Deep within the Chestnut Woods, Indigo and Zo held each other close beneath the warmth of their bedrolls. Zo ran her fingers through Indigo’s hair. Indigo tingled from the feeling of her nails upon her scalp. The scent of Zo’s body. It was all so comforting.

“So,” Zo said, cuddling in further. “You’ve never been with a woman before me, hm?” She held Indigo closer and breathed deeply.

“I’ve never really… been with a man either,” Indigo said. She was self conscious about it. Her life circumstances just… never led to any intimacy with another person.

Zo laughed a little, stroking Indigo’s hair.

“I was so terrified,” Indigo said, “When I first laid beside you.”

“You surprise me always, Indigo,” Zo said. “Your body shows a life of resilience. You present yourself as nearly indestructible. But deep down you’re a sweetheart.”

Indigo laughed and pushed her nose into Zo’s neck. “Shut up,” she said, playfully.

Zo kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad I was your first,” she said.

The campfire crackled lightly in the darkness, running low on remaining light. The Chestnut Woods smelled sweet and the air was so comfortable. Indigo still held resentment for herself and her actions. She tensed up. Zo recognized this and moved away and down a bit to look Indigo in the eyes. Indigo had gotten used to the darkness and could see Zo’s large blue eyes, the nearly perfect formation of her face -- a sharp nose with full lips parted in a smile.

“You are so hard on yourself,” she said.

Indigo shook her head. “I failed everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if they never trusted me again. Or if they hold a deep resentment. The way Willow looked at me… Gods, it was like how so many people would look at me as I passed through towns as a plague.”

“Failure is never the end of the road,” Zo said. “You know. Willow almost got me killed once.” She paused to shift herself and prop herself up on her elbow, whispering down to Indigo. “It was during a raid on one of the Royal Fortresses in the Scarred Lands. A long time ago now. It was her, myself, and a new recruit named Kleese. We were to infiltrate and kill the General before he was to return to the Kingdom and become Captain. Couldn’t have such a notorious Gifted-killer rising up any ranks.” As she spoke she rubbed her finger against the fabric of the bed roll.

“Long story short -- Willow was full of herself. Stealthy but charged in carelessly. We had a set formation to follow, but she went forward, too confident in her stealth and skill. I went in to stop her. Traps went off in our eagerness. Ended up facing off against two Knights and some Hawks to back them up.” Zo closed her eyes. “You’ve had a small taste of Hawks, Indigo, but trying to fight them is nearly the same as trying to escape. They were relentless, fast and deadly.

“I was nearly beheaded by two of them. Kleese tackled me out of the way and was killed in my place.”

Indigo swallowed, imagining the story play out.

“We fought hard, retreated, got our backup, but ended up having to flee. We were smaller in number then and lucky to get most of us out of there alive. And Willow, when we were back at our little camp in the forests, was a mess. So full of shame and resentment. She was nearly responsible for killing me -- and ended up being responsible for Kleese’s death. But none shamed her. She was not a bad person in our eyes. As warriors, we make mistakes. We let our egos consume us, oftentimes in the beginning of our journeys. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, risked many of my comrades’ lives. But we learn. We grow.”

Indigo leaned in and smiled. She was home. Not only within Zo’s arms but with everyone around her in this camp. She leaned in closer.

“You’re right,” she said. “I feel like I should know this lesson by now but I’ve never been able to get it through my head.”

Zo kissed her. “The next best time to plant a tree is today,” she said.

Zo’s hands moved down Indigo’s body.

“Is that a saying?” Indigo breathed. Pushed closer.

“If it wasn’t before it is now.”

The next day, early in the morning, their team’s little corner of the forest was chilly and still blanketed in shadows. Indigo had forgotten the discomfort of the heat, surrounded by the morning cold, wishing for the day to warm her. But she remembered how much heat she would experience as they continued on. So she welcomed this temperature, embracing the fresh discomfort.

Down the hill from their camp was a wide river and Indigo made her way down, dressed in her undergarments and long sleeve tunic. Thoughts of the journey ahead filled her mind. Ryton’s plans for infiltrating the Kingdom had been discussed earlier in the day and would be covered again before they resumed their travels, so it was solidified in everyone’s minds. It would not be an easy journey. The entire way would be messy, painful and uncomfortable. She considered remaining in the comforting warmth with Zo while she could. But she had to set her mind straight. She had to toughen up, step out into the world first, make bold decisions.

