“It was here, Captain.” Came Laska’s voice from just beyond the treeline next to the ravine. Nirou was glad to hear the group approach, as sitting next to the chasm by himself for so long had made him even more anxious than he already would have been.

Laska soon stepped out of the mess of foliage that was the jungle with every member of the Four Winds in tow. Besides a single new strip of cloth wrapped around Hamid’s leg and some blood settled onto Rashen’s gauntlets, there was pretty much no sign that they had just been in a battle to the death with two huge Beastmen. Nirou hadn’t had a reason to doubt their ability before, but he now had proof if he ever needed it.

The group emerged while still expecting Laska to continue speaking, so the sight of Nirou was merely enough to elicit nods of acknowledgement from the Captain and Kishaldam. Ajandi opted for a wave, while Hamid at least deigned to glance in his direction briefly. Nirou decided to just nod back quickly so that he wouldn’t take any attention from Laska.

“As we pursued the Beastman, we approached from this same direction to find it on the cusp of the ravine.” Laska took up a spot next to Nirou and went on with her account of events. “It was hanging from this inside wall, attempting to climb down or perhaps just hide. Either way, our arrival seemed to startle it and it lost its grip. It fell to the bottom of the chasm and naturally didn’t survive. You can see the unfortunate results below.”

Motioning at the others to look into the depths of the ravine, Laska stepped back enough to give them space. Nirou also went ahead and looked again for good measure, though he obviously knew what he would see.

Dashed on the rocks below was a red and pink mess with flecks of orange and black fur scattered about. As if the splatter of blood and viscera wasn’t disturbing enough, it was currently being picked at by two giant lizards. The pair of Odolanna were tearing off any bits of the corpse with a decent amount of meat on them, and by now most of what remained were either unappetizing bony bits or too small to bother.

Nirou felt his stomach turning nearly as bad as the last time he looked, helped in no small part by the sense of vertigo from looking all that way down. He felt like he may just start falling himself, drawn into the depths of the chasm. Nirou wasn’t sure how long he could keep himself both physically and mentally stable right on the ravine’s precipice, so he quickly turned away. None of the Four Winds were all that much more interested in the sight either, only scanning the scene slightly longer before turning back to Laska.

“Quite a shame, but there’s nothing to be done.” Kishaldam sighed. “Naught can be gleaned from a corpse in that state. Those researchers will just have to imagine what could have been.”

“That’s pretty sad. It didn’t even try to fight.” Ajandi added, his pursed lower lip conveying the extent of sympathy he was willing to afford. “What an awful way to die, too. I hope the fall really is what killed it, and not getting torn apart.”

“Rather than being startled, it could have just been a case of preferring death to capture.” Rashen guessed. “In any case, our mission has been completed now even if not in the way we expected. The village will be safe from Beastman attacks for the foreseeable future. Thank you two for your part in this, as well.”

“Well, I didn’t really do anything.” Nirou quickly waved off the implication that his presence played any major part in the mission. He knew it wasn’t true so far as he was the reason they could communicate with the Tiger, but in the version of the story they were telling he truly didn’t believe he had done anything worth noting.

“Nonsense, we would have lost the Beastman entirely if not for you.” Laska spoke up, addressing Nirou and explaining his contribution to Rashen at the same time. “You used your blessing to track our quarry by the drops of blood it left behind. I couldn’t have done that, and I don’t think any of the others could have either. Whether you’ve realized it or not, you’ve already proven yourself indispensable.”

“She’s right, Nirou. If the Beastman got away, we would have had to start looking for it all over again.” The Captain shot Nirou a wide smile in an attempt to encourage him. “Thanks to you, our mission here may be weeks shorter than it otherwise could have been. Anyone on this team would call that just as significant as a few minutes worth of fighting. Even Hamid. Isn’t that right? You don’t want to waste time out here, do you?”

Rashen had turned to speak directly to his subordinate for the two prior questions, who was less than enthused to respond affirmatively. But after a few moments of sulking, she eventually did. “Yeah, I guess that does help us out. In fact, if you did fight you would probably just get hurt and hold us up even longer. So good on you for not screwing up.”

