Rafferty was already awake when Katrin slipped back into the house very early in the morning, trying to be quiet. When she saw Rafferty looking at her, she smiled, but didn't say anything.

They didn't say much while they packed up their stuff, either. Rafferty didn't know what she would say even if she did decide to say something, and if Katrin wasn't going to bring it up, then Rafferty sure wasn't about to.

On the way home, Katrin said they were going to take a detour, and that's how they found themselves at the Vents. The Breaks was full of cracks, and fissures, and canyons, but Rafferty had never been here before. It looked like someone had picked up the world with both hands, and dropped it onto a hard surface.

"This is where I saw my first Class Four. I love this place," said Katrin.

"The Wraith? With the fireball thing?" asked Rafferty. She'd heard the story.

"Yep. Abby was really something that day," Katrin said.

"It sounds like it. Was it over there?" Rafferty asked.

"No, there, just past that spire. It got its foot caught in that crevice there, and sort of bent forward a bit. That was the only way Abby was able to get all the way up onto the head," Katrin said.

Rafferty asked questions while Katrin acted out the fight, lamenting the shortcomings of her younger self, who had misjudged an important jump by a good twenty feet. She talked about Seth, only on her third mission with B Hall that day, and how you could tell she was fierce even then. She talked about Brianna, proclaiming with a smile that "Bri's the strongest bitch I've ever met." Mostly she talked about Abby, the old B Hall leader who had really won the day.

Katrin was a good storyteller. Rafferty could practically see the giant looming over the landscape, the Hunters not much more than determined little dots intent on bringing it down. In the end, the God had tumbled into a deep canyon. For all Katrin knew, it was still there.

"I love this place," Katrin repeated when she was done, throwing her head back, her voice echoing off the rocks.

''It looks like fun," Rafferty said.

Katrin smirked, and smacked Rafferty on the shoulder. Rafferty looked back at her, confused.

"You're it," said Katrin, turning to run.

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Katrin picked her way down a canyon wall. Rafferty struggled to keep up. It was hard to match the precise way she skipped from perch to perch, and Rafferty lost a bit of time at each strike point.

Rafferty realized that this was the way Katrin was going to get them past the awkwardness of the night before. It was reckless, private, and required no talking whatsoever.

It was perfect.

Katrin hit the canyon floor a few seconds before Rafferty, and sprinted down the corridor. Rafferty pushed off the last touch point hard, and skidded as she landed. She dug with her heels as hard as she could. This is where she could make up the time. Katrin was more precise, more technical, and more experienced, but Rafferty was faster.

She reeled in Katrin, and slapped her on the back.

"You're it," she said, and saw a big smile on Katrin's face.

She sped past and hopped up the canyon wall, her friend in pursuit.

The girls traded tags a few times. On her fourth turn, Rafferty found herself speeding over the top of the Vents, skipping over numerous cracks and breaks, some of which Katrin said were very, very deep.. She had to be careful not to lose focus. If she caught a foot in one of these, she'd break an ankle, or worse.

More importantly, Katrin would catch her. She was right behind, and Rafferty was desperately trying to prolong the chase. Officially, of course, no one was keeping time or keeping score, but both girls were well aware that Katrin's second turn being chased had lasted the longest. Rafferty was threatening that time now, and both girls knew that too.

Rafferty saw a large canyon coming up, and had to make a decision quickly. She could turn to the right, and try to circle back, or she could go over it.

As she got closer she started doing what Blaspheme called "jump math" in her head. The canyon was deep, and this was dangerous, but she was pretty sure that she could just make it.

She was also pretty sure that Katrin couldn't follow.

Katrin might have greater control and perfect technique, but she couldn't gain the same momentum Rafferty could over open ground. She wouldn't be able to carry this distance.

Once Rafferty was across, Katrin would have to work her way down the canyon and then back up, and Rafferty would be able to set a new best time with ease.

Rafferty jumped at the last possible second, and felt that familiar thrill as she soared through the air. The jump math was holding up, not that there was much she could do about it now, and as the ground starting rising toward her, she knew that she would land on the other side.

She hadn't quite touched down when she heard a voice behind her.

"Could use a little help here," she heard Katrin call.

What? She followed?

There was fear in Katrin's voice. Not a lot, but it was there.

Rafferty pulled her legs up so she would land hard and stick. She hit the ground, and spun around, trying to locate Katrin in the air.

She wasn't going to make it, and she wasn't going to be close enough to hit the canyon wall and slide down, either.

Rafferty glanced into the canyon. It was deeper than she'd hoped. If Katrin's jump were anything like Rafferty's, the distance between its apex and the bottom of the canyon was too great. She'd be in the air too long, and falling too fast. Her gear wouldn't be able to absorb the impact.

Trying not to panic, Rafferty quickly charted a path down the side. After she hit the wall the first time, she thought she could jump and meet Katrin in the air. If she could grab her arm, she could hurl her toward the wall, which would give Katrin enough to work with to get down to the bottom.

Rafferty's own ride to the bottom after that would be bumpy and painful, but that didn't matter. Timing was going to be the problem. If she missed, there was nothing either of them could do about Katrin's free fall.

She jumped toward the first spot, a pointy rock jutting out near the top of the canyon wall. Rafferty called out to Katrin as she fell.

"Right arm!"

"Got it!" Katrin yelled back.

Rafferty bounced off the rock, but she sailed just a little bit.

She was passing Katrin higher than she meant to. She reached her arm as far as it would go, trying to will every extra inch she could. Katrin reached up, straining for the grab. Their fingers almost touched, but never quite did. Rafferty realized too late that if she had drawn her sword, they might have been able to make something work.

Rafferty hit the second point, and tried to push off in a desperate dive to make contact before it was too late, but she was too far away, and had wasted too much time.

All she could do was watch as Katrin fell all the way to the bottom.