"The Godfall, they call it," said Kris as his face gazed over the crackling embers of the campfire. "All folks living west of it know that it was once the home to an ancient race of godless mortals. What folks west of the Godfall name the place, nobody knows, because no single living thing has been known to cross it. It is a grand dessert, full of indescribably large creatures and beasts that could swallow a grown man whole."

Amber and the many members of the caravan sat, listening as the full spread of night descended above. John and several others had already given into slumber. Tobias had donned a pair of spectacles and was writing something in a tiny journal about the day's progress. Across the way, Mike was examining several packs of supplies.

"There's a village just lying to the east of the Godfall, the border between the river city and the Great Wastes, and the folks who live there are said to not surpass forty winters. It's as if a pestilence is carried westward on the sandy winds," Kris uttered, his eyes flaring as he related these unsavory details.

"Why they stay there is anybody's guess. Traders describe them as a somber clan of human folk. Quite possibly, they're the descendants of the ancient civilization that once called the Godfall home, and they stay in such a nasty place as part of some time-honored duty. But what could be worth guarding in that arid wasteland? Could it be treasure? A magical tome with the key to immortal life? Every adventurer who's attempted piercing that landscape has not come back alive. Those who are wiser and wish to keep their lives intact know to travel far south and skirt the edges of the Godfall to get to the Great Sea beyond. But with each passing day, the borders of the Godfall stretch wider and wider. If somebody doesn't go into the heart of that dessert and steal what dark essence empowers it, then maybe—in the far distant future—even these lands will be covered in arid blight."

Several folks murmured after the end of Kris' utterance.

John suddenly revealed that he wasn't as asleep as the others had assumed. "That is the most epic sample of balderdash I've had the poor fortune of being exposed to."

Several chuckles erupted around the cam[fire. Amber can't help but give a small laugh as well.

Kris munched on a last piece of meat and smirked at him. "That's because you don't know how to stretch your ears to something worth being awestruck about. I've been to the edge of the Godfall. It is not a pleasant place. I'm thankful to return home to the The Great Corridor on a yearly basis. There are things far west of here—at a grand distance from the Floating Paradise—that only wishes to consume the souls of a mortal wanderer."

"You speak as if there's nothing here worth being frightened about." John turned over where he was lying and squinted through the fire's aura. "Grand plumes of smoke coming from the inside of a forbidden mountain. Rumbling noises of living things in the deep. There is more lying in weight beneath the surface of our homelands than we would please ourselves to know."

"Then how is it you sleep at night, John?"

"You don't shut up long enough for me to find out, Krissy."

Several more chuckles.

Amber's lips curved slightly. She heard a voice from behind.

"They dramatize about travel because they've only done so little of it."

Amber turned and blinked at Tobias. "Huh?"

The elder paused in scribbling in his journal. "None of them have seen much of the world. Not really. I've traveled far more than all of these brazen boys combined, and even I don't find much worth sharing. The way I see it, you can't convey the glory of this vast world through words anymore than you can through gestures. Many folks have to truly see the diversity of the realms beyond the The Great Corridor for themselves. Those who've only barely pierced such immensity must make up for it with stories."

Amber smiled. "But stories can be fun." She loved them as a child, and she still do. It was what gave her the courage to fly in the first place.

"To give into imagination has an undeniable touch of childish excitement." Tobias nodded. "But once you've been everywhere—I mean truly been everywhere—exhaustion encompasses any and all enthusiasm."

"Wanna tell them that?" Amber motioned towards the group. "I think it'd burst their bubble."

"So long as they expect this world to surprise them, it makes them do their job better. Otherwise, they'd be exactly where I would wish to be."

"Where's that?"

"Home, child." Tobias gazed at her. "Some of us are sane, you know."

She didn't directly respond to that, her burning eyes gaze at the fire piercing the darkness of the camp.

Tobias didn't expect her to. He next said, "I imagine you need a secure place to retire for the evening."

She couldn't agree more. "Not a bad idea."

"You're welcome to stay by our fire. You helped build it, after all."

"What about your caravan?" Amber asked curiously. "Where will you be headed in the morning?"

"Oh, you needn't concern yourself with our journey," Tobias said. "Our proceedings would seem rather dull to your standards."

"You don't know who you're talking to." Amber smiled. "I live to improve dull things."

He squinted at her. His aged lips curved slightly. "Very well. If you're so inclined, we'll be picking up an hour before sunrise. If it doesn't interrupt your journey, we'll be heading due west towards Charles' town, Autumnvale."

"Heading west, huh?" Amber looked across the fire-lit camp.

She saw Wilford, the other smith, yawning, his body stretching in a less-than-graceful manner. He glanced aside at Amber, furrowed his brow, and immediately turned towards the wagons.

Amber took a breath and glanced at Tobias again. She spoke above the murmuring folks in the background. "I can totally do 'west.' Sounds nice."

The moon was bright, luminous, and pale. However, it still hadn't reached its full phase.

Amber took a deep breath. Sitting on a high branch several feet above the sleeping caravan of folks, she leaned back against the main trunk of the tree and ran a hand up to her Vision. She felt the glossy contours of the ruby flame just beneath the nape of her neck.

Wearing it like a necklace was a bizarre experience throughout her journey, but she found a sort of comfort in it. Amber remembered a certain Alchemist with a penchant for flowers wearing her Vision the same way. Above the heart.

