Saketa was rather displeased with herself for being groggy two mornings in a row. She was supposed to be in better shape than this.

“Have you been up long?” she asked Vanaka.

The girl sat on her bench, wrapped up in her thermal blanket.

“Half an hour, perhaps,” she said. “I did not want to wake you.” She gave a weak smile. “I want my bodyguard at full strength.”

Saketa stood up and took a little moment to focus herself for the day ahead, then did some morning stretches before sitting back down.

“Have you eaten?” Saketa asked as she went into the supplies they’d gathered from that store.

“No. I strongly prefer to eat in company.”

They each opened a can of some locally manufactured wheat/fish combination, and Saketa’s companion closed her eyes and whispered something under her breath with the food right beneath her lips. Then she started eating with small, delicate nips. The silence of this little everyday morning ritual was pleasant enough, but Saketa felt the issue looming as satiation approached.

After chasing the bread/fish with bits of fruit and some water, Vanaka put away the packaging with neatness that Saketa was noticing ever more in her general behaviour, then reached into her own backpack and produced a small bottle.

“Here,” she said and held it out. “For dessert.”

Saketa closed her hand around the offering without thought. It was only a bit bigger than her grip, and a very dark shade of purple.

“It is a drink from home,” Vanaka said. “Made from native grain. Very healthy. Full of iron. You look a little tired.”

“This wouldn’t be a bribe, would it?” Saketa asked, rolling the little bottle around in her hand.

“No,” replied Vanaka, and held her legs up against her chest, resting her chin on her knees. “You saved my life yesterday. And I cannot remember if I thanked you.”

“You did.”

“Drink up anyway. I can get plenty once I am home again.”

Saketa twisted the cap off and took an experimental sip. The drink had a rich flavour and a hint of bubbles. After a second sip she decided she liked it.

The girl fidgeted a bit where she sat, folded up and looking small.

“Help me get home, Saketa,” she said plainly. “Please.”

The arguments for sending her back were still in Saketa’s head, but she found that her will to push them had vanished in the night. With all things weighed, she probably would be safer being escorted by Saketa than waiting for whatever was to come back in the city.

“As you wish,” Saketa said. “We will continue on.”

Vanaka nodded.

“Thank you.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Are you ready to set out?”

“There is nothing to wait for.”

They packed their things and Vanaka stayed close as they continued their journey, as she had been ever since the bots. Following the same rail as before, they reached a more fertile part of the plain well before noon. Small, tough bushes became an ever more dominant feature all around. They were topped by bright orange flowers and it all made for quite a pretty sight when the general destruction was out of sight. When it wasn’t out of sight it became clear why Saketa had witnessed such an overflow of people. It didn’t seem like a single population centre had been spared.

“So, what do you do?” Saketa asked as noon was closer than dawn.

“I am just a student,” her companion replied. “I have yet to decide on a final course. I do have plenty of time before me, but I would like to know what lies ahead for me.”

“And do any choices stand out?” Saketa said, happy to have thought of a topic.

“Ooohhhh...” the girl vocalised as she sought an answer. “History? Maybe I will teach. Design? Perhaps I will make clothes for people. My father keeps suggesting finance, to take care of the family money.”

“And what does your heart call for?”

“Well...”

Vanaka threw up her hands with an air of frustration.

“I am that age when the heart bounces around in every direction. But...”

She stopped, and so Saketa did as well. Vanaka took a moment to compose herself, then fluidly moved her arms up above her head. Next she stood on the toes of one foot before raising the other one horizontally in the air, and finally leaping up into a 360 degree spin.

“I do love dancing,” she said.

“Very good,” Saketa told her.

“Thank you. But I do not know if I can make an actual career out of it.”

Saketa shrugged.

“I think you should try, at least. If you fail, at least you will not live with regret.”

The girl smiled warmly at her, and Saketa wondered if she was the first person to encourage that particular direction.

The wind shifted, bringing the smell of carrion as well as faint sounds.

Saketa turned a grim look up ahead, and Vanaka’s moment of cheer vanished at the sight of it. Saketa didn’t feel in immediate danger, but walked ahead on alert and with one hand on the scabbard. With the girl several steps behind, she crested a modest incline and found the site of a minor skirmish.

A land vehicle had been hit with fire some distance away and overturned. Human bodies lay scattered about in a radius around it. The vehicle and the ground around it were marked by plasma hits, indicating a firefight before the defenders had been cut down. She saw no weapons, although the empty holsters made it clear that they had simply been taken by the victors.

The bodies had attracted large carnivores. Saketa saw eight at a glance. They were almost man-sized, with stocky bodies on long legs, large snouts and striped furs clearly meant for blending into the surrounding flora.

At the sight of her the nearest one took its snout out of a man’s innards and growled. The others took notice and tensed up as well, turning to face them with bloody maws and sharp teeth on display.

Saketa held her left palm out to Vanaka, as she drew the sword with her right. She kept the movements slow, and called upon her discipline to quiet the instinctive fear the chorus of predatory growls threatened to bring forth.

“Are you going to kill them?” Vanaka whispered.

“They are only doing as they must,” Saketa replied. “And they have plenty of food; they are threatening us to protect it.”

She walked backwards, keeping her awareness on full alert, until both she and Vanaka were blocked from the animals’ view. Judging by the sounds they went back to eating, one by one.

“We will go that way around,” Saketa said and pointed to the left. “It ought to keep us out of their sight.”

She stayed on alert as they walked in a wide arc. She respected the natural relationship of predator and prey. But she had no intention of being on the wrong side of it.

“That was unpleasant,” Vanaka said as they started leaving the scene behind.

“That was nature,” Saketa replied. “Well... the eating. Not the killings themselves.”

“Hm. I cannot help but notice that they hadn’t been dead all that long.”

“That they had not.”