Erich wipes the water from his face with a disgusted grimace then glowers at the tall, gangly Lost as it slowly disperses; he hadn’t quite understood Louis’ clear disinterest in fighting in the Howling Pit, attributing it mostly to the area being flooded and Louis’ abilities being fire-based, but now…?

He absolutely understands Louis’ opinion right now.

There’s nothing ability-based about Louis’ disinterest; it’s entirely rooted in how horrifically difficult it is to fight in water that varies between ankle and hip-deep, sometimes unexpectedly. Combined with the fact that the water hides many Lost, and the uncertain footing, and the heavy mist…

“Are you certain there’s a Bloodspring out here?” he asks Louis as they take a minute to gather themselves, even though he already knows what the answer is going to be.

“I wish I could tell you no,” Louis says as he shoves his wet hair out of his face and wrinkles his nose. “Believe me, if I had the least amount of doubt, I’d agree to turn around and leave this area.”

“Aw, not having any fun slogging around in our wake?” Yakumo asks cheekily, then smirks at the dark look that Louis shoots him. “I don’t see you doing any of the heavy lifting here, so it can’t be that bad.”

“Can’t be— get over here and say that to my face, Yakumo!” Louis snarls, lunging for Yakumo through the knee-deep water.

Erich blinks and takes a few cautious steps backwards, watching the way Yakumo stumbles backwards with a laugh and how Louis blinks out of existence, using one of his Gifts to—

Teleport onto Yakumo’s back?

He watches in astonishment as the two go down, Yakumo’s arms flailing and Louis’ expression triumphant as they crash through the water, soaking both of them to the skin, and then begin to wrestle. Not that Yakumo seems to be trying that hard, most of his effort wasted on laughter and useless squirming.

It’s… a strange sight, and one he doesn’t really know how to interpret; he’s pretty sure it isn’t bad, given the laughter and the general cheerful air the two have despite being soaked, but it’s still… odd.

(There’s an ache in his chest, sharp-vicious-draining like a Lost’s poison, but he doesn’t know why.)

Erich takes another step back and turns slightly, casting his attention outwards; he’s pretty sure they’ve cleared the area of any Lost, but Louis and Yakumo are loud, their noises echoing oddly about the water and rubble, distorting into something almost frightening. He can easily believe that Lost might be drawn by the ruckus, by the sound of life, and come swarming down upon them.

But he can’t see anything moving, not even when he clambers up a precarious bit of rubble to get a better view of the zone.

So he just… sits. Listens to Louis and Yakumo mess about. Wonders what they’re doing and why he feels the way he feels, wonders if he’ll ever understand—

(“I’d look like a revenant, but on the inside I’d be no different than the Lost.”)

Yakumo… probably hadn’t meant it the way it had sounded, probably hadn’t even known that Erich doesn’t remember a thing before a few weeks ago, but the words still echo in his mind, because… because it’s not exactly wrong. He really isn’t much different than a Lost, is he? He’s just… instincts. Instincts and emotions and split second decisions based on nothing because he can’t remember anything.

He doesn’t know who he is. Doesn’t know who he was. Doesn’t know if it’s important or if it isn’t or if he was originally like the revenants who first captured him and Io or more like Louis or Yakumo or… or anything.

He… he hopes he was originally more like Louis or Yakumo, but he doesn’t know.

(He can’t quite imagine himself doing… whatever it is that the two are currently doing, though.)

(Is that a problem of his imagination or a sign of who he was?)

(Will he ever be able to know…?)

Erich sighs faintly and reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, trying to shove his thoughts aside; now isn’t the time to get distracted with… whatever this is. Not when they’re in the middle of enemy territory, with barely any of the area cleansed.

(No matter what Louis and Yakumo seem to think.)

He glances over his shoulder as the sound of laughter and splashes finally tapers off, then quickly looks away again, something vicious clawing at his chest at the sight of Louis helping Yakumo up, their expressions oddly soft despite how bedraggled they both look. Instead, he busies himself with his bayonet, pulling it from his back and running a hand down the barrel, checking to make sure it’s all in working order; revenant weapons might not require much maintenance, but he’s not interested in having to switch weapons mid-fight because of something preventable.

Splashing footsteps announces the arrival of the other two, followed by a rattling scrape as someone starts to climb his perch.

“Couldn’t you have picked somewhere slightly less precarious?” Yakumo whines as his heaves himself up onto the tiny ledge, body slanted precariously to balance against the massive blade slung across his back. “Is this going to be a thing? Because if it is, I’m sending Louis after you from now on.”

Erich arches an eyebrow as he straightens up and shoulders his bayonet again. “You could have just called me down,” he points out with a touch of amusement. “It’s not that high up.”

“Aww, but where’s the fun in that?” Yakumo asks with a lopsided smile, even as he gives Erich a careful once over. “You good to keep moving?”

“I’m fine.” And he is: one benefit of partnering with Yakumo is that the Lost tend to focus on him instead of Erich, which means he has plenty of regeneration left. “What about you?”

“No problems here,” Yakumo agrees, then glances back at the water-covered ground in exasperation as he says, “Guess that means the break’s over, then.”

Erich hums in agreement and carefully stands up and glances down, checking to make sure that Louis isn’t below him before he steps off the edge and drops back into the water with a splash. He takes a moment to close his eyes and focus, ignoring the sound of Yakumo dropping back into the water; he reaches out with his senses to trace the mistle’s reach, hunting for their next potential direction.

(This area is a twisting mess of passages formed by the rubble fallen from above.)

(The sooner they can get out of this waterlogged maze, the better.)

(It is… certainly not his favorite.)

“This way,” Erich decides as he opens his eyes and tips his chin towards a path they haven’t yet taken.

Louis and Yakumo exchange a look that Erich doesn’t understand, then shrug and move back into their regular formation around him.

“Looks as good as any other direction,” Yakumo agrees as he draws his massive blade and rests in on his shoulder again. “Off we go!”

Erich snorts softly and strides past Yakumo, shoving his tangled thoughts aside for the moment; he can’t afford to be distracted out here, not if he wants to keep surviving.

(He’ll think about it more when they return to Louis’ base.)

(Until then, he has a mission to take care of.)

(Time to focus.)