“What the fuck was that?” Larisa could hardly comprehend whatever Farre was saying right now. The only thing currently grounding Larisa to reality was Ha’na’s hand dragging her away. Her touch felt warm in contrast to the cold brush with evil she just experienced. Whatever she heard in that tent was malicious, that, Larisa was sure of.

She’s never pondered about what good and bad was. What each of those things entailed and how they looked and felt like. Or whether she fit into one of those categories or not. In the jungle there was no such distinction, at least to Larisa. There were moments when she felt bad about what she had done. It often happened during a particular hunt, when there was no other choice but to kill a creature. In the end the decision was simple enough to make. It was it or her. Larisa would always choose herself, she believed. Life has not proven to work differently.

But for the jungle and its inhabitants, Larisa felt she could do much, it seemed.

“Let’s go back to my place. We need to have a conversation.” Ha’na said as she moved forward. Larisa and Farre followed after her. Ha’na behaved strangely again, Larisa thought, like there was a storm happening underneath her skin. Larisa could feel an anxious sweat form on Ha’na’s hand as it grabbed Larisa’s. The taller woman squeezed her hand almost unconsciously, she wanted Ha’na to feel better. Stress has never borne a healthy fruit.

Then, after a moment a light and subtle pressure appeared. Ha’na squeezed back.

She could hear Farre huffing and whining next to her. Her Essence was still occluded by the rock hanging from around her neck but when Larisa looked at her, Farre’s eyes seemed to convey confusion and fear. Larisa grabbed her hand too. Farre didn’t push her away.

Larisa felt more like herself at that moment again, her thoughts became less muddled and she felt like she was not in the jungle anymore. She was not alone anymore, but with these two strange and silly women. One who has been getting to know her and the other that she just met, but was instantly swept away by her charm. Larisa liked them and she thought she trusted them too, they haven’t done anything wrong by her. They’ve been kind, mostly just Ha’na, but Larisa was starting to think that the way Farre behaved and talked was simply how she was. Maybe Larisa should look past what she heard and try to see what was hidden behind the mask?

The thought ended as the three of them entered Ha’na’s tent. It looked the same as they left it, except now it felt different somehow. The atmosphere has become heavier and muddler. Larisa saw everything as if through a thick fog.

“Sit down, both of you. I need to think.” Ha’na ushered them both onto the unimaginably soft pillows. Larisa didn’t waste a single second and chose the fluffiest and most comfortable looking one.

“Hal! It wasn’t like I was going to sit there anyway.” Said Farre as she decided, in Larisa’s opinion, a pillow that was far too flat to be called such a wonderful creation. Though, that was Farre’s choice, not Larisa’s.

“Alright, let’s compile what we know.” Ha’na came over to them both and sat between them.

“’What we know?’ We know jack shit as far as I’m aware.” Farre said with some agitation.

“Well, then let me tell you what I do know.” Ha’na answered and shifted to a more comfortable position. “Your captain and my professor are in cahoots with each other! And some other guy whose name I don’t remember-“

“She called him ‘Magister’.”

“Thank you, Larisa. That’s the name and I’ve never heard it. I’ve been a direct protégée of the professor for as long as I’ve been at the academy, which has been almost five years now. She has never mentioned that person even once. And that wave in the Essence; whatever made that is a big secret. We should definitely don’t know anything about this.” Ha’na finished with a small smile of mischievous satisfaction.

“And what about the jungle? They plan to burn it. We must stop them.” Larisa reminded them. She felt it was the most important bit of the whole conversation they eavesdropped on. ‘Eavesdropped’, Larisa understood what it meant now.

“I agree. We can’t let them do this. Whatever their reasons this place is too important. Too sacred to burn. And I’ll remind you that I’m not religious, but even to me, it feels sacrilegious.”

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“I don’t know. This seems like too big of a mess to deal with, don’t you think?” Farre remarked.

Larisa was surprised at Farre’s point of view. She tried to understand it from Farre’s perspective but it didn’t seem to work. She felt like she hasn’t got to know Farre that well. She usually hid behind insults and verbal poking. Her words lacked substance, Larisa realized. Where was the real Farre, and not this sheepish creature before her?