Her ears twitched, as if expecting to hear a voice murmuring through the winds of the night at any moment. Silence reigned, solacing the brief spike in her heartbeat. She clenched and unclenched her jaw, as if still reeling from the bizarre act of having talked out loud to so many folks just an hour or two before.

Amber couldn't sleep. There was no point in pretending that she could. She had sped so much over the world that the rise and fall of the Sun had become just as inconsequential as all the other fine details of the landscape she blurred past.

In fact, if she could do away with slumber, she would. It served only to cramp her style. Not only that, but on the few occasions that she gave into sleep, all that awaited her was a realm of gray layers, the foreboding curtains of dreams.

And the nightmares that followed her here.

It was easy to pass the nocturnal, insomniac tedium when she was alone, when all she had to commune with were the stars. But here, in the wake of hearing so many folks talk and tell fantastic stories of the world, she could hardly sit still without wanting to take off and spin laps around the forest. If it were a chance meeting akin to this one that reminded Amber, deep down, that there was no way to shake the fact that she was a social person. The lovable Outrider of good ol' Mondstadt, and the person with a heart as big as any towards anybody.

Her westward flight had introduced her to solitude, and it wasn't so terrible a sensation as long as it was her only sensation.

So it was with undeniably relief that she detected a sign of life rustling beneath her. Amber craned her neck. In the shadows below, a figure was walking lightly through the underbush. There was the faintest glint of starlight reflecting off a thick, brown coat. It didn't take Amber long to figure out who owned the lithe limbs and petite body.

"You really shouldn't let them treat you like that," Amber said with a smirk.

The figure stopped dead in his tracks, followed by a sharp gasp. A pair of eyes reflected the moonlight like silver goggles below. "Do Outriders ever sleep?"

"Only when we feel like it." Amber blinked. She saw a thousand mid-afternoon snapshots from her past, and all of them laced with the hazy fog of a nap taken above the rooftops of a bright and happy home. The emerald hills and lazy breeze. The cliffs and golden sands overlooking the eastern ocean.

She blinked again, and everything was once more blissfully dark. "I haven't felt like it in a while. I'm too busy travelling. What about you?"

"What about me?" Mike's cracking voice stammered, unsure on how to answer.

"Are you taking a running start? You gotta have wings if you wanna fly off the mountain's edge."

"Wow," the young man grunted. "You Celestians are really full of it."

"Teyvatians," Amber corrected. "And I'd rather be full of it than be spilling out all over the place." She glanced down further from the branch. "Seriously. Isn't it a bit late for a stroll?"

"I was just returning to camp."

"Returning from what?"

"What do you think?"

"Ohhhhhh... Heheheh..." Amber blushed. "Guess I'm not the only one who was full of it."

"Whatever. I'm going back to camp..." He started walking away.

Amber yawned and leaned back on her branch. "I still think you shouldn't let them treat you like crud."

His boots spun in the dirt as his figure glanced up to face her. "Hey, this caravan depends on me! I only take their smack because if I left them, they'd all starve or dehydrate or even worse!"

She perked her brow at the sudden rant. "Seems like a rather selfless task you've got. Do they ever thank you?"

"Why do you care?" he glared, trying to pierce her eyes in the darkness.

Amber glanced aside. A sliver of moonlight glinted off her Vision. "Because, where I come from, loyalty is never something that goes unrewarded." It was an unconscious movement, gently touching the glowing gem. It reminded her of simpler times.

"Then what are you doing here, so far from home?"

For once, Amber was silent.

Mike sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. You were kind enough to give us fire. You don't need me griping..."

Golden eyes glint with amusement. "Heh. Who's griping?"

"I just..." Mike's shadow shifted. There was lasting rustle of leaves, and he murmured, "I've got friends back in Autumnvale, and they're really depending on this shipment we're making. It bugs me that we've taken so long to get back there. Tobias's not the expert guide that he used to be. Time is catching up on him. If this was a trip being made a year ago, we would have been back by now."

"It doesn't seem like he's gotten much help," Amber said. "He's got a hearty bunch of rowdy folks in his caravan, but they don't seem to put the muscle into it all."

Mike glanced away, not daring to look Amber in the eyes. "It's not that. These shipments... they only help Autumnvale for a short time."

"Help? Help with what?" It was gut feeling she had, and Amber had a feeling of something terrible. She denied that feeling once, and it costed her everything.

Mike didn't answer that. Instead, he glanced up and murmured, "You're a girl from the land of freedom. Is it true what they say about you being able to survive winter because there isn't any?"

"Technically, it's our patron God, Barbatos, that gifted us the blessings of gentle winds. And even then..." Amber sadly smiled, reminiscing on a certain librarian that once lectured her on this. "...There are harsh winters to remind us of old and dark times." She leaned her head aside, regretting that she did not cherish those boring moments she took for granted. Amber missed the scent of Cecilias and tea. "Why you ask?"

"Erm... No reason." Mike yawned, stretching his limbs. "Nnngh... Well. Gotta be up in two hours for breakfast. Don't want to make the other guys angry on top of being hungry before we pull out."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be delicious."

"What? I... You... Ugh!" Mike stomped off, fuming.

Amber chuckled. As the person wandered off, and she once again sat alone in the treetops, she found her smile fading away under a sudden cascade of shadows, as if all of the many miles behind her were bunching up onto her shoulders. The sheer weight drove her breath out in a long sigh, and she once again found her hand gently caressing the cold metal frame of the pendant around her neck. It was meant to be passionately warm, and yet there are times it felt cold to the touch.

The stars took their sweet time dying out.

