As Mob and Teru had their little back-and-forth, Tome's relief hadn't lasted long.

"Hey...are you okay?" Her voice was practically a whisper. The dove her hands was drooping unnaturally. Her hesitant worry erupted into panic as it lost its grip on the ring it had worked so hard to get. "Hey! What's wrong?!"

The dove cooed weakly. "I'm sorry...I've used up a lot..."

"No. No. You're too close." Tome's voice firmed into steel, as if she could forbid it from happening. She tossed her bag off her should and dumped everything into the mud. She dug through with her free hand--there was no food left. "You--you just have to get to the house. We'll run."

Tome looked frantically to Mob and Teru for something--anything. Teru looked down.