“Of course it sounds big. But it’s not as if we can do nothing, right?” Ha’na said and then she seemed to grow more exited. “It’s the thing, isn’t it? Whatever made the wave in the Essence happen, if we take it, then they won’t be able to do anything. We just have to get that.” She finished with a satisfied nod.

“And how do you plan on doing that? Isn’t the thing held near your professor? Isn’t she like important or something?”

“That’s true, but you forget that I am her pupil. I have full access to her tent. I could just pop in and grab it real quick. She would be none the wiser!” Ha’na exclaimed.

Larisa wasn’t sure if the plan was a good one, but it felt risky. Ha’na would have to get into the striking distance of this professor. If there was a fight she would not be able to win, Larisa thought.

“I’ll do it. I’ll get the thing. It was in a metal box.” Larisa said to them both. Faces full of indignation and surprise started to speak something, but Larisa wasn’t about to argue with these silly people.

“I’ll do it.” Larisa said with conviction and finality.

There were many sighs that followed with some exasperated sounds coming from both of these women. Different arguments seemed to flow through their head and some were laid out loud to Larisa. Every time she said she’d do it anyway. In the end they both got tired of trying to fight with the stubborn Larisa.

“Alright, but we’ll plan every last detail, you hear me?” Ha’na said strongly to her.

“I think this is all a big mistake and you should definitely not do it.” Farre said. “But I don’t like imagining what will actually happen if the jungle gets to burn down, so I guess I’ll help you.” She finished with one of the biggest sighs Larisa has ever heard. Farre then suddenly remembered she was still wearing the necklace Ha’na gave her earlier and started to take it off.

As she took it off, Ha’na spoke up.

“You should keep it and wear it when we’re outside. Some of my colleagues might be able to feel emotional shifts in the Essence.”

“No shit? I thought only bestian could do that.” Farre spoke with sudden curiosity.

“Well, some people can too, although, on a much smaller scale.”

“Hmp. Actually, why was I the only one wearing this thing? Why not her too?” Farre asked Ha’na while pointing at the blond woman and the necklace with the blue rock she was holding.

“Oh, that? Well, the reason is actually pretty complicated but I’ll summarize. Bestian’s Essence is a bit different to what humans experience. In the air, where the Essence exist, the human’s and the bestian’s Essence is only one way street. Bestian can feel humans, but humans can’t feel bestian. At least, without a proxy. Like touch for example.” Ha’na explained.

“So, any of your ‘colleagues’ wouldn’t be able to feel Larisa?” Farre asked.

“Exactly. They would need to touch her to recognize her Essence is different.”

“Like you touched me before.” Larisa reminded Ha’na. The memory of the sizzling Essence and a deep, warm connection made her head fuzzy. In a good way.

“I don’t need to hear that. As long as it’s consensual-“ Farre looked sideways to Ha’na. “I don’t care.”

“It wasn’t like that. Right, Larisa?” Ha’na asked.

Larisa wondered ‘what wasn’t like that’? What the other thing meant, Larisa had no idea. Ha’na wanted an affirmative answer, so Larisa simply nodded her head. She didn’t want to ask any more questions about what certain words meant. It made her feel stupid and Larisa wasn’t stupid.

“Whatever. By the way, where are my stuff? You said someone was supposed to bring them?” Asked Farre.

“Oh! You mean those things.” Ha’na pointed to the darkest and the furthest corner in this tent. Larisa could only recognize Farre’s pack laying on the pile there. Other things seemed to have melded into each other. One thing started then the other began.

“Hey! Why’d do that?” A whined out question could be heard from where Farre was gathering her things.

“That wasn’t me.” Ha’na shut down that topic quite quickly. “When it comes to sleeping arrangements, sergeant, your cot is there-“ Ha’na once again pointed into the second-darkest corner of the tent. “As for you Larisa, you’ll be sleeping with me.” She finished with a hum of satisfaction.

“Hal, please kill me now.” Farre seemed to whine out almost everything recently.

Larisa nodded and eagerly stepped to where the other, more comfortable-looking cot, was laid down.