"I don't really like her hovering around like this," John muttered as he marched along.

"She can totally hear you, John," Kris replied.

"Am I the only one bothered by a stranger flying over us like a winged valk?" John glanced back at the two dozen other folks marching with leather coats and bags full of heavy equipment.

It was morning time. The bright golden sun glittered down through the tree tops as the caravan wove their way down a mountainside clustered with forest. John in particular was pulling one of the wagons as he flared his nostrils in the spring air. "Just where does a person get of sportin' an outfit that bright anyways? Are all folks from the east so crazy looking?"

"Only the ones who make you look bad for trying to start a fire."

"Hey, shut up."

The caravan was awash in chuckling voices. Tobias wove in and out of the solid line of travelers. He carried very little on his body, so that he could easily reach the front or rear of the group in a blink in order to observe the trek's progress.

He walked with disinterest past John and the other chattering men, as he brushed past Mike, he gave the young person a side-glance. Mike, struggling to hold up barely half the weight of the other folks, sweated and winced visibly in the nonstop march. Upon the elder's glance, he did his best to hide any sign of buckling. Once Tobias trotted out of visual range, Mike let out a huge breath as his shoulders sagged.

Meanwhile, John was still rambling. "It's a bad sign, I'm telling you. Her presence here doesn't bode well. Remember that last time, two years ago, when we had a random traveler join our caravan? We got washed out by a flash flood!"

"This is an Outrider, John. The least of our concerns should be inclement weather."

"But what if she's cursed?! You see that golden necklace that she wears! Perhaps she pilfered that from a forsaken chamber of forbidden souls!"

"You know, I can—like—totally hear you, right?" Amber glide low enough for the caravan to see her smirk.

John briefly tripped, nearly being run over by his own wagon. Several folks around him chuckled as he blushed and glared at the red blur of Amber surfing the winds overhead.

Amber skimmed over the crowd, lifted up, and bounced from branch to branch as she grazed the roof of the forest. She paused on a particularly large tree, staring out at the landscape ahead of them. On the horizon was the large structure, still billowing from its gray mass with smoke. Below it, the mountains gave way to a rolling valley of lush green trees and shimmering blue streams.

The borders of Fontaine were as gorgeous as before, and her breath was still stolen by the sight.

Squinting, Amber got a decent survey of the terrain. Her gliders twitched upon seeing something. She glanced down and judged the direction that the caravan was heading. In a determined breath, she dove and flew among the line of marching folks.

"Hey, where's your boss?"

"Huh?" Mike could barely breathe, the weight being a burden on his lithe body.

Amber hovered alongside the blond man. "What's your deal, dude? It looks like you just ran a thousand miles."

"Never mind that. What do you wanna see Tobias for?" Mike wheezed out a question.

"Cuz, if you think you're exhausted now, just wait until this afternoon."

"I don't get it..."

"We're taking the long way to get to our destination."

"How would you know that? You're not from around here!"

"Let's just say that I've learned a thing or two about how the land works during my flight here."

"If you think you can convince him to take a detour, be my guest," Mike murmured. He pointed ahead with his head. "He's at the front of the caravan."

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Your permission." Amber gave a wink and was gone.

Mike sighed. He briefly stumbled on a tree root, bumping into Kris.

"Hey! Watch it, pipsqueak."

"Mmm... s-sorry..."

"I've been traveling these lands for as long as I've been able to run," Tobias said as he stood at the crest of a hill jutting just above the forest. "I was mapping the rivers below us before your parents were even born, I'm willing to bet." He turned and squinted at the Outrider. "Do you mean to tell me that there's a quicker path to Autumnvale that I've suddenly overlooked?"

"Lemme ask you this, old timer." Amber hovered above him at a branch. Her neck pendant glinted in the sunlight as she turned and pointed northwest. "If you were to cross that part of the river up there, just south of the rapids, would the land on the other side offer you a far quicker path to your destination?"

"If we could all fly like you, then certainly we would cross there," Tobias said with a nod.

His caravan was lingering down in the woods below them, waiting for this tiny conversation to run its course. "But folks like us must learn to take advantage of the few, meager opportunities this land allows us. There's a portion of the river a mile south that's shallow enough for us to cross. We've traversed that spot for decades."

"Right. I'm telling you right now." Amber gestured northwest once again. "There's a spot up there that'll take you to where you need to go faster."

"You mean to say that there's an even shallower spot to cross the river?"

"Something like that."

"And what if I take your word for it and it sets my caravan back? You've been quite helpful, traveler. But I hope you understand my reticence. You are, after all, still a stranger."

"Hey..." Amber touched down in front of him and flexed her gliders. "I give you my word. You can cross there. One way or another, I'm gonna get you to where you need to go by nightfall."

Some of the folks down below heard that utterance. They murmured and shifted nervously in their brown armor. Tobias squinted curiously at Amber. "By nightfall... You certainly are bold."

"I couldn't stand to look at myself in the mirror if I wasn't."

"I'm inclined to make my own judgments in this situation, ma'am," Tobias said while pacing about her. "But still, how am I to trust you? I've barely known you for a day. I can say the same for my entire caravan."

"Ask yourself this..." Amber smiled. "Has anything nearly as awesome as me stumbled upon your troupe in all your years of running the same, boring path?"

Tobias' expression was blank. "I fail to see how that pertains to anything, traveler."

"Trust me." She lifted up, winked, and darted towards the northern stretch of river. "If there's one thing I don't do, it's give up on loyalty."

