“Captain, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” A voice of a woman, Larisa thought, came from within the tent the three of them were squatting behind. Her voice seemed a bit more breathy but more articulated, and the tone was deeper than Ha’na’s and Farre’s. Larisa thought the woman had to be much older than them.

As Larisa looked to her sides she noticed how all of them were close enough together to brush against each other.

“Ula! It truly has been awhile. Correspondence is fine but seeing your face- I missed you, sister.” Now it was a man’s voice. This captain. Was it the same one that Farre spoke of?

“Don’t poke me!” Farre whispered harshly to Ha’na, who only huffed and moved a tiny bit away.

“Are you hearing anything?” Farre asked both of them.

“Yes. A woman's’ voice, her name’s Ula. Then a man’s, she called him ‘captain’.” Larisa said.

“Yes, I managed to glue that together as well” Ha’na answered Farre’s query too. “Your hearing is truly exceptional, isn’t it? I wonder how that works.” She whispered directly to Larisa after.

“I don’t know this Ula person. Captain’s never mentioned her.” Said Farre. “Are they talking?” As Farre asked, Larisa focused more on the ongoing conversation.

“-the preparations on your end? The Academy’s branch has brought what is needed. What say your scouts?” The woman’s voice was concrete and it felt to Larisa like a particularly sturdy rock or maybe a robust piece of a tree trunk. Larisa wasn’t sure if she felt it right, but the Essence inside the tent seemed to favour the woman. It circulated around her and away from the captain. Almost similar to what Ha’na could do, or rather the style of the movement was the point of relation. There was a form and a rhythm to these movements. Push and pull. And once again. It was not even close to what Larisa did with the Essence or what she saw in beasts. This didn’t feel as natural. This wasn’t the Wild Essence. Larisa thought it was still beautiful in its way. The way Ha’na was too.

“Ula is my professor. She’s leading the Academy’s team on this expedition.” Mentioned Ha’na.

Larisa only just came to the realization that she wasn’t quite certain what this expedition was. She assumed it was simply a gathering of people, but hearing what they were saying and watching what they were doing it seemed like there was a purpose here. One which Larisa has not been made aware as yet.

“What is this expedition exactly?” As she whispered her question to the both women at her sides, the looks on their faces made Larisa want to laugh.

“You didn’t tell her?” Ha’na poked Farre in her side as she asked.

“Auch! Well, I thought that everyone knew what this is about so my mind just assumed, I guess.” Ha’na sighed at Farre’s response.

“The goal is simple, Larisa. To map the jungle as far as we can. To gather as much information as we can. At least, that’s the Academy’s goal. I didn’t bother asking the military.” Ha’na looked to Farre for an answer.

“It’s the same for me. I was told to map and gather info. Scouts like me aren’t told much beyond that.”

The consensus on the goal seemed to be reached. But why did these people want to do all of that stuff? Larisa could hardly imagine the reasons, but she was starting to realize that these people were not like her. They spoke differently, dressed differently and behaved strangely. Their values and needs appeared to be managed and decided on from many variable factors. They seemed to have food and water in abundance so they needn't hunt as often. Their skies were clear so they didn't have to watch out for latavis. There were not many spots for cienja to hide around, so they could walk undisturbed and less tense through their paths.

Larisa tried to understand these people. Or she should at least try to understand the two women who appeared to be fine with her presence. Although, she was this nachtak, so that came with some feelings from some people. She might talk to Farre about her feelings on that later.

Stolen story; please report.

“Why do it?” Larisa pondered out lout.

“Why? To understand the jungle better I imagine. Some people spend their whole lives studying it.” Said Ha’na

“I heard that there are deposits of halcite and iron in there. What region wouldn't want to have that, am I right?” Farre added.

Larisa heard them both but it still seemed like much too big of a venture for such a simple goal.

“Why now? Is it because of Vitash?” Larisa asked.

“Yes, you see-” Ha’na was interrupted by a wave in the Essence.

