PART II

Dust kicked into the air and swirled up into the sky, blocking all but the slightest light from the sun overhead. The wind fought back against every step that Kara took, pelting her with stones and dirt. In the distance, she could just barely make out the light of the lanterns that swung violently with each gust, the lanterns Wyn fastened to their base the first night they arrived. The force of the wind was beginning to make old injuries ache, from the throbbing in her ankle to the soreness in her back from keeping her arm raised to block her face.

Finally, she reached the long, sturdy tent, stepping past the first flaps and tying them down securely. One at a time, she untied her boots and emptied them of sand and pebbles before pulling them back on. She stopped by the dusty mirror to her left and attempted to brush away the dirt that made the pale shade of her hair dingy, but to no avail. It would be there until they left the wretched place the next day. With a final, gentle touch of her finger to the thin scar Kylinn left on her brow when she was sixteen, she opened the flaps to the expansive room ahead where everyone else was safely gathered.

"Surprise!" Mairi and Wyn cried. The former threw her arms into the air and squeezed Kara into a bone-crushing hug. Frowning, Kara peered over Mairi's shoulder to Leo, who sat on his knees with his hands gesturing to a tin pan filled with mud, sticks, and leaves.

"What's all this?" she asked.

Wyn laughed, resting an arm across her shoulders when Mairi pulled away to motion at the mud pie with her fiancé. "We made you a birthday cake!"

Ravus stepped out from behind a divider, tugging at the sleeves of his long, worn jacket and meeting Kara's eyes with a dry expression. "I did not encourage this."

"I didn't think so," she replied, wrestling a smile.

Mairi jumped back onto her feet and used a match to light a twig that poked straight out of the top of the dirt. Slowly, she carried it to where Kara stood and grinned over the tiny flame. "I hope twenty-three treats you better than all your other years."

"I doubt it," Kara retorted, but she gave in and blew the flame out anyway for the sake of her friends.

Mairi cheered and Wyn clapped three times as she danced away with the mud pie. Across the tent, Lisa whipped open the curtain that divided the main room and the cots.

"Will you all please shut up? Some of us had night duties."

"Sorry, Lis. We'll keep it quiet," Wyn replied with a sympathetic smile.

With that, she promptly drew the curtain. Wyn snickered, grumbling something to Leo. Ravus caught Kara's eye and wandered toward her place by the entrance. He, just like the rest of them, was powdered head to toe in the pale, sandy dirt that had been blowing around their grounds for weeks, kicked up by a never-ending windstorm along the southern coast of Lucis. Kylinn was convinced it was some kingly magic from Regis; the rest weren't so sure Regis would be directly involved from his hidey-hole under Insomnia's shimmering shell.

"They had to entertain themselves somehow," Ravus murmured, watching Mairi scoop out a glob of mud and hurl it at Leo. "I apologize if it was overwhelming after your trudge across the map."

Kara's lips twitched into a smile and she shook her head, sparing him a glance. "I found it cute. I'm honored they deemed it worthy of their smelly canteen water."

"They used what they could find." Ravus's teasing was short-lived. Quickly, he returned to business. "How far did you get?"

"The mountains," she answered, shifting her weight between her feet to ease her exhausted bones.

Ravus noticed much quicker than she thought he might, though he struggled to get the offer out. "Would you like to take a seat?" Caring for others now I see. "You look ready to collapse. I fear it might turn their moods sour and make it difficult to get this packed by dawn." Or not.

"That'd be nice, actually," Kara answered, grateful when he motioned for her to follow him to his "desk" that was set apart by a single wooden panel. He paused before the table, a silent invitation for her to sit on the stool behind it. She obliged. "Thanks. That's loads better."

"Of course," he replied stiffly. "You said you reached the mountains?"

"Yes." Kara eyed the crinkled, sandy map that was rolled out across the top of the flimsy fold-out table. If it couldn't be packed and carried on their person easily, it couldn't come with them to the field. She traced a rocky ridge with her fingers. "I was somewhere along here."

