Yuzuru bolted up from his bed of sand. It was dark. The sky was empty. They were surrounded by trees. His head hurt.

“Careful,” said Gweyn. “You fell off a couple of times and was dragged behind the horse for a few dozen yards.” She was sitting on a log feeding twigs into a campfire. There was a skinned rabbit skewered over the flames, one side blackened.

Yuzuru shook the sand from his hair and face. “Blah,” he said, opening his mouth to let more sand out.

“On your face," Gweyn added. "Did I mention that? You were dragged on your face, too.”

Yuzuru would’ve laughed if it wasn’t agony to do so. He tried speaking again. This time his voice came out in hoarse croaks. “Feels like Monday.”

Gweyn handed him a canteen of water and a small health potion. Yuzuru guzzled the potion before popping the canteen and emptying half of it in one breath. As he drank, his mind cleared enough for him to start remembering how he got here.

“You came back for me,” he said after handing the canteen back to Gweyn. “Thanks. Really.”

“It won’t be a habit,” said Gweyn. She took the rabbit off the fire and tore off a leg, the unburnt one. She handed the rest to Yuzuru. “I bet you’re wondering why I saved you.”

“Not really,” said Yuzuru. He bit into the rabbit. It was unseasoned and incredibly dry, not to mention charred. But as it turned out, near-death experiences had a tendency to make everything taste amazing. “I did say you were a hero deep down.”

“Har, har,” Gweyn said sarcastically. “I should’ve let the horse drag you for a few extra yards.” She polished off her drumstick and tossed the bone into the woods, then dusted her hands and went over to the pile of rags over by the end of the log. “Did Tom say anything to you before he died?”

“Who is Tom?”

“Uh… the boy you were so adamant I rescue as well? He was the reason you fell off the horse.”

Yuzuru stood up, his rabbit falling into the sand. “Is he alright?”

Gweyn picked at the pile of rags, revealing the pale face beneath. “He stopped breathing long before we reached the treeline,” she said.

The news came like a gut punch. Yuzuru sat down and placed his head in his hands. All that effort, endangering not just his life but Gweyn and Pekorin’s, was for nothing.

“Yuzuru.” The way Gweyn said his name made him look up. “I need to know if he said anything to you.”

“Something about warning the King,” he answered.

Gweyn waited, but when Yuzuru had nothing more, she went to the body.

Even though he didn’t want to, Yuzuru forced himself to go over and look.

Tom’s eyes were closed, though that might just be the swelling. His face and lips were blue. But strangely, he looked at peace otherwise.

“It was all a chaotic mess,” Yuzuru said. “I… I couldn’t face the kaiju. I wanted to run.”

“You were braver than most,” Gweyn said. “My br… Tom died knowing his body will rest in a place untouched by the Berserker. That’s more than anyone in that crater would ever have.” She reached down and started feeling behind the boy’s ears.

“Berserker?” Yuzuru asked.

“Yea. The thing you called a kaiju. I saw it.”

Yuzuru blood ran cold as he recalled the monster looming in the blood storm. It was so huge, and radiated such malice he did not imagine a world like Arcadia was capable of holding it.

“It drew me,” he said.

“Like… with a pencil?” Gweyn asked. She slipped out her dagger and began picking at an earlobe

"No, that thing..." Yuzuru rubbed his face hard. He could feel the health potion working its magic. The process was unpleasant but he couldn’t complain. He was lucky to be alive. “That thing,” he started again, only to sneeze out a glop of fresh blood from his nose. "Goddamn."

Gweyn held out a hand. “Pass me that empty bottle?”

Yuzuru looked down at the potion bottle by his feet. "Why do you need it?" he asked.

"Just give it."

Yuzuru threw it across the fire. Gweyn caught it with one hand. She was working her dagger at Tom’s other ear now. “Lucky,” she whistled. Then, setting the knife aside, she held her fist over the top of the bottle and dropped two tiny golden nuggets into it. They were smaller than rice grains and made a pretty jingle as they clattered around the glass bottom.

“Really,” said Yuzuru. “You just said he was going to rest in peace, and then… you go and do a Lara Croft on him.”