It was rougher praise than he got from Laska, but Nirou was somehow more comfortable getting it since he was constantly applying conditions to the results of his own efforts anyway. It did manage to lift his spirits somewhat, but he didn’t let it show on his face. He was still too anxious from the situation he and Laska were in. They weren’t even close to out of the woods yet. Besides, it would look better if he stayed a bit anxious after the whole ‘seeing a splattered corpse’ thing.

“Alright, no cleanup here to worry about. We can tell the villagers about the other two and they should take care of those.” The Captain spoke loudly to declare his immediate intentions for the team. “We’ll go ahead and stay the night just so we don’t have to hike through the jungle at night again, and we’ll take off tomorrow after getting well-rested. I’d say we all deserve it, wouldn’t you guys?”

“I wonder if they’ll try to put together a big farewell feast for us.” Ajandi mused, licking his lips preemptively. “That one on the first day was great.”

“I would rather they didn’t use up such resources on us, but I expect them to try.” Kishaldam shook her head. “We’ll have no choice but to accept their hospitality once again.”

Cutting off any further small talk, Rashen started to lead the group back into the trees and to the village. He slowed down to let Kishaldam pass and take the lead herself however, as she was the only one who would actually remember the way back without getting confused. Laska hung back and waited for Nirou to stand back up, after which the two nodded at each other in acknowledgement of their plan seemingly working for the time being. The entire way back to the village, they trailed the rest of the group just far enough to be able to follow while still letting Laska whisper at a volume only Nirou could hear thanks to his Improved Hearing blessing.

“The spell seems to have fooled them. I wasn’t under the impression that any of them saw through it.” Laska assured Nirou under her breath. “It was created purely from my imagination, so without firsthand knowledge of what a splattered Tiger Beastman looks like I could only make my best guess. I doubt any of them know all that well either, but if anyone could spot inconsistencies it would be Kishaldam. We have to pay close attention to her, we would rather be the ones to admit it to her then let her find out. If it looks like she’s figured it out, then let me know so we can decide how to go about it.”

Nirou nodded slightly to convey his understanding, then glanced around. Looking through the nearby canopy of the trees for any sign of someone hiding there. He didn’t expect to see anything though, since it would be too risky for Gao to try and tail the group so closely. For all his effort, Nirou only became more aware of the unknowns lurking in the jungle. He could hear the rustle of leaves both fallen and yet attached to the branches. Disturbed by the slithering of snakes or the careful footsteps of some animal Nirou couldn’t place by sound alone. He hadn’t been this anxious of the jungle since those nights he stayed up alone to keep watch. But the jungle wasn’t really what he was nervous about. It was merely compounding with the fact that he was already deceiving his companions. Basically nothing had even happened yet and he was already nervous. It didn’t bode well long-term for the plan. Laska seemed to notice Nirou’s failing nerves and whispered to address him again.

“Gao knows where the village is, and she can certainly keep an eye on it while staying hidden.” She insisted. “If we find time to break off beyond the edge of the village without the others, we can expect her to come meet us and discuss things further. She said it herself, didn’t she? She can hide here better than anyone. Over a decade of experience, and all that.”

While the Tiger Beastman did stress as such to the duo, Nirou couldn’t help but worry about either Gao getting caught or being left behind. If one of those happened after everything they worked for, it would be disheartening to say the least. He decided to believe in the girls’ plan for now though, as the best he could do to help at the moment was to simply keep up the ruse.

Eventually Kishaldam led the group back to the village, where a few people could be seen out and about finishing their business as the day was winding down. At first none of them paid too much attention to their returning heroes, as they had no reason to believe that their problem had been dealt with already. However as the team made their way to the elder’s house, Nirou could hear some excited whispering here and there among the villagers. One had noticed the blood on the Captain’s gauntlets, another was simply assuming based on the way the group was carrying themselves. But it wasn’t long before most of the people around were expecting good news.

Nirou couldn’t help but start feeling a little guilty already, as he knew that once Rashen declared that all the Beastmen had been killed it wouldn’t be completely true. For the first time ever he felt somewhat lucky that he tended to be shaky, since that would hopefully mean that no one would notice the additional tension he was feeling. A quick glance at Laska proved her to be as cool and collected as ever. If Nirou had any resolve at all, it was to not be the one to ruin things for her. As long as she had things under control, he could follow her lead.

