Lily seemed quieter than usual, like she'd been diminished in some way, as she stepped over the crest of the hill. The moon hung high in the sky above, casting a pale blue light down to the planet. Finger shaking slightly from the cold, Lily pointed towards the abandoned farmhouse that had just come into view.

"We can stay there for the night," she said, voice grim. "And then keep moving at first light."

Dragan hugged himself as he looked at the building -- night on this planet really was a freezing affair. It was times like this that he envied Ruth: as a Pugnant, her internal heating meant that she didn't have to worry about things like this. Indeed, there wasn't even the slightest sign of a shiver on her body as she stood tall, eyes flicking around to inspect their surroundings.

A few seconds after the visual inspection, Dragan felt an additional shudder as Ruth's Aether ping coursed throughout the area. A few seconds after that, she visibly relaxed.

"Nobody's coming after us," she declared, allowing her Skeletal Set to dissipate back into Aether. "You guys are cold, right? We can start a fire in there."

Dragan raised an eyebrow. Something had definitely changed with her -- she was taking charge confidently, whereas before he would have seen her letting someone else lead.

Well, he didn't have time to speculate about it. There were other things to worry about, after all. He glanced down at the nervous young girl accompanying them -- Lily had called her the Good Lady. From what he understood, she was some kind of head of state or figurehead. Whatever the case, she was a valuable hostage.

Nobody had actually said the word 'hostage' -- it'd been all come with us and we'll get you back to Coren -- but the girl didn't seem stupid. From the look in her eyes behind that veil, she understood that she wasn't among friends. If nothing else, Lily's obvious hostility would have given that away.

Hell, he didn't even have to look at her eyes -- the kid was shaking like a leaf, only partially from the cold.

"Sounds good, right?" he said down to her, as kindly as he could. "If we can get a fire going, we can all get warmed up."

She looked back up at him, and silently nodded. While Lily was leading the group, and Ruth was watching for enemies, it seemed that Dragan had been relegated to babysitting duty.

"Let's go, okay?" he smiled -- no doubt it looked as fake as it felt. "Don't wanna get left behind."

"Okay," the Good Lady mumbled, nearly silent, allowing herself to be led in the direction of the farmhouse.

The building had clearly seen better days -- the wooden walls had rotted over time, and the glass from the windows had been smashed away long ago. The back door they were approaching swayed limply on its hinges, and Ruth had to straight-up tear it off to grant them access.

After leading the Good Lady inside, Dragan paused at the threshold of the house, turning to look at the silent grasslands around them. There was nothing save the sound of wind running through the grass, and the clicking of insects. Absolutely nothing, and yet…

"Ruth?" he called out, still staring off into the distance.

"Yeah?" her voice from inside was slightly muffled. A second later, she poked her head out of one of the empty windows.

Dragan narrowed his eyes. "You're absolutely sure we're not being followed?"

She frowned -- and a second later, he felt the telltale shudder of yet another Aether ping. "Absolutely sure. How come?"

"It's just…" Dragan struggled to find the right words. "It just feels like we're being watched, I guess."

Her frown deepened. "Uh, well, my Aether ping would only catch someone using Aether -- if it's a normal person without a Guardian Entity, I guess they could still sneak up on us. I can look around and check properly if you want."

Slowly, Dragan shook his head. "No, I don't think that's it… it's like there's someone staring at us, from right here in front of me. That's what it feels like -- but there's just empty space." He waved a hand in front of him to illustrate his point. "Just… be ready in case anything happens, okay?"

Ruth scanned the horizon one more time with her eyes before nodding. "Right."

And with that, Dragan reluctantly broke his gaze away from nothing, and turned back to the dark entrance. He crossed the threshold and stepped inside.

If he'd stayed for just a second longer, he might have heard the deep exhale of breath from the thing that had been watching him.

Dragan was starting to feel like something of an expert on kidnapping by this point. He'd been on both sides of it now, of course, giving him a wide range of experience to draw upon. He didn't suppose any of that would be a comfort to the girl they were 'escorting', though.

The wooden dining table and chairs had long since ceased to be suitable for human use, so instead they were all sat around the fire they'd started in the middle of what had once been the kitchen. Dragan held his palms out and sighed appreciatively as he felt the heat of the flames radiate over him.

