Seven hundred and fifty four made their way across the landscape, each burdened with heavy packs, although four burdened the heaviest of all, for they could take the weight. Soha, indeed, didn't really notice the weight of the pack, except insofar as it changed Soha's center of balance backward a bit, requiring a slight lean forward to walk otherwise normally.

So many people were noisy, making their way to the point where the army of the communities was gathering, to march on the peri cities which had launched the assault on Southreach. Conversations, coughing, laughter, sneezing, and even singing filled the air, the people brightly dressed and visible in vibrant blues and reds, against the muted yellows of the dried grasslands they traversed. Only the sky itself could match the colors on display below.

" ... and that's how Ferde got caught." Sidou laughed, sounding more polite than genuine, at the end of Fan's story, which Soha hadn't been paying close attention to, attention riveted to the sights, smells, sounds all around; it seemed to be about a djinn who kept swapping other djinn's left shoes around so they wouldn't fit? Soha really didn't understand the bits of the story that Soha had heard. Maybe there was more to it?

Sidou shifted the pack from one shoulder to the other, with a small grimace. "These things get heavy after a couple of leagues. How much further?" Fan glanced around, with a slight, impeded-by-weight shrug.

"I think twenty leagues? Give or take. We've been walking ... " Fan looked up at the sky. "Four hours? So four leagues. We should arrive late on the morrow, or maybe early the next."

Soha refrained from commenting. It was twenty six leagues, which was close enough to not be worth correcting Fan. Apparently neither had been paying attention this morning when Harabi had gone over the march, which would arrive midday the day after tomorrow. Or perhaps they just didn't have Soha's memory.

"Now I understand all the running during training. But maybe Hvare should have had us run with weights on." Sidou used a scrap of faded blue cloth to wipe sweat from a red brow. The rag was already soaked.

"I don't think we were actually done training. War doesn't wait for perfect preparations." Fan grew characteristically dark and short of words as the topic turned to the matter of the war, tones dropping to a bass rumble. Sidou nodded.

"Makes sense. I'm glad we got what we did, then. Imagine doing this a few weeks ago." Sidou's excitement had dimmed considerably over the course of four hours; the djinn had seemed ready to run all twenty six leagues in a single day when they set out, but the endless heat of the sun, and the weight of the pack, had slowly brought it back down.

Camp was set well before sundown, as there were additional preparations to make while there was still light to see. Soha's pack was partially disassembled for trail rations, which others ate, while the other djinn pulled out bedrolls and started spreading them over the knee-high yellow grass.

There was a meal, much quieter - nobody was singing anymore, but there was still a low murmur of conversation, and various other noises. After the meal, djinn began undressing and laying on their makeshift beds.

"Surprisingly comfortable what with the grass underneath." Fan was sitting on the roll, adjusting the blankets. Sidou's was positioned between Fan and Soha, the young djinn using a fibrous brush to sweep the sticky seeds of the grass off of the travel clothing as Fan spoke. "Pity we can't have fires." Fan's attention drifted to the dry grass surrounding them.

"It's too warm for fires anyways." Sidou's voice was distracted, attention on the brush and the clothing. "I wouldn't even put a blanket on tonight if I weren't certain I'd wake up to bug bites everywhere." Fan laughed at that, a hand moving to pull a blanket up over exposed hips.

"Everywhere! That would be unpleasant." Fan made a hand gesture Soha was reasonably sure was considered obscene, given how Soha had seen it used in the past, but Sidou wasn't looking to chide Fan over it. Fan's smile gave way to a frown and a sigh. "It is a warm night, isn't it. Don't suppose tomorrow will be any cooler."

They settled in, covering up with their blankets. Soha sat on a blanket, not bothering with the bedroll. The camp grew quieter, conversations shifting slowly to whispers, coughs, and a few partners' muted vocalizations; apparently some of the usual social prohibitions on sex didn't apply when rooms weren't available? Efre's lessons hadn't covered that. They tried to be quiet, at least.

Those sounds ended soon enough, and snoring became the dominant noise. Soha simply listened. There were three others in the camp who would probably be awake; Soha would join them in camp tomorrow night, if for no other reason than to find out what to expect when their group met up with the rest of the army.

Soha listened, wondering what war would be like.

Morning came, and Havre moved through the camp, shouting djinn awake. Breakfast was quickly eaten, more dry rations; bedrolls were bundled again, packs reloaded and hefted, and the walk resumed. It was quieter than the day before.

"And I thought I was sore yesterday." Fan was grumbling, Sidou in only a slightly better mood. "Could have done with another couple of hours of sleep at least."

"A bath." Sidou added. "A couple of hours of sleep and a bath. Putting on the same clothes as yesterday feels disgusting."

"Hey, at least there weren't any bugs. I think I'll go without the blanket tonight. I think I sweat more last night than I did all of yesterday."

