Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tighnari nearly hit his head on a nearby branch, upon hearing a high-pitched screech. He was startled, for no human should be able to emit such a sound, nevertheless there she was, a young girl, who looked to be only about 8.
Tighnari watched her being carried into the base by the forest rangers. Undoubtably, the source of her suffering seemed to be the cavernous cut that went down straight to the other side from her thigh to the shin, blood leaking uncontrollably. What peaked his interest though, wasn‘t the bloody sight, but rather the beautiful white flowers, that were blooming from the still-gushing wound. He recognized them as lilies of the valley. This strange combination of gore and growth had him in a daze, before he sensed something, or rather someone, standing right next to him.

It was his younger sister – Collei. Having noticed, that she was also watching the peculiar sight in front of them, he quickly covered her eyes and turned her around, leading the way deeper into the forest.
‘Hey! I was watching!’ Piped out the annoyed Collei.
‘Nothing worth seeing, especially for you.’ Tighnari replied calmly. He had always been protective of his sister, and wasn’t about to change his attitude now, when there were more and more wounded people being brought to the base every day. He was already 18, and soon enough, he’ll be enrolling into the forest ranger troops. Their mother being a doctor, Tighnari was already accustomed to the sight of wounds and injuries, since he himself acted as a doctor’s assistant any time a new patient barged into their home with a gushing wound or a barely hanging limb. Collei, on the other hand, was still young, just 13 years old, and she wasn’t allowed to watch any medical procedures being performed, for she still had a weak psyche, and would be prone to fainting at the slightest sight of blood. When the wounded girl was being carried, Collei must’ve also been entranced by the flowers, if she’d seen the wound fully, Tighnari would already be carrying her back home, unconscious.

It truly was such a unique sight, he couldn’t even conclude as to why the flowers would grow in the girl’s flesh in the first place. He made a mental note to ask mother about it when she came home from patrol. Since the huge flood of injured people in recent days, the boarder patrol has been increased, and his mother is giving emergency treatment to the worst-case scenarios, such as the flowering girl he had just witnessed.

Before that interruption, he and Collei were performing an environmental inspection, checking the plant life for signs of corrosion and infection. Due to these responsible measures taken by all capable base citizens, the base has been able to protect itself fully from the outside world. It was in a very advantageous position as well, located in the lush rainforest’s cavern. Because of this, the base could be easily camouflaged at the top by big plants and bushes, also leaving the patrol a clear view of the whole base from the top. The base was self-sustaining. People harvested crops from the rich soil, there were plenty of gale water sources, as well as a few deep caves with recourses to dig. You couldn’t call the base enormous, but it comfortably held a few thousand citizens. The forest rangers patrolled the parameters outside, to catch and eliminate danger, before it came too close to the people.

Tighnari has never known the world to be any different, but he read in old tomes, that ancient civilizations lived way more comfortably than they do now. They were extremely advanced and had lots of complicated technologies, that he couldn’t even begin to understand. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t fully believe that the past could’ve been so much better. For now, the entire world was like a battlefield, where only the strongest survived. Humans, who once seemed to rule over most of the world, were now fighting like every other creature, for their place under the sun. Tighnari knew from studying science and history, what was responsible for the current state of the world. It was the world encompassing calamity, known as the Great ley-line destruction, or simply, the Apocalypse.

Chapter Text

The sun had yet to rise, but Tighnari was already dripping with sweat. Such were the conditions one had to get used to while living in a rainforest. For the third time this week, his sleep had been disrupted by the same blood-curdling nightmare.

Collei was screaming her lungs out while all sorts of different flowers rapidly tore at her flesh, leaving gushing wounds behind. They would grow out of every surface of her body, but her face, her screams achingly silenced as blooms of white, mixed with the red of her tears, overflowed her mouth.

He hasn’t talked about these nightmares with anyone, not even his mom, in fear of worrying her, he doesn’t want her distracted from an already concentration demanding job. His forest ranger enrolment procession was going to happen in a few hours anyway, so he decided to cool his mind off with a run to the stream. The shirt’s fabric was soaked as he pulled it off his head, involuntarily catching the piercings on his fluffy ears. It was as light as soil outside, and only the slightest chance of other people being out at this time, but Tighnari really wasn’t comfortable being seen shirtless, so despite the heat, he draped on a cotton shirt and went to Collei’s bedroom.

His sister was sleeping as if the world didn’t exist, with a slight upturn on the corner of her mouth. He’d endure a thousand violent nightmares if it meant his sister got a peaceful rest.