"And?"

"They're still out there."

Ravus sighed and his shoulders slumped ever so slightly. His eyes bored into the wooden panel that kept them separate from the others. "Dammit," he muttered irritably. His jaw worked at he thought. Kara filled the silence before he could forget the positives.

"But we still have their land and the magiteks can hold it safely until they give up. Imperial occupation won't end just because we have to head home."

Ravus's brow furrowed and he stared hard at the map. "We don't have to…"

"Ravus, no," Kara groaned, rubbing her face with her hands. "No. We've been out here for months with no progress. You've already canceled two returns. You absolutely cannot cancel a third." When Ravus didn't respond, she leaned forward and pressed her elbows to the desk, twisting her head lower to catch his eye. "Got that? You can't."

"And why not?" he asked, finally looking at her. "If we hold on just a bit longer, we could make it to Insomnia's—"

Kara shook her head. "But we can't. They're out there with their king's city at their backs constantly pumping resources into their camps. We don't have that privilege."

"If we return, we risk losing the land."

"If we don't, we risk starvation, disease, lost morale, exhaustion… The list goes on and on and on." Kara took a deep breath, trying to keep his attention without calling him flat-out-wrong. Ravus made an incredible leader in their efforts to establish control, but sometimes he forgot his pawns were really people. "We have the magitek soldiers here, so we're not leaving this place entirely unoccupied. Aloc and Verstael have produced much more powerful MTs since their first models. We should trust them for all the work they're putting in."

"And yet, if we do lose the land, it is I who will be blamed, not Aloc, Verstael, or their army of robots." Ravus crossed his arms as if to defend himself from any more of Kara's advice, deep in thought. She tried once more.

"You can obviously do whatever you want, but we ran out of everything well over a month ago," she reminded him. "And with this dust storm, I doubt there will be any land left to live off of." When he shot her an irritated glance, she stood and raised her hands. "That's what I leave you with. Do as you must, Commander."

With that, she flashed him a grin as she bowed and turned sharply on the dusty ground to head back out toward the entrance where the others still spoke amongst themselves in hushed voices. She untied her boots with the ease of someone who'd done it well over a hundred times, tapped the bottoms once more to free any remaining stubborn grains of sand, and placed them next to one another by all the others of those who were fast asleep. Their drooping, scuffed surfaces reminded her to ask for a new pair once she got home. If we ever get there.

"Headed to bed, Kara?" Mairi asked, crossing her arms. "It's so early!"

"Yes, well, I just trekked a dozen miles through a sandstorm and back, so I hope you understand that my feet are tired and my back is aching." Kara placed her hands on her hips and leaned back, laughing when several cracks came from her spine. "See? I'm exhausted."

"I think it's just the age," Leo teased. He stood and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close in a hug. "I'm just glad you're alive. Go get some rest."

Kara nodded against his shoulder, willing herself to keep her eyes open and not to doze off right then and there. "I'll try."

With that, she waved to Mairi and Wyn and stepped past the thick curtain the led to a dark room lined with uncomfortable, sandy cots. She raked her nails through her hair and gave it a good ruffle. Can't wait to have a shower. Slowly, she eased herself onto her cot, too tired to shake the sand off the blankets or her worn-out uniform. In fact, despite her worries about heading home and leaving Ravus to his own devices, she fell asleep the instant her head touched her sheets.

The snap of Kylinn's cot abruptly folding startled Kara out of her deep sleep in a split second. She jolted, but her muscles were still too tired to draw her upright or summon her weapon as they might've before. Lisa snorted, short her head of short blonde hair, and rubbed her dirt-caked hands over her face. Stuffed duffle bags lined the dirt floor and the sound of excited conversation drifted from the next room. Kara's spirits lifted immediately.

"We're actually going," she gushed in disbelief. Lisa nodded and continued folding up the thin sheets on the cots as Kylinn followed her to pack the cots. "I can't believe it."

