Crossover Escape: Gotta be more than Lucky to survive

2.22 No thy Infiltrator

“It is possible for most of the races here to deal with the progenitors, but it requires a large sacrifice. They do however for the most part keep to limited areas.” Shade commented as the moved while idly discussing the oversized animals and insects. It took a bit of

“A sufficient hunting grounds would create no need for them to going further afield.” Luca eyed the sky again for a second before glancing at Declan and Help who had moved to sit on his shoulder as some form of comfort. After listening to the hunting tendencies of the enlarged animals around Luca would rather like some disguise at this point. “Declan while I hate to push things at the moment, but do you have a way to adjust the colouration of the clothes to something a little less eye catching. Luca waved vaguely to their black clothes that stood out like mud of white carpet when placed against the grassy yellow plains. Declan blinked twice before he looked the group over.

“Man, how did I forget that. I feel like an idiot.” Declan waved his hand and a mirage like shimmer formed over each person and then the group as a whole. “It’s an optical camouflage, it can’t do anything about someone right on top of us but its very effective from a distance.”

“Ghost or Tails?” Luca directed the question at the pair with raise brows. The magic was horribly practical it would be a waste not to take advantage of it. As the pair squared off for rock paper scissors Luca looked back at Declan to get some parameters.

“5km, three hours, five metres.” Declan responded to Luca’s unasked question with a faint smile. Luca nodded, 5km away was as far as he wanted anyone getting anyway. Hopefully they found a safe campsite in three hours and if they got within five meters of someone without noticing he was sending them back to school if they survived.

Ghost’s victorious chuckle indicated the winner of the match and Luca gave him a long glare to which he returned a cheerful smile and a wave. Well at least his friends had maintained their mentality. Luca flicked a look at Holly and Declan who seemed less stable. Tails shifted to walk next to Holly and Räv nodded as she flicked something on her tablet and then moved to the opposite side and towards the front. Shade seemed preoccupied by his own thoughts as he moved along the back of the group.

When Ghost vanished off to scout Luca adjusted his pace to walk beside Declan. “So how did you get separated from Gallant and Valiant?” Luca remembered at last who the pair were supposed to be. While he knew he touched on a delicate subject Luca had to ask h needed to know what could be avoided it might also help with the guilt Declan was obviously feeling.

“Where else, when we tried to get out of that stupid box.” Declan laughed harshly. Luca filed away the fact that Declan knew more about the box than he’d let on. That was a line of enquiry for when they had a secure place immediate problems first.

Although, “The box was a serious issue, pity we don’t know how to use it to go back and turn it off though.” Luca would normally have been given either a flat unamused look or stony silence for such an obviously leading comment.

“God how I wish I knew that if I’d know the opening conditions maybe I could have stopped it from opening at all.” Declan was obvious to distracted to be properly paying attention. That was useful for interrogation not great when they walked through unknown hostile territory.

“Don’t we all. If it hadn’t been for the knife at our backs, we wouldn’t have joined the game. Still we can’t change that. I just want to know if the armies sent the skinwalkers after us or they snuck in on their own.” Luca needed that to be the focus, if they thought to hard about everyone lost to this then no one would be making it home.

“They would not be with the armies. Skinwalkers are outcasts, they have no ability save for mimicking others. They use their mimicry to try and infiltrate and obtain leadership of an area. When they are identified they are killed.” Shade broke into the conversation his tone decisive.

“Obtain leadership? Why not eat a more powerful person to mimic them?” Luca was puzzled by that strange phrase.

“The skinwalker has no combat strength, it doesn’t consume the subject it mimics it copies a living person. So it needs the person to live and not be near it. without the ability to subdue someone that is only possible when people venture out alone and are caught by a different rival group.” As Luca digested the knew information from Shade, he stumbled a step as a realisation struck him.

“It can only mimic the living? That means that they are still alive.” Luca met Declan’s hopefully eyes and nodded sharply.

“If it is relying on others to capture that is easy. There were a great many groups there that could have taken them. The fact that they could still mimic means they were still alive. If they’ve lived this long there is no reason for them to die in the immediate future. We just have to figure out who has them and where.” Luca met Declan’s determined expression with a clear explanation. How they were going to find people was another problem entirely.

“I can make a tracking spell,” Declan offered. Luca started to shake his head but then paused as he looked at the butterfly that had just returned to sit on Räv’s head as it recharged its solar battery.

“Can you make one that the butterfly drone can follow?” Declan gaped as he looked from Luca to the butterfly and then back again.

“No wonder your scouting is so good and you’re keeping your team safe. Luck, skill, and preparation if you lot had bought it, we’d all be done by now. Yes, I can cast it so the butterfly can follow.” Luca refrained from commenting on the observation about his team. The main reason was probably the fact that they’d all been slaves before and so were prepared to take more risks and damage to stay free than to try for an escape later. Though they could afford that recklessness since more than half of them were wanted alive it was possible to protect the others by throwing themselves towards danger. though Luca gave a slight laugh at his own rationalisation since it implied that without that guarantee they might act differently. Completely not true at all.

“Set the tracker now, that will give the butterfly time to get to where they are. While we hopefully figure out how to get home and stop the invasion of our home world.” As Declan and Räv worked on that Luca offered a silent prayer that the last was even possible with no sign of the other two keys Luca had a sinking feeling in his stomach that no matter how fast they were they’d be to late to stop things all together.