Red threw up halfway back up the mountain. Luckily, none of it hit his shoes, but it made Kara jump away in surprise. She stumbled, but managed to catch herself before she fell.

When he finished voiding the contents of his stomach, he looked sheepishly up at her. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Kara shook her head. “It’s alright, Gareth,” she said, using his real name now that the mission was over. There wasn't any reason to apologize. With how badly it stunk of fiery death halfway up the mountain, it wasn't hard to imagine what it smelled like at the center.

"Why don't they smell like meat?" Gareth asked.

Kara blinked twice. "Excuse me?"

"Why don't they smell like meat? I thought they were supposed to be Rats. I've eaten fried rats before and they didn't smell like that."

"Oh. Uh. I think flesh just generally smells bad when it's burning. And there was the hair too. I also don't think Bone Rats are actual rats. It's just a name for them."

Gareth’s head shot up so quickly, she couldn’t help but flinch away in surprise. "Are they people?" he asked, horrified.

"What?" Kara asked, equally horrified. "No. Not people. They're still Umbras, just not rats."

"Oh," he said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "They sure do smell like people though."

Kara felt the blood drain from her face at the implication. With a magic like his, it wasn't hard to imagine what he was thinking about. Unless you were born a natural Soulblade, the first manifestation could be abrupt and deadly for anybody in the general vicinity. She could only hope that whoever was with him had been dead before he manifested.

"Oh no. Gareth," she whispered, reaching out to pat the boy on the back. "Don't think about that. You did good today. Best first performance I've ever seen."

"Really?"

She didn't bother mentioning that it was the only first performance she'd ever seen, aside from her own. "Yeah."

Gareth smiled up at her but it quickly disappeared as his face contorted into a grimace.

"Kar-Black?" he said.

"You can use my real name, Gareth. The mission's done."

"You should stop patting my back."

Before she could ask why, Gareth bent over and threw up again. Kara quickly hopped back, wincing in silent apology.

After Gareth collected himself, they walked the rest of the way without any more pats on the back. Though Kara walked in front of him, she looked back often to make sure he didn't stumble and fall down the mountain.

Once they reached the peak, Silver greeted them both with a sympathetic smile.

"So how was your first mission, boy?"

Gareth scrunched his nose in distaste. "Bad."

Silver let out a loud laugh. "Welcome to the life of a Soulblade."

Gareth seemed confused, but gave the old man a polite nod and smile regardless.

"I'm gonna go put on my clothes now.”

"You go do that.” Silver pointed to the backpack on the ground behind him. “I kept an eye on your things so they didn't blow away."

Silver flashed Kara a quick grin that she didn't return. Gareth didn't seem to notice.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're very welcome."

Gareth nodded again and walked over to his backpack. Sitting on the ground, he pulled his pants out and clumsily put them on.

Looking at him, Silver let out a wistful sigh. Kara studied him for a moment, but didn't feel the need to speak if she didn't have to.

"He's gonna wear out those briefs if he sits on the ground like that. But I suppose he'll grow out of them soon. And even if he doesn't I suppose he's got a good head of hair left on him." For the first time, Silver seemed morose as he ran a hand over his shining bald head. "I've only got two other pairs of these, you know. And I won't be able to sit down since you've gone and lost my pants."

"I'm not apologizing," Kara said. "I thought I was going to die."

"I suppose I can’t blame you for that, then."

When it became clear that Kara wouldn't reply, Silver continued to speak, as if unwilling to remain in silence.

"Well, in any case. Seems we're done our job here. I was gonna sit up here for a little longer, but I suppose that plan's gone. I'll see you kiddos later."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Do you have business elsewhere?"

"No, I'm going home."

The direction he pointed was further into the Dead Zone. Unless he lived outside of Astranta, there was no civilization in that direction.

"I don't live in the walled cities," he said, reading the unspoken question on Kara’s face.

"I wasn't aware there were villages so far in the Dead Zone."

"There aren't. Got a cute little house I built myself a couple decades ago."

"You're a nomad?" Gareth asked, having just finished pulling on his clothes.

"Yup."

"Aren't you afraid that the Umbras are gonna eat you while you sleep?"

"Nah. I have my ways."

"Don't you get lonely?"

