Wati trudged mindlessly, trusting her sore legs to take her anywhere solitary. She tightened her grip as an ash-ridden wind swept down the plains, causing the parchment in her hand to flutter. Her body eventually surrendered, no longer able to withstand the weight of her heart. She leaned against a boulder, pulled her legs close, and gently stroked the image of Aryo's still face on the parchment.

They were so close to finishing their entry-level service. Now, her labor would continue, and she was on her own, surrounded by disdain from her people.

Once, and only once we're satisfied with everything…let's get married.

Take your friends to where they belong!

My cousin died fighting those birds and you disrespected her!

I really want to be yours.

I wouldn't stop at seventy if I were the headman!

We'll have you for dinner if you leave the carriage down there!

I love you…as a friend.

Listen, I can't teach you my spells and there's nothing we can do about it!

Wati pressed against her ears, stooping her head and sniffing.

…uh…don’t cry, please. It’s okay.

Don’t cry…you’re a tough girl.

The more she suppressed her sorrow, the more she wanted to weep, but she was out of tears. With her name tarnished, it’s unlikely things would get better once her chastisement was over.

“Visha,” Wati said. “Have mercy…” Wati wiped her eyes.

The ground shook, followed by a loud thud. Wati folded the parchment and tied it to her belt strap. She followed the noise. Uphill, one of the human giants was lying on her chest. The giant’s aquamarine eyes studied her as if peering into her troubled past with intrigue. Wati furled her fingers.

“Hello, Wati,” the giant said, joy evident in her tone.

Wati waved her right hand gently. “I haven’t caught your name.”

“You can call me Genesis,” she said. “My friend over there is Caitlyn, while our big wagon is Gray Katie.”

Wati gazed at the giant's glowing eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Genesis looked to her left. “The view is gorgeous from here.” She smiled wider.

Genesis’ skin was as white as the snow in Praskovia. Her ethereal blonde hair complemented her beautiful eye colors. Together, they formed features that was certain to captivate the whole world.

Wati looked down on her hands, whose color wasn't as enticing. She sighed, her shoulders lowering. Maybe…Aryo refused to accept her because she wasn't beautiful enough. Perhaps he was after foreign, more gorgeous-looking women.

“Wati?” Genesis’ voice snapped her out of her brief overthinking. “Anything wrong?”

“N-nothing,” Wati said, shaking her head nervously. “Nice knowing you.” Wati bowed and lifted her skirt.

“Wait!” Genesis said when Wati began walking away from her. “Don't you want to talk about something for a while?”

Wati turned to Genesis again and shrugged. “What is there to talk about?”

Genesis sighed. “I…actually want to apologize for making you cry in front of your comrades.” The giant fidgeted with her fingers. “I also want to thank you again, personally, for releasing me.”

“Don't listen to your friend,” Wati said. “I have to thank you instead for trying to console me.” She then reached for her left shoulder with her right hand and threw her face away. “I was already humiliated before that anyway.”

“You what?”

“I suppose you don’t know why they asked me in particular to release you.”

Genesis tilted her head.

“Releasing a bound giant was risky, and could result in casualties once that giant was released. I think you understand where this is going.”

“They sacrificed you to release us.”

“I have to thank you again for not compromising my safety.”

“But you still released us.”

Wati gestured. “The choice is either that or another round of flogging.”

“Another round of flogging?” Genesis leaned closer, forcing Wati to step back. “What did you do to deserve that kind of treatment?” the giant said.

Wati looked down. “I’m not telling you,” she said, clasping her fists. “Now, if you excuse me…my squadmates need me.”

Wati turned around and began walking toward her encampment. Before she took another step, Genesis’ left hand landed in front of her. Wati was shaking as she took several steps back.

“Do you need any help?” Genesis said.

Wati looked at the giant’s plain expression. She inhaled deeply. “I appreciate your kindness, but no one is permitted to lend me a hand–”

“Do you need any help?” Genesis said, her face moving even closer, cornering Wati. There was a determination in her tone, one that Wati used to have. “I know a troubled person when I see one.”