Running, of course, made him even sweatier than before and it didn’t help that a breeze was nowhere to be felt, but it did get him to the stream way faster than walking could have in addition, clearing his mind up a bit. Relief washed over him as he stepped into the cool running water. Mixed with pleasant sounds and smells of nature, the atmosphere finally washed his worries away.
He’ll manage to adapt to the work life easily and he shouldn’t fear for Collei, for the base was as secure as it could be, and no children were allowed to slip out, not even with their parent’s permission. He was determined to find the cause of the strange parasitic flower cases. Whatever it is, he won’t let his sister suffer.

Slipping into a spiral of his own thoughts for sure was one of his biggest weaknesses. Once again, he hadn’t noticed the person who had come up to him and was now staring straight at him.
Nilou wasn’t someone Tighnari would call a close friend, but in such a tight-knit community everyone knew everyone and naturally, people knew others their age the best. Still, he didn’t object to her company, she was nice and had a soft, calming voice, which Tighnari appreciated more than others, his ears being so sensitive. He got frequent headaches from all the noises around overwhelming him, but you can’t deny that it’s a huge advantage being able to pick up sounds far off or even underground.

‘Quite a frequenter you’ve been recently. Is there something that’s been bothering you?’ Enquired the girl.

‘Oh, nothing unusual, just some stress before starting work, thanks for asking.’

‘Don’t waste your energy on such silly things, you’re the smartest person I know, and you adapt swift as lightning. You’ll be one of the best in the ranks in no time, trust me.’

‘You overestimate me, Nilou, but thanks for the encouragement. And you, what cause brings you here so early?’

Nilou blushed. ‘I come here every morning to … dance. I know, I know, it’s stupid, but I get so entranced, trying to replicate the flow of the water. It’s the only truly enjoyable thing I have in this place.’

Nilou works in the hydro faction. They produce, well, water, but it’s not as straight forward as it sounds. Hydro vision holders can’t produce water, they can only manipulate it. The hydro faction deals with all the base’s water related troubles, such as properly hydrating the crops, making sure every stream is flowing according to line and such. Vision holders aren’t that common, and it’s especially challenging to gather a big enough group of people who have the same elemental vision, in turn, vision holders tend to have a bigger workload.

Nilou’s presence is required in many hydro operations, so she’s often too tired to do anything for her own pleasure, the best she gets is dancing early in the morning. In their community, there was barely any time for fun, and if you were to be having fun, people would start thinking of you as lazy or incapable, so most didn’t sing, dance or even laugh much publicly.

‘Hey, don’t say it’s stupid. Most people don’t even know how to dance, and it’s great that you have a hobby you like, but… how come I’ve never actually seen you dance here?’

She chuckled softly. ‘Every time I notice someone’s coming, I skitter to the bushes, but it seems like you were swifter than me today.’

‘Ah, well I was going to the waterfall anyway, don’t worry about me spying.’

‘Thank you, Tighnari.’

But Tighnari didn’t keep to his word. After getting out of sight, he watched Nilou’s graceful movements and for the first time was astonished by how humans could create such beautiful art.

Chapter Text

Nilou’s judgement was correct. Tighnari had only been a forest ranger for a few months but was already among the best. He handled the bow with incredible precision, very rarely missing his target. The fact that he gained a dendro vision on an expedition also gave him a huge advantage. Now he was learning to grow foliage for camouflage, vines for escape routes and traps. At first the powers took nearly all his energy to move even a small leaf, but with many hours of practice, he was starting to master this skill as well.

He was on his way home from a day of forest patrol, monster samples stuffing his belt pouches, he liked examining them up and close when he got home, secretly of course, the base’s authorities would never allow such reckless behaviour, but Tighnari was careful not to bring infection and took all the necessary precautions. Before heading back though, he took a turn for the medical tents. He’d promised to bring mother some herbs that didn’t grow within the base.

Another one of those piercing screeches came from the tents and Tighnari sped up his pace. He knew patients like that girl from months ago had become the daily norm already, but this scream was painful to his ears in a different way, he knew that voice all too well, his nightmares, after all hadn’t ended, only progressed in recent nights. It was Collei’s voice.
Tighnari couldn’t control his legs anymore, they stared moving on their own, and before he knew it, Collei’s pain-stricken face was already under his. His gaze landed on her arm, where a lonesome yarrow slowly snaked out from under the skin of her palm.

‘I can feel it!’ Collei cried out, ‘I feel it moving under my skin! It’s everywhere, it’s crawling all over inside!’