"And since when were you loyalty to me or my caravan?"

"Since you turned out to be pretty cool guys!" She shouted from where she flew. "Now are you following me or what?"

Tobias took a deep breath. From behind him, John marched up.

"Sir, it's almost noon. Are we going to continue on the path?" He glanced over the elder's head to see Amber soaring northward. "Where is she headed, exactly?"

"I think we're about to find out." Tobias eventually murmured. He turned and marched downhill. "Gather the folks and tell them to follow my lead."

"We're going where she's going?!" John exclaimed. "Sir, she's a stranger! A crazy one to boot! Who knows what could have brought her this far from her homeland—"

"Conviction, John."

"Huh? What's that, boss?"

"Pay attention. You just may find out."

When Mike marched out of the treeline, he trotted directly into a cloud of grumbling voices and angry grunts. Blinking, he glanced up and lowered his brown hood down with a hand. He saw the entire front end of the caravan stalled at a deep stretch of rippling water.

Mike had hardly paid attention, but he suddenly realized that the caravan had met the river at a spot that they weren't accustomed to crossing. The brook indeed looked too terribly deep, stretching over thirty feet to the other side of the valley that led towards Autumnvale. What was more, he wasn't the only one who observed this.

"Look at this!" John growled, shaking an incredulous arm. "She led us to an impasse!"

"You've gotta be kidding me," added Kris blandly.

"Why did we follow this stranger anyway?" another man uttered.

"Tobias, was this your idea?"

"It's going to take hours to head south and find a passable spot!"

"By the Sun Goddess! We'll never make it to Autumnvale on time!"

"We were late enough as it was..."

Mike bit his lip. As a shadow blurred overhead, he gazed up into the sky.

In spite of everybody's griping, Amber was flying tranquil loops about the scene. She whistled to herself and scanned the location with calm, ruby eyes.

Tobias, in the meantime, was clearing his throat and marching up to the top of a smooth boulder beside the lake. Closer to the ears of Amber, he cast the caravan a tired glance and murmured to the winds, "Traveller, I do hope you have an explanation for this. My men have grown restless. I was not the only one to have put my trust in you, it seems."

"Oh ye of little faith..." Amber smirked. Stifling a giggle, she hovered directly above the deep river just south of churning rapids. "The best part is yet to come. When I give you the signal, you and your folks should go on ahead and cross."

"And just how do you expect us to do that?!" John barked, frowning viciously as several people behind him voiced their mutual disapproval. "Unless you've got a couple of sea folks stowed away in your saddlebag, I don't see how a single girl is gonna get us to the other side!"

"Well, it's a good thing I'm a single Outrider. Why would you need a whole squadron of me?" Amber remarked. "We're not trying to cross an ocean, now are we?"

"Uhhh..."

"What is she going on about?"

"Shhh!" Tobias hissed at his workers. He turned and gazed up at Amber once more. "We could surely use with some miraculous Teyvatian magic right about now."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Amber slipped her goggles over her eyes, magnifying a winking expression through the noonday light. "I'm awesome. Leave 'miraculous' for your early arrival in Autumnvale tonight!"

Mike did a double-take, not so much because of that statement but for the fact that he could have sworn the wink was aimed at him. He stood in the shadows of Kris in the others, watching nervously.

"Traveller, if you would care to explain yourself—" Tobias began.

Barbatos answered her prayers, as a burst of wind erupted beneath her. Amber was already flying high in the air. She lifted up in a backflip, let her glider-wings go limp, stalled, and plummeted straight back down.

As she fell earthward, she spun her body into a vicious corkscrew. At the last second, she pulled up, skimmed the waters, and lifted in a curved arch. Slowly at first, then faster and faster with each revolution, she spun a counter-clock-wise cyclone above the river.

The rest of the caravan gawked in shock, as if the gods answered their seldom prayers.

Her body soon became a crimson blur. Wind picked up, kicking the leather hoods and cowls off the delivery men trying their best to watch by riverside. Then, when the unnatural gales were just starting to become unbearable, the rippling noises of the river died out.

Upon a second glance, the folks realized—to their breathless amazement—that the brook had died out before them, and a moist but decidedly clean path had been formed across the body of water. They murmured in shock and looked up to see the cyclone building into a mesmerizing water spout. From the center of this tantalizing phenomenon, Amber's raspy voice shouted.

"Now! Move it! Move it! Move it!"

Tobias was already smiling. The wrinkles in his facial features smoothed as he spun and shouted at his cohorts. "You heard her, men! Make for the other side! Don't give her any longer to wear herself out!"

John and Kris exchanged surprised glances. When Tobias shouted a second time, they kicked dirt up and sprinted across the muddy expanse, dragging equipment with them. In quick order, all two dozen-plus folks ran one after the other until they were safely on the west side, and undeniably dry. Mike took up the rear, panting for fear that the river would close up on him at any second. He briefly stumbled, only to be helped by the guiding hand of Tobias. Both young and old folks were across, and they were greeted by a loud series of ecstatic cheers.

That was the signal that Amber needed, and she began slowing her spin of the cyclone. In a swift cascade, the crystal blue waters refilled the expanse, and the river gradually became whole once again.

"Whew! That was incredible!"

"Did you see that?! That's the gods miracle-work right there!"

"Hah! You heard her! 'Awesome' is the most appropriate word I've ever heard!"

"My stars! Autumnvale is just beyond the last ridge! We'll make record time!"