Wati shut her eyes. “I don’t know!”

When she opened her eyes, Genesis had moved her face back a little, and her hand was withdrawn. The wind howled as the giant gazed at Wati with concern.

“I don’t know,” Wati said. “It’s complicated.”

“Your problem is always simple,” Genesis said gently. Her soothing voice reminded Wati of her mother. “You just left it unattended for too long that it appears complicated.”

Wati was unsure about what Genesis was trying to say, but she remained silent.

“Caitlyn once always looked so sad, so nervous, so…lonely. She looked like she would take her own life at any moment. In an operation, how could you cooperate with someone like that? It turns out she was abused by her sisters back home. They had their troubles, Caitlyn tried to save them, but she was scammed. She was abused even more because of it.”

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“Then you…helped her get through it?” Wati said.

“A guy and I did, but perhaps not as much as her best friend — whom she also got killed.” Genesis briefly looked over her shoulder. “She’s doing better after reuniting with her sisters, at least with the one that truly loves her.”

“I don’t have a best friend,” Wati said, looking down. “Or anyone I could return to, not anymore.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Genesis said. “Is that what you need help with?”

Wati shook her head lethargically.

Genesis nodded, lacking energy in the gesture. “Forgive me for…prying.”

“It’s okay.”

Wati clenched her right hand and put it on her chest. She pressed her left arm against the parchment on her belt strap.

“Aryo…”

“What’s that?” Genesis said.

“Oh, uh…n-nothing. Nothing.”

Genesis rose to her knees. “Well, I hope things will improve for you, Wati.”

“C-can you please take me to your steel wagon? I haven't expressed my gratitude for saving me.”

Genesis gave her hand. Wati stepped onto it and held on to the giant's thumb tightly.

A plain of darkness stretched as far as her eyes could see. There were as many stars below — lightings on houses, tents, and Fort Njempalik — as there were above. Wati dared not look down. The wind was a little stronger where she stood. The fresher air and open space blessed her with a sense of freedom, lightening her heart. If only Aryo were there with her, sharing this moment.

The wagon, or tank as Genesis called it, stood across Fort Njempalik. Its cannon was facing the fort. The other giant, Caitlyn, was there, seemingly occupied with something on the tank's body.

“Ah, Genesis!” Caitlyn said to the giant with glee, though the excitement quickly disappeared. “You didn't step on someone else's farmland again, did you?”

“It'll be fine,” Genesis said, dismissing her.

Caitlyn raised her arm.

“Hey, hey, hey! Watch it!” Genesis gestured at the dissatisfied Caitlyn. “I have Wati on my hand!”

Caitlyn then turned to Wati. “Hi, there,” she said.

Wati waved back, half-smiling.

Suddenly, her attention was grabbed by a certain ‘meow’ from the tank's battlements. Wati was placed on the tank and reunited with her favorite poosh. The creature pressed against Wati's legs as she was rubbing her.

“Where did you find it?” Genesis said to Caitlyn.

“It climbed its way up here,” Caitlyn said.

The two giants then ran off to the rear of the tank.

Wati put Calya on her shoulder. She then looked at the tank's enormous cannon. She recalled what it did to the kun skimmers. She wouldn't want to be on the business side of it when it fired.

“Gray Katie,” Wati said, locking her hands in front of her. “Thank you for saving me.”

“You're welcome, Wati.”

“Y-you can talk?”

“With all the magic in which your people are indulged, you shouldn't be surprised,” Gray Katie said.

“I mean…I'm not,” Wati said, rubbing her nape. “I just didn't expect you to be able to speak.”

Wati was startled as the cannon beside her suddenly raised its elevation.

“Don't worry, I shared the same sentiment once.”

An awkward silence ensued. It felt odd talking to someone unable to express themselves visually.

The tiny blue lights on the tank's vertical steel rods gave off an ominous feeling, befitting a killing machine. Three more cannons, linked to each other, sat on top of the turret. Although they were smaller than Gray Katie's clothespin-like cannon, anything fired from it seemed able to pulverize a cohort with ease. With several golden decorations, Gray Katie would become the Chariot of Vahsani.