She stopped at the edge of the river and undressed completely, breathing heavily as skin met air. Her scars were bare to the world now. And they forever would be. She dipped her foot into the water and sucked in breath. A stabbing ice-cold embrace. Bit by bit she lowered herself in and stood waist-deep.

Indigo took a deep breath and submerged herself, air trapped in her chest. She came up again, laughing, shivering, but slowly getting used to how it felt. She rubbed her pits, dipped her head to rub her hands through her hair and rinse it in the water. She dipped down lower, using her hands to rub her entire body down, probably not doing much, but at least relieving herself of some grime as the water’s current pushed past her.

She looked up and admired the grayness of the world. Soon all would be bright and beautiful. But right now things were still waking up. She felt as though she was currently waking up among it all. From the way she once fought, from the fears she once held.

Indigo turned and saw Zo making her way down the hill.

“Good morning,” Indigo called.

“‘Morning’ my ass,” Zo said, reaching the bottom, barely dressed, tired and a mess but she looked beautiful that way. Zo grinned. “The sun isn’t even above the mountains.”

Indigo gestured for her to join. Zo sighed and gave her a look. She slowly undressed, watching Indigo as she did so. “Oh, Goddess, I’m not going to like this.” Zo stepped inside, slipped, dropped all the way in and shrieked.

Indigo was laughing wildly at her expression. Her eyes were wide, body stiff. Indigo swam over to her. When Indigo got to her, Zo’s teeth were actually chattering and she grabbed onto Indigo.

“Oh -- Oh --” was all Zo could say.

“If you don’t move you’ll just stand there and suffer,” Indigo said. “The shock is awful. But the more you move the more you get used to it.”

Zo laughed shakily and held onto her tightly. “I know, I know.”

Eventually they were both warming up and the sun began peeking through the forest, rays splaying through the gaps in the distance. They cleaned each other, held one another, were silent with each other. Zo broke that silence.

“I find myself afraid at times the more we move forward, you know.”

Indigo felt her heartbeat. She was nervous saying this. But Indigo felt the same. Of course she did.

Zo took Indigo’s face in her hands. The gesture made Indigo’s soul swim about inside her. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

Zo looked pensive for a moment. “When we --”

“Hey! Lovebugs!” Ryton’s voice sliced right through their conversation. “Coffee?”

They looked up at him. “Sure!” Indigo shouted.

Ryton stood there for a moment longer.

“You may leave now, Ryton!” Zo cried. “But I’m happy to confiscate your shoes for the rest of the journey if you’d like to stand there and gawk!”

“I’m going, I’m going!” Ryton quickly turned around.

Indigo laughed and looked back at her. “What was it you wanted to --”

“I love you,” Zo said.

Indigo felt a chill run up her body. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes bounced between Zo’s. Zo smiled and pushed some hair behind Indigo’s ear.

“But that’s not all I wanted to tell you,” Zo said. She looked so happy saying ‘I love you,’ but mentioning other oncoming topics of conversation, she looked almost sad. “We’ll have more time to ourselves later on.” She moved away from Indigo toward the shore but looked back. “You want some coffee? It’s going to be the last of what we’ve packed. Now’s your chance to have some.”

Indigo nodded, in a daze. “Sure. That sounds good.”

Zo gave a final smile before climbing back onto land, picking up her clothes and hiking back to camp. Indigo watched her go the entire way. Zo loved her? She had thought about it before. How she herself felt about Zo. Indigo sometimes felt obsessed with her. Overcome by desire for her. Love was something else entirely, however. Such a thing was… complicated. Strange. Terrifying. And wonderful. Sometimes Indigo thought she did love Zo but, of course, like many things, she wasn’t certain.

She sunk down and blew bubbles out into the water.

Zo threw on some fresh clothes, which would be on her until the journey was over. She could smell the coffee that Nyle was brewing up, a large pot pouring hot water through a filter that held ground coffee beans. There was plenty more to go around but making the hot water would take time. This appeared to be Nyle’s job for the time being and he relished in serving his friends the delicious, expensive treat. Zo smiled watching him smile at all he handed a hot mug too.

She saw Indigo climb the hill, half dressed. Their eyes did not meet. Hmm. She hoped she didn’t make a mistake confessing such strong things to her. There was more for her to confess. Things that had to be said before their potential approaching deaths. But it could wait. They had some work to do before they continued walking. She did her best to put it out of her mind.

Zo retrieved her hot mug of coffee, steam from such a drink emanating from all Liberators in all of their little pods. Nyle nodded to her.

“Enjoy, Iron Fist,” Nyle said, sitting cross-legged, putting all of his focus into his service.