"Heheh!" Kris laughed loudly, slapping John in the side and grinning. "What do you say to that, ya cantering fool? How's that for an impasse?"

"Pfft... So?" John frowned at the others. "So she knows one really nifty trick."

Just as he uttered that, Amber finished her cyclonic flight. All of the last bits of water fell to the earth, all except for one. She donated it to John with a flyby, her wings blowing at his incredibly soaked mane.

"Whoops!" She chuckled as she darted once more into the air.

John blinked, drenched from head to toe. "Okay. So make that two tricks."

"Snkkkt-Hah hah hah hah!" Kris guffawed.

Several more folks rolled and bellowed with joy. One of the wagons nearly teetered over as the entire caravan shook with hilarity. Even Tobias managed a smirk as he patted John's soaked shoulder and trotted towards the front of the group to reform ranks.

In the meantime, Mike was blinking. Just as his lips started to curve, he looked up and saw Amber gliding low. Amber was glittering all over from a myriad of water droplets clinging to her red uniform and brown hair. She gave her hair a wild toss, flapped her glider-wings majestically in the sun, and soared towards the horizon to scout ahead of the group. As she flew over the tree tops, her toned legs stood out against the green haze of fluttering leaves.

Mike took a deep breath. As the caravan regrouped and resumed its unimpeded march west, he raised his hood over his head in time to shadow a slight blush to his cheeks.

"Have you seen a dragon before?" Kris asked excitedly.

"Well, I've seen two before, one as a child and recently before I left home, if that counts," Amber said as she glided over the marching caravan. "And along the way here, I could have sworn I saw some wicked awesome -looking Rifthounds." They were a rare sight in Mondstadt, only roaming the woods of the Wolvendom or the outskirts of Dragonspine. They were a real challenge! But nothing could stop an awesome Outrider like her.

The men murmured among themselves. A group of wagon-pulling men that had otherwise ignored Amber earlier was suddenly captivated by her presence. "Have you seen any mountains along your journey?" another one asked.

"Heh. Yeah." Amber folded her front limbs and rolled her eyes. "I've seen my fair share of mountains, alright. I even flew into one of them, poked my head around, and ran into a bunch of ugly quarry eels."

"Quarry eels?!"

"You mean to say you've chanced upon those creatures and actually survived?!"

"Pfft! She boasts!" John remarked with a smirk. "I've known several folks who've encountered monsters twice as ghastly and yet survived!"

"He's got a point!" Amber spun circles in the air, exclaiming, "Why, I'm willing to bet his mother has run into several giant eels. After all, he's here, isn't he?"

"Yeah, I—" John did a double-take. "Hey!"

The many jolly men around the scene laughed. Even Tobias and Mike had curved lips as Amber flew overhead, drawing in more of the chuckles.

"If you came from Mondstadt, then you must have encountered several mages," Kris spoke. "Is it true that non-Vision users can still use magic?"

"Better than true! I have a friend who was a mage before she got her Vision."

"You mean you actually knew mages?" Another man exclaimed. "As friends?"

Amber paused. Her crossed arms covered the glinting surface of her Vision. "A couple," she said, nodding. "Yeah."

"Even... Even the Gods of Celestia?" Kris's voice rose again, his eyes bright with curiosity. "Did you ever actually meet them?"

The blur of disappointed green eyes looked down upon her, the winds howl in anger and shock. No longer could the tune play a song of triumph or peace, but with somber wiles and solemn strings.

At that, any sign of Amber's smirk dissolved. She cleared her throat and glide ahead. "Yeah. Him- them too."

Fred's eyes glowed in wonder, not noticing the dark shadows of the setting sun wrap around the silent Outrider. "That must have been really incredible— To meet the gods at the Eternal Paradise in the sky..."

"Why's it so misty up ahead?" Amber ignored him, instead choosing to gesture at the smoggy weather hovering above a dense layer of treetops. The large structure was definitely closer, but the bleak atmosphere obstinately refused to reveal any details. "Outriders were trained to observe the weather; this isn't exactly natural." She sniffed the air and made a face. "Nor is it pleasant. Ick..."

Unlike the gentle breeze of her home, the smog ahead felt rather slimy. Thick, with a promise of darkness.

"This is the last hurdle," Tobias said, moving ahead of the caravan. "It always comes down to this as we approach Autumnvale." The elder turned and barked at the solid line of folks. "Keep together, everyone! The air here is thick with smog! Do not spread apart so far that you cannot see the one before or ahead of you. At every few intervals, I shall call out for roll. We are almost home, folks. Let us not let all our distance go to waste now."

Mike took a deep breath. Walking past him, Kris nudged the boyish kid.

"What, you scared, pipsqueak?" Kris playfully grinned.

Mike frowned. "Not at all!" He shifted the weight on his bag-shoulders and shuffled ahead. "I've marched over this path dozens of times!"

"Yeah..." John suppressed a snicker as he trudged along. "In your momma's womb, maybe."

A few folks chuckled. Mike rolled his eyes. Adjusting the hood over his golden hair, he glanced up at the foreboding mists, shuddered, and moved along.

The world had become a gray, misty tunnel for Mike, afforded depth solely from the echoes of caravan men walking ahead and behind him. He trudged along, his eyes glued to the mulch and muddied earth passing below. Every now and then, Tobias's voice would shout, and he and several other mans would bark back in answer. With everybody accounted for, the group proceeded to pierce the hazy forest, undaunted by the solemn shadows encompassing them more and more eerily.