Once at Elder Ramajahy’s abode, the Captain strode right in and laid out the facts as he knew them as soon as he had his audience. “Good news Elder, your village is safe! We’ve eliminated all known Beastmen in the area. You can all resume your normal lives without fear of being attacked... by Beastmen, anyway.”

“Already?” the old man was too stunned to do more than immediately voice his disbelief. But the confident smiles of the Four Winds quickly convinced him that this was no jest. After taking a moment to compose himself, he offered his gratitude. “Thank you. Thank you all. We had given up hope long ago, but to have been saved in such a short time is beyond what I could have imagined. Please, let us repay you at least a bit. I’ll get everyone to start work on a feast! We can see you off with a celebration. I couldn’t live with myself if I just let you up and leave now.”

Nirou expected Rashen to want to shove right off, and he didn’t seem to be alone in his assumption if Ajandi’s begging expression was any indication. But with no goading at all, the Captain accepted right away. “We’d be honored, Elder. A nice celebration, and then we can leave in the morning!”

Ajandi raised his free arm in triumph, while Hamid’s smug grin grew even wider. Kishaldam had one nearly to match, but her grin seemed more like a knowing one. As if she had already deduced what her Captain would decide on. Her perceptiveness actually gave Nirou a reason to worry on its own. It was something they’d have to be really careful of.

Ramajahy got right to work whipping the other villagers into a frenzy. All of them seemed to get a rush of energy at the news, and despite the ever latening hour of the day they had no complaints about throwing a party for their saviors. Pulling out what seemed to be foods specially saved for such an occasion and arranging the village’s central area for the party, the villagers worked through sunset in their attempt to show their gratitude.

By the time everything was ready it was dark, and the only light was that from the stars and moon as well as the roaring bonfire in the middle of the village. A table had been laid out with food even more extravagant than the feast that had been put on for the group’s arrival. While the feasting was happening the villagers put on a show with dancing, singing, and a host of drums. It was all quite festive, but Nirou couldn’t shake his undercurrent of guilt the entire time. While Laska didn’t exactly show it, he could tell that she was also less concerned with the festivities than the situation with Gao.

Nirou spent some of the time he was eating going over ideas in his head as to the best way to slip off. Slinking off unnoticed would be difficult with his size, and someone coming after them would be the worst thing that could happen. And while he was sure that no one would take any issue with him plainly stating that he had enough of the festivities and wanted to turn in for the night, he was also sure that he would screw that up and raise suspicion if he tried to head to the jungle instead of to bed. None of this was to mention that Laska also had to come along herself. But as had happened many times by this point, Nirou wasn’t quick enough to do anything before his companion took matters into her own hands.

“This has all been quite wonderful, but I think I’m approaching my limit.” Laska confessed after getting the attention of the village Elder, the Captain, and Kishaldam sitting nearby. Ajandi was off dancing without a care, while Hamid seemed to be taking advantage of all the alcohol the villagers were offering. “Today’s events have fatigued both my body and nerves, in a sense. I spent too much time looking down that ravine, I admit. Nirou and I will be taking a walk to clear our heads for a while, and then get some rest.”

“Of course, of course.” Ramajahy waved his hand and laughed, the old man drunk on both the mood and the booze by this point. Though if he was slurring his speech, Nirou couldn’t tell. “Take all the rest you need, you saved us! Thank you, thank you!”

“I understand. Be careful about that walk, though. We cleared out the most dangerous things around here, but you still have to be alert.” Rashen left things at that, seemingly not all that worried. Nirou chalked it up to the fact that neither he or Laska had inebriated themselves at all, so the Captain probably figured he had nothing to worry about when it came to the two of them being responsible. Once again, Nirou felt a little bad about their current predicament.

“Wait, ‘Nirou and I’?” Kishaldam pointed casually towards the figure that towered over most everyone nearby. Her eyebrow was raised in slight confusion. “You’re just dragging him along with you? I mean, we know he’s not really your bodyguard like you told the king. You’re a much better fighter than him, in fact. I’m just wondering why you keep pulling him along with you all the time without so much as his input.”