Tighnari stood in awe, momentarily not able to move or think, he didn’t believe this was real, he thought he’ll soon wake up like it was one of his nightmares, but as he took in deep breaths and Collei’s suffering cries and shouts didn’t disperse, he realized that this was real, and his sister was afflicted with the foul flower infection.

‘Here you are! I was about to send someone for you!’ Came his mother’s panicked voice. She grabbed him by the shoulders, ‘I gave her the same tincture I do to all floralysis patients, but it isn’t helping, something’s different, something very wrong.’

‘How did she get infected? How did she escape?’

He dropped his gaze on Collei again, panic starting to rise as cold sweat poured from his temples. Could she have found and done something with the monster remains he kept bringing back? But no, he locked everything in a special multi-layer box and kept the key on his neck at all times, exactly for this reason. And of all the plants he’d found, there certainly weren’t any yarrows…

‘I didn’t! I promise, I didn’t escape! I was in the base,’ a nasty cough interrupted Collei’s frightened speech. ’All I did was pick herbs, just like teacher asked…’ She began coughing helplessly again as her mother brought a new remedy to her lips.

‘But that’s impossible.’ Tighnari started, still in disbelief. ‘There are no signs of corruption in our forest, how could you possibly get infected here?’
‘Unless, an invasive species had settled, unnoticed’ Chimed in a new, soft voice- Nilou.

‘And if it looked hardly distinguishable to our usual medicinal herbs, getting infected wouldn’t be so hard after all, especially for ones with weaker immune systems.’ Concluded Tighnari’s mom.
‘Okay, but what are we supposed to do now?’ he started, full of impatience. ‘If the usual medicine doesn’t work, how are we going to help my sister? I can’t just watch her suffer, we have to help her. Mom, you must know of something to help, right? His sentences were turning into desperate cries.

‘I’m sure I can make remedies to lessen the effects of these parasites, but there hasn't been a sickness like this recorded in even our oldest records, pre-apocalypse. I’m not sure our base is capable of producing the sufficient cure…’

‘But you know what can produce it though, don’t you?’

Hi’s mother’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘I know of a base that does have the kind of medicine we need. But it’s not as simple as coming up to them and asking for help, no, they aren’t like us. That base treats it’s citizens like work machines, if you enter it, there’s no going back.’

‘Describe the medicine. I’m going to get it.’

‘Son, you don’t understand what kind of trouble you want to get into, I’m telling you, the only ones that have ever escaped did not live for long after. All of our safety precautions, yes, they are to keep us safe from the monsters, but most of all we don’t want to be found by that base. It does terrible things to one’s mind and body.’

‘My sister is dying. If there’s even the smallest chance of success, I’m taking it.’

His mother sighed, but didn’t try to object any further. She knew Tighnari enough to not be talked out of something when he’s already made his mind about it. And this ‘something’ in particular was of the greatest importance to him, he loved and protected Collei, like she was an extension of himself.

‘Whatever you do, just don’t reveal anything about yourself or the base. Lie, disguise yourself, just don’t let them find us. You will have to hide your vision as well. In their society, vision holders aren’t like normal people. They’re the ones whose powers get the most abused, trust me, you may have a chance of succeeding, but if you reveal your powers, don’t even dream about getting stuck there alive.’

Chapter Text

The base had been reluctant to let Tighnari go on this expedition of his, they were worried about losing a valuable asset, but at the same time knew that if anyone were to go and retrieve the medicine needed not only to treat Collei, but so many others that had gotten afflicted in that short period of time, it was Tighnari. His mother wrote down all the possible medicine types that he could search for on small pieces of dried leaf, so she could carefully braid them into Tighnari’s hair. While doing this, she tried to cram as many tips and as much advice as she could remember, which wasn’t too much to begin with, but enough to get him orientated on his plan and upcoming tasks. He got marked the safest route of getting to the base without bumping into patrolling officers of theirs or big mutants, which liked the open air and sun way more than a damp jungle.

With a pack full of supplies for a few upcoming days, no need bringing much more, since that base confiscates most of what everyone brings in anyway, and a bow with a quill of arrows strapped securely on his back, all there was left to do was double check if he didn’t forget anything before saying his goodbyes.

He was dumbstruck though when upon opening the front door, a certain Nilou was standing on his front step, seemingly also ready for traveling.

‘Nilou? I was just about to go back to the tent to bid farewell to you all, did something happen?’

