TARA

What felt like minutes felt like hours.

Why, out of all the times, did I feel so nervous about an expedition?

I mean, I've been to multiple ones by now. Sure, I wouldn't be getting the jitters, but that feeling still creeps up on me.

"You alright, Tara?"

I snapped out of my trance, "Yeah. . . I am."

Lusan smirked, giving an all-knowing look.

"Maybe not." I sighed, dropping my shoulder in defeat.

He chuckled, giving me a thumbs up, "I'm sure we'll be fi-"

I waited for him to continue his speech, but he stood frozen.

"Be what?"

He slowly pointed his finger as I looked over to see. . .

I looked. . . Woah, I was not expecting to see something like this first thing in the morning.

The bask of the sunlight around her almost acted as her little spotlight, a sparkle to our eyes.

"She looks. . ."

"A goddess," I answered.

Lusan looked at me with a chuckle, "I wasn't going to say that, but sure, buddy."

If my jaw could drop, it would drop to the core of this planet.

"How does she look so good with armour on?"

It was as if the armour was made for her; the armour basked in her elegance as she strides towards us.

Who was this woman?

"Hey guys!" She chimed happily. "I'm so excited to finally talk to you guys." Kassie clapped her hands together.

That wave of bubbly energy hit us in the face first as Lusan and I exchanged looks.

I was not expecting that at all.

"Well, I brought some food just in case we need it."

"Uh, thanks."

"No worries! Now onwards!" She struck a pose as she galloped away.

Lusan cleared his throat, "Did that just happen?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "It did."

I didn't expect that from a person like Kassie, whom I regarded as composed and elegant.

Most of the time, we walked behind her as she hummed to herself out of pure joy. She looked at the surroundings with such excitement on her face, like a child seeing new things.

"I did not picture her to be like this." Lusan chuckled as we watched Kassie smell the flowers that she had just taken from the ground.

"Me neither." I smiled. If anything, she was the last person I expected to be a soldier, judging from her awe of everything around her.

"Wow! It's so green!" Kassie clapped to herself.

I cleared my throat. "Excuse me, Lady Kassie. Could I ask a question?"

She turned around, tilting her head at me. "Sure!" She smiled happily, but soon, a finger pointed at me. "But drop the Lady, I'm not invincible."

I needed clarification on that; the way that Lenin spoke about her was highly praised, not only that he declared Kassie stronger than him.

That was unfathomable to think about. It would mean she had something that we had yet to see.

"I was just curious as to why you wanted to go on an expedition. . . It is dangerous, after all."

Kassie tapped her chin lightly, "Well, it's because I needed a break from being a mother for just a couple of days." She paused for a slight moment, "It's my first time exploring too."

So that was why, huh?

"What about you?" she gestured to us. "Why do you guys go on expeditions?" Kassie asked.

"Me personally, these expeditions give me time to gain experience. It's always nice to have an adventure as well."

Kassie clapped at my response as she looked at Lusan, gesturing for him to speak.

"For me. . . We're making a big impact on our village. I would have never expected it if you told me we would do this thing a while back."

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Kassie jokingly wiped her eye, "That is so beautiful, you guys!" She pulled us in a big hug, which I had not expected. "We're going to have a blast together!"

We continued walking to the Village of Vaia. From what we knew from our scouting, this village would be a lot tamer than the others.

Well, I hope so, at least.

Suddenly, Kassie stopped as she slowly looked over her shoulder.

"We're here."

Lusan and I nodded as we looked over Kassie's shoulder to see the Village of Vaia and its beauty.

It was exactly what I expected it to be like.

There were guards on standby. They prepared themselves before the entrance as they noticed us upon arrival.

"Good morning, " they saluted. "Could we have your names?"

But I could tell they were surprised by Kassie; she was a goddess of women.

Still, they composed themselves like guards would do.

Kassie nodded, placing her hand on her chest, "My name is Kassie, and these two are Lusan and Tara."

We gave them a little wave as the guards acknowledged our presence. They were more friendly than most people I have met.

"What brings you here."

"We come from the Village of Facia, and we would like to meet your leader for an opportunity we would like to talk to them about."

The guards looked at one another and nodded. "Wait one second. We'll be back to you guys soon."

With that, they left their post for us to wait for.

It only took them a couple of minutes to open the gates, and as we entered, two people were waiting for us.

"My name is Gemma, and this is my Co-leader Nath." She said as her emerald eyes reflected our own, a vibrant and fresh aura circulated her, with her matching eyes.

Whilst Nath towered over her in height, his positioning suggested that he was experienced in craftsmanship.

They both bowed their heads. This was undoubtedly different from the encounter we were expecting from them.

Most Village leaders were usually reluctant to talk to us, let alone pay respect to us.

This was a first for sure.

Kassie bowed, and Lusan and I knew it was our cue to do the same.