Nirou wasn’t sure if Kishaldam was actually trying to argue in his favor or not. Despite the issue being acting without his input, she didn’t seem to be looking for his input on this matter at all either. What was more likely was that she just wanted to know what was up with Laska taking him along with her everywhere. And while Nirou so far had absolutely no issue going along with Laska’s whims at any given moment, he wasn’t sure how to make that sound good on her part. Obviously in this situation it was just a necessity, but for the sake of the ruse they had to play it like that wasn’t the case. And the only two ways this could go in Nirou’s mind were to make Laska look like some kind of slave driver or a more embarrassing route that he wouldn’t even consider subjecting her to. However, Nirou’s opinion on the matter proved to be moot once more.

“Well I always assumed he would tell me if he ever took issue with it.” Laska answered Kishaldam without missing a beat. “As far as I know, he enjoys my company just as much as I enjoy his. So I just bring him along most everywhere. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

“I… suppose not, no.” Kishaldam responded hesitantly, a bit taken aback. She quickly turned back to her meal and away from the duo. “You both do what you like, then.” She had been surprised by both the answer and the confidence with which it was given. Nirou could also see some other emotion mixed into her expression, but he wasn’t sure his guess at it was right. For a second it looked almost like she was impressed. But he wasn’t sure how to make sense of that.

With the problem solved far more easily than Nirou could have imagined, he and Laska walked casually out to the jungle beyond the edge of the village with no worries about any unwanted attention. Once they were just far enough to be sure they couldn’t be seen from town, they started marching around as conspicuously as they could without making too much noise. Making loud footsteps, the cracking sounds of fallen leaves and branches beneath them would have made sure to drive away any normal jungle creatures. But the one they were looking for would do the opposite.

After a mere few minutes, Nirou and Laska were met with a figure dropping down from the canopy above. Though it was tough to see in the relative darkness, it was clear enough to see an exact copy of Laska save for the clothes. Her landing was a bit wobbly and she nearly fell over, only to be caught by the real Laska who pulled her back upright.

“Sorry. I’m not used to moving in your body, so jumping has been difficult.” Gao explained herself. “I can’t hide as well as I used to, either. I will have to be careful or I’ll get caught. But I’m glad I could meet with you two. With my… friends.”

Gao’s cheeks went red enough for Nirou to notice even in the meager light. He wished it was brighter, if only because he couldn’t see Laska ever making the same face and he wanted a better look at it.

“It’s so good to see you again, Gao. I’m glad we’re able to meet up despite the difficulties.” Laska responded to her doppelganger with enthusiasm. She then took a brief second to orient herself and pointed in a certain direction. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow and heading down to the port town on the North side of the island, are you familiar with it? That’s where you’ll have to follow us. I hope it’s not asking too much of you.”

“I think I know of it…” Gao stared in the indicated direction and wracked her brain. “I haven’t been very far that way, but people sometimes take that path. I’ll stay far behind so no one finds me, but I can follow.”

Laska was pleased with Gao’s assertion, but Nirou still had reservations about the whole ordeal. “How are we going to manage to bring her on the ship, though?” he asked. “Even if she stows away, it will be too small to get away with that for long. Somebody is sure to find her.”

“Nirou, just because I haven’t gone over that part of the plan yet doesn’t mean I haven’t prepared for it. I told you to just listen to me, didn’t I?” Laska shook her head lightly, in a way that made it clear that she wasn’t actually disparaging her companion seriously. “But we have the time to go into detail now, I suppose. Yes, I’ll reveal our complete scheme here and now.”

Laska moved to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her double, reaching around Gao to pull them closer together. “Gao will take my place for the majority of the boat ride. I will instead be transformed into an unassuming dragonfly to stow away much more effectively. Then once we arrive back at the General’s home, we hide her in Sahla’s room and I return to my place! I’ll surely be able to convince her to harbor Gao, and rarely does anyone else enter that room. It’s perfect for our needs!”

“Huh?” Nirou wanted to say more than that, so much more, but he couldn’t decide what to say first. There was a mind bottleneck that had brought his train of thought to a halt. He took a few seconds to breathe deeply, and in that duration decided to calmly address things one at a time as he came up with them. “Can Gao really take your place? Even if we give her your clothes, won’t the way she acts be suspicious?”

“If you recall the conversation between the two Captains right after we arrived, we’re going to be waiting up to a week in order to give the same crew that brought us here the chance to show up and do business with us again.” Laska reminded Nirou, who had legitimately forgotten about the whole exchange in favor of the part with the giant lizard. “It’s only been a few days, so I expect the crew to be out for a while longer yet. We may get the full week. If that’s the case, then we have plenty of time to train Gao to act close enough to pass as me.”

