"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to do."

— Khalil Gibran

"He's not attacking." a kid in a long nightgown said, standing on his own two feet with shoulders back like the rest of them were. No fear written on their faces.

River thought it was odd in the way they hadn't flocked together in the way people usually do during the presence of danger. It was instinct to know that there was safety in numbers. Instead, the kids had positioned themselves at a careful social distance to each other.

Another little kid with brown hair piped up from the crowd. "Bring him back like you did with Jor'lan."

"That's right." U'tu said, hope twinkling in his eyes. "If he is lost, then we can guide him back. We can help. We can all help."

A girl with a small voice said, "We started as soon as you left because we wanted to learn your guiding magic, teh? Each and every one of us were eager to learn."

"It wasn't easy." somebody grumbled.

River looked to Crow who was still dancing in his own rhythm. His once blue eyes were now glazed over with a spectrum of changing colors. She had a feeling she would lose an arm if he didn't stop soon. "I don't know. I'm not so sure. He's an adult. A full-grown adult. Damned with failures and guilt and shame. Fraught with pride, joy, and passion. A complex mixture of instincts, fears, and desires." she said, her voice trailing away as she glanced down to the kids gazing at her with hopes etched on their faces. "I suppose I can attempt a sort of music."

"Another lullaby?" Lann'a offered. There was something heavy settling around her like a shroud of storm clouds pulling her down. She looked defeated.

Inside her chest, something wild barreled forward on instinct. Without even thinking, she said to Lann'a "He isn't done fighting yet. I am behagthi, remember? His destiny doesn't end today."

Her face remain unchanged, "I want to believe you."

"Will you join us, then? I think he will be glad to hear a voice from a friend."

"I never said I was a friend." she fired back, wrinkling her nose.

"Whoever you are to him. I'm sure he will be glad to hear a familiar voice guiding him home." Then a spark hit her faster than a lightning bolt. "That's it! I know what to sing now."

"Home?" Lana repeated. "He is orphaned. A wanderer. Just like us. He has never had a family. I doubt it he will even recognize a home even if it hit him in the head."

"No. Home is something else. I'm talking about home like a collection of memories— of things boxed up inside because you're holding fast to it."

"I don't get it." said U'tu. "A home is a home. A place where we put our stuff in."

She scratched her head. "I'm not saying it right. It should.. it feels like a collection of memories."

"Wrong." a boy crossed his arms, "A home is not an emotion. It is place. A real place that is there to go and live. It isn't a feeling."

"Trust me on this." she said, wishing she hadn't dropped out of college. Explaining stuff was never her primary concern in life. She was a girl of action, not words. "Home is a feeling."

"Are we really going to sing about home?" a kid said.

"Yes." she sighed. "I haven't changed my mind about it. We're doing it."

"What does it feel like, then?" Lann'a asked "To be singing about home? We haven't.. It's nothing we know anything about."

She pursed her lips, and breathed deeply. Don't the kids know the kind of danger they were in? she thought, looking at the daunting snake.

On second thought, if Crow had intended to hurt the children he would have done it by now. "To be singing about home is to sing about our longing to go back. That is what we will be singing about. The longing to go back."

"Back where?"

"To our mother."

"We don't have mothers." a kid said, pouting.

"Mother is a feeling. Close your eyes and breath deeply like I told you to. There is a vast sea of emotion inside here in our chest. When you sing and feel the air rise from your lungs to your throat and out into the open, I want you to dig deep into this big emotion inside of you. Tap into that and you will feel the longing of the sea."

"But Ensign River, it is forbidden to give expression to our emotions. It's Rule #2." a girl said, frightened at the sight of Ensign Rolland, even as he was turned into stone, the thought of his retributing punishment made her spine shudder in anticipation.

River looked to the frozen Ensign then to the girl, "They won't hurt you now. I'll make sure of it."

"If that's the case," said the girl "I suppose I can do my best to help."

U'tu said, scratching his head. "I don't get it."

How the hell does one even describe emotions? "Okay. When we make music with our mouths, you will feel this flow inside of you. It will feel like a flow of water, rushing through you. Follow that flow of water as if it were the path to return home."

