Soon, the couple had taken up residence in the back of the wagon with the others. The wagon finally exited the forest and was back on the grassy plains and long roads.

Tallow had moved to the other side so that she sat next to Jon and Mercy.

The couple sat next to each other, their hands still intertwined.

“So…” Helia asked, “where are you from?”

“The desert,” Tallow spoke, her harsh tone flying over the heads of the couple.

“A farm,” Jonn said simply.

“East of the mountains,” Mercy said, “where you guys are going. That’s why we’re-”

“You live east of the clans!” Stewart exclaimed, sitting up with excitement. “With the Highlanders!”

“I don’t live…” Mercy’s disconcerting expression was suddenly replaced with curiosity. “You know where the Highlanders are from?”

“Yes-sir-rie!” Stewart said. “They were passing through my village once! Destroyed everything there was! Had to move way down west in order to find a new place!”

Mercy frowned. “Oh.”

“No worries!” Stewart said, “It was just an inconvenience on the way to finding my path to true happiness!”

“Wait,” Tallow interjected, “I thought the Highlanders were part of the clans.”

“...It’s complicated,” Mercy said.

“It is!” Stewart added. “Last time I heard, they were all dead! Shame they won’t be destroying any more villages, then.”

Jon saw Mercy’s frown.

Dead? Jon was puzzled. He hadn’t heard anything of the Highlanders being dead, let alone from Mercy.

Isn’t Junwata part of the Highlanders?

“...I’m sorry,” Jon said.

Mercy noticed Jon’s concern.

“Oh, no, Jon, it’s fine.” Mercy waved the thought away. “Those guys died years ago. I didn’t know any of them when they were alive regardless.”

“If they’re all dead, then why are you here?” Tallow asked.

Mercy sighed. “The Highlanders… are a particular group of people. People that… were very destructive in their endeavors.”

“What did they do?” Tallow asked. “I mean, I know they caused a lot of trouble, but, eh…”

“They were very good at destroying things,” Mercy said, a sense of embarrassment coming across in her tone. “They were often paid to take on bounties or to provide protection for large gatherings.”

“If they’re good at destroying things,” Tallow asked, “then why did they die out?”

“...Well, they were too good at destroying things,” Mercy explained. “Even when they were just out trying to have a good time, they caused a mess wherever they were. That, along with the fact that they always did their missions in large groups, meant that they bothered a lot of people, and eventually, no one wanted to hire them.”

“So they all starved to death?” Tallow replied.

“No!” Mercy sighed. “They… sort of fell apart. Started making deals and spreading their family out and whatnot, but they had a lot of enemies. So… they were picked off one by one. Now, whoever remains is nowhere to be found, or…”

Mercy made her signature look of shame to the floor. “They married into the clans, and disseminated among there.”

“...The Highlanders are or aren’t a clan?” Tallow repeated.

Mercy huffed. “My mom married into the Ninja clan. Because she was part of the mainline family, and because the Highlanders were trying to spread thin, the Ninja family took the name of the Highlanders, and now, it’s considered their namesake.”

“Say word!” Mallory turned back from his seat. “So the old Highlanders and the new Highlanders were married into one clan? My theory was correct!”

“They only worked together for a while,” Mercy replied to him, “but like I said, they were already spreading thin. They all disappeared while going out on missions, one by one, until…”

“Until they all died!” Stewart finished.

“...Yeah…”

Died? Did that mean…

“Your family is dead?” Jon asked.

“It’s fine.” Mercy perked up again. “I didn’t know any of them. Even though they worked together, they practically abandoned my mom since she married into the other clan. Other than fulfilling some marriage obligations, she didn’t mean much to them anymore. So, I’m quite fine with it.”

“Wait!” Hector stopped the carriage and turned around. “Are you telling me that you’re from two families with a target for assassins on your back?”

“I mean… one family now…” Mercy replied.

Hector groaned and tossed his head back.

“Hey, you almost married her,” Mallory said.

“I just…” Hector picked his head up and turned around with interest. “How was your mother abandoned if she was part of the main family? Especially if they were working together.”

“There’s more than one way to abandon someone,” Mercy explained. “Even if you haven’t completely disowned them.”

“And your mother?” Hector added.

“I already explained,” Mercy said. “Dead.”