"With the Grand Treaty forcing me to go on missions with you scamps so often?" he asked, reaching over to tousle Gareth's hair. With it tied up in a ponytail, it didn't move much, but Gareth pouted regardless. "Nah. I get all the human interaction I need here. The cities are too stuffy for me."

"Gareth," Kara said, before he could get another question in. "I think it's time for us to go. We've got a long walk ahead of us if we want to reach the safehouse before it gets too dark."

Before Gareth could offer his opinion, Silver reached over and toussled his hair again. "Your girlfriend's right, kiddo. Best you two head on home. You want me to make you a path?"

Kara's eyes shot up. "What exactly do you mean by that, Virath?"

Silver raised an eyebrow. "You know my name?"

"It's a part of my job to read the debrief on every mission," Kara said bluntly. "And it's also my job to ensure that anybody in violation of the Grand Treaty is executed for their crimes against humanity."

As she glared at the old man, Kara’s fingers found the thin golden bracelet that hung from her wrists, seeking comfort in their familiarity. It was the only luxury she allowed herself, and in moments like this, she often held it in her hands. The soft gold would snap if she gripped it too hard.

Even though Gareth's pupilless eyes would never give away exactly where he was looking, she noted that he shifted his head away and was pointedly staring at the ground. Silver, on the other hand, stared directly at her, his expression unreadable. There was a long moment of silence before Silver sighed and raised his hands defensively.

"Sorry I asked."

Kara glared at the old man. "You were intending to use your magic outside of an authorized mission. That is in direct violation of the third clause of the Grand Treaty."

"No it isn't."

"The third clause states that any use of magic that is not directly involved in the elimination of Umbra beasts is forbidden."

"Does the third clause say anything about intending to use magic?"

"No, but as a Guardian, it's my duty to eliminate any potential threats to human life. As a Guardian, I am tasked with eliminating any Soulblades who may use their magic outside of the control of the Grand Treaty."

Silver stared at her.

"The Grand Treaty states-"

"The treaty states that the use of uncontrolled magic is forbidden. It says nothing about intent," Silver said calmly, both hands raised in surrender and a half-cocked grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "If you really think I'm a threat to humanity, it's your job to kill me, but do you see me using my magic recklessly right now?"

She wanted nothing more than to let him go, but with how badly her hands were shaking, she couldn't simply trust in his word and risk letting him go unlawfully. As she mentally searched her memory for any sign that she was duty-bound to recognize the old man as a threat, she realized that he was right.

With a shaky breath, she nodded.

"The treaty says nothing about intent," she said.

Kara stared up at Silver. He hadn't moved from his spot. He was still almost nude, his hands were raised in surrender, he was about a foot shorter than Kara was, and though his body was lined with wiry muscle, his body clearly held the fragility of age. She was the first to look away.

"Come on, Gareth. Let's go," she said, turning away from the old man completely.

Gareth looked up at her briefly, but when their eyes met, his head turned to face the ground.

Kara winced and started to walk, knowing that no further words would be shared between them.

---

Kara checked often to make sure that Gareth was still close by. Though he was diligent in following behind her, with how determined he seemed to not look at her, she couldn't help but assume that he would lose her. Eventually, she decided that turning around every few seconds was slowing down their pace to the point where she was afraid that they wouldn’t make it to the safe house, but the silence had lasted to long and had grown too thick for her to try and break it. The only thing she could do was to stomp loudly and hope that he would follow.

It took four hours for Kara and Gareth to descend the mountain and enter the dense forest below. Kara didn't take any breaks, though she did occasionally slow down so she could get a sense of whether they were headed the right direction. Though the position of the sun was a good way to know which direction to walk, she had been unsuccessful in finding the path they'd cleared on the way to the mission site.

As she walked, she swung a wooden rod in front of her to clear a path through the dense foliage. Though it was a useful tool, snapping most of the branches that hindered her path, it still left some branches in her path. She wished more than once for a machete, but knew she had been correct in not packing one. Saving herself from a few cuts wouldn't have been a good tradeoff for having to carry the heavy stone around.

The sun was beginning to set when she finally saw a large flag hanging on a tall pole that towered over the treeline. With barely any wind blowing on the warm summer evening, the flag fell limp and unmoving. It folded in on itself, making the symbol on it indiscernible, but there was no mistake as to what it was.

