After a few hours of marching, Rock's group took a short break. Dawn took this chance to change Mabel's dirty and bloody bandages with new cleaner linen. Meanwhile, the rest of the group took turns relieving in secluded areas. They managed to find two boulders placed in a way to separate the goblins from male to female and to do their business in private.

However, most of the male goblins opted to relieve themselves on the walls giving the women more space and decreasing the wait time. There was a creek with flowing water. The women filled their buckets with the water carried it with them inside to used to clean themselves before burying the waste they made.

Tie waited anxiously in the back of the line while carrying a curtain around her shoulder. She wanted to be last to avoid the other caretakers to hide her secret. Her cycle began last night, and she does not know when it will subside, so she must be cautious. After waiting for so long, it was finally her turn to use the designated latrine. Tie hangs her curtain on the entrance hiding her self from the outside. She sat down, but before she pulled her pants down, she checked the curtain one last time. There was no one outside.

Tie pulled her pants down and saw blood on the linens she place between her thighs. She took a cup full of water from her bucket and poured it on the garment. At the same time, she checked her crotch for more signs of blood. She checked her fingers covered in the warm red liquid. While looking at her fingers, Tie's eyes caught a glimpse of a beanie hanging on the wall in front of her. Suddenly, Ren opened the curtains, "Sorry Tie, Me forgot hat." Before Ren could grab her hat she noticed Tie's blood-covered hand, "Tie! Your hand." Ren rushed towards Tie side, "Tie ok? Tie hurt?"

Tie was frozen in fear and was not able to respond. The commotion attracted the attention of the rest of the caretakers. "What going on?" Pin asked.

"Tie hurt, need patch up."

"Hurt!" Pin said with astonishment.

Ren took the bloodstained garment Tie was washing and presented it to the rest of the women, "See. Tie's bandage has blood. Tie why you hide hurt. Need heal now!" Ren said in a gentle tone. After seeing her friend and fellow caretaker dead in the hole, Ren could not help but be concerned for Tie's safety. She stood up and took Tie with her towards Dawn and the legions. They had the bandages and alcohol they need.

Tie one the other hand resisted her attempts to help her for obvious reasons, "No. Tie fine! Promise." By then, the curious caretakers surrounded the two of them.

"But if Tie not fine. What now?" Ren pleaded while holding on Tie's hands gently. "Need check at least. Need make sure you Tie ok."

Pin shoved her way closer. As the two talked, Pin saw a trail of blood on her leg. She crouched down and peeked under her long shirt and gasp. "Blood on Tie, not bad!" Pin jumped up her feet in delight and hugged Tie, "Tie fertile. Tie can bring life!"

The caretakers' mouths were gaping wide, and they eventually screamed before hugging Tie. They were not sure how Tie managed to become fertile again, but if she could become a full woman again, then they thought they all could.

"Calm down! You dumbasses!" Flute yelled at the happy bunch, and the group separated, revealing a scared and shaken Tie. Flute walked forward towards her, "You think this funny?" Flute asked with very heavy and low tone. Her brow clenched and slanted downward, pointing at her nose giving her scary and angry face.

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"Flute, what wrong?" Pin asked.

"You all idiots! Or what?" Flute yelled at them, "And you." Suddenly Flute lunged forward and grabbed Tie's collar. "You think funny!"

"No, Tie not think funny!" Tie grabbed Flute's wrist trying and tried to break herself free from her grasp. "Please, Tie explain!" Tie cried out with tears blocking her eyes while Flute grabbed and pulled her hair.

The caretakers jumped in, trying to separate the two. "Tie not playing. Tie have real blood!" Pin yelled while pulling Flute away. "Tie make life again. That good thing. We make life again too!" A pair of legions accompanied by a concerned Dawn came running towards the caretakers and helped break the commotion, separating Flute and Tie apart and pushing the crowd further away to give them space.

Flute calmly followed the legions' orders and stepped a few steps back. "Why have bloody? Explain!" Flute commanded.

Tie got on her knees and clasp her hands, "Tie lied! Tie always bleed. Tie can make life." She cried, "Please, Flute, sorry for lying!"