“I meant, was she... With the others... ” Hector didn’t finish the question, returning his attention to the road.

“I can see the question marks moving all over your face,” Mallory said while staring at Tallow. “So, I’ll say this. The Highlanders were never a particularly big or well-liked family, and they were partially under control, but when they joined with the Ninja clan, the amount of controlled destruction they displayed over the land was nasty. Even if it was for a short time. That’s the incarnation of the family that all of the adults know and fear.”

“That was nearly twenty years ago,” Hector muttered. “And yet, they’re still afraid of them, when they’ve made no outwardly aggressive moves in years…”

“Outwardly…” Mallory added.

“Weren’t you all gung-ho about bringing me back home?” Mercy yelled to the front of the wagon.

“I didn’t know that!” Hector said, not even turning around for the retort. “I just knew you were from an important family that nobody liked, and that everyone wanted you gone- I mean home before you caused problems for them! I just…”

He sighed. “I just listened to everyone else without knowing. Sorry…”

“I didn’t mean to…” Mercy looked down with pity on her face as well.

Jon couldn’t help but feel bad for Mercy’s family. Even if she didn’t know them all, they could have maybe known her. In fact, even without her knowing, they probably knew each other. He couldn’t have ever imagined losing one of his siblings, or even his mother or father. The other members of the clan must had at least felt bad about that.

“...Are you part of the Highlander clan?” Helia asked Mercy, causing Tallow to throw out a large exasperated sigh.

“...Yes…” Mercy said. “I am…”

“Well, in that case,” Helia reached over and put her hand on Mercy’s shoulder.

“You can eventually have children of your own,” she said, “and expand the Highlander clan back to its former glory!”

“You know, women aren’t just an over for baking eggs and children,” Tallow said with her arms crossed.

“She didn’t mean it like that!” Mercy defended. “I just…. I understand… but I’m not in a place to have children. Right now or later. Or ever.”

“Never say never, my dear,” Helia said. “You have your whole life in front of you! Just one accident away from greatness!”

Tallow rolled her eyes. “Do you think about what you say before it leaves your mouth?”

Eventually, the wagon breached the forest this time. Another one, with identical trees to the last forest.

“Do you, like, just hate roads?” Tallow called out to Hector.

“No!” Hector cried. “This is the fastest, most direct way to mountains!”

“Plus, nobody likes to travel into the mountains,” Mallory added, “so there aren’t many roads there regardless.”

“There is one,” Mercy answered, “but if anyone was looking for me, that would be the road to do it on.”

“I never took you for being cautious,” Tallow said to Hector.

“I would have considered it,” Hector said, “but, now we definitely can’t with the extra cargo we have.”

“Are you carrying something special?” Stewart asked.

“You know,” Tallow responded, “things are a lot better when you aren’t talking.”

“You’re right!” Stewart nodded to his fiance. “I think I should sing a song!”

Stewart broke out into song and Tallow screamed into the air.

The wagon soon reached a second house. The sun was starting to set, making the sky a dark orange as opposed to a bright blue.

“Alright…’ Hector said, stopping the wagon. “We’ll camp here for the evening. I don’t wanna get caught out at night.”

“Shouldn’t we be traveling at night?” Tallow asked. “Won’t it be harder to see?”

“Uh… no.” Hector responded. He got out of his seat without explanation.

“What Hector means,” Mallory added, “is that his sister is very strict in that we only do traveling in the daytime. There might be fewer eyes on us at night, but that’s also the time most people would try to attack an isolated group regardless. It’s also marginally safer to fight in the daytime.”

“Last time we fought at night, you got hurt!” Hector called out right before he entered the building.

“I’ll shove this cast up your ass!” Tallow yelled back while standing up in the wagon.

“My, my, there’s no need to fight!” Helia said, grabbing onto Tallow’s leg. “Come on, let’s eat!”

“You’re hungry already?” Tallow asked. “We’ve barely done anything but sit down in the wagon all day!”

“Traveling makes us hungry,” Stewart responded. “And now, it’s time for a meal!”

They stumbled off of the wagon and jogged into the house.

Jon was surprised to see how similar this safehouse was to the first one. Asides from some choices, it was more or less the same building.”