It was around midday they reached the hills, and progress slowed considerably. A brief halt was called, and Soha could pick out the three other loop-bound as the only figures who didn't immediately sit or lay down. Rations were collected and eaten, and a collective groan rose as a shout was issued to resume the march. Soha helped Fan and Sidou to their feet.

"Isn't fair that you don't get tired, Soha. Do you even sweat?" Fan leaned over to look at the side of Soha's face, eyes narrowing for a moment before opening wider than before. "Sidou, the loop-bound don't even sweat!"

"Of course not." Sidou didn't even look up, looking at the ground for anything that might trip the djinn. The hills were rocky, and Sidou had nearly fallen over three times since they began the process of walking up, then walking down, an endless series of rises that grew taller the further they went.

Ahead was a mountain range; they were walking towards a gap, Rashun's Pass, on the far side of which was their destination. Past the mountain range was all peri land. Soha found the mountains disconcerting; they seemed as distant as the sky itself, a jagged horizon that looked like it had been dipped in sugar. A band of gray below that, and then below that, a band of green.

"What are the colors on the mountains?" Soha took the attention as an opportunity to ask. Fan looked up; Sidou, however, was the one to answer, eyes not leaving the ground.

"White is snow, gray is rock, green is the tree line. The green is all trees, they're just too far away to see individually."

Soha focused, trying to see the individual trees, in spite of Sidou's pronouncement. It didn't work. Whatever the other powers of being a loop-bound, seeing details across - a glance upward, and a quick calculation - fourteen leagues apparently wasn't one of them.

"Y'know, Sidou is interested in you. I think still." Fan returned first from a "water break", which wasn't for drinking water, as Soha had learned the previous day. Soha looked to Fan, who was not actually looking at Soha. "Sidou's the one who originally insisted we come talk to you. I'm glad we did, mind, you're alright, if a bit on the quiet side."

"Interested in me?" Sex? That was a euphemism for sex, right?

"Interested in sex." Yes.

Soha just looked at Fan, uncertain what to do with this information. Sidou? "But ... didn't Sidou ... on the night of the feast?" Had it really only been the day before yesterday?

Fan smiled, although it didn't touch the djinn's eyes, still downcast. "That was ... yeah. There are other factors. I tried ... ah, but it doesn't really matter. Anyways, Sidou said you were cute."

Soha felt like a response was necessary, but none came to mind. "Ah?"

Fan glanced in the direction Sidou had gone to ensure they wouldn't be interrupted, and then back just to the left of Soha, and down. "Just ... just thought you should know." Fan scuffed a foot on the grass. Sidou joined them again, and conversation started up again, somewhat more subdued than even Fan's usual subdued state.

Soha was distracted, going to meet the other loop-bound. There were fires tonight, the foothill they had camped on mostly rock, bare of vegetation. Harabi, Hvare, and Mehr stood with a couple of other djinn, quietly conversing, as Soha approached. Hvare gave a small bow of the head.

"Soha." Soha returned the gesture.

"Hvare."

"This is Everse and Kite." Soha gave the same formal nod to the two others, one tall with a very deep red tint to the skin, and two small horns, the other shorter but broad, arms covered in scars, with one eye; the other a blue eyepatch.

"Everse. Kite. Apologies for the interruption, I come to ask what I should expect tomorrow?" The last was directed between Harabi and Hvare; Soha didn't know Mehr that well, having only encountered the djinn in the dining hall a few days before the feast.

"Ah, yes." It was Harabi who answered, nodding. "Excuse us for a moment." Harabi stepped off to the side, and Soha followed, after a brief pause to realize that it was expected.

"Tomorrow we'll be joining the main camp. We're going to be sticking with the groups we arrived in; it is easier to maintain cohesion when you work with people you already know. You will be expected to greet a few people, but I'll be with you and walk you through it. Don't worry about it.

"Past that we'll be traveling to the first target, which we'll hit by nightfall. Follow me and Hvare, and just do what you're told; nobody is going to expect you to know what to do, and it should be a short fight. Don't look to Mehr for any guidance, there's a reason we two teach war. There will be a few others after that to learn what is expected.

"For tonight, relax. Tomorrow is going to be busy, treasure the quiet moments." Harabi started moving back to the other four with the last few words, engaging back into that conversation before Soha had a chance to respond. Soha hesitated for several long seconds, feeling ... something, and turned to walk back to Fan and Sidou.

Should Soha do anything with the information Fan had given? Did it make a difference whether Sidou wanted sex? Hadn't Fan asked about it, as well? But the tone when Fan had asked had been light, where the tone of this conversation had been ... darker. Fan thought Sidou's interest was more important, somehow.

Soha wasn't certain what to do with that. Had Sidou ever said anything about it? Nothing came to mind. Nothing came to mind about the situation, at all. Soha slowed, approaching the two, before forcing a sense of relaxation; Soha knew now, and Fan knew that Soha knew, but otherwise nothing had changed, had it?