“Really? How can you be sure?” Nirou voiced his concern with the plan. “Someone will definitely notice something’s off and be able to tell. Gao hasn’t ever even lived among humans, how can she learn to act like you in just a week? There’s no way she can pull it off on this short notice. Uhh, no offense, Gao.”

“Don’t worry Nirou, I’m not offended.” Gao assured him, smiling just a tiny bit despondently. “I also don’t think I can learn to act like Laska in so short a time. But if she wants me to try, then I will. I don’t want to let down a friend.”

“I assure you both, this is perfectly doable.” Laska insisted. “I didn’t spend all that much time with the others on the way here, and if we can convince them that I’m not feeling very well then that can mean even less time interacting with them. Plus I myself can jump back in for short periods if we find a place for Gao to hide temporarily. We just need a week to teach her to act enough like me to not draw attention during the time she does have to spend with the others. I have complete faith in her ability to do this.”

Gao got embarrassed again at that statement, and Nirou moved on to his next issue without taking the time to enjoy it again. “What about you? You said your dragonfly form is fragile, right? You’ll be in danger. Even if it isn’t a person that tries to crush you, a stray object could do it just by chance. Isn’t it too optimistic to assume you can make the whole trip like that?”

“I’m not assuming anything, Nirou. You’ll be keeping me safe.” Laska stepped up to the man that completely dwarfed her and started looking over his clothes. After a bit, she grabbed a bit of cloth that sat folded over itself below his collarbone. “Here. The perfect spot. I can just curl up here and take it easy. As long as you’re careful, then nothing should come close to squishing me. I can count on you to protect me, can’t I?”

“You can?” Nirou’s faith in himself was too low to do anything but return the question in confusion. However, the moment he did so he felt his heart harden like a block of lead. Through the darkness he could vaguely see Laska’s eyelids begin to fall into a disappointed position. Even if he had to say something he didn’t believe, Nirou was going to avoid being looked at like that no matter what. “I mean... yeah! I’ll do it!”

Nirou knew his voice was anything but convincing, but it seemed that Laska only wanted him to make the effort. She went back to grinning, and turned to address Gao again. “The most important thing will be for you to get in the right habits when it comes to body language. You’ve done plenty of observation of humans until now, and now that you have a human body, you just need to mimic the way we move. I think a lot of our practice will be trying to move in tandem with me until we’re indistinguishable.”

“I understand.” Gao nodded, making a determined expression with her fists held up in front of her. “No matter how hard the training, I won’t fail! We only get one chance!”

Nirou couldn’t help but compare Gao’s enthusiasm for the plan with his hesitance. He was the one with the least stake in the whole deal theoretically, so that should mean less for him to be worried about. In other words, if Laska and Gao could give it their all for this plan, why couldn’t he? That was how he would think about things from now on. Hopefully that would be good enough reasoning to keep him motivated. Since Laska wasn’t going to be giving him disparaging looks as a dragonfly.

“Gao will probably still have to talk sometimes, right?” Nirou brought up another point he was worried about, this one in the hopes of perhaps being of some help when the time came. “It would be too suspicious if she remained silent. Unless you switched with her often enough to do a lot of talking. Do you think I should talk more to keep attention off of her?”

“That’s not a bad idea. Why don’t you go ahead and do that, Nirou?” Laska pointed at her companion as she accepted his suggestion immediately. “But you’re right that Gao will have to talk sooner or later. And while we have the same voice, we don’t know all the same things. Part of that can be fixed if she stays a listener whenever she can, but…”

“Gao.” Laska turned back to face her double again. “You’ll need to learn about me. A lot about me. If only to get you immersed in the role, since I doubt anyone will ask. But we’ll spend as much time as we have filling you in on me. If anyone asks about anything from my family to my favorite food, you’ll be able to answer. Can I assume you’re still up to the challenge?”

“Always, Laska!” Gao jutted her fist forward like she was punching for emphasis. “A friend wouldn’t back down from something like this. Both of you have been kind to me, if this is what I have to do to repay you, then I will do it for sure.”