Zo passed by clusters of her fellow warriors, all of them enjoying the time of relaxation. Zo spotted Indigo sitting next to Vivian who handed her a mug of coffee which Indigo accepted with glee. The two of them began chatting. Zo turned away. She knew how Vivian looked at Indigo. The two of them becoming closer would be good for them all, especially Zo. These feelings of hers… they were becoming a problem. A problem she’d never experienced in her whole life. Free love was a way of life in Umsa and among the Liberators. But this was a different kind of love.

Ryton and Willow waited for her, away from most of the crowd. They both had their drinks and were basking in its delightful taste, Ryton leaning against a tree, Willow cross-legged, impeccable posture, holding her mug steadily with her eyes closed. Zo sat down and took some careful sips from her drink.

“Damn,” she said, “I hope I live to taste more of this.”

“Just don’t get us killed, Captain,” Ryton said. “And we will.”

“Well,” Zo said, eyeing Ryton. “I can get you killed. And I’ll still be able to live to taste more of this.”

Ryton opened one eye. Zo rolled her eyes.

“I’m joking, you child,” Zo said, placing her mug back to her lips.

“Let’s cover the specifics of the plan once more before we run it by everyone else again,” Willow said. She shuddered. “I am not looking forward to this.”

“Let’s try not to think about it,” Zo said. “And when we are there, we’ll still try not to think about it.”

“Oh, trust me,” Ryton said, inching his way over to them. “You’ll get some unwanted chunks in your nostrils. And you will not be able to avoid thinking about it when you’re in the thick of it all.” He looked at both of them seriously. Willow opened her eyes. “Every single person in those tunnels is going to vomit.”

“So… about this whole ‘talking to the Goddesses’ thing,” Indigo said.

Vivian turned to her and smiled. “Yes? What about it?” She sipped her coffee.

Indigo grinned and looked down at her own mug thinking. Such a thing couldn’t be possible. But she had never really considered the otherworldly aspects of her abilities. Her and all the others of her kind could do supernatural things, of course. She had just always assumed such things were simply natural occurrences that Alchemy hadn’t been able to identify or explain as of yet.

“The Divine Force claims to have people who can speak with the Gods,” Indigo said, still observing her steaming cup. “Are you saying they’re liars?”

“I would say so, yes,” Vivian said.

“So what reason do I have to believe you can do such a thing?”

“Well,” Vivan said, “Within the Devotion religion, it’s common knowledge that only Speakers can hear the Gods. Everyday people can only speak to the Divine. They cannot hear from them.” Vivian smiled and Indigo looked at her. “But. It’s been demonstrated time and time again that everyday people can hear from the Goddesses. Or. At least one of them.”

“So others have claimed to hear them too? Any common themes?”

Vivian inched closer next to Indigo and smiled wider, but spoke in more hushed tones as though what she was about to say was some secret.

“So, people have tested this. For decades, believers in Goddesshood have replicated ancient ways of seeing what believers experienced in their mutual accounts of communicating with the Goddesses. They would go to far corners of Nadi to introduce the belief. Those who were attracted to it, especially those who have never heard of Umsa’s growing religion, were taken in and would practice meditation and prayer without being told the names of any of the Great Goddesses.” Vivian put her mug down to talk with her hands. “Across the board, for years and years, those who had never heard of Goddesshood or been told the greater details of the belief, all spoke of the same experience. They all were greeted by a feminine voice who introduced herself as Thea.”

Indigo raised an eyebrow. Vivian laughed, lowering her head, before looking back up at her and picking up her mug again.

“It’s okay to not be a believer, Indigo. I’ve found, oftentime, you have to experience it to believe it. Whatever it happens to be.”

“That is fascinating if it’s true,” Indigo granted. “I’ve just… never been much of a believer in anything. But I try my best to be. I find myself trying to be in times of desperation. I’m very insincere I suppose.”

“Mm-mm,” Vivian said, her mouth full of coffee, and she placed a hand on Indigo’s shoulder. “Desperation is the greatest time to reach out.”

“Okay,” a man’s voice cried out. They both turned. It was Ryton, approaching the center of all the clusters of Liberators alongside Zo and Willow. “I know we’ve gone over this before but we’re going to cram it firmly into all of your brains once again. So you all know what to expect. So gather around and pay attention!”

Ryton went over their infiltration plan once again, as if none of them had heard it before. He told them of the wall surrounding not only the Kingdom but Shieldhome as well. The first set of walls would be the first target. Indigo had never been there but from Ryton’s description she painted an image in her mind.