When Amber's gliders fluttered above Mike, they positively gave him a start.

"How come you've always got your head hanging low?" Amber asked, landing beside him with a loud squelch of mud. Weirdly enough, the girl beside him did not seem to care.

Mike caught his breath, groaned, and spoke in a cracking voice, "Because if I lift it up too high, I might smack my nose into a branch on account of this fog."

"No, I don't mean just here." Amber walked alongside him. "As long as I've been flying around you guys, you're always looking down in the bridle."

Mike glared at her. "You've only been hanging with us for a day."

Amber smirked. "If there's anything I've learned about young boys: whatever you see them doing for a day pretty much sums up what they do their whole lives."

"You do realize that sounds horribly prejudiced," Mike grumbled.

"There you go again!"

"There I go doing what again?"

"You just don't talk like the other boys," Amber said, stifling a yawn as her gliders flicked lonesomely at the misty air. "They're all grunting and insulting each other. You, on the other hand, kind of sound like a bookworm."

"Where in the hay did you get that idea?"

"Mmmm... Experience." Amber smiled. "I knew a person once who used to talk all fancy science and stuff. Before she met me, she was surrounded by tons of other people like her, smart and knowledgeable, and she thought that just because she could carry her own and fit in, that all those strangers were somehow her friends. Uh uh. It turned out that life wasn't that simple." Amber dearly missed the scent of Sweet Flowers, but curbed that thought quickly. "It's hard talking to people who can't understand you, nor would care of your knowledge."

"I have no problem fitting in," Mike grunted, sweating as he struggled to keep the heavy equipment balanced on his spine. The air above them parted as their warm breaths briefly broke the fog. "If you should be worried about anybody making friends, it's you!"

"Oh ho ho really?" Amber remarked, looking humored.

"You're the only girl here!" Mike said. He cleared his throat and added, "When was the last time you were hanging out with so many guys instead of girls?"

"Hmmm..." Amber hovered, scratching her chin in thought.

"Well?"

"I'm trying to remember the last time that I threw up." Damn that confident smirk. Amber could always recount the smell of alcohol and perfume, knowing the snarky remarks that were about to arrive with it.

"Exactly!" Mike smiled victoriously, only to trip on a random tree root sticking out of the mists. He stumbled awkwardly. Amber leaned a hand in, but he practically batted it away. "I'm fine! Ahem—I can take care of myself! All men do! Just because I get bumped around a little by the others is no big deal! Guys like me know how to pick themselves back up!"

"Oh, I'm not about to question that," Amber shrugged. "It just seems like you're the only one dealing with crap while all the others are just shrugging it off their backs, and with less sweat too. Heheheh..."

"Grrr..." Mike's face grew red.

"Hey. Chillax. I'm only shooting the breeze. Forests are boring, especially forests that you can't see in."

"I'm just tired of everybody treating me like I'm a little child," Mike muttered, his eyes once again sweeping the ground. "This is exactly what I want to be doing in my life."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah really! Hmph..." Mike's nostrils flared. "I grew up with everybody around me telling me to do things that I didn't want to do. I didn't want them to boss me around. I don't care if the other men think I don't belong here with this caravan, I've got something to prove. After all, what matters in the end is that I'm loyal to myself. Even a crazy girl like you would agree with that."

Amber said nothing. Those joyous laughter echoing in her mind.

"Well?!"

"Loyalty isn't all that special when it's spent alone." Amber whispered in a quiet voice. The passion was gone. As the caravan and the world move forward, she stood still.

Mike blinked. He looked up curiously at Amber. Tobias gave another shout. The men responded, but something was off this time. Suddenly, the caravan was halted. Amber appeared equally surprised.

"What... What's going on?" Mike murmured.

Tobias came marching by. "John? John?!"

The line shifted nervously, turning about and exchanging worried glances.

"John! Say your name!" Tobias repeated, his aged face creased with worry.

"I heard him the last time!" Kris's voice spoke up from beyond a wall of fog. "That was nearly three minutes ago!"

"John?!"

"Hey, John!"

"Where are you, dude?"

"Everybody!" Tobias' voice rose above the crowd. "Stop speaking all at once! Let's not panic! I need order and—most of all—silence."

Mike was biting his lip nervously. He jolted at the sound of Amber whispering in his ear.

"I don't like this. I'm checking it out." The wind answered her call, and glided off into the misty woods surrounding them.

"Huh?!" Mike hissed, his voice briefly rising in pitch. "Are you crazy?! John just disappeared—"

"Shh!" Tobias frowned.

Mike scrunched down low, silent, his ears drooping. He gazed nervously around—as did every other person. The air was deathly still surrounding the caravan. In the distance, the gentle murmur of flowing water rippled, splashed, and was silent again.

Kris shuffled into view, his face pale. There was another stirring sound. He turned and looked towards Tobias. "Did... Did you just hear—"

Just then, a thick, serpentine neck full of orange scales burst its way out of the fog and tore through the caravan. Yelling bodies went tumbling every which way. Mike was knocked to the ground, the breath escaping his body in a muffled shriek. When he opened his wincing eyes, he froze, his gaze fixated on a glinting pair of sharp fangs flying straight for Tobias.

Mike flinched. He watched in horror as Tobias fell to his spine. The elder kicked and panted and struggled to kick away at the ravaging jaws of a reptilian snout bearing down on him.

"Everyone!" Mike shouted to the misty air, grimacing. "There's a giant monster attacking Tobias!"