"I'd pinch you, but you're already awake," Kylinn replied dryly. "I heard you begging him last night. Perhaps he finally understands that we're not just pawns in his little game of revenge."

Biting her chapped lips, Kara decided silence was better than attempting to respond. Kylinn and Ravus had separated years before, but the former was still bitter in all areas in which he was concerned, especially when it came to his and Kara's friendship. Kara guessed it came down to jealousy, but she couldn't help her circumstances. She knew him long before he withdrew from all warmth and that was all there was to it. Nothing to be angry over.

"What's the first thing you're going to do when you step foot in real moisture again?" Lisa teased, shooting Kylinn a smile.

Ky snorted. "Have a shower for god's sake. I've been sandy and itchy and crusty all over for months. There's not a thing a shower can't fix better than a cold, muddy stream."

"Me too," Lisa replied, laughing. "Although I can't wait to shove real food down my throat."

Kara pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail, rubbed at the shaved side of her head to release any sand that had been pressed to her scalp overnight, and got her own bedding together. "We may as well just burn this shit," she pointed out, tossing a folded blanket on top of Lisa's pile. "No one will want to use these."

"I'd be all for it if Ravus wouldn't throw a hissy fit," Kylinn scoffed, rolling her eyes until they met Kara's. "And you know he would. We'd miss our flight because of his hour-long lecture about conserving supplies."

Kara smiled, shaking her head. "If the Empire can throw soirees every night for Aldercapt, the wretched old raisin, then we can afford new sheets. It's not like they're luxurious amenities."

"Wretched old raisin," Lisa repeated under her breath with a snort.

Wyn startled them by throwing open the divider. "Good morning, ladies! Ride's almost here!" Lisa huffed and forced the stack of stinky old sheets into his arms. "Hey!"

"Take those to the front of the tent."

"I'm supposed to be bossing you around," he reminded her sourly, but he obeyed.

"Beta," Ky muttered, shaking her head and kicked down the last cot. "I don't know if they want these to come back or not."

"New guys are coming at some point anyway, right?" Kara asked. "At least for a few days? Someone's gotta make sure the new MTs stay put."

"I pity the fool that signed up for that duty," Lisa murmured.

Nodding, Kara slipped past to put her shoes on. Her things were already away, stuffed in a rounded duffle and tossed against the side of the tent. While she was crouched lacing her boots, Mairi dropped to her level and cocked her head to the side to catch Kara's eye, quirking one dark brow.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Packed your shit up so Ravus didn't pout at you."

Kara raised an eyebrow back. "Thank you?"

"Don't sound too grateful," her friend retorted. She was quickly distracted by Leo and sprung back up to her feet to chase him down.

By the time Kara stood, Ravus had stopped at her side, his face solemn and his hands clasped tightly behind his back. He'd grown an incredible amount over the years, filling out quite well alongside Wyn once they'd gotten a taste for true battle. All his studies paid off well, it seemed, as he'd led them to victory after victory. Wyn was always there as his support, playing devil's advocate and filling in the holes of his plans. Finally, they were all getting somewhere.

"Decided to set us free?" Kara teased, crossing her arms and watching Wyn stare up at the dusty sky. "It's about time."

Ravus was less than amused. "This isn't a joke, Kara. If Lucis decides to attack while we're gone, we will suffer the consequences."

"It isn't your fault that we've been here too long and that they should've sent the MTs weeks ago," she reminded him. Trying to lighten to mood, she rested an elbow on his shoulder.

Ravus shrugged her off and stepped to the side. The look he shot her was not a friendly one. "You seem to be forgetting that I'm your superior. You can't keep pretending we're still children, Kara. Respect and space are highly advised."

Her heart sank and her cheeks went red when he abruptly walked outside to stand beside Wyn. Thankfully, it didn't seem like anyone else noticed her change in demeanor. With her lips pressed together and embarrassment stifling her ability to breathe, she lifted her duffle bag and shot the tent a bitter long of farewell. You won't be missed.