“Do the King’s Gaurd spend all of their money on building houses?” Tallow asked as the rest of the group climbed out of the wagon.

“Hey, you gotta give Lana some credit,” Mallory said, “we barely have enough funding as it is.”

“You guys get funding for the King’s Guard, don’t you?” Tallow responded. “From… the King’s Guard.The King of the King’s Gaurd. Ya know?”

“Meh. Some charters more than others. The whole system’s kinda-”

“There’s no food!” Hector’s voice made its way out of the house. “No food! No cooking!”

“Let’s make sure Hector doesn’t murder anyone first,” Mallory said, “then I can explain the King’s Guard stuff.”

When they were all inside, Hector had calmed down and was ready to talk to them.

“We have to get food,” Hector said, “especially since we have more people. So someone has to go hunting.”

“I’ll go,” Mercy said. “I can hunt with you.”

“No way!” Tallow reached out in front of Mercy and stepped in front of her. “Me! Let me do it! Don’t leave me behind with these… incredibly nice people.”

“We don’t need that much food,” Hector said. “I can-”

“I volunteer!” Stewart raised his hand.

“I don’t think-”

“For the love of God, take him!” Tallow cried. “Take him!”

Hector scowled. “Then I have to watch him while I’m hunting.”

“No, really!” Stewart said, “I’ll-”

Hector grunted at him, making him stop. Jon was really starting to see the Lutherian side of him come out more.

“...Okay… I’ll just collect firewood instead…” Stewart said quietly as he crept past Hector to the door.

“Let me help!” Helia said, following after him.

“You don’t have to!” Mercy started to say. “We’re-”

“Let them be useful,” Tallow said, stopping her. “Really.”

The couple left the building, followed by Hector, who said unintelligible things under his breath as he did.

“...I’ll mediate. Maybe save some lives.” Mallory rushed out the door after.

“Right…” Tallow looked around. “Guess it’s just us in this house, then.”

She elbowed Mercy lightly. “You wanna spar?”

“I dunno,” Mercy said, focused on Tallow’s sling. “What about your arm?”

“It’s whatever,” Tallow cried, waving with her free arm. “I’m not worrying about hurting it more than we already have.”

“We also have to be worried about if someone attacks us,” Mercy said. “I’m getting a little worried right now just standing here.”

She wrapped herself in her arms, something Jon started equating to Mercy being in a vulnerable headspace.

“I guess I’m getting so close to home now, I’m starting to feel a little nervous about the clans,” Mercy explained. “I have no idea about what they’re up to at the moment.”

“Since when have you ever been scared about that?” Tallow asked.

“I’ve always been scared…” Mercy said, “I just never realized… I…”

Mercy went to the staircase and walked upstairs to the second story, out of view.

“Well… there goes that buzzkill,” Tallow quipped. “Jon, how about we do some… light training.”

“Sure,” Jon said.

So, outside they went. Tallow slowly moved through several unarmed attacks, seeing how Jon would react.

Jon moved his body out of the way of whatever direction he saw the attack coming. Being that Tallow was calmly going through the motions, he only had to do but so much to respond to her. But even at this speed, Jon could feel his instincts kicking in, his body wanting to avoid whatever hit came his way even if his brain hadn’t registered it yet. He had become more comfortable in maneuvering in a tight space to his opponent, and he even used his gun to knock away one of Tallow’s kicks when he saw it coming.

“You used it!” Tallow exclaimed in genuine excitement “Good job!”

“Thanks,” Jon said also genuine in his pride.

“Now, I’m gonna go a bit faster,” Tallow said, suddenly.

Wait.

All Jon could do was drop to the ground as Tallow made a roundhouse kick. Jon could feel the force of the leg push the wind over and brush against his scalp.

Close.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need to get used to one-handed attacks,” Tallow said.

Jon doubted that Tallow had to practice much at that. She already seemed to be doing so well. He was also learning how to assess the art of the understatement, so he had a feeling that he shouldn’t have heeded her so seriously in the first place anyway.

“Come on!” Tallow hopped back, getting ready to make another strike.

Jon still decided that he wanted to take Tallow a little serious with her training, so he stood back up with his gun ready/

“I’ll try not to hurt you too much,” Tallow said, “Not at all, actually. I’ll”

“Cheerio!” The nice greeting was enough to shake her from her stance.

