Despite what she had seen in her terrifying dreams, it felt like this brand new day was going to be bereft of any activity with meaning. The door to the medicine house remained closed, save for the occasional doctor going to and fro, about his or her business. Sometimes they sported bowls filled with dirtied, tepid water, on one other time they had disposed of a stretch of linen that had been spotted with blood. The Maxwell Gang went along with the day as they had been accustomed to doing, but their thoughts always did not stray far from Jet's door.

Virginia had tried to block the thoughts of her nightmare and her worries of Jet from her mind. It was the only real way she could deal with them properly. She knew that her dream had been a personal fabrication, and untrue, for now, because Jet was still alive. She was confident that Shane would alert her the very minute that something went wrong. The brown-haired girl felt a deep sense of gratitude for the young Baskar priest, because his vigil over the one that Virginia loved saved her a great deal of worry and strength, so that she would be calm and rested for whenever Jet needed her the most. Virginia owed Shane a great deal of thanks.

If she stayed in the colony all she could do was wait. She didn't think that she could handle that. In the bright sunshine of the morning she tacked up her beautiful pale mare with bridle and saddle, hoping the fresh air and the quiet time would help to clear her head. The horse was grazing contentedly as Virginia gently adjusted the blanket underneath the leather saddle, serenely flicking an ear at a wayward insect that buzzed around her mane. Virginia petted the horse's neck thoughtfully, then placed both her hands onto the saddle, intending to mount her and set off.

"Um… excuse me? Miss Maxwell?" Said a voice from behind her, soft and timid, undeniably feminine. Virginia only had one foot in the stirrup when she was interrupted from what she was doing, so she let go of the horse's flank and turned around to greet whoever it was that was addressing her.

Jenny was fidgeting with her hands when Virginia looked upon her, staring at the ground at her feet. She had a bandage wrapped around her forehead, to keep the long cut across her face sterile. Most of her black hair seemed to be covering the wound through, which was good. If she chanced to develop a scar there, at least it would not normally be seen. It had been dark in the tunnels, so Virginia hadn't gotten a fair chance to look at her. She seemed particularly pretty, a child that a father like Leo would be proud of.

"It's Jenny, isn't it?" Virginia answered her, still with a hand upon the flank of her horse. "I remember you."

The girl nodded, abashed. "Yes, and you're one of the drifters that came to save me yesterday. Would it be alright if I had a word with you for a moment? Just for a little bit?" She pressed, looking hopeful.

Virginia had never been spoken to before with such meekness, or such a high regard. It felt strange to her, but it was also oddly interesting. She had always been the young one, the one who had to ask politely for any help. Now this girl was doing the same thing to her. "What's the matter?" She asked the Baskar girl. "Is something wrong?"

"Not particularly, but I…" Jenny noticed the lightly laden and tacked-up horse beside the older girl. She leant to the side a little and looked at it owlishly. The rest of her reply changed its shape. "…Are you going somewhere?"

The brown-haired girl nodded towards her waiting mount. "Just for a little bit of a walk, or a ride, whatever it is you'd call it. I need a bit of time to clear my head, and Stybba here could do with the exercise. She's starting to get all roly-poly from staying in this colony for so long." She smiled brightly. "I think everybody here is beginning to spoil her."

"Stybba…" Jenny echoed, reaching out a hand to the animal. "Can I pat her?"

"Sure, she won't bite." Virginia answered, stepping aside. Jenny obediently walked up to the horse's face and carefully patted the creature's nose, her stance suggesting that if the horse were to make the slightest sudden move, Jenny would already have run a considerable distance away. In the beginning the horse's ears were set forward rigidly, listening to every motion that the girl made, but when the animal came to the conclusion that the girl was not a threat to her, Stybba relaxed, her mind beginning to wander in the ways that a horse's mind usually does.

"Are you going into the highlands?" Said the Baskar girl, her initial meekness towards Virginia beginning to fade a little. She began to giggle when the white mare started to sniff her front, in the hopes that she had an apple or a carrot hidden in one of the pockets of her clothing. Jenny gently nudged the searching nose away.

