"Ten minutes!" Yasuke yells from the bridge, as the green of Dantian forests fills their view. Each of them with a backpack of supplies strapped around them, and a hooded shawl concealing the weapons on the upper body.

Ara, with Nina's scarf covering her face, stands on the upper deck beside Nina and Chaung. Her breathing is getting heavier and it vacuums the fabric against her mouth whilst she's squeezing in as much air as she can.

She can feel it.

The reality of the situation is kicking in. Settling deep in her core.

Watch her back. Watch her back. Watch her back. She chants to herself, swaying from left to right as she zones out staring at the island and clenching her fist. Her fingers slipping against her moistened palms.

She only has one job. A simple one at that, but everything in her feels like it's easily forgotten.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Holding the weight in her chest before she releases it, easing some of the tension throughout her body. When she opens her eyes again, she's met with the island now much closer.

"Two minutes!" Yasuke yells.

The tension returns.

Worse than before.

Kimi and Matsuko join them all on the upper deck, as two guards walk on the dock- preparing to board the boat.

"Let them onboard. We kill them up here," Chaung Says. "Nina, I'll need you to blind the watchtower."

She nods, shifts her backpack in front of her, and pulls out a head-sized mirror. She looks up at the sun, using her other hand to shield her vision whilst squinting and pacing along the deck. Nearer to the back of the boat, she stops. Puts the mirror down with some wood behind it to suspend it at an angle, and walks back to the rest of the group.

"Watchtower is blind," She confirms.

The boat rocks with a large jostle, stopping as it arrives at the dock. Yasuke steps through the hatch, dropping the boarding bridge for the guards.

"What is the purpose of your visit?" Asks one of the guards as they both make their way across the bridge.

"We're here to see a friend. Maybe visit a few towns," Chaung responds.

"I will need to see your papers," The guard says as they make their way onto the deck of the boat.

Chaung brings his backpack to his chest and shuffles through it. "Sure thing, sir."

The second guard scans each of them as they stand on the deck with blank expressions and their hoods over their heads. "You don't look like tourists,"

"We're dressed for the sea. We'll collect some Dantian attire if you'd prefer," He chuckles.

The second guard says nothing, still eyeing the rest of them as the first guard reads through the papers.

"This is only for five of you. I count six," The first guard notes. He glances at the group behind Chaung, back at the papers, then looks directly at Ara. "You. Remove the scarf."

She stammers, unsure what to do. The first guard pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket, as he walks over to her. She looks past the guard, at Chaung, who slowly nods his head.

"Remove the scarf," The guard reiterates, impatient this time.

Ara slides the scarf below her chin, looking at the floor. The guard raises the piece of paper beside her head, "Look up."

She tilts her chin upward, looking directly at the guard, who glances at her. Then at the paper.

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"It's not her." He says to the second guard, as he folds the piece of paper and puts it back in his pocket. "Where are your papers?"

"Found them," Chaung pipes up from behind the guard.

As the guard turns to face Chaung, Ara sees the quick slash of his sword pass ahead of the guard's neck. Crimson droplets splash from the tip of the blade and the guard drops to his knees, clutching his hands at his throat as he gargles for air.

The thud alerts the second guard, snapping his attention to Chaung. He reaches for his gun when a sword is impaled out the front of his chest. Kimi stands behind him with one hand on the sword and the other reaching around to cover the guard's mouth as he screams.

The sword slowly draws from the man's chest when Yasuke grabs both of the bodies and drags them to the hatch, lugging them to the lower deck.

"Ready?" Nina asks Ara.

She nods, feeling a subtle tingle throughout her body as if it's partially gone numb.

It's the anxiety.

The fear, again.

"Let's move," Chaung orders as soon as Yasuke returns.

They all cross the boarding bridge, making their way onto the dock. They naturally file into two rows of three, each partner standing beside one another as they make their way toward the watchtower. Group one is in the front, and group three is escorted at the back.

A flight of stairs at the dock leads up to the main road, where the watchtower can be seen high up in the distance, like a bridge drawn amongst two trees.

"Right here," Nina pipes up as they're halfway up the staircase. She quickly drops her shawl to her feet, drawing her bow and flicking her wrist to extend the top and bottom from the handle. Two little, circular mirrors drop to the side, above the handle. Toggling into a viewfinder. A few moments later another mirror drops as she rolls a dial at the top of the arrow, tightening the string. "Set."

She aims the viewfinder into the air, directing the bow towards two tiny figures that can barely be seen moving atop the watchtower, amongst the leaves. She draws two arrows from her back, clicking one into the string and holding the other in the palm of her hand. Using her finger, she draws the string back as it almost silently ticks to the building tension.

"Down," She orders. They all drop to their knees in a synchronised crouch before Nina fires two arrows, in quick succession. "Up," She orders, as they all raise back into position.

Nina flicks the bow, folding it back into itself, and clicks it to her back. She brings her shawl back up over her shoulder, concealing her weapons and raising her hood.

"Move," Chaung orders, as they all continue up the staircase.

Ara's head tilts up as her eyes trace the neverending bark of the trees up and up. She notices the watch tower isn't even suspended halfway up these pillars as her eyes meet the now dark green sky that casts rays of light into view amongst the void shadows.

How could she see them? Ara wonders as she notices there isn't any light hitting the watchtower.

Two guards are posted ahead as they approach an archway leading to the town. To the right is a doorway opening up the inside of one gargantuan tree trunk. A staircase is visible on the inside. It looks like it winds its way up the trunk of the tree. Presumably leading to the watchtower.

The architecture in Bada could never dream of standing this tall.

This proud.

"Stop right there," They call out. Completely unaware of the dead guards in the watchtower.

"Group one," Says Chaung.

The rest of us freeze as Kimi and Yasuke sprint at the guards. The guards panic, raising their guns from the hip, but too late. Kimi drew her sword and got in range, slashing across one of the guard's chests as he whale's in pain. Cutting straight through his raised gun in the process, the guard falls silent soon after.

Yasuke's right arm chunks with heft as he tumbles his fist into the second guard's face. The hit echoes through the forest as birds fly away in response.

Fuck. Ara squirms to herself, stunned at the sheer force of the punch.

"Alright, group three get into position," Chaung orders.

Nina taps Ara on the shoulder, gesturing at her to follow as Kimi and Yasuko move the bodies into nearby bushes.

As Ara enters the tree trunk, she looks up to see a staircase spiraling upwards around the side of the tree. It almost looks like it goes on forever as she remembers that it barely reaches halfway up the tree.

"Move!" Nina yells out a few steps up, gripping Ara's attention as she starts making her way up the staircase.

She brushes her hand against the smooth, varnished wood. The patterns of dark and light brown swirl organically throughout the tree.

Like veins.

The stairs are still a part of the original tree, the space being all that was carved out to create an interior that looks as though it is all one piece. Lightbulbs sit suspended along the walls of the trunk, bright enough to light the staircase from all angles as it peaks upwards.

This is Dantas. Her mind echoes.

"What of Luná do you seek? For if you are connected, she may answer." - Unknown