‘I’m leaving with you.’ And Tighnari could’ve started laughing, but when after a few seconds Nilou’s face hadn’t become less serious, he couldn’t even push a smile anymore.

‘You are not. If the base will lose someone, then at least it’s only going to be one person.’

‘Huh, so you’re calling me useless right now?’ She puffed a breath.

‘I’m calling you exactly the opposite. You’re among the best vision holders here, not that I deny your survival abilities, but why would you even risk it?’

‘And why wouldn’t I, Ti? Sure, helping how I do is my duty, but an even bigger duty is protecting the people I care about and that includes you and Collei as well. So why wouldn’t I go with you and at least try protecting you, the best I can. You’re great, but you can’t do this alone,’

‘I know I need help, but… I jus’t can’t risk anyone else’s lives here.’ His gaze drops down while rubbing his temples.

‘We’ll put our brains together, act as a team. We do risk our lives here, but we’re going to die someday anyway, why not at least do it for an honourable cause? I want to help with all my heart, I won’t sleep at night not knowing weather you’re still alive. Just let me have this, it’s what I want.’

‘I really am starting to hate you, you know that?’ Tighnari shakes his head, finally meeting Nilou’s gaze.

‘I know. Now let’s take our leave.’

Tignari would‘ve persisted arguing, but quickly realised just how similar they are with their stubbornness and just admitted defeat. It’s true that he has better chances with a companion, he just really hoped no lives would have to be sacrificed for this task.

Back at the tent Tignari spent an extra long moment just hugging his mom, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time. Collei was too fragile to hold, so he could only lightly brush his fingers through her leafy-green hair. The body examination testified that she’s not yet on the threshold of death, but mother said this illness eats a person slowly, if only so they’d have to suffer more pain.

‘You won’t even notice me gone, sis. I’ll be back in no time with your medicine, and you’ll get back healthy as a radish.’ He tried reassuring her, even though the smile was ever so hard to keep up.

‘I know you will…. Tighnari. I love you.’ It seemed like her smile was having a hard time staying as well, but probably just the cause of fatigue. Tighnari gently patted her cheek one more time before heading out for good, so Collei wouldn’t have to witness his loss of composure.

>--^--<

The whole day they had been on the road, only taking short 30-minute breaks to drink water and stretch their legs. Neither of them wanted to travel at night, when even rainforests got infested by night crawling creatures. Only occasionally would a cooler breeze land on their faces, otherwise spilling with sweat. Just now did they learn to appreciate the geographical position of their base. Being way lower than normal ground level, the heat didn’t reach them as much as it did here. Despite the inconveniences, Tighnari couldn’t not be amazed by all the diverse life forms roaming the jungles he’d never gotten to see. Flowers bloomed in all shapes and colours, spreading an alluring aroma all around. Together with thick vines and huge fern leaves, the view looked like a painting of thousands of intricate brush strokes.

Chapter Text

   Only when the sun was about to drop below the horizon, did they decide to make camp. Luckily, they didn't have to search too long for a good spot, there was an already well camouflaged cave near their trail. Tighnari had only recognized it as one from the exterior shape, but not so many had studied rocks long enough as he had in his spare time to identify it as one.

   Proceeding with stealth and patience, he slowly opened a pocket in the thick vine wall, covering the cave’s entrance, using a sturdy branch. Sunset light flooded the small interior. Just as he expected, multiple electric cicins swarmed out, visibly annoyed, that their leisure was so impolitely interrupted. Before they could hurt anyone though, Tighnari's swiftly winding vines had wrapped them in a tight embrace, the dendro element reacting with electro and giving those creatures a good punch.

   Another look inside and he was sure it was clear of any more immediate danger. Nilou made quick work of the mess, brushing the stone with a shrub broom while Tighnari worked on camouflaging the cave more, just to be safe. Their scent being able to lure something to them was an annoying thought, but there wasn't much to be done about it.

   Nilou suggested taking watch for the first few hours. In terms of weapons, she'd only brought some knives and decided to also make use of the branch Tighnari found earlier, it was pretty thick and sturdy, sure to knock someone out in a single blow. She'd have brought a bow but was embarrassed enough by her inability to hit a single target to scrap that idea. Tighnari made up for her lack of skill in double though. Either way, if there was any danger, she wouldn't let him sleep through it.

   Without a fire to cook dinner on or warm their hands next to, it was getting a little cold and miserable. Tighnari chewed on nuts while Nilou pealed fruit she’d picked earlier on their walk. It would be hard to starve in the jungle when food was literally hanging above your head wherever you turned, and you only had to scare off a few wild animals to get to it. On the bright side, the more animals there were, the more certain you could be that the fruits weren't poisonous.