Nirou had never been an expert on friendship, but he wasn’t sure if Gao’s interpretation was standard. Still, it was a nice example to try and live up to himself. So maybe it was for the best.

“Well, we unfortunately can’t afford to stay out here with you too long.” Laska told Gao with a sigh. “We have to get back to the others and get to sleep without drawing any suspicion. Sorry to leave you to fend for yourself like this. You’ll be able to follow us tomorrow, right?”

“I will, I promise.” Gao nodded. “I will visit my mother’s grave tonight one last time, and be ready to follow you in the morning. We’re leaving this island together as friends!”

Laska waved Gao off and then walked with Nirou back in the direction they came, returning to the village. They hadn’t been gone too long, so the festivities were only slightly waning by now. Neither of them had any intention of going back though, so the two headed straight for the Elder’s house and the blankets laid out on the floor that they had been using as beds. Everything that had needed to be said was done by now, so the two of them simply gave a nod of acknowledgement and a mutual “Good night.”

The next morning rolled around in the same manner as had the last few, but it felt slightly different knowing it was the final time the routine held. Nirou and Laska were among the first to awake this time, behind only the Captain. They were early enough in fact to help Ramajahy and his family prepare breakfast, the last meal the group would be eating before their departure. The assorted fruits and nuts along with a tiny bit of rice made for a stark contrast to the feast from the previous night, but it was probably for the better when considering the hike they’d be making.

As the table was laid out, the remaining members of the team began to arrive in order of their rousing. Kishaldam, then Hamid, then Ajandi last just as could have been expected. As it was a relatively light meal, the Elder didn’t miss the opportunity to address the group one last time while he had the chance not to hold them up.

“I’ve said my thanks last night already, so I won’t repeat myself.” the old man said gruffly, seemingly trying not to come across as too soft. “I don’t think you’ll have much reason to ever come back, but just know that all of us will forever appreciate your work. And if fate sees fit to curse us with another such problem again, we’ll know who to turn to.”

“Actually, while we’re waiting in town for the next few days I should give the officials down there a talking to.” Rashen smiled as he turned to the old man. “There’s no excuse for your request to have taken so long, and it won’t happen again if I can help it. Don’t you all worry, if we hear you need help again, we’ll come running.”

Ramajahy had to expend clear effort to keep himself from grinning. Nirou saw him wear his heart on his sleeve the previous night, so this act he was putting up could only be his attempt to swing hard the other way. No matter how old one got, trying to save face never stopped being a concern it seemed.

After breakfast, the group got all of their things together and got ready to head out. Nirou was once again saddled with carrying some of the extra stuff that the Captain and Ajandi didn’t already have covered. At least this time they were going downhill rather than up. Plus he knew how long the walk was going to be now. It wouldn’t keep him from getting tired, but now it was more clear how long he would have to be tired for. Which made him feel a little better.

By the time the team had reached the edge of the village with all their things, a large group of villagers had gathered to see them off. Nirou recognized a bunch of the people they had seen around, like the hunters the others had questioned and the kids that he and Laska had talked to. In particular the boy with the block puzzle was peeking out from behind the legs of a woman that Nirou assumed was his mother. The kid took a while to work up the nerve to wave, but once he did Nirou returned it right away. It felt pretty good.

The rest of the villagers all waved or said farewell in their own ways, and Rashen gave a light bow while giving a final message of his own. “Thank you all for your hospitality!”

That single phrase was enough for him, Kishaldam seemed content to just wave, and Hamid stayed her usual cool self. Ajandi however flailed around the bag that his free arm was carrying as he waved as fast as he seemed able to manage. “Bye bye, everybody! Take care of yourselves!”

The Captain didn’t want to be held up for long though, and after a minute he yanked on Ajandi to indicate that it was time to go. Nirou and Laska gave final waves of their own to the villagers and followed the Four Winds as they delved into the jungle and left the village behind. A mere few steps was all it took for the place they had stayed in the past few days to be completely obscured by the foliage behind them.

As the group made their way down the island, the Four Winds seemed to be in great spirits. Their mission was complete with no complications. So far as they knew. Nirou and Laska however were not nearly so assured. While their faces looked as content as any of the others, they knew that their own worries had only just begun. The first of which was whether Gao was currently managing to follow them effectively. For now, they could only wait to find out.