"Oh, that's nice," he said, taking a crunchy bite of one of the green ration sticks Lily had brought with them. He wasn't quite sure what they were made from -- some kind of plant, probably -- but his stomach appreciated the sustenance all the same.

He glanced at the Good Lady, who'd positioned herself right in the corner of the room, ration stick clutched tight in her tiny hands. The quiet sound of sniffling was audible from behind her veil.

Dragan groaned inwardly. Why did he have to go and start feeling bad about things? Skipper and this lot had clearly infected him with some of their damn sentimentality.

He offered the girl a weak smile. "So, uh, what's your name? I'm Dragan."

If anything, that seemed to make things worse. The Good Lady immediately dropped the ration stick to the ground, instead slapping her hands over her mouth in what was clearly a scandalised expression. Even Lily winced.

He glanced towards her, sucking in air through his teeth. "Guessing I shouldn't have asked that?"

Lily shook her head. "The Good Lady is the Good Lady. Apparently, the ruler only uses their actual name with their closest family -- and even then, it's frowned upon."

Silently, the Good Lady nodded, moving her hands away from her mouth. "It, um, would be a little improper. Sorry. I'm really sorry."

"Huh," Ruth said as she chewed what remained of her own ration stick. "It's kinda like the Supreme then, right?"

Dragan nodded. "It's illegal to call the Supreme by their name until after they're dead. They throw you in prison for it -- or worse."

"Usually worse."

A quiet noise sounded out through the room -- it took Dragan a second to realize it was the Good Lady clearing her throat for attention. It seemed her voice rarely surpassed the volume of a mouse.

She looked at him. "Can I, um, ask you a question?"

He shrugged. It wasn't like he could make another faux pas if she was asking him something. "Go for it."

"Are you really a space alien?" she asked -- and then, deciding it needed more explanation, continued: "Only, I heard Prester Garth talking about you, um, and he said you people were. I don't think I was meant to hear that, but I did, so I kind of wanted to know for sure, if that's okay. Um."

Dragan hadn't really heard 'um' used as a sentence all by itself before, but there was a first time for everything. He tapped his hand on his head, on the spot where an inhabitant of this planet would have their antlers sprout out.

"What does it look like to you?" he said, abandoning that fake friendliness. "Me and Ruth clearly aren't like you people. Whether you believe we're from out there is up to you."

That snarky demeanor didn't seem to deter the Good Lady at all, however.

"Wow," she whispered -- and as she blinked behind her veil, Dragan could see the unmistakable glimmer of awe in her eyes.

Maybe he could work with this. "Cool, right?" he smiled, leaning back. "Only me and my space alien friends need help getting back into space. There's a big starship underneath your house. Think you could let us in?"

She frowned. "I don't know anything about that…"

That wasn't a lie -- and if it was, she was so damn good there wasn't much point in him watching out for deception.

"Well," he sighed. "I guess you'll see it when we get there. You can look forward to it, I guess."

She silently nodded. Did she think he'd get pissed off if she didn't? He couldn't exactly blame a kidnapping victim for going along with what her captors said, but still. He was sure he'd showed a little more backbone back when it was his turn.

...or maybe not. Memories of flopping on the floor like a fish came to mind.

For the first time in a while, Ruth spoke up. "I've been thinking about that, actually. We're gonna use that starship to get us off the planet, right? That's the plan?"

"Right," Dragan nodded.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Won't that, uh, destroy the fuck out of the city? It'll smash through everything above it when it takes off, right? Like a bullet out of a punchpoint gun."

"Dunno if I'd put it like that," Dragan said, sitting back up. "But yeah -- there'll definitely be some damage to the area above it. It depends on how big this starship actually is, really. There's a good chance it's only big enough to destroy the Regulator headquarters when it takes off. I don't think I'd lose much sleep over that."

"Even then, though," Ruth protested. "Stones and stuff will rain down on the city when the building blows up. There'll be destruction."

It seemed the new-and-improved Ruth wouldn't let him get away with such feeble answers anymore.

Over in the corner, the Good Lady looked between the two of their faces, obviously worried. "You're going to blow up the city?" she whispered, horrified.