Gweyn plugged the bottle and tucked it into her cape. “Get cleaned up,” she told him. “It’s not safe here. I tried to mask our scent but it’ll only be a matter of time before we’re discovered.” She plucked a rag off the ground and tossed it to Yuzuru.

He almost didn't catch it. “We’re leaving?" he asked. "At night?”

“Unless you want to answer for your crimes,” Gweyn answered.

Yuzuru the blood off his face and trying not to think where the cloth he was holding had been. “Answer to who? Tom’s vengeful ghost wanting his stuff back?”

Gweyn was already kicking sand onto the campfire. She gave Yuzuru a withering look. “Just help me pack, wiseass.”

There wasn’t much to take. They had only what they carried since leaving Taiga, less now that Yuzuru had used up most of their medical supplies. He shouldered his ragged backpack and asked where the horse was.

“She’ll give our position away so I let her go,” Gweyn explained, adjusting the straps of her own backpack. “It’s fine. We’ll find another mount after we scale past the Corridor.” She started walking but Yuzuru pulled her back.

“I’m sorry. I think I’ve missed an episode. You said, Corridor?” He pointed towards the trees. “As in, the place only truly desperate people go? Your own words.”

Gweyn took his hand and redirected it in a slightly different direction. “That’s the only way back. The mountain path was completely destroyed. I know because I was nearly killed on it.”

Yuzuru blanched, remembering the monster’s immense attack. He looked behind them, almost expecting to see the horrific creature towering above them still.

It was gone, though. Nothing but stars remained.

“Taiga is probably in Bronzehaven already,” Gweyn said. “I wonder if she’s found somewhere to settle.” She turned and walked away, weaving between the trees on light steps.

Yuzuru jogged to keep up. He was still in a lot of pain so moved clumsily, having to balance comfort and speed.

They didn’t get very far before Gweyn signaled for them to stop. With her head cocked to one side, she listened.

Yuzuru waited for her to say something. When she didn’t, he asked her what was wrong.

“Oh no.” Gweyn turned suddenly and shoved at Yuzuru. “Go go go! She’s here! She’s-”

A shadow grazed past Yuzuru’s cheek, sinking into the tree behind him. He turned to look. Lodged deep into the bark was a shuriken, its pointed edges catching the moonlight.

A high-strung voice rang through the trees. “Not a step further, Gweyn, unless you want the next one sticking between your brows.”

Gweyn groaned.

From out of the bushes, a figure clad in silky white robes emerged. Her white hair shone like liquid silver and her face was covered with a wooden fox mask.

Yuzuru gasped. “Y-you! Hand!”

The masked girl stopped. She held two shurikens between the fingers of her left hand, her right resting on the twin swords at her waist. Her shoulders dropped ever so slightly as she said, “Well, I'll be damned.”

Gweyn let out a startled laugh. “What? Do… Do you know each other?”

Yuzuru grimaced. “Sort of. She walked in on me in the forest back in the slums. She saved me, but not before threatening me with her wakazashi that cuts through obsidian. Her words.”

“You remembered,” the masked girl said, sounding pleased. “But enough chitchat. You must stay away from that rogue. Her intentions are not as pure as she might’ve made it seem.”

“Will you. Just. Leave me alone?” Gweyn snapped. “Why do you know so much about me anyway, you creep? Who the hell are you?”

The girl’s mask did not betray her emotions, if she had any. “If it makes any difference, our meeting here is a coincidence.”

“As if!” Gweyn said, inching back towards Yuzuru. “Listen, that Berserker had nothing to do with us. Right, Yuzuru?”

Yuzuru nodded, even though he had no idea what these two were really talking about. “I uh, didn’t get a chance to properly thank you for your potions,” he said to the masked girl. “I don’t even know your name.”

The masked girl let out a sigh, which was a response Yuzuru didn’t expect. “I have to admit, finding you two together is a bit of a shock.” She raised her shurikens at Gweyn. “But it changes nothing. You have to come with me to Cold Castle, Gweyn. The fate of Arcadia depends on it.”

Gweyn bristled. “You have a lot of nerve insinuating I killed Tom.”