"It's an honour to meet you," Kassie declared. I could hear the shift in her voice, becoming more severe than ever before.

That energetic voice I had heard throughout this expedition had ceased to exist, but now it was what I had initially envisioned her to be.

She posed, calm and collected.

The two leaders looked at each other silently, examining who we were and calculating every small insignificant detail about us three.

"Would you like a tour of the place?"

"Yes, please."

All I could do now was stand in awe as people from all walks of life lived in the Village of Vaia.

The conversations flowed through the air; its chatter was beautiful and inviting.

Everyone here seemed friendly and welcoming.

The Village wasn't grand like the others I had been to, but more cosy and comforting to one's eyes.

The walls constructed here spoke of history, of untold stories yet to be discovered.

We continued to walk into the centre of the Village, where children's laughter became at the forefront of our senses, running past us without a care in the world.

A blissful ignorance, one that I would wish would arrive at our village too.

Soon enough, we arrived at a meeting room that was smaller than ours, but it did its job.

We sat on the chairs that softened our bodies, relaxing into our seats as both Gemma and Nath did.

"I hope that you enjoyed the tour." Gemma smiled fondly.

Kassie bowed respectfully, "Your tour was lovely, as is the Village."

"Now, what exactly brings you here? We don't usually get that many visitors, if at all. . . Any." Gemma began slowly eyeing Kassie.

She had every right to be sceptical of us.

I would have been, too.

But still, Kassie remained calm and collected. Meeting Gemma's gaze, Kassie said, "We come from the Village of Facia, my people, and I hope you would be interested in working as a collective rather than individually." Kassie took a deep breath.

"For too long, our people have isolated from one another when instead we should work together to become more modernised."

Both Gemma and Nath looked at one another, slowly nodding their heads.

"While that does sound quite wonderful, I'm afraid we cannot accept," Gemma muttered with a hint of regret.

"Why is that?" Kassie tilted her head.

"We don't think we can offer you anything you already don't have." Nath crossed his arms, looking away from us, almost as if he was ashamed of something.

"Might I ask why?"

Nath deeply breathed, "Our Village has been under multiple attacks from Plantea Beasts." He commented. "While we've tried our best with the few soldiers that we have, it's not enough; they keep attacking the village, trying to find any sort of Solum we have when we barely have anything for ourselves."

Kassie tapped her chin, "I see. . . Well, if you would accept, we might be able to help you with that."

Gemma looked over at us as if we were some magical beings, the way Kassie had calmly said, "Hell, even I was shocked."

I remembered the last time I faced Plantea beasts with Lusan during our first expedition with Lenin, and I could confidently say that I was knocked out for most of it.

"How could you do that?" Gemma asked curiously.

Kassie smiled, "It might sound ridiculous, but we do have some experience dealing with Plantea beasts. . . That is if you choose to trust us."

Gemma remained slightly as she shrugged, "Well, we don't have any options in dealing with them." She looked at Nath, who nodded, "I guess why not?"

"But under one condition." Nath declared.

"What is it?" Kassie asked.

"While we do want to believe your claim of being experienced at fighting Plantea beasts, I would request that one of your people fight one of ours," Nath added as he scanned his eyes at Lusan and me.

"Call it a test of acceptance."

"Well then. . . We can do that."

"Good." Gemma asked, "Would you like to be taken to the arena."

The arena?

Gemma and Nath directed us outside the room, and we followed them from behind.

We saw the arena in all its glory, soldiers practising with all sorts of weapons that I had never seen before.

The ground was plain dirt. This arena was undoubtedly not for leisure but for practice.

"While we don't have many soldiers, we pride ourselves on quality over quantity." Nath looked over his shoulder, "These soldiers have trained since they were kids, learning the ways of the Vian people."

I looked at the soldiers currently fighting, who were probably without shoes to protect their feet from the ground.

"There's a reason why we have two leaders in this village. Gemma is the leader when it comes to administration and education. While I'm a leader for military, foreign policies." He declared, "What I lack, she covers for."

These soldiers were no joke; I would have wanted to learn how strong they were if they had trained from a young age.

I noticed that some had significantly longer hair flowing to their shoulders while others had no hair.

"Mind if I ask something?" Lusan asked.

"Sure." Nath smiled.

"What's with the hair? Not to judge or anything, but is there a reason why some of them have, you know, long hair?"

Nath chuckled without looking back at us as he answered our question, "Hair represents a lot for us in our village's tradition. The longer your hair, the more battles you've won."

We didn't need him to explain why some had short hair; it just meant they weren't as good as the others.

Hmmm, hair was a currency for gaining respect in this part of the place.

The longer the hair, the more people will acknowledge you for the person you are and consider you a respected individual.

Well. . . That's what I like to think, anyway.

So, what else does the Village of Vaia have to offer us? One thing was for sure: there were still so many things that I could learn from a place like this.