It seemed to have swollen inside the tent and was so potent and thick it felt like Larisa’s throat was coated in it. It was almost too much to handle. Too hard to breathe around it. Farre, for example had to lean on Larisa as she took deep breaths. Ha’na seemed to handle the wave better, although her pristine fingers dug deep into the dirt. As if to ground herself.

There was a centre from which this sudden assault in the Essence happened. There was something there. A thing.

“You brought it? I thought the Magister himself was supposed to bring it.” A hiccuped voice that Larisa could tell was also struggling with the weight of the Essence spoke. It was the captain.

“He’s preoccupied with the Nacht. The Duke decided not to cooperate again.” Ula’s voice seemed to handle it the best way compared to everyone in the thing's vicinity. Larisa wondered what that thing was to make the Essence almost tangible. And why hasn’t she felt it before?

“Could you hide it, please? I don’t think I can handle any more of its influence.” The captain seemed to barely squeak that sentence out.

“Oh, of course, brother.” A moment later Larisa heard a click and the influence of the strange thing lowered until there was only the echo of it in the Essence.

“What the fuck was that?” Farre whispered harshly.

“I have no idea. The professor didn’t tell me about anything like that. I would have known of it, for sure. And why are they calling themselves ‘brother’ and ‘sister’? The professor doesn’t have siblings.” Ha’na said with awe and confusion in her voice. This professor seemed like an important person to her.

“This is too significant. Listen in, both of you.” Ha’na said as she leaned closer to the tent. Her hand, the one that was previously dug in dirt, rested on Larisa’s shoulder. She didn’t mind the dirt.

“Are you sure this will be enough, sister? If its potency is too low it won’t burn as far as we need it too. We won’t be able to get another one for quite some time if that were too happened.”

“I did the calculations myself. This will be enough.” A step and another was heard from inside the tent. The woman moved forward.

“We will succeed, Rados, my brother. We will find Maara’s child and we will reach the temple. Believe in your fellow sisters and brothers. For ascendence, here and ever. ” A pause from Ula and a sigh from the captain.

“I know we will. There’s just a lot I still need to do. I haven’t told my officers yet about the plan. They still think this is a simple expedition.” Larisa could hear a rustle. It sounded like papers being moved around. “And I have a scout that came back from the dead plus some sort of lost Nacht soldier. I wasn’t able to debrief them yet fully. The scout came for a quick talk but she didn’t tell me anything important. A Raan-Tan took them. Your prodigy, isn't she?” The captain said with a hint of irritation. Larisa couldn’t feel anything from either of them.

They were talking about Ha’na, as her name was Raan-Ta, that made Larisa listen more intensely.

“You talked to the captain?!” A hissed out whisper seemed to snake its way into the air. Larisa could feel Farre flinch. She almost flinched too as Ha’na fingers dug into her shoulders with a lot of piercing strength.

“I just stumbled into him, honest! I haven’t told him anything, you heard!” Farre answered Ha’na who simply huffed with creased eyebrows and puckered out lips adoring her face. Larisa thought she looked charming like that.

“-the Magister promised catapults from the Hlaagrafians. They should aid with burning the jungle. I am expecting a latter when they’ll be nearing the camp. You should talk to your officers in the meantime. There’s going to be a lot of work if we want the flames to reach the mountain.” Said Ula.

They were going to do what? Burn the jungle? Burn it to the mountain? Larisa was reminded of the map she saw earlier today. That was a lot of jungle. She couldn’t have that. She couldn’t allow them to burn it.

“Larisa calm down!” Ha’na remarked to Larisa. Before she realized what she was doing she stood up and drawn out her dagger. What was she going to do with it?

“This is big! Big! We should go. Talk somewhere else.” Farre said. Their whispers started to sound more like a normal conversation.

“What was that?” A male voice spoke from within the tent. Heavy footsteps could be heard coming into the direction where the three women eavesdropped from.

“Move, let’s go!” Ha’na said as she pulled Larisa away from the tent. Away from the temptation to commit an unimaginable act. Larisa wondered, would she weep as strongly over a human, as she did over a beast?