"Why do I even need to know this?" a little kid with chestnut hair grumbled "I just make sounds with my mouth, right?"

She raised her brows, "Intention is half the magic."

There was a solemn-looking girl who had her gaze lost in the distance.

"Are you good?" River asked her "Do you have any questions? I know it's a lot to take in let alone execute in a single night."

"I don't mind at all. It isn't any bother. It's just that.." she stopped, seeming hesitant.

"Yes?"

"I feel it." she whispered, "Not only when I make music, but also when I talk. Sometimes I can even feel the flow much stronger when I'm doing nothing."

U'tu dropped a fist down to his other palm, "I get it! The flow is the longing for something that's happened in the past."

The girl wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I want that. The flow feels heavy and painful. It's like holding a giant pool of water inside of me. It doesn't feel pleasant."

"Have you ever seen an ocean? The sea?"

She shook her head.

"Then I'm gonna need you to trust me on this, okay? Be brave for me. Can you do that?" she straightened up, "All of you. Have courage. And open your voices until it rings through all empty spaces, you hear me?"

They nodded.

"When the feeling gets too big as you sing, your instincts will rise up telling you to stop. But don't stop. Keep pushing back on that instinct, and expand the feeling expanding in you. Even if it gets too big. Even if the feeling gets too heavy, push back on that fighting instinct telling you to stop because," she held their hands as they joined with theirs "We are not alone. When our sounds combine together, we become the big deep waters. We become the infinite pool that drowns out anything that stands in our way, do you hear me?"

The children drew in together, and she spied a head-count of 15, including U'tu. Each one of them had both hands occupied, holding to one another with tight fists.

A little girl took a deep breath and said, "I am ocean."

A boy grinned at that and answered, "I am sea."

"Children," River said, stepping back away from them as a precaution. Her hostile passenger never having taken off his eery glare on her. "We are not separate. We become together like drops of water forming to make an ocean."

Lann'a chanted, "We are ocean. We are sea." when U'tu added with a playful thrill, "We fulfill our destiny!"

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And so the room drowned in childish giggles. Though, some of them continued to chant until everyone was able to follow suit. The empowering rhyme putting a playful smile on their faces as they look to each other, knowing they are together in solidarity.

Just then, Aidan stepped into the throne room in his full wolf form. His teeth bared, growling low in his throat. In a flash of a second, he yanked a mesmerized Crow out of her arm then, using his powerful jaw to clamp down on his serpent body, he shook him side to side in a violent thrashing.

Crow spun out of the wolf's mouth, his maw stretching open and immediately dealt a devastating bite on Aidan's cheek. The wolf weakened in an instant, his knees losing strength as he dropped down to the marbled floor.

River ran towards them. Crow's thick blue scales for armor had been torn open with Aidan's large teeth. He was bleeding on the floor with a green pool of blood underneath him, slithering in a struggling dance.

"Don't move, please." she said to Crow, dropping on her knees next to him. "You will make the bleeding worst."

But as she looked closely over him, the scale skin was mending close thread by thread in a slow gentle pressure. It took her breath away. He was healing on his own at a powerful intensity that it was visible to the naked eye. He hissed as he wiggled on the floor, frustrated.

"My sun prince." U'tu called, nudging wolf Aidan with both hands. He wouldn't budge. The wolf fell completely still like stone. "Save him!" he said to River, "Make him return to us."

"We should better hurry fast." Lann'a said, watching over Crow who was thrashing and wildly stabbing in the air with his fangs at an ineffectual rate. His open wounds incapacitating him on the floor. But it was only a matter of time before he restores completely back to health.

"Circle around both of them." River said to the kids.

They complied and fell into place with practiced grace, making her wonder how long had they been under the tower stronghold's discipline because as they marched into position, she noticed them schooling their looks into a bland mask, completely switching off in full attention. There were a total of 14 kids who were staring down at a paralyzed giant of a wolf and a fully insane viper in the rough size of a giant anaconda. And none of them showed any signs of fear.