No sooner was this uttered when the beast found itself being impaled by an interrupting red rocket.

"Hrggghhh!" Amber snarled. Mike saw her amber-gold eyes burning across the fog as she flung her fists around the creature's serpentine throat. "Not... Today...!"

The eel-like creature thrashed and hissed, trying in aggravated futility to toss Amber loose. Just then, three large shadows loomed just beyond the nearby trees.

"Look out!" Kris's voice shouted from the sea of collapsed men.

"I see 'em!" Amber violently twisted her glider wings and body. She flung the creature's neck around in time for its face to bear the impact of three more snouts identical to it. Four snake-like craniums collapsed against each other, filling the air with the sickly sound of rattling skulls. All four heads shook dizzily, then snarled after the Outrider. They lunged, one after another, snapping the air behind her darting tail with serrated jaws.

Its razor sharp teeth were laced with electro elements. A bad omen for her Pyro. As much as she relied on her Vision infused strength, her fists could only last against a beast that threatened to shock her to death. Still, Amber faced greater odds without her bow, and she got this far without it.

She won't fail again.

Amber soared towards the top of the trees, disappearing beyond the haze. All four snakes chased after her, rising up, revealing themselves to be anything but pythons. The four necks were attached to a hulking orange torso with a thrashing tail. Stomping over the caravan, the gigantic abomination leapt into the woods, where it disappeared into a hidden cacophony of growling noises, gnashing fangs, and snapping branches.

Mike—summoning a sane breath—sprinted over and helped a wincing Tobias back to his feet. "What... What is that thing?"

"Nnngh... a h-hydra," Tobias wheezed. "This smog is worse than I thought. To think it's blanketed our homeland for so long that monstrosities such as that have moved in..."

"What are we going to do?" Mike was panicking, his eyes hovering from the chaos of the caravan to the monster infested smog forests around them.

"What we came to do," Tobias said. "Deliver the equipment to Autumnvale and hope to stave off the smoke from the mountain a little longer."

"No, I mean about Amber!"

Tobias's lips curved ever so slightly. "My child, do you actually think that Outrider needs any help?"

Mike fidgeted. A red figure suddenly plummeted to the earth behind him. He and several folks spun gasping, watching.

"Aughh... Dang it.." Amber sat up, rubbing her posterior and mud-stained outfit. "I really REALLY hate landing on my butt."

Three giant snouts lunged at her from the mists.

"Waaugh!" She jumped up, hovered over their strikes, kicked the left one away, and grabbed hard onto the one on the right. "You!" She growled and wrestled its jaws shut. "You're the one! I can smell him on you!"

The hydra head merely hissed and jabbed its chin into her. She took the blow directly to her Vision.

"Daaaah!" She shrieked, and for the tiniest moment her voice took on an ethereal quality. She trembled, her body overwhelmed with a sudden dizziness. When she reopened her eyes, they were briefly red-on-yellow specks. A flickering twitch to her vision: the fire immediately flew to her lungs as she yelled and spun to face the hydra-head dead-on. Suddenly, the golden flame of her pendant glowed brightly, blinding the one cranium of the creature entirely.

The hydra's head winced, whimpered, and fell limply to the ground. As soon as it landed, Amber perched atop his crown. Her Vision no longer glowing, she planted both of her hooves tightly against the monster's eyelids.

The other three heads hovered around, hissed, and lunged down at her.

"Stop!" she shouted at them, frowning. Her hands squirmed against the one head's eyes with emphasis. "Or—I swear—I'll poke them out! You'll be spending the rest of your lives dragging around a blind brother! How much do you plan to eat with THAT kind of a handicap?"

The three skulls paused just inches from devouring her. They glared, several forked tongues darting in and out of their mouths. Lightning cracked and hissed. But never did Amber flinched, she only glared harder.

The men of the caravan slowly stood up. They gathered at a reasonable distance from this tense scene in the middle of the misty forest.

"They..." Mike thought aloud, his voice dull with shock. "They actually have thinking brains—?"

"Shhh!" Tobias uttered harshly. He stared patiently at what was unfolding.

"Now that I've got all of your attention..." Amber slapped her hand across the crown of the head beneath her. The creature groaned in response. She leaned down and growled, "Cough him up!" Her Vision flashed with promises of retribution otherwise.

The hydra-head snorted.

"I mean it! Do it now, before I get angry!"

There was a guttural hissing sound, then a gurgling noise. Opening its maw wide, the hydra-head coughed, sputtered, and spat up a tall figure covered in slime.

"Snnnkt-gaaaaah!" John rolled over, sputtering and panting for breath. He was covered from head to toe in green ooze and half-digested gunk. "Nnnngh—Jeeeez, I don't wanna be doing that again!"

"Yo! Dude!" Kris scampered over. So did several other folks. The air filled with murmuring voices as many of John's comrades gathered by his side.

Amber smirked proudly. "Whoah!" she rasped as the head hoisted up from underneath her. She hovered at an even level with the four skulls, staring the entirety of the creature down. Satisfied that it wasn't trying to move, she glanced down at Mike. "Hey! That stuff you're carrying! Got any meat left in it?"

Mike glanced at Amber, at the hydra, then at Amber again. "You can't be serious—"

"Hand it over!" Amber motioned, not humoring an argument. "Or else this thing is gonna keep nibbling on folks like us for the next month!"

Mike fidgeted. Reluctantly, he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a chunk of tanned red jerky. He tossed it up at Amber.