“I was doing something!” Tallow turned and yelled at the couple, who were holding piles of firewood in their arms. From their positioning, it appeared that the couple had been watching them for some time.

“Oh, I see,” Stewart said. He and Helia sat down to watch, dropping their firewood in front of them.

Tallow rolled her eyes but returned her attention to Jon.

“Alright, Jon, let’s just-”

“If I may ask a question,” Stewart said, his chest rising up as he did.

“What?” Tallow asked, almost yelling.

“Where did you learn such technical ability?” he asked her.

“I-I,” Tallow stammered in her response, “what type of question is that?”

“A curious one!” Stewart exclaimed.

“A non-hypothetical!” Helia added.

Tallow scoffed.

“That’s not what I meant!” Jon only saw the mild annoyance in her voice. “You haven’t even seen me do anything yet!”

“But you must be strong!” Stewart continued. “You carry around your weapons with such bravado!”

“They’re easy to reach!” Tallow explained. “That’s not-”

“And you just look strong!” Helia added.

“Stop that!” Tallow crossed her arms and tried to appear angry. “Shut up! I’ll tell you!”

Stewart and Helia bounced eagerly in place for the story.

Jon was also intrigued. He assumed that she learned everything from Sabez.

“I’m an orphan,” Tallow said after some thought. “I don’t have any family. So that meant that I had to be super tough and stuff, or else all the other brats take your cookies from you, you know what I mean?”

“You liked cookies!” Helia asked. “I do too!”

“Not the point!” Tallow yelled. “Anyways, they were off assigning kids off to families and trying to figure out what we all wanted to do. I didn’t want to be anyone weak or do anything lame, so I followed the kids who were gonna be conscripted to military service.”

“Military at so young?” Helia asked.

“Pfft!” Tallow dismissed the concern. “Everyone’s in military service in one way or another. Anyways, I remember one of the officers coming close to me, and then he smelled horrible. Some odor. I don’t remember, so I told him he smelled bad.”

Jon didn’t think he could tell anyone if they smelled bad, even if they actually could.

“Oh, my!” Helia put her hand over her mouth. “Did you hurt his feelings?”

“Maybe,” Tallow shrugged. “It didn’t matter. From then, Sabez pulled me aside. Told me something like, ‘hi, I’m lonely and I live with my sister, would you like to have dinner, yadda yadda yadda. So, then I came, and after a while, he kept pulling me aside and training me, and then…”

Tallow threw her arms out. “There we go!”

“But how did you get strong?” Stewart asked. “Like, stronger than other people?”

“You can’t just measure…” Tallow sighed. “Okay. Every time I saw that there was someone tougher than me, I became tougher than them. Easy, right?”

She held up her hand, motioning to an invisible body.

“But then, they’re Sabez. He’s really strong, but then, he’s all like, ‘you don’t need to be tougher than your opponent if you’re smarter than your opponent, yadda yadda yadda.' So, he taught me to think outside of the box. I think.”

Tallow scratched her chin. “I still can’t do that. All in all, it’s still easier to punch people in the face.

“So, punching a lot of people in the face makes you stronger?” Stewart presented.

“Maybe…” Tallow turned to Jon. “You punch a lot of people in the face?”

Jon shook his head.

“You might have a point about that then,” Tallow admitted. “I suppose it’s like exercise. Do it enough, and you start to get better at it.”

“Do you think we could ever learn to be strong?” Stewart asked. “The road ahead is tough, and-”

Tallow grew a wicked grin on her face before he finished. “You don’t say?”

She kicked the ground near the couple, sending dirt in the air and scaring them into standing.

“Come on!” she said. “Stretches, now!”

“But-”

“I’m not gonna just let you punch me in the face for free!” Tallow yelled.”You’re gonna have to earn it! So, stretches, now!”

“You did ask for it,” Helia said to Stewart.

“But I suppose it was quite rhetorical-”

“Now!”

“How shall we stretch?” Stewart asked, raising his arms above his head in a panic.

Jon sat down cross-legged as he watched Tallow lead the couple through some stretches before forcing them to run laps around the house.

“You’re not gonna need any more horses after I’m done with you!” She cried with a large smile on her mouth.