   As the last light of dusk faded out from the tree covered sky, they made themselves as comfortable as possible in the rocky hideaway.

   "You should go sleep. We'll need a lot of energy tomorrow" Nilou suggested after watching Tighnari, his eyes still open.

   "You're right, it's just that it feels wrong spending the night anywhere else but home, I can't stop thinking about Collei either."

   "I understand" there was a gap of silence between them, while all around they could heard the night-time sounds of nature: nearby streams of water flowing, birds flying around and taking their landings for the night, even bugs crawling around or buzzing through the open air, then she spoke again "but it won't help worrying right now. You need to focus on the task at present and that involves getting well rested. Let your worries go for just this moment, it'll be easier."

   "Thanks, Nilou. The tiredness is kicking in already anyways. Don't forget to wake me up in a few" He finished with a yawn.

>--^--<

   They switched and switched again, so it was Nilou's turn once more. That's when in the calm, steady churning of the forest she detected a strange lack of sound, as if everything had scurried at the presence of danger. This presence kept growing closer and closer until she could feel it's heat and smell an essence of fur. Then, slowly, blinked open a bright blue eye, shining like sapphire. It was near meters away at this point and it only seemed to be getting closer by the second.

   As quietly as she could, she shook Tighnari awake, whispering in his ear

   "Danger".

   Luckily, as shocked as he looked, he didn't let out a breath too loud, that the creature might sense, and as swiftly and discreetly as possible, pulled an arrow from the satchel and tightened the bow string.

   "Nilou, water, quick".

   She knew what he meant, the whole night they had listened to droplets falling from the ceiling and with the power of her vision, she gathered a big enough concentration to place on the arrowhead. Tighnari already had his vines at the ready. He took a deep breath and let go. Before it hit the creature’s eye, he already had his vines crawling on the tip. A soundly boom came after the elements combined, and a low, bone chilling growl sounded immediately after. The animal was in pain and struggling for the moment, so they took this opportunity to fire another blooming arrow at its neck. Now it got angry. Paws as large as wine barrels were gnawing at the stone, producing a clatter that’s uncomfortable to hear, Tighnari especially had to make use of all his focus to not go mad from the sound.

   “We need to get away from it, it’s going to make the cave fall into itself!” Nilou couldn’t keep her voice down anymore, the creature already knew about them anyway. She felt panick as the ground was shaking under their feet.

   “Let’s at least make it completely blind first.”

   With a nod, she gathered up whatever dampness was left around them and kept it on Tighnari’s new arrow, this time it took even more focus than before, to keep that small amount of water on the arrow tip, with their vision spinning and pebbles falling all around. In this position, Tighnari couldn’t target the creature’s other eye, so he sneaked outside, navigating his way under the large fur belly, trying to keep as close to the ground as possible. Of course, with its heightened senses, it detected his movement and just as planned, it turned to look at him with the remaining eye. Tighnari hit his target with incredible precision once again, but he couldn’t escape a giant paw gnawing right at him.

   He hit the ground sideways, feeling a metallic taste in his mouth. He couldn’t lose consciousness as easily as this, he thought, he couldn’t die this way. Luckily, before the animal had another chance at his life, his prayers were answered by none other than his friend. Tighnari was heavier than her, but Nilou had enough strength to drag him on her back and run away from the crime scene. He could hear the disoriented animal chase after them, branches cracking and bird flocks flying for their lives. He couldn’t miss Nilou’s struggling breaths either. After a few minutes, she was already slowing down, tripping on nearly every bush.

   “Wait! Stop running! You can put me down.” Without disagreeing, she stopped immediately, knees dropping on a cushion of leaves.

   “We need to run further, or hide somewhere, I can still hear it.” She said, breathing deeply every two words.

   “Let’s run if you can, it should stop soon after all those injuries, and I can’t see anywhere we could hide now.”

   So, they ran as far as their legs let them, Tighnari pulling Nilou’s arm whenever she started slowing down. Of course, this plan of theirs wasn’t perfect, since they couldn’t even imagine what danger they might run into next.

   They felt dizzy and were shaking and sweating from the entire encounter, but only stopped running after their legs couldn’t handle any more. At this point, dawn was already on the horizon, the early morning chirping of birds following its lead. Nilou had collapsed on her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach on the ground. Tighnari’s vision was spinning and his head felt so heavy that he could barely keep it up, so he sat for a rest, pulling the remaining rations of water from his pack and draining the remnants of blood from his mouth. There was just enough left for the both of them to feel satiated for now, but they’d have to find a source of refill soon.

