Gladly leaving behind the fiasco with Jun, Sachiko was quick to strike up conversation on where they would find a river. It was agreed that it would probably be downhill, and since Sachiko couldn't fly up to scout, they would head west (according to Jun's compass) from the cliff on the assumption that it would face into the valley if there was one.

Same as last night, the forest was hauntingly barren. In the dusky sunlight, Sachiko could see that the ground was unerringly covered in twisting roots of all sizes - not a single leaf to be found among them. Disturbingly, she couldn't spot a single patch of moss or lichen, either.

The world bobbed by, and the oranges of the sky grew ever more pronounced. No clouds threatened rain, but Sachiko still felt uneasy leaving the only shelter they knew of.

Apparently Jun felt so too, as he briefly asked her if she'd seen any hallucinations or holograms, or anything strange in the corner of her eye. When she inquired, he mentioned something about a "[system]", but the word sounded foreign. In the end, they didn't find anything out of the ordinary, and the two lapsed into silence.

Hours.

Sachiko startled as the head beneath her tilted back slightly and a pronounced moan of discontent sounded out below along with Jun's complaints about being hungry. Sachiko released her fistfulls of hair and sighed. Hungry herself, she took out her 'solution straw and drank. Honestly? She was suprised how well he was doing, having not eaten anything for almost a day. Perhaps it was a giant thing?

Eyeing the straw, she wondered how many days she'd have left. Two? One? It was really meant for short trips. The only thing in her favour was that this world and Jun, being so warm, meant she didn't need waste energy herself. That, and not flying. But she hated feeling like a cripple.

That was a thought. Cripple. She wasn't, not really. Her legs worked just fine, and she only ever needed her wings for short jumps back home. But around Jun, it felt like everything was wonky. The "ground" became surfaces less than six meters high, "slow" became sixty kilometers per hour, and "small" was starting to feel like anything she could meaningfully interact with.

It was stupid. She was letting uncertainty strike her where boredom had made her weak, but she couldn't shake the feeling. At least I can fly, she thought. That was one thing in her power that Jun could never do.

After that, Sachiko tried to fill the air with small talk of her own, but Jun's lips were parched and his throat was growing sore. Three days. That was how long he said he could go without water, and it had already been one. After that, he would be unable to move. Sachiko would then have to decide between leaving him behind, or going torpid and hoping they'd wake up again.

Hours of mind-numbing forest passed by like a broken skydome, looping the same, uninspired videoclip again and again and again. Eventually, the sun came to kiss the invisible horizon, and Sachiko heard a rustling.

"Stop," she breathed.

Jun stopped. There was the rustle again, and she felt the head pan slowly to take in their surroundings, her own eyes searching the shadows. Another rustl-

Drumming. The beat was rythmic but never repetitous, varying in depth and speed constantly with an almost elastic quality. Sachiko was forced to hold steady as Jun's head whipped around (north?) and faced something that pulled at her mind.

It was another giant, perhaps two-thirds Jun's height. But unlike Jun, there was very little about him that stood out as familiar. His eyes, by the Old Ones, his eyes. They were dark, beady, and would be entirely like an animal's except for the sheer savagery they radiated from behind his demonically-inspired mask. Said mask was painted in blood reds and jade greens where it wasn't a titanium-dioxide white to form the image of a wide-eyed demon, tusked and blood-splattered. Averting her eyes, Sachiko saw that his skin was lightly furred. It swirled as patches of short, coarse hairs intermingling with a familiar human skin - of course, where the two weren't covered by what she could only assume to be leathers and animal hides.

He was astride a mount, some squat, quadrupedal creature that in stark contrast lacked any signs of life in its eyes. The beast was also furred, but here the fur was longer and prone to clumps and tufts. Looking closely, Sachiko could see that it was decorated in strung beads and faded paints.

They were both deathly still. Without even thinking, she found herself whispering silent pleas to her ancestors. Not again, she thought, I don't want to die again.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The drumbeat picked up with the call of a horn, and more came into sight. And more, and more. In a brilliant flash, torches were lit and raised and Sachiko could see the sheer number of these beings. It must have been hundreds, each with a unique mask, each astride a beast like none of the others.

They were hollering, yowling, and yelling into the night. The lead kicked the side of his beast, and its pained groans only served to make the cacophony more unbearable.

They were moving. At first it looked like they were getting closer, but instead they circled. Slowly, but picking up pace with the rising drumbeat, getting louder with each lap until another horn rang out and they scattered south.