In all actuality, Virginia had planned to run Stybba along at a gallop until she was a considerable distance away from the colony, perhaps towards the beach that ran closely to the edge of the Zenom mountains, where she would stay and spend a few hours looking over the distant sea of sand in reflection. It would be a perfect place to contemplate all that was to come. But now, the thought of being alone seemed unbearable to Virginia, even for a short amount of time. She searched within herself for a moment and then spoke. "Yeah, that's where I was thinking of going." She lied softly. "It must be nice and quiet up there, away from everything else."

Jenny looked up at her knowingly. She shook her head. "But it's not quiet up there, not in any real sense of the word. The mountains are bursting with life and activity, always moving, always with its own pulse and beat. I guess sometimes you won't hear things, but there'll always be life up there. Say!" She clapped her hands together in delight. "I know! Have you seen Serenitatis before?"

When Virginia first heard that name, it sounded like some kind of disease to her. Wait, wasn't it the name of a place far, far away? Jenny's bright and happy expression on her face made it seem like it was something else. Virginia folded her hands in expectation. "I'm not quite sure what that is." She admitted. "What is it? A place?"

"Yes, a very special place." Jenny conceded, looking in the general direction of the northern mountains. When night came, the mountains' shadow loomed over Baskar like a protecting veil. Perhaps there was something up there greater than just a mass of land? The Baskar girl brushed hair out of her eyes, revealing the long length of bandage that covered a strip of her face. It was pinned back with a safety pin. "Serenitatis is special. I go there whenever I need guidance in my life. It's a small mesa about halfway up the northern mountains." Jenny paused, then asked the question that had been sitting in the front of her mind. "…Would you like to see it?"

Virginia's brow furrowed slightly. It was obvious that her life was in an upheaval these days, but she had tried to keep that information under wraps. Did she really look that desperately in need of advice? No, perhaps she was looking into Jenny's actions far too deeply. The girl merely wanted to repay her for her help in the tunnels, for the hand she had played in her rescue. And she knew, she was in dire need. The fact that she wanted to ride for hours and then cry all alone on an abandoned beach somewhere was proof of that.

The young Baskar girl seemed to be an empathetic person at heart. Maybe that was what endeared her to people, and possibly brought within Jet the conviction to save her life. What did she have to lose? Besides, Serenitatis sounded like an interesting place to visit.

"Can you ride a horse?" Virginia asked, needing that information first.

Jenny's answer was simple. "Any Baskar can ride a horse."

"Good. Then show me what this Serenitatis place is all about."

xxx

Double mounted, Virginia's white mare easily trotted up the rising foundation of the mesas above the colony, taking a small scenic path that Jenny had pointed out, leading towards the lower, sensible plateaus. The air was fresher up there, more wild, more free. Virginia held the reins casually and felt the touch of the wind upon her cheek, a caress that was definitely welcomed. She could see the colony far below her horse's moving hooves, a small scattering of tents and more solid foundations, but they looked so far away now, appearing to be the size of a collection of little doll houses. Her problems were down there as well, but they too seemed oddly, guiltily distant.

Jet was down there somewhere, in one of those tiny doll houses, suffering. Dying. A look of pain flitted across Virginia's face for a moment and then was gone. Thinking about that now, especially when she was attempting to take her mind off things was a self destructive path. He would suffer the exact same amount whether she tortured herself over it or not. Virginia ripped her gaze and thoughts from the sight of the colony below her, trying to get away from the negative thoughts that it held. As she did this, she took note of a small little bird alighting on a tree just ahead of her, its light blue feathers a contrast to the faded green leaves around it.

A migratory bird of the wastelands. So tiny, and yet, so free. Virginia gently pulled on the reins of her mount, easing the horse to a stop. The horse did as it was told, snorting slightly. That bird, it was what Virginia had modeled her life on, the urge and the desire to be free. She watched the animal preen happily and then chirp out a small semblance of a song. Jenny looked over Virginia's shoulder, wondering why they had stopped moving. "What is it?" The girl asked, peering around. "Is there something on the road?"

She was a drifter, as free as a bird. But like Jet she had found herself tied down to something material, something holding her in stasis. It was not something as solid as the stable environment had been to Jet, but it had been Jet himself who had frozen her own personal wandering. It would not be too farfetched a notion for Virginia to say that her life now revolved around Jet and his illness. The number one unspoken rule of drifting stated that a drifter must never form immobilizing bonds to another, unless that person was willing to go along with the drifter's flow of transience. Jet had been a willing soul, that is, until he started to die.