Except for U'tu, who looked to her as though she were a divine nourishing light of day.

Fear gripped her hard in the throat. She shouldn't be endangering kids like this. Either the kids didn't care or they had great deadpan poker-faces because any sign of emotions were swept clean off their faces.

"Don't be afraid." U'tu said to her, encouragingly. "We can do this."

Nodding, she watched them straightening their shoulders, standing tall and breathing in deeply before expelling an immediate harmonious string of music from just a single vowel.

She was stunned speechless. In a single vowel, they managed to wound up to a building crescendo without any hitches in tone.

Tendrils of anxiety danced on the pit of her stomach. The chorus the children made together was so grand it swelled open in the throne room like a fresh new atmosphere.

She was no professional at this. Heck, she hadn't even performed to an audience before this day. Earlier, it had been easy to do since they were kids but now that they were singing together for a grander purpose she felt inferiorly small. Doubts crept into her spirit as though slow venom were pumping into her veins. She felt paralyzed.

The kids stopped and looked to her, anticipating. Blue orbs of light washing their faces in a harsh glow. They seemed peacefully calm with no signs of doubt in their countenance.

I can't do this. I can't do this.

She watched Aidan lying motionless on the floor in wolf form and a surge of sorrow threatened to choke her throat. She gulped, and yet the choking emotions remained inside her. Seconds passed and the overwhelming feeling of having another person dying in front of her kept growing bigger until she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Would she really sing over injured bodies? How in the hell did she dare to give hope to these children? It would be far more practical to have them whisked away to a healer. It wasn't too late to turn back on her silly singing idea. Crow and Aidan are near death, why in the hell did she dare to risk their lives with a song?

"We got this." U'tu's voice broke through her murky thoughts, anchoring her with fresh resolve.

Setting her jaw, she pushed to her feet and took a huge lungful of breath before uttering lyrics in a defeated tune of bitter regrets. She sang about the ocean like it was her home and how she wished for it to embrace her in a forgiving clutch that absolves her sins "Looking up from underneath, fractured moonlight on the sea..."

The chorus of kids magnified her beseeching cries for absolution. They had created a sympathetic ethereal chorus of ooh's and aahh's that added to the music with an otherworldly quality. The oceanic melody was a call to return home and each lilting note washed away her doubts and fears. By the time it ended, the longing to return home doubled tenfold overpowering her awareness like an out-of-body experience. She was no longer conscious of how her voice should be, whether if it fell into rhythm or if it sounded right.

The music had taken hold over her mind and soul, sweeping her away to a comforting place free of anxiety. Without even thinking about it, she was pulled into another song. This time it pushed her to a place of cosmic love whereupon the deepest roots of it can be found in the darkest shadows "The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out. You left me in the dark..."

"It is working." said Lann'a.

"Sing for us behagthi." U'tu implored who was kneeling beside a twitching wolf like he was running in a bad dream.

A girl took in a heavy lungful of breath, a happy expression creeping up on her face. Blue eyes glinting as though she had seen the true face of divinity "I can feel it." Then she turned to the other kids "As you flow onto it, your instincts will be telling you that the deep waters will drown you. Your instincts are wrong. Flow onto it. Push back the fear. No matter what, keep going and rise into the big tidal waves of forbidden emotions. Tonight we break the rules. Tonight we express it all. We express everything." Her face was glowing like she had just climbed a mountain, she turned to River "Behagthi!" she called, "Lead on."

A heartbeat later, River straightened. Stretching her neck tall and tipping her chin to open up a full range of vocal mobility "When the night has come.." She started, singing about integrity through painful times. She waved an arm up high above her head to indicate the kids to sustain their crescendo. "Stand by me."

It sounded more like a rigorous chanting, repeating each sentiment over and over to hold through the night by standing together.

In her head, the song piece rang loud and clear. It was Florence Welch's voice she could hear, and it was taking every focus and breaths to match up to the rhythm.

The song died down when she couldn't push a single note no more and the chorus kids looked patiently to her anticipating another signal to rise for another building crescendo.