Massive stone walls, with guards at every inch of the top that could skewer you with arrows or crush you with cannons. The wall went all the way to the Eastern coast and kept curling round the religious nation.

“This will be the most difficult part,” Ryton said. He made a drawing in the dirt to show them all what he was seeing and thinking. Those too far away got the idea from his descriptions. “Getting in by sea will be our best route. There’s a section to the East that is unguarded. It’s a section of the sea that is patrolled from time to time but only to eradicate the insides of a massive container there through the use of Alchemy…” He grinned at them all. “Yes, here comes your favorite part.”

Indigo closed her eyes.

“Pipelines lead into the ocean here from Shieldhome. They dump out tons of waste through these enormous pipes. The pipes lead up into the underground of the city, the sewers, eventually the underground abandoned prisons, and then we can make our way to the streets from there.” He breathed. “Yes, we will be crawling through the city’s waste-pipes. We will be bombarded with various wastes, especially human excretion. Plan to eat and inhale plenty of unwanted tastes and smells. Tastes and smells that will make you vomit.”

Indigo shivered. Warriors hurried off to puke themselves into the forests, unable to contain themselves.

“I’m sorry… We will select who infiltrates through there. Those we leave behind are meant to secure our exit point as we will be escaping through the same way. To the East is a small town where we will be meeting up with a Black Market Alchemist who may be able to provide us with some Alchemy that will… help with the experience through the tunnels. We will also be picking up gear that will allow us to dig in and crawl our way up. Any questions?”

Silence all around.

Ryton sighed. “Please,” he said empathically, “Continue to enjoy yourselves. I’m sorry to bring up this unpleasant news again. But none of us planned on this being easy, did we? We head out at midday. Eat up. Drink up. Pack up. Be ready to move by then.”

The journey forward was long, no longer full of tales and songs. The further North they went the more at risk they were. They only traveled on main roads when they had no other choice. Mostly, it was through hills and valleys and deep woods. Willow stayed far behind the group to watch for followers. Ryton traveled far ahead, an excellent runner, making sure the path was clear. Indigo imagined what life must have been like with horses to ride. Such things were left to the Kingdom’s Shield-Homes or the Republic’s great cities. Rich men and women could own horses to ride. If not them, official governmental soldiers. And after them, horses were used for public transportation between cities or across nations via carriage.

So, they had to work their bodies to the limit.

Through the miles, Indigo and Zo didn’t talk much. Zo was hyper focused on the journey. Indigo was simply… nervous. But she knew they would talk again when they set up camp. The energy among the Liberators had fallen from excitement into anticipation. Energy was still there. But it was redirected into seriousness for the journey.

It felt as though everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the afternoon fell upon them and they were within the next set of forests. The terrain was much like their previous camp. This forest was much higher in elevation, however.

Night descended. Liberators chatted and ate together, setting up their campfires and checked over their equipment. Things were lively again. Indigo spotted Zo standing away from everyone else. Their eyes met for the first time for most of the day. Indigo smiled and slowly made her way over to her.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” Zo said. “I’ve been to this spot before. Want to see something cool?”

“Yeah,” Indigo said.

Zo took her hand and led her away from everyone else. Into the darkness. Up a hill. And the brightness of the moon was approaching as the trees dwindled away.

They stood upon a cliff looking down at the expanse of the Scarred Lands. A sea of dark green below them. Everything was blanketed in a nearly blueish light from the enormous moon above. And the stars were unreal. Millions of tiny, white suns decorating the blackness.

“Wow,” Indigo said. She looked over at Zo. Her eyes were big and reflecting the entire landscape in them.

For a moment, she realized something. The rarity of Zo’s being. The passion Indigo found with her. The sense of meaning and connection. In her entire life, she had never met someone like her. Nobody had really loved her. No one had never truly made her feel loved. Indigo was lost in these thoughts -- then, became lost in seeing Zo’s eyes. Eyes that were exhausted, excited, and esoteric. Zo turned and smiled at her.

Indigo was in awe. “Oh,” she said.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I just realized how much I do love you,” Indigo said. “I think I’ve just been afraid to open myself to it.”

Zo smiled so wide. Looked away. Closed her eyes, breathed in to say something but stopped. Then sat down.

“I’ve been a warrior for years, you know,” she said slowly. “Had to fight my way for survival in the streets of the Republic. When I found a home I still had to fight for my food and respect.”

Indigo sat down with her.

“After finding Vivian and Ryton, we fought our way town to town until we built a family. I love them all. I would die for all of them.” Zo looked at Indigo. “I love you Indigo. But I find myself not wanting to die for you.” She teared up. “Because if that happened, I wouldn’t be able to lay down next to you any longer.”