"No, no," Dragan insisted, powerless under the pair of judging gazes. "If it turns out that's the way things are, we'll just come up with a different plan. We can come up with the best plan if we know all the cards in our hand, though. We need to know more about the starship before we can factor it into anything. Okay?"

Ruth nodded. "Okay. But we're not doing anything reckless."

"Really?" Dragan smirked. "You're telling me that?"

Ruth grinned in response. "Yeah. Really. I am."

"Fair enough," he shrugged.

As Dragan made the movement, however, he noticed something that he really should have much earlier. There were now three people gathered in this room, not four.

He clicked his tongue. That girl really could move quietly.

"Where's Lily?" he sighed.

It had been an idiotic notion, Lily supposed -- that some trace would have remained of the events that had happened all those years ago. Some bloodstain maybe, or a patch where grass no longer grew. Ultimately, the world didn't care about people dying -- it would keep turning with or without them.

Still, even without any indicators, she was able to identify the exact spot without a problem. Slowly, with shaking hands, she squatted down and brushed her fingers against the dry, merciless soil.

She idly wondered what had happened to the cows. Had the Regulators claimed them for the state when they'd cleaned up the scene, or had they simply killed them all for convenience's sake? Perhaps they hadn't done anything at all, and the cows had simply wandered off into the wilderness.

"Stator for your thoughts?" came a voice from behind her.

Lily turned to look. Standing there was Ruth, hands on her hips as she scanned the horizon. It was like Dragan had said -- even in this freezing cold, she didn't seem the least bit affected.

"What for my thoughts?" Lily frowned.

"Sorry," Ruth shook her head. "What's on your mind? You've seemed kinda distant ever since we got here."

For a moment, Lily considered saying nothing, her hand still cradling the empty dirt. But she found that her mouth spoke all the same.

"I used to live here," she said quietly. "This was my house."

Ruth sniffed. "Gotcha. Guessin'... guessin' there isn't a happy story there, then, huh?"

Lily shook her head. "The Regulators killed my parents while they were away. Then they killed my brother right -- right here. Then I ran away."

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing to do with you, so don't apologize," Lily sighed. "They came after us because of my brother. He'd found some old book in Coren -- it taught him how to do that thing you and Dragan do. That… I guess I do now, too. Aether."

"Just for that?"

"Just for that. I guess if… if people knew how the Guardian Entities worked, they'd know they weren't what the Regulators said they were. They wouldn't be servants of the gods -- and having control of them wouldn't mean anything anymore. That's how important maintaining the lie was to them."

"I see…" Ruth crossed her arms. "So what're you gonna do when you win, then?"

Lily chuckled. "When I win? Isn't that a little optimistic?"

Ruth shrugged. "You gotta assume you're gonna win. If you don't, you're assuming the opposite -- whether you realize it or not."

"Feels like you've gotten more confident or something," Lily raised an eyebrow. "Something happen while you were doing your own thing?"

Ruth sat down next to her, hugging her knees close to her chest as she continued to keep watch. Even in this situation, Lily could tell that the older girl was ready to respond to any attack at a moment's notice.

She took in a deep breath of air. "I guess I… made a choice. Turns out your group aren't the only rebels around -- I got picked up by some guys called the Grinhe."

Lily furrowed her brow. "Grinhe? You mean the forestfolk?"

"If you say so. They wanted me to help them out -- it'd take down the Regulators, which is the right thing to do. But if I did that, I'd have lost people important to me. I decided it wasn't worth it. It's like… I understand my own priorities now. Does that make sense?"

"Not really."

Ruth smirked. "I guess we're different people, after all. My point is… if you want something to happen, you have to make it happen in a way you can be proud of. Otherwise, you won't be able to accept the results. That's what I think Skipper believes, too. I don't want to regret anything when it's all over, I guess. That's it. You get me?"

For a long time, Lily stared off into the night, into the endless dark that seemed to surround them. She pictured a version of herself that had won all this, but it was a version of herself that had abandoned every reason she'd originally wanted to win.

It didn't seem like a good life, nor one that lasted very long afterwards.

Ruth stood up, brushing the dirt from her pants. "I'm betting it's pretty cold out here. I think I'm gonna head in. How about you?"

For a moment, Lily hesitated -- then she stood up and turned away from that old spot on the ground.

"Yeah… I think I'll head inside too."