival and I lost track of her and-!

  Kaelen: The Festival?

  "Brother Shade must have taken her instead of us."

  So that thing was telling the truth then. Whatever they are wouldn't have stopped with me.

  "So giving up your body did change things."

  If you hadn't avoided Brother Shade then this wouldn't be happening. Technically this is your fault.

  Kaelen: I think I know where she is.

  Talyndra: You do?

  "You do?"

  The town is in the middle of the desert that we died in, Ela would be somewhere else in the desert.

  "... Kaelen. How big is the desert?"

  Not sure.

  "Do you know where in the desert she is?"

  No.

  "Then you don't know where she is."

  Kaelen: There's this place in the desert I've been once.

  "You're an idiot."

  Still smarter than you.

  Talyndra: And you think she's there?

  Kaelen: She has to be.

  Talyndra: Kaelen, if you're just guessing I don't want to hear about it.

  Kaelen: I'll find her, I promise.

  Talyndra: You can't just go walking into the desert Kaelen, stop being silly.

  Kaelen: I know where to go.

  Talyndra: Kaelen-

  Kaelen: Please, let me try.

  "Okay Kaelen, what's the plan here? Got lost and starve to death in the desert whilst trying to find Talyndra's sister?"

  Think about it Abel, that masked man, Brother Shade, called the place we died the Perimeter.

  "Okay...? ... And?"

  Meaning we're on the inside of a large circle, if we go in a single direction and walk we'll reach the edge where we were thrown out of and where Brother Shade would be doing the same with Ela instead.

  "Okay, that actually is a solid plan. Or would be if it didn't have two massive problems."

  Those being?

  "That's assuming we're inside of the Perimeter and not outside, the sun effects a certain area with that strength, there's no way for us to tell if that's an inside or an outside. And it's also assuming we go the exact correct direction to reach the point on the Perimeter where Brother Shade is doing that."

  It's better than doing nothing.

  "It's suicide and stupid, there's no way we'll find them."

  And? I have the skill [Death Watcher] remember?

  "We. And we're not dying however many times so that we can eventually find and save Ela, it's a waste of time and would be massively traumatising, even if [Death Watcher] does minimise the mental recoil from experiencing death."

  It'll be easy, trust me.

  "Kaelen, death isn't easy. You haven't actually experienced it yet, you may have been watching me but that's nowhere near the same thing. It's agony in the moment, though the recoil is minimised it doesn't change the feeling in the moment."

  Sure it is. It can't be that bad, not if you're fine.

  "You know what? You're on your own, I won't stop you."

  Good. That's what I thought.

  Talyndra: This is a bad idea Kaelen. Don't do it.

  Kaelen: I'll be fine, trust me.

  Talyndra: You're going to die Kaelen, if you go out into the desert you will die. There's no other way to say it.

  Kaelen: Talyndra... I'm asking you to let me do this because I know I'll come back alright.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "I wonder what happens when we die. Is a new timeline made each time we start a new Save State and the old ones are still running, just without us? Or are they erased outside of our own memories?"

  There's no way to know.

  "Then what you're saying to her is at best a guess and at worse a straight up lie."

  This isn't your business Abel. This is my life and my friends, I can say what I want to them. Don't judge me like you understand.

  Talyndra: Just... Don't make me regret this, okay?

  Kaelen: I promise, I won't.

  Talyndra: You'll come back.

  Kaelen: I'll come back.

  "We won't come back. Not to this version of her anyways."

  Watch me.

  "Not sure I have another choice."

  Kaelen: I'll be off then.

  Talyndra: Take care.

  Kaelen: I will.

  He walks past her and starts off in a direction.

  "So, are you going to keep on in this direction, or are you going to make a turn at some point."

  I don't see why I should bother turning, it's all the same.

  "I'm sure it isn't."

  He walks and walks, reaching the edge of town where the buildings stop and the sands of the surrounding desert starts, continuing onwards in a straight line.

  "Want to play something to past the time?"

  Not really.

  "You want to sit in silence whilst we walk for however long?"

  I'd prefer to, yes.

  "Kaelen, we have to get to know each other at some point, otherwise we'll never get along, and that sucks. I don't want to be stuck with someone I don't get along with."

  Then leave.

  "And go where? I don't think I can possess anyone else's body aside from yours, and mine no longer exists."

  So I'm stuck with you even if I keep my body? You can't go flying off and haunting people can you?

  "I'm actually actively trying not to move, but this ghost body just sort of floats along besides your body."

  How unfortunate. This is going to suck.

  "Unless we actually talk and get to know each other, hopefully coming to actually like each other."

  You stole my body.

  "Technically you gave it up. And as I said, I wasn't willingly Transmigrated, I'm a victim too Kaelen."

  And what, you want me to blame whatever it was that offered me the deal?

  "YES! I DO! They basically kidnapped me and forced me into a death loop in a world I didn't know! I'm not your enemy Kaelen, I want to be friends with you."

  I can't blame what I can't see.

  "That doesn't mean you should blame me instead."

  Even if I accept that, you still killed Talyndra.

  "What was I supposed to do Kaelen?! She killed me for almost no reason! You think I was just going to forget that and move on?! Believe me, I hate myself now every time I think about what happened! But not because of what I did to her, I was in my right to kill her, it was self defense! I already knew she was the kind of person who could and would kill me given half the chance! I felt sick because I killed her without care! I'm not at fault here for taking revenge on my MURDERER!"

  ... She's a good person Abel.

  "I'm sure she is when you're on her good side. She's willing to kill to protect her friends. But I don't know her, I'm not on her good side. She shot me three times with a bow. She made it slow so she could get answers from me. Do you know what that is Kaelen? Torture. She was torturing me. Do you really think under the same situation you wouldn't have done the same? If Brother Shade were to do that to you what would you do? You'd kill him, wouldn't you? WOULDN'T YOU?!"

  ...

  "That's what I thought. -Did you bring any water for the journey?"

  Leave me alone. I don't want to talk with you.

  "Because you know I'm right."

  You suck.

  "So do you. No, but seriously, tell me you brought water."

  Why are you asking? Do you even need to drink as a ghost-thing?

  "No, but you do. I don't want to die of dehydration instead of starvation."

  What's the difference?

  "One happens a lot earlier than the other. We'll start feeling the effects of dehydration within a few minutes whilst we're in this desert."

  [Notice: Status effect gained]

  [Dehydration, Tier I: Loose one (1) stamina from your current and maximum stamina total every two minutes.]

  "Speak of the devil."

  [Stamina Points: 60/60 (-1) -> 59/59]

  ... That's it? That's all it does?

  "It'll level up over time and then within three days we'll start leveling up [Exhaustion] and soon die instantly upon reaching Level 8."

  Three days is a lot of time, Abel.

  "It's not enough for what we're trying to do, we don't even know how long it'll take to reach the Perimeter, or if we're even ever going to reach it.

  Yeah yeah, whatever.

  "This is going to be so funny when you die of dehydration and realise I was correct the entire time."

  We'll see about that.