Jun collapsed into the tree as riders thundered past from the north, to him what must have felt like inches away on either side at a terrifying pace.

Like a dream, they were gone. In the quiet, she could hear them both panting. There was even a keening sound, that slowly she came to realise was her. "I'm done. I've had enough. What the fuck was that," she begged, not caring how pathetic she sounded.

At least she could still speak sensible words. Her own ride was jittering, stringing curses together in what had to be at least two languages.

"We're alive," he said at last. There wasn't an ounce of belief in his statement but somehow it was true.

"We're alive," she echoed. A beat, as she tried to formulate the words. "What was that?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'd say they were Indians or something, but they weren't human." He stressed that last part, shaking his head much to Sachiko's displeasure. "Those weren't Earth animals, either."

"They left us alone," Sachiko said. "They saw us, they did whatever the hell that was, and they left us alone." A shuddering breath. "Why?"

"Maybe to scare us? But why would they want to scare us? Why not just kill us or chase us? It makes no sense!" he ranted.

Sachiko was silent for a while. This was a puzzle. She was good at puzzles. Her whole job was puzzles, just with more machines and numbers. First thing was to step back from the problem. Assumptions, biases, could prevent you from considering the answer. What exactly happened, in as neutral terms as possible? Well, a large number of aliens somehow snuck up on them, had a song and dance, and then ran into the 'sunset'. They came from the north and went south-

Maybe it was coincidence. Sachiko tried to recall the angles. Were they really just passing through? It almost seemed to be the case. Then why? If it wasn't about them, then why did they stop? Perhaps to lead them? But nobody stayed behind, nobody looked back to make sure they followed. Perhaps-

"It could be a warning," she realised. "What if they were running away from something?" And then she felt dumb. If they were running, why would they make so much noise? "No, what if they were just heading that way anyway?"

Jun's head tilted back, and she could almost imagine him quirking an eyebrow, eyes rolled up in the attempt to look behind themselves. "Huh?"

"I think we should follow them," Sachiko said at last, confident.

His reply was slow to come. It was a leap of faith, faith in both her and the strange natives. "Are you sure?"

"Think about it. Did you see any weapons? Even put away? Maybe some of that leather and hide was for shields, but nothing remotely looked like a weapon," she spoke, growing more certain with every word. "Worst case, they're running away from something and we should follow. Best case, they're going somewhere we'll want to go too."

There was a hum, and it was peculiar feeling the ground beneath her and by consequence her whole body resonate with it. "You're right," he said, and picked himself off the ground. "Let's go."

In the absence of the torches, the forest was surprisingly bright. High above, a pale, silvery disk larger and brighter than Phobos could ever be illuminated the world in shades of itself. Not even the geosats came close to how beautiful it was.

So bright it was, that they could both make out the signs of the alien's passage. Dented roots curled around depressed soil littered with cracked branches and miscelaneous leavings. It would be relatively easy to follow them, wherever they were heading.

It was when the moon was highest that they heard a most wonderful sound. "Water," Jun breathed. Sachiko was forced to hold on for dear life as he took off and almost dived for a burbling stream some ten meters across. Water sprayed everywhere as he splashed his faced and took to gulping gallons of the precious liquid down in a disturbingly noisy fashion.

Not wanting to put up with his antics, and desirous of water herself, Sachiko clambered down his squat form, pushing off onto the ground and giving herself some distance from the possessed giant.

This close, Sachiko felt a whisper of tension; the water was fast. Not to Jun, of course, but to her it appeared a strong current. She knew she was safe, that Jun would rescue her if she were to somehow be pulled in, but the thought of so much water struck a primal cord within her. Cautiously, she approached the edge and dipped her cupped hands, letting the water well up over them before breaking the surface tension and leaving her with a wobbling blob.

Sachiko touched her lips to the blob and drank, savouring the incredibly clarity of what should have been tasteless, barely-palatable water. It made no sense. How could it be more pure than the recycled water back home? It didn't make sense, but it was delicious.

A gurgling sound broke her reverie, and she watched as Jun dipped the open bottle into the stream, letting the 'portable' water-tank fill with several hundred liters of water. Sachiko shook her head and smiled. Everything was bizzare, and made absolutely zero sense, but at least it would never be boring - it would never cease to amaze.

Soon enough, she returned to her perch and they made their way along the river. The peaceful, soothing noises of the night and the gentle rocking of Jun's head lulled Sachiko, and before long, she was fast asleep.