What was she to do now? Anyone who was too wounded, too grounded, you had to leave them behind. Otherwise, you would end up just as grounded and as lost as they were. Jet had fallen, had his wings broken, was Virginia willing to experience the same just to stay close to him? Did Jet mean that much to her that Virginia was loosening her grip on the ideals that she held at the very core of her being? It seemed like it.

"Miss Maxwell? Why did we stop?" Jenny asked from behind her, letting go of Virginia's waist. The drifter leader blinked once, snapping out of her reverie at the same moment as the small bird took flight again, flapping its little wings hard enough to launch itself into the sky. It was gone.

"Huh?" Virginia grunted softly before getting her mind back into proper order. She turned her head a little so that she could see Jenny slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry. A thought kind of grabbed ahold of me and I forgot to think about anything else. Let's go on, shall we?" Making a slight clicking noise in the corner of her mouth, Virginia gently nudged her horse in the side and prompted it to continue onwards, along the track.

Jenny grabbed Virginia's waist again, not wanting to fall off. She was unused to riding a horse wearing a saddle and a bridle, because Baskar were noted for their skill at bareback riding. Jenny hadn't done much of either, bare or otherwise, but she did notice how much more comfortable the saddle seemed to make the ride, though it felt a little odd beneath her legs. It helped that the saddle elevated her from the horse's bony spine, which would dig painfully into her crotch or inner thighs if she rode bareback for any longer than ten minutes. "What were you thinking about?" She asked, leaning forward a little, curious.

"I'll tell you about it once we get to the mesa you were talking about." Virginia replied after a slight pause, looking this way and that to see if she could spot where this curving path was taking them. She hoped that it wasn't too far away, and that they would have enough time to look around the area and chat, while getting back to the colony by about mid afternoon. Maybe the doctors would allow Jet to have visitors by then.

"Okay." Jenny agreed, smiling. "And I will tell you what I wished to speak to you about before. As for Serenitatis, it's probably another hours' trot until the mesa. If your horse starts to get thirsty, I think there's a little stream along the way. You can't miss it, it has eroded a great section of the earth away."

"It must rain a lot up there, then." Virginia guessed, figuring that the huge earth formations must act like a huge wall between the northern peninsula and the rest of Midland, locking the dry weather in and the damp weather out. Not only would the view from the very top be a spectacular sight to see, but it would be like standing on the battlements of a gigantic fortified keep, under siege by the elements themselves. The top was too far away however, but the place that Jenny was leading them to would be just fine.

For the next hour they rode in amused silence. The scenery was enough to pique their interest and keep them entertained, for even as they slowly twisted up and crested each small rise in the mountainous plains, the flora and fauna began to decrease in number. Whatever small examples of plant or animal life were beautiful and fuller in that elevated place, Virginia spotting on one brief occasion a family of small deer, a doe and her two little children. They were probably making their way towards the stream as well. The two girls ducked in their saddle as the horse wandered beneath a bottle brush tree that leant out onto the pathway, its bright golden blooms and waxy green leaves humming with the activity of hundreds of honey bees. They were creating the first lot of wild honey for the season.

When they reached the tiny sloping riverbed the stream seemed to be more than half dried up, but there still just enough water left for Virginia's thirsty mare to stick her nose into the cool refreshing water and take a drink. The liquid was as clear as crystal, practically undisturbed. The girls could see small, egg-shaped pebbles scattered along the bottom of the riverbed, formed into those shapes during times when the stream had been larger and much rougher.

They could no longer see Baskar colony on the stretch of flatlands far below the hills. Jenny's path had taken them inwards to the plains, as well as upwards. As Virginia guided her mount away from the stream, tugging persistently on the reins when it seemed like the horse was going to put its head down and graze, she wondered if anybody else lived up here, in the wilderness. The path they were on looked old and beaten, well used. Who else traveled this way?

The horse could nibble on grass later on, once they got to their destination. The next half hour went by rather uneventfully, except for one small instance in which Virginia could have sworn that she saw a mountain lion slinking by in the undergrowth, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to rise uncomfortably. She kept one hand on the embroidered surface of one of her holsters until the prickly feeling went away.

Jenny was right. There was an incredible amount of life up here in the mountains. Not monsters, the creatures that existed far below on the level playing field of life, but animals and plants, innocent creatures, spirits of life. The entire northern mountains, they almost felt… sacred.