By then, a shroud of heavy mist rippled across the pristine floors of the throne room. "Ley line." U'tu noted, eyes widening in disbelief.

Tendrils of misty smoke darted around her ankles and by seconds it grew fluffier into hazy clouds. "Wha—"

The wolf jumped a little bit in his paralysis, howling an agonized cry like he was lost at sea. And Crow in his full viper form was hidden under the cloudy shroud.

Suddenly, it was then she realized her throat was dry and battered. Perhaps she sang too much or maybe it was because of her ear-splitting scream from earlier, she didn't know. Raising a hand to her mouth, she returned her gaze back to the children feeling equally lost at what to do next.

U'tu raised his arms in welcome, "We're standing in the threshold of worlds, River, where the barriers are at their weakest. It's time." he said, clear-cut resolve was all but written on his face. "Call them home."

Lann'a begged, "Behagthi, you have to guide Crow back home, please. He is all I have left. I can't—"

"RIVER! RIVER YOU FUCKING BITCH! GET THE FUCK OUT HERE NOW."

She felt her heart stopping at the booming voice of Rover.

"I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD YOU WAIT TILL MOM HEARS ABOUT THIS!"

Blood drenched from her face, and she felt her lips go numb.

"GODDAMN RIVER! How is it so hard to get good help these days?" he growled in frustration. "Leaving us out here in the middle of the fucking jungle to dry. Do you know how hard it is carry an injured Killian on your fucking back? He barely sprained his ankle but he won't hear none of it. He just outright refused to move an inch. We had to leave him out there. If he dies, it's all your fault, River." he said, his voice dwindling down to a faint tremble.

The mist had already grown high above their heads until it covered the space of the room. With everything buried in fog, only the glow of the four moons were visible. She took careful steps towards the direction where he might have heard Rover.

"By God, River." her little brother called, the sound of his voice growing stronger with every step she took, "It's been days in this fucking jungle. How can you leave us like this? I hope mom pays you shit."

She strained more to hear where his voice grew stronger by stumbling listless in a fog, wondering which way to go. Hearing Rover's voice lanced a pain through her chest, reminding her how lost and alone she had been the last time they met. Even though they were siblings, there was always this air of disconnect between them. A clear unspoken uniqueness that spoke volumes of who they were. She was unique in her parent's neglect and abandonment. And he was unique in his golden boy image, getting praised and glorified in every turn. An ocean of separation between them. Yet somehow, every shadows and wrongdoings of the family had always fell upon her to bear.

Tears threatening to fall, she heaved a shaky breath. She needed to go back. She had to make this right.

Do not bear the responsibility of what wasn't yours to begin with, Dr. Malia's voice drifted to her, You are not responsible for the actions of others.

"He is my brother!" she fired back to the dense fog. "I can't leave him out there in danger."

It was unclear where to go because she can't see anything past a step ahead of her. Pressing forward, she nearly tripped over Aidan who was still twitching and fighting in his sleep.

"River?" she heard U'tu, a small hesitant tone in his voice. He was right behind her.

"I have to go back to my brother." she said to him. "He's in trouble."

"We're in trouble, too. Don't leave us, River. I beg of you. I'm the only one here. I'm the only sun tribe native in this winter mountain. I can't do this alone. Please, I'm poisoned. We're all poisoned. Help us."

An image crashed to the forefront of her mind, Alli'ona the little girl from sun tribe left rotting in the north tower stronghold. Years of instincts warred within her. She needed to help her brother but she couldn't abandon U'tu behind in his mission.

She recalled Rover had recently acquired his highschool diploma and he was with four of his best buddies in the Ylein mountains. The five of them are fully grown men with complete familial support should anything go terribly wrong. Sure they sound like they are in trouble but together they can make it off the jungle, right?

What's the worst thing five lost highschool boys can do at the mountains? All by themselves?

With no guide to lead them to the their next camp?