The caretakers could not believe what they heard. They stood unable to move a muscle after hearing such a shocking reveal. Flute, on the other hand, could barely contain the anger and hatred inside her and was nearly an arms length away from reaching Tie's throat if not for Dawn holding her back. "Why you? Why hide giving life. You want mock us. How dare you!" Flute squirmed out of Dawn's clutches to no avail and was dragged away from Tie.

"Tie no mock!" Tie crawled towards her, reaching for Flute's foot. "Me just want." She hesitated for a second, realizing she was surrounded, but this was her only chance and she must seize because Tie knew she lost her future chances. "Me love you!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Dawn and Flute fell on the ground after hearing Tie's confession. Everyone was equally surprised an had their eyes fixated between the two, holding their breath as they wait for Flute's response. But she didn't say anything; instead, Flute turned around and ran away. Dawn followed her, leaving Tie and caretakers. Tie, face planted on the ground, cried her heart out. The caretakers joined her, comforting her the best they could. In truth, they were jealous of Tie's womanhood, and some even felt angry about the deception. But their empathy got the better of those foul emotions because they understand the feeling of rejection and heartbreak very well.

Flute kept running until it was but darkness around her. She sat on the floor in a fetal position. A gentle glimmer of light showered behind her. It was Dawn carrying a small jar of glowing mushrooms.

She sat beside Flute, "Are you ok?" Flute did not give any response. "You know, keeping things to yourself won't help you. I would know. Rock gave me plenty of chances, but I never took advantage of it until it was too late. I don't know if I can help you, but I can carry your burden for you."

Flute lifted her head and wiped away her tears, "Flute mad. Flute also confuse. Why Tie do that? Throw life away. Tie live with family but no! She hide truth. Because me." Flute looked at Dawn, and the locked eyes, "Flute hated you a lot. Flute envy you. Cala love Dawn but not Flute. Oh, Flute wished to be you. But love blind Flute and Dawn. Flute sorry me hate you."

Dawn's eyes began to tear up, "No, no, no. You don't need to apologize. Honestly, you never did anything wrong."

Flute looked down at her feet, "But what Flute do now. Flute no deserve love. Not Tie's love. Spring coming soon. Chief have Tie marry like other women. So next generation come. Me not want take Tie's future away."

"I don't think Sun would make her marry someone if she doesn't want to."

"No, Tie's duty. Every woman's duty give life when spring come." Flute said with absolute certainty.

"Then will you reject her?"

Flute paused to think, then she finally said, "Flute not want see her. Flute too scared answer."

The group eventually finished their rest stop and continued their march. Dawn convinced Rock to stop carrying Mabel and her child in the back and lead the tribe with Tie as part of the vanguard. Dawn and Flute stayed behind in the back with Mabel.

It felt awkward for Rock to walk alongside Tie after hearing what had happened in the woman's loo. He wanted to offer advice, but he found their relationship very strange. Rock is young and has yet to see such relationships. If he had been born during the height of Cala's reign, it would have been commonplace for high ranking men to solicit sexual relationships with younger men. The same goes for women with power.

But the goblins in the group who knew of these relationships equally found Tie and Flute's pairing to be strange. That's because, instead of the Flute, the one who held power, it was Tie that sought intimacy. There was also Tie's predicament. She was a full woman while Flute was only half, and some of the single legions believed they were the better fit for Tie's affection.

Ultimately, they could only wait until they reach the sun. They must focus their attention on the march and push their emotions and concerns in the back of their mind. They have no need for them.

While marching in the darkness, Tie noticed a pair of ominous glowing red light. Slowly the pair doubled in number and kept growing until they more than twenty of these red glowing orbs hanging from the ceiling and reaching all the way to the floor. Then suddenly, the red glow's intensity grew and the light revealed a pack of monsters. "Oh shit! They must those perytons!" Rock yelled, "Legions, raise your shields!"

The ten legions walked forward formed a wall. Rock charged forward with his bronze buckle, ready to punch the first peryton that attacks. But they ignored Rock and his shield wall. They flew past the rest of the group, ignoring the cries of the mothers, children, and elders. They were aiming for a different prize. Or more accurately, prizes.

In the peryton's eyes, they see two large glowing white lights at the end of the tunnel. Those lights were Dawn and Flute, and they looked appetizing.