The young Baskar girl lithely slipped off the white horse and ran forward a little, climbing the next mesa slope. There was a longer, less steep path a little further ahead, one that would be easier for Stybba to climb across. Jenny let out a little cry of delight. "We're here!" She called, standing on earth that was higher than Virginia could see over, from her vantage point. "Oh my! It's just as I remember it!"

"Jenny, what does Serenitatis mean?" Virginia asked, navigating her mount up the slope, watching the younger girl's long black hair sway in the breeze. She was surveying something with infinite delight.

She turned around and smiled modestly. "Serenitatis got its name from my great many times grandmother, who discovered this place a very long time ago. Its location is known only to my family. Not even the Elder of Baskar knows about it, but I guess if Papa becomes the next Chieftain, they will. It's named after a place of utter calmness, meaning sea of serenity. It's where I go when I need an answer." The calmness left her voice and now she just looked excited. "Come and see!"

Virginia hopped off the horse herself and led it the rest of the way by hand. She was greeted by the amazing, unbearable blue sky, the clouds above like puffs of the purest dairy cream. The place was like a huge balcony attached to the side of the larger mountains, overlooking the whole of Midland. She could literally see for miles and miles around.

The environment almost seemed to be enhanced by a magical power. It was like a veil had constantly been laid across of all of Virginia's vision, and only now, when she stood upon this hallowed place, it had fallen away to reveal real colours, real atmosphere, real life.

The entire ground beneath her was moving. Serenitatis was a field of grass stalks swaying in the wind, long thin stems with a silky white puff of cotton-like down upon the tips. There were thousands of them, all moving to their rhythm and beat, the songs of the wind. In the middle of the mesa the grass was bright green and normal, perfect for a small group of people to sit down on without their noses being tickled by the puffs of white grass. A large monolith was stood in the very epicenter, ancient and mossy, wreathed in an aura of mystery.

"It's so… beautiful…" Virginia breathed, making her way through the field of grass stalks and absent-mindedly leading her horse behind her. She was glad that she was wearing stocking underneath her dress, otherwise the grass would have tickled her almost to death. She let go of Stybba and the mare calmly made her way towards the shorter, sweeter grass, grazing upon it with gratitude.

"You should see it at night." Jenny stated eagerly. "Then its really beautiful! One day I hope to bring my betrothed up here, sometime during the full moon." She clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily.

"Your betrothed?" Virginia asked, looking towards her younger friend. She only looked to be no more than thirteen years old, and she was pretty, mind you, but not old enough to be considering something like marriage.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You are not of Baskar blood, are you? Sorry." The dark-haired girl smiled, embarrassed. "When you're a girl in the Baskar tribe, you are married off as soon as you come of age. Boys go through the coming of age ceremony when they're eighteen years old, but for girls, we don't have to wait as long. It happens to us when we're thirteen. I turned thirteen two weeks ago, and to be truthful, the reason Papa came back to Baskar was for me to go through my coming of age ceremony. Do you find it… strange?" Jenny pressed, looking upon Virginia, her eyes searching.

"Well, yeah. I admit that it is kind of strange to me." Confessed the drifter, lightly rubbing the back of her neck. She had been taken care of very well throughout her life, as the daughter of Werner Maxwell, but after she had turned eighteen, she had been free to do what she chose. The idea of being set free at such a tender age appeared quite daunting to her, especially if Jenny was to still be tied down to the actions of her father afterwards. It seemed to be like a false freedom. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" She added.

"Partly." Came the quiet answer. Jenny took a seat upon the grassy ground and motioned for Virginia to do the same. Sitting down in front of the monolith felt a little disconcerting to the girl, it gave her the feeling that she was being watched. The Baskar girl began to explain her woes. "I've always known that when the time came, Papa would decide who my life's partner would be by himself, just as my mother's father did for her. I've always been alright with that, because I trust my Papa's judgement. I think that's the ultimate form of trust, next to trusting another with your life. In a way I am trusting him with my life."

"Is it scary for you?"

"Not at all." Jenny shook her head, and then looked up at Virginia again, from when she had previously been talking and twirling a severed stalk of grass between two fingers. "Miss Maxwell-"

"Virginia." She interrupted.