Surely, the tour organizers must have noticed them missing and had started backtracking to find them. Mountain porters must have been deployed to scour the trails to find those missing boys. It was the protocol, she knew that. But there's a persistent instinct in the back of her mind, telling her that she must see to it that they're safe. That she can't just leave it up to chance because she was responsible for Rover. Otherwise, relentless guilt would pursue her at every step if she didn't follow through.

The little boy with the brown hair clasped her hand tight as he stood beside her, joining hands. She twisted to see another girl holding on to her jacket with a death-grip. Fourteen kids circled around her now, clasping to each other on the shoulders like a lifeline until each and every one of them were irrevocably tied to one another with her as their guiding anchor.

A little girl's voice began to sing awkwardly, full of hesitance. "No, I won't be afraid."

Followed by a braver singing voice from a little boy, "Oh, I won't be afraid."

U'tu peered up at her with large trusting eyes, "Just as long as you stand by me."

The kids launched to a chorus all at once. Together, chanting only three words on repeat without so much as a practice rehearsal.

"Stand by me"

It was like a prayer to guide wounded souls home. The music was wonky and hitched, some kids would cut the notes short and some hadn't remembered to breathe deeply for a booming vocal riff.

They were a chorus of awkward voices layered on top of another without any sort of harmony whatsoever.

She loved it.

Even through it all, sincerity flowed in the music. The kids and her were just as invested in the grandiose intent of the music. And, their enthusiasm echoed high up to the tall ceilings. There was a growing power seeming to lift off as they chanted those three words more and more. "Stand by me," they sang for the umpteenth time, their voices beginning to meld together with near harmony.

They stopped when the fog began to dissipate. Immediately, they swung their heads around looking for a snake and a wolf.

"My sun prince!"

River held her breath as her glance fell upon a blond wolf standing on its four paws, looking tamed with clear intelligent eyes and no visible injuries.

At the far corner of the room right next to the throne itself, Lann'a screamed in delight.

River jilted at the sudden scream, running to her immediately and saw that the feather-plumed viper was coiling around Lann'a's hips, nipping at her jaw in feigned playful bites.

Confused, she asked to Lann'a, "Crow?"

"Right here." a rich-sounding baritone voice said behind her.

Biting her lip, she told herself that any red-blooded woman would have melted at the sound. Steeling her spine to keep her standing, she said mildly, "Good to have you back." Turning to him, she saw he had already donned his jacket and pants albeit rather clumsily.

He rolled his eyes, "I would have done anything, even leap through towering precipices a thousand times over just to have you stop making those awful noises like that ever again."

"I'd like to think we all did perfectly fine, thank you." she said, lifting a hand to pull at his red scarf then pushing his jacket closer to a snug fit. "Seeing as you are well and alive."

A shadow crossed his features, "Am I?" he said before feigning a fanged bite to her neck then pulling away at the last second.

"Freaking vipers" she grumbled, nursing a hand above her heart.

"River," U'tu called from somewhere, "Head on over here, will you? There is someone I would like for you to meet." With those words, the giant wolf ducked his head and took big steps backwards revealing U'tu with a large grin on his face, looking proud. "He did it. He defeated the Champion of the Ages. My sun prince defeated Crow, the behagthi." he said with a bounce on his heels, the boy was literally buzzing with glee.

"Defeat?" Crow crossed his arms next to her, "It seemed more like a tie to me."

But his words sounded like a distant echo to River as she felt her jaw dropping open. U'tu was holding hands with a man, a very naked man, with beautiful blonde tresses that fell past his shoulders and he was looking every bit like a rock god. From the arrogant way he stood with feet planted wide, he radiated strength and inbred power of authority. There was nothing to do but ogle at him. His body was sculpted tough with muscled arms, long torso with fine dead-ass abs and narrow hips. A cocky grin spreading across his finely-chiseled face, "At long last, it's a delightful pleasure to finally meet y—"

A cold hand swept across River's face, covering her eyes, "Not like that you won't." Crow rumbled, "Get yourself decent, wolf." Then he proceeded to hiss at the kids to turn their heads, telling them to look away from the big bad wolf whose human counterpart had to be a poor sorry excuse for a tribal warrior.