“No,” said the masked girl. “That’s not what I-”

Gweyn charged, flipping over the masked girl’s head. She drew her dagger, slicing down in a whirling arc.

Sparks flew as their weapons clashed. Gweyn leaped back then charged again, darting through shuriken fire, only to be held back by a wicked blade.

The masked girl’s katana was a slice of night. When she swung, her blade seemed to suck in the light and disappear from sight. Yuzuru felt the force of her cuts shaking the tree he was sheltering behind. He was reminded of the ferocity Sara had behind her kendo stick, but the masked girl’s swings were more graceful and calculated. And a lot more deadly.

"You were ready to fight from the start," Gweyn said accusatorily.

"So were you," the masked girl answered.

The two girls spun around each other like partners in a dance. But they had vastly different styles. Gweyn slipped in and out of the shadows, her blade catching the red of her eyes.

The masked girl stood her ground, matching Gweyn’s wings with minor adjustments of her own. Neither seemed to get the upper hand for a while, until the masked girl suddenly shifted stances. She held her sword to the side.

"Thousand-Year Cut!"

With a storm of silver and lightning, she severed through the trees around her.

Gweyn tumbled onto the ground, leaves falling off her. She didn't have a chance to get up before the katana was coming at her, only to stop inches from her neck.

“It’s over,” the masked girl said. "I don't want to-"

Gweyn took advantage of the masked girl’s mercy and tackled her. Then, with a cry of rage, she raised both hands around her dagger and struck at the girl’s chest.

Yuzuru charged out and threw himself at Gweyn, yelling, “Don’t!”

Light blew across the forest. Heat burst forth from Yuzuru’s chest. Through the flash, he saw Pekorin in front of him, her sword resting below Gweyn’s dagger.

Gweyn stepped back. “You!”

The masked girl got up. “Pekorin?”

Pekorin frowned.

Sheathing her katana, the masked girl took the wraith’s shoulders and turned her. She seemed at a loss for words, until she finally laughed. “This night just keeps on giving.”

Yuzuru stepped around the two to check on Gweyn. “You alright?” he asked, but she shoved past him and walked over to Pekorin, who was now kneeling in front of the masked girl.

“So everyone knows everyone?" Gweyn said. "Is that what’s happening?”

Pekorin took one of the masked girl’s hands and kissed it. “Thank you for everything,” she whispered. “It was a honor to know you.”

“Take care of him,” the masked girl replied. "Our friend here has a tendency to get himself into trouble." She retracted her hand, and Pekorin disappeared back into Yuzuru's chest.

“Okay, now I have to ask,” Yuzuru said. “Who exactly are you, miss?”

The masked girl wasn’t listening. Her head was tilted up to the sky, her hands clasped together in prayer. Finally, she said, “I was the one who named her, but that is not what you should be asking me." She turned to Yuzuru. "It is your companion’s truth that you need to know. What she has hidden from you may just change the course of both your futures.”

“Hey, wait a second.” Gweyn pushed past Yuzuru. “How can you possibly know anything about-”

“Tell him,” the masked girl cut in. “Or I will.”

“What’s going on?” Yuzuru demanded. “What is this truth? Gweyn? Someone tell me something!”

Gweyn grabbed hold of the masked girl’s robes and pulled her close.

“Gweyn,” Yuzuru said her name with a mixture of frustration and understanding. “I think I know what you’ve been hiding."

When no one said anything, he continued. "You don’t talk like an ordinary NPC, and you have knowledge of things that people in this world shouldn’t know, like… a pencil.”

Gweyn started to shake.

"Or a kaiju."

Wind whispered through the broken treetops.

“Are you a traveler, Gweyn?”

Slowly, finally, Gweyn turned around. Her eyes were dark red, like wine. Her grip on the masked girl loosened. “No,” she said. “I’m not a traveler.”

Yuzuru waited. A heavy wind picked up across the clearing, smelling of ash and sulfur. He felt the heat build up again as sunrise approached the horizon.

But Gweyn’s next words chilled him. “My mother was," she said. "And her name… was Honoka.”