The Outrider grabbed the unsavory material. Rather then hold it any second longer, she immediately tossed it to the quartet of fangs in front of her.

All four heads snatched it at once, pulling it into stringy quarters. The hydras dined on the substance, gulped it down, and gave Amber on last glare before slowly turning around and marching off into the misty woods.

"You better not let me catch you trying to swallow anybody ever again!" Amber called after them, her glider-wings flapping hard as punctuation. "Or I'll tie your necks in a knot so tight, not even your mom could pull you loose!"

"Ummmghnng... Ugh..." John spat and moaned in the thundering exit of the wretched beast.

"Hey there, slugger," Kris uttered as he squatted beside the man. "Speak to us."

"I've seen the light, and it was disgusting." Spatting out ooze from his mouth, John grimaced.

Kris smirked, the tension letting free. "Well, at least you smell better than usual."

"Heh. Any chance you can toss me back?"

"Seriously, John, you smell like my older sister's garbage pale at the end of the month."

"Will you choke on a branch already, Kris?!" John grumbled, batting flies off of him as he marched along with the caravan.

Kris and several other men chuckled. "Awwww, come on, dude. We're glad that you haven't croaked and all. Just—seriously—did that monster have to put you in his nastiest stomach ever?"

"All I want to do..." John seethed with each step he took up the hilly incline. "...is get back home for the first time in weeks and take a nice long bath."

"A bath? Wouldn't that kill ya?"

"Nnngh..."

Laughter erupted ceremoniously. "Hah hah hah..."

The caravan folks marched onward, their faces alive with smiles and bright eyes. The group had just narrowly escaped death, and there was an undeniable spirit of enthusiasm hovering above them... literally.

Mike tilted his gaze up towards Amber's shadow. He was the only person who wasn't snickering at John's expense. Watching the Outrider dip up and down through the misty reaches of the forest, he momentarily cleared his throat.

That caught Amber's attention. Smirking, she coasted down until she was hovering just a few feet above the coltish man. "Yessss?"

Mike grumbled.

"What was that?" Amber raised a hand over her ear.

"Thank you, for saving John," Mike managed.

Amber blinked at that. "Funny."

"Hmm? How so?"

"I really didn't expect any of you guys to actually thank me for what I did." Amber winked. "Kind of breaks the surly, gruff exterior you're all working so hard to maintain."

"Meh." Mike gazed ahead. "It seems only polite. You've done so much for this caravan."

"Oh, is this a caravan? Jeez, I hadn't noticed?" Amber hung upside down and "backstroked" through the air beside him. "I've been too busy smacking around hydras to notice a group of adults bumbling to get a delivery done on their lonesome."

"Aaaaaand there you go," Mike sighed.

"There I go where?"

Mike smirked bitterly at Amber. "No matter how selfless or heroic you may be, one way or another you fall back to being a goofy, childish, self-centered braggart."

"Hey! Not true!" Amber's teeth showed. "I am SO not 'goofy!'"

"Don't you think you'll get in over your head at this rate?" Mike exclaimed. "Like, when was the last time you fought a Viperbeam?"

"Hydra." Electro ones at least.

"Whatever. When?"

"Mmmmm..." Amber flew upright and scratched her chin. "That was the first time, come to think of it."

"I knew it!" He smirked triumphally.

Amber resisted to snort. "Did you, now?"

"What you did was brave, yes," Mike nodded. "Daring, sure?"

"Dashing?"

"Don't push it."

Amber can't help but giggle.

"But you could have seriously hurt yourself!" Mike's face grew briefly long. "Who's to know if you try something that wild in the future and it ends up killing you?"

"Heh. I didn't know that you cared."

"I don't," Mike said with a frown. "But if there's anything that Tobias has taught me in all the months I've worked for him, it's that folks with nothing to lose have everything to give, even if it means themselves."

Amber raised an eyebrow. "Is that why a person like you is constantly sending himself on journeys so far from home?"

"And what about you?" Mike swiftly returned.

Amber merely bit her lip. At that moment, Tobias's voice called out from ahead of the group.

"Alas! Everybody, relax! For we have arrived..."

Amber hovered upwards. Before her and the caravan, the mists parted, revealing a jagged cleft in earth about half-a-mile wide. Built along the steep, upper cliffs of this large embankment, just south of the large smoky structure looming to the north, was an elaborate wooden village built upon a complex series of wooden platforms, lattices, and struts. Mills turned, water wheels spun from thin waterfalls, and smoke rose from multiple chimneys as the rustic brown dwelling hung like a hazy shadow against the mountainside. It was the first civilized hub of any sort that Amber had seen for weeks, and she was legitimately impressed.

"Autumnvale, dear boys," Tobias continued, then motioned with his hand as he walked up a long stretch of winding, wooden platforms towards the heart of town. "We are home."

I'm not sorry for the late update.

As a traveling journalist, I have nary the time to edit nor upload any of my hobbies. Luckily, I did spent the last six months on my trip writing a rough draft of over sixty thousand words. Since I returned last night, I had nothing to do but edit this chapter and go to sleep.

This chapter is dedicated to that one reader that reviewed my work. I heard from a friend that you still kept hope for an update. Sorry to disappoint you and my readers for a long while, but here it is. Also, expect the schedule to continue. At least until my next trip.

This chapter just establishes the relationship of Amber's new friends on her journey. And her subsequent change from a humble and outgoing Outrider to a bragging and lonely person running away from something.

UPDATES EVERY FRIDAY. FROM NOW ON ANYWAY.