“Zo…”

“I know. I’m being weak.” She laughed then, through the tears, “See? You’re not the only one who can be weak.” She sniffed and looked out over the land. “I wish I could stop it. For all my life I’ve been able to let things go. I knew life required sacrifice and risk. Death was needed for there to be more life. But… wow… I can’t even imagine losing you. Is this that corny, storybook love everyone talked about when we were children? Or, perhaps I’m deeply, deeply afraid of being alone. I don’t know. But I do know I feel this way about you. And I do know I’m scared of being away from you.”

Indigo leaned in. She nodded, knowingly, then slowly moved forward, wrapping her arms around her.

Zo cried a little harder.

“It’s my turn to give you what you need,” Indigo said.

Zo squeezed her into an embrace and broke down, grabbing hold of her tightly, crying.

For Zo, for a moment, years upon years of pain, fear and anger melted away. She felt like she was home.

“We could run away,” Indigo said.

The words made Zo flinch.

“We could run away from here and never turn back. Let go of this world. Go to Matrus where they do not care for the world’s problems. All of us could. Or we could travel to Umsa. Or just live for ourselves off the land somewhere far away. And keep moving whenever they catch up to us.”

Zo laughed, cried, nuzzled into Indigo’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to hold onto this revenge any longer,” Indigo said. “I love you, Zo. I want to live for you and everyone else here more than anything. You most of all. So let’s run away. If it would be hard for you to tell everyone else, we could slip away and forget it all.”

“I couldn’t do that,” Zo shook her head. “No. They’re family. I can’t abandon them.”

“Then I’ll happily take them along,” Indigo turned Zo’s face to her and smiled. “I love all of them too but in different ways. Whatever it is that will keep us together.”

They looked at each other. Indigo wiped Zo’s tears. Kissed her face.

“Or. We can face this enemy together. Keep fighting. And if you die, I will keep fighting for your dream. To make the world a better place.” Indigo smiled. “But there is hope too. There is a chance. That we’ll succeed. And we can live happily together after we win.”

Zo kissed Indigo.

“Yes… I cannot abandon this purpose,” Zo said, closing her eyes. “We all share this purpose. Abandoning such things will leave us with holes in our hearts for the remainder of our lives. We can't just simply let it all go. No, we need to keep moving forward no matter the cause.” She laughed and pressed her forehead into Indigo’s. “I’m just… like I said, we all are consumed by fear at times. We will move forward and fight and love and fuck and we will win.”

“That’s right,” Indigo said.

“That’s right,” Zo said. Zo pulled her even closer. The sudden motion, the sudden eagerness that burst from Zo struck Indigo. “This may be our last night to be intimate with one another, Usamea,” she said, their mouths so close.

Indigo’s heart was whamming. She had never felt more passionate, more powerful in her entire life. She wanted to give all she had to her.

No more words could be said. Their bodies did the rest of their talking. Deep into the night. Beneath the moon and stars, in the dirt, among nature.

Hours later, after they had both, weakly, helped each other back to camp to collapse into bed, Zo rested next to Indigo for a long while. Indigo was asleep within moments, her body soaked in sweat and Zo’s love, her face never having looked more at peace.

Zo watched her sleep for as long as she could. And then the bird call sounded. She tensed up and planned for the worst. Threw on some clothes and her boots and headed for the forest entrance, carefully, slowly.

Willow stepped out from behind a tree. She was exhausted. Her face painted with concern beneath the moon.

“We have a group of Royal Knights heading our way,” Willow said. “They don’t appear to be on our trail. But it seems they’ve anticipated our path away from any main roads. Who knows how many patrols they have out there. But there’s one that’ll be here in about a day’s time. They’ve stopped and set up camp far to the Southwest.”

Zo breathed steadily. She hugged Willow and squeezed her tight. “Looks like we’ll have a fight on our hands before we reach the Kingdom. Go rest for now. Wake up Nyle so he can take watch. You’ve earned rest, my friend.”

Willow nodded and headed into the forest to the camp.

Zo looked out to the vast valley before her which greeted the forest’s entrance. They would need to be up early. But for now, it seemed safe to rest. It might be the last time they could have such a chance.

She thought back to her and Indigo within the cold water. The shock hitting her. If she didn’t move she would just stand there and suffer, just like Indigo had said. The only way to make it through would be to keep moving. To keep fighting for the life that they all deserved -- the kind of life that others claimed without struggle.