"We're almost there, Gareth," she said.

He made a small sound but didn’t look up at her.

Kara cut a path towards the flag. At the base of its flagpole, she saw a simple stone building with no windows and one door. On the door, a pair of overlapping rings was painted in black, the symbol of the Mediators, the same symbol that was painted on the flag above.

There were three large latches on the door. They did not have any locks, but did require some effort to open.

Kara grunted as she pulled open the latches. The door slid open easily after.

"Alright, Gareth," she said. "Get comfortable."

The boy walked past her, into the stone building. She followed after him, but went to the backpack that she discarded there before they left earlier in the day. From it, she took out a handful of dried jerky and a bag that contained a large amount of nuts. It wasn't pleasant, but it was more than enough to survive on.

"Just a few more days of this junk," she said, walking over to Gareth and offering a handful of nuts. "Here. Eat up."

When Gareth didn't look up at her, she sighed and put the food in her pockets.

There weren't many Soulblades in the Armoury that were younger than her with only Erin, Maldwyn, and now Gareth, being the youngest to leave for the Dead Zones. She had yet to go on a mission with Erin and Maldwyn, but they were friendly and upbeat kids. What would it look like if she brought Gareth back a husk of his former cheery self?

Many Soulblades started off young. No Soulblade could ever be unaware of death, but sometimes, if the traumatic event that unlocked their magic happened early enough, some Soulblades were still too young to fully understand that they themselves weren’t invincible and when they realized that they weren’t it could come as a shock.

While Kara knew that she could have acted on her responsibilities as Guardian with more tact, she couldn’t take it back.

"Gareth," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He winced and tried to pull away, but she kept a firm grip. Nobody had ever accused her of being timid.

Gareth whimpered something that might have sounded like, "Please don't kill me," but she pretended that she didn't hear it.

Pulling him into her body, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and placed her free hand on his head.

"Your hair's all dirty," she said, pulling out a small twig that had tangled itself within the mess that was his hair. She didn't know when, but it seemed like Gareth's hair tie had come loose sometime during their walk. "Did you pack another hair tie?"

Gareth still seemed frozen, and from the corner of her eye she noticed that his eyes were shining with a thin layer of moisture. She focused on his hair, pretending like she didn't notice, even though there was no way that he could tell exactly where she was looking.

Eventually Gareth nodded. Kara smiled at him, displaying her relief as best as she could. If he didn't want to talk, she wouldn't push him, but at least he acknowledged her.

"That's good," she said. "We wouldn't want your hair to get damaged. It's getting pretty long. I'm sure the outfitters would appreciate getting good quality hair when we get back home. You're growing so fast and I'm sure they'll be busy making you more clothes."

Gareth looked at her and mumbled something. It was too quiet to make out completely, but it certainly sounded like, "Sorry."

Kara smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "You know, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to grow my hair out like you. The urge never lasts more than a day, with how much trouble everyone seems to have with it, but it sure is relaxing to play with."

Gareth stayed silent as Kara continued to comb through his hair with her fingers, grabbing out solid objects and gently untangling knots whenever she found them.

"You hungry?" she asked.

Gareth nodded. "Yeah."

Still, with one hand running through Gareth's hair, she let go of his shoulders to pull out the food she had stowed away.

Gareth took it and started to eat.

Kara continued to run her fingers through Gareth's hair, long after she pulled out all the branches and leaves that littered his head. Though she knew that there wasn't much more she could do without a proper comb or soap, she hadn't been lying when she said that it was relaxing.

She didn't know how long she played with his hair, but she only realized that she had been in a trance when a stick of jerky was shoved in her face.

Kara blinked twice before looking at Gareth, who wasn’t faced completely away from her.

"Yes, Gareth?"

He shook the stick of jerky around.

"Are you full?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

Kara felt a smile grow on her face.

"We have more food, you know," she said. "You don't have to give up your food for me. But thank you."

It took Gareth a few seconds to react, but eventually he nodded and popped the jerky into his own mouth.

"You want more?" Kara asked.

He nodded. "Yes please."

Kara didn’t know if he would ever feel fully comfortable around her again, but she had done what she could.