>--^--<

   They hadn’t kept idle for long, Tighnari on high alert at all times. In the escape of the monster they had lost their original route and were now being lead by a river. This was a more dangerous and exposed way, but it saved a lot of time getting caught in branches and vine tangles. On a stop, they boiled river water together with detoxicating moss while washing off their grime as best as possible in the cold stream, that numerous poisonous snakes could crawl out of at any time. Nilou was worried about Tighnari’s head injury, but he insisted it’ll heal on its own. They looked out for animals coming to drink from the river from afar, so they could sneak past them unnoticed, using the leaves and bushes as coverage. And if they were noticed, they’d resort to killing those creatures on the spot.

   When night fell, they opted to nap higher in the trees, where they had a better view of the surroundings and felt less vulnerable.

   On the third day of their journey did they start seeing the regression of trees and foliage and an increase in open fields that eventually blended with red sand of the dessert. This landscape was new to them, unfamiliar, and more dangerous. As they walked, more and more ruin heads got visible, poking out from the sand. They indicated a long-gone civilization that had once resided here, maybe the desert hadn’t even reached this far back then.

   This biome of sand also inhabited a lot more creatures that they could see in the distance and at less convenient times, closer up. When darkness fell the heat, that had been present on the whole journey of theirs, dispersed. With a lack of shelter and the brutal temperature change, Nilou suggested not stopping for the night, since the darkness also gave a slight cover from prying eyes. Walking helped with keeping warm, but not by much, especially since you couldn’t go faster than your legs getting caught in sand allowed you to. They reached the top of a dune and could see far into the distance from atop. And there it was, just a small representation of what it was closer up, the view of the military base they were heading to. Seeing it brought Tighnari relief but also immense worry of what they were going into. Nilou felt much the same, visible from her knitted brows and unconfident stance, but still, she spoke nothing about it to him.

   They hadn’t talked much during their whole time traveling, only exchanging a few words or so out of necessity. Neither of them was much of a talker back home either, but Nilou was still craving some real socialization. On the other hand, she knew Tighnari might not be in the mood to talk at all, his thoughts being preoccupied by the task at present. Still, she took a chance to at least ask something that was bothering her “We’ll be there by sunrise or earlier, but what’s your plan on getting the medicine once we’re in?”

   “To be honest, I don’t have a clear plan right now. I was hoping on making one up on the spot, once we see what’s really going on in there. I’m counting on going to a healer though, my mother told me that would be the best plan of action. “

   “Hmm, I guess you’re right, we’ll just have to work with our situation. “

   And so they continued to walk, chatting about nothing in particular along the way, with long gaps of silence. A few times they noticed smoke beacons, and decided to avoid them, for you couldn’t predict if other people might lend help or wish you harm.

>--^--<

   They had gotten rid of most of their belongings while it was still dark. They’d found a tree in one of the dessert oasis’s and buried everything, including their visions under it. Tighnari then used his power to manipulate the tree’s roots to bring the things deeper into the earth and tangle them together. This should keep wild animals from digging things up, the roots are a natural cage. Now, with only a pack with a water bottle and some knives stashed in each of their clothes, they were about to make the last kilometers to the base, just in time for dawn. Faces wrapped in scarves combined with the layer of sand covering them, they looked like true wanderers.

>--^--<

    The stone walls of the base looked impossibly high and Tignari was sure that they were also impossible to climb over. He couldn’t help his jaw lowering at the sight of this massive man-made structure dawning over him, making him regret coming here for a second. But no, he had business to do, he had to save his sister, and if this was the only way to do it, he would go through the trouble.

   A line of people was at the front gate, presumably all wonderers and looking for shelter. Most of the people looked frightened though, as if they were waiting in line to be harmed. And then Tighnari heard it. A bang that sounded so close, but with no sight of anything changing. He asked the person in front if he knew what had happened, and the scared man only pointed toward the very front of the line, where a fresh dead body lay in its own puddle of blood. Some armed men were already walking towards it with a carrier bed.

   Tighnari was in such shock that he had stopped processing everything that was happening around him, even Nilou’s concerned questioning. He hadn’t even noticed that there was now only one person left in front of him, and when the man walked off and entered the base, only a tall, white haired officer, clad in black uniform, was pointing a gun directly at his heart.