“That kun skimmer was after me, you know?” Wati said. “I…” Wati rubbed her hands against each other. “If I have something to repay you, I would.”

“Your willingness to thank an inanimate object for saving your life highlights your strong moral awareness, a valuable personal trait worth recognizing.”

Wati glanced at Gray Katie’s main cannon. She wished it had smitten the kun skimmer sooner, saving Aryo, but saying that would undo her gratitude. She looked down and wiped her nose.

“Are you ill?” Gray Katie said.

Once, and only once we're satisfied with everything…let's get married.

Wati’s eyes grew teary, remembering how he perished in a blink of an eye. Yet, the bird was unharmed. She had heard so many successes in repelling the Scourge of Youths, that she thought nothing would go wrong. Wati covered her face. How could she protect her people, if she failed to protect her loved one?

Calya licked her cheek, preventing her from crying. Wati returned the fondness by stroking the furred creature. She giggled, reflecting on the time when she picked it up. If she hadn’t met Calya, she would have certainly ended up in Hong Teng along with those who had taken their own lives, wandering alone for eternity.

“Thank you, little girl,” Wati said. “Thank you.”

Calya meowed as if saying ‘You're welcome’.

“Allow me to express my condolences for your loss,” Gray Katie said. “Whoever they were, they probably meant a lot to you.”

Wati wiped her face and looked at Gray Katie’s turret. How ironic that an inanimate object was able to empathize better than her own people. She let a smile decorate her face, moved by Gray Katie’s kind words. Despite lacking faces, Wati believed that Gray Katie also smiled back.

“I still look forward to discussing plenty of things with you, but you’re in a state where doing so would be fruitless,” Gray Katie said. “If you have the time, please visit us again.”

Wati briefly turned her attention to Fort Njempalik. “I’m afraid I won’t…ever. You’re going to be out there with your friends, fighting against our enemy and taking names.” Wati inhaled deeply and rubbed her left arm. “While I’m going to be stuck here with my chores.”

“Then why don’t you just stay here with us?”

Wati brushed the last tear away from her face. “I can’t run from consequences forever. I’m a soldier, not a politician,” Wati said, half-smiling.

Gray Katie was silent for a while. “Would you be interested in a ride to return to your camp?”

Wati gestured. “I can manage.” She then looked down from Gray Katie’s battlements. An ocean of darkness awaited her. “Uh…maybe a lift down please,” she said, smiling shyly.

“Guys!” Gray Katie shouted. “Could one of you lift Wati down please?”

“Now?” Genesis said, her head emerging from Gray Katie’s rear. “Are you sure? We’re just about to finish the inspection.”

A slap was heard from the darkness.

“Caitlyn, stop!” Genesis said with frustration.

“Please,” Gray Katie said. “This kind maiden demands it.”

Genesis uttered no further words and lifted Wati down. Wati pulled her skirt up slightly as a sign of gratitude.

“How about an escort?” Genesis said to Wati.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Be careful.”

Wati made her way back to the encampment. She occasionally gazed at where Mount Wardhana was supposed to be. Something that could set a civilization back several hundred years deserved reverence. The High Pandhita always believed that Mount Wardhana was a messenger of Vahsani, a constant reminder to the Dankers that the struggle never ends.

Wati put Calya down once she reached the camp. The poosh ran away, into the darkness. The two sentries kept their firm attention forward. As Wati walked down the road to her tent, she wished Aryo would appear in front of her. She longed to see his concerned face again — the one he always showed whenever she repeated the habit she had carried from childhood.

The pot in front of her squad tent was empty. They had ordered her to take out the trash just after she finished cooking dinner. It seemed like she had to fast again tonight. Wati sighed, sitting down on the nearby stool and tidying up the cooking utensils.

As she was rinsing them, her squad emerged from the tent and semi-encircled her. Each of them was carrying a wooden stick that matched their arm in length and girth.

Wati gulped, but she gave her hands willingly.