Jenny acknowledged that with a slight twitch of the corner of her mouth. "…Virginia. I don't believe in love at first sight. I don't believe in it at all. Love is not a solid unyielding thing like a rock, unchangeable, there or not. Love is like a seedling, tiny in the beginning, but it grows larger and stronger as it is taken care of and nurtured. That's why I never minded an arranged marriage, because whomever my Papa would choose for me, I felt that love would grow like seed planted in fertile earth. But now, something has changed and I am unhappy."

Virginia had a small inkling on where this was going. She already partly understood. "You've fallen in love outside of your own free will. Is that what you're saying? Now you feel that you'll be unhappy no matter who you father picks for you, because you won't be able to stop thinking about the other person?"

"Yes." Jenny squeaked sadly, "And I feel terrible for it. So very terrible… because…"

The brown-haired girl gently reached out and took hold of the younger girl's hand, which had been resting half curled in her lap. Jenny looked at Virginia in confusion. There was nothing but kindness written on Virginia's face. "Because it's Jet, isn't it? You've fallen in love with Jet, haven't you?" The girl started to pull away from Virginia now, but she held on firmly, resolutely.

"It's true. I love Jet." The Baskar girl sighed, defeated. "I'm sorry. He saved my life. I can't help but feel this way for him."

Letting go, Virginia leant back and placed both her hands on the ground behind her, lifting her head back to look at the sky. She didn't seem to be upset, just peaceful and meditative. After almost a minute's worth of silence, she spoke. "I'm not mad at you." She said, surprising the younger girl. "You feel bad about this, bad enough that you had to come talk to me. I'm sure you wouldn't do anything to pull me away from him. This has gotta be tough for you, knowing that Jet is dying. I certainly know how that feels."

"It is tough." Jenny emphasized, bringing a hand to her face. "It's just so awful…" A muffled sob escaped her, the girl beginning to cry. Without really thinking too hard, Virginia got up onto her knees and hugged the crying girl, trying to calm her down. Jenny was just like herself, somebody in the midst of despair because of the suffering of another. She liked Jenny very much as well and hated the idea that her own sadness was being emulated in the heart of somebody younger than her and not hardened to the cruelties of life. She had to be strong now, not just for Jet, but for Jenny as well.

"I know…" Virginia whispered, patting her friend on the back. "Trust me, I know."

She hugged the crying girl until she was silent, and felt, somewhere deep down inside her soul, that she was hugging a younger and weaker version of herself.

It put a lot of everything into perspective.

xxx

When they got back to Baskar Colony, both girls felt exceedingly drained, both physically and mentally. But a bond had formed between them, as two people, sisters, perhaps, who understood the pain of the other. It was a large burden off each other's minds. Serenitatis had blessed upon them both a clarity of mind. The tears, the nightmares, the thought of Jet alone in his deathbed, they were necessary evils in order for Virginia's mind to view the worst parts of reality and then recover. As they rode into the colony again, Virginia stole a look at the northern mountains above them, thinking on that place of hurtful peace and how it had helped her mind, and unburdened Jenny's conscience.

She spotted Clive and Gallows standing outside of the medicine house, where Jet was being treated. Without a heartbeat of indecision, she changed her direction and rode Stybba up to her two friends, getting a slight tingle of unpleasantness running down her spine. They were both talking to Shane, who was standing outside of the door.

Jenny tilted her face forward so that her forehead was resting upon the small of Virginia's back. She had been crying steadily for a long time now, not as badly as before, but still her eyes were a little red and sore. "What's going on?" She whispered.

Virginia answered as she dismounted her horse, unsure of whether she should be pleased or on edge. "I'm not sure. Wait here while I take a look. Shane!" She raised a hand and ran towards the others, lightly elbowing Clive away. "Are we allowed now? Can we see Jet?" She dared to ask.

The youth turned to her and sighed in relief. "Thank the Guardians you have returned! I have been trying to keep these two outside for close to an hour now, because I promised that you'd all have to be here at all once in order for you to go and see him. He wants to see all of you."

The drifter leader gasped and covered her mouth with a white-gloved hand. "Jet! Is he alright? How is he?"

"Well, he is conscious and coherent, so that's good." Shane smiled, looking a little pleased. But Virginia had the weirdest sensation of knowing that Shane was smiling with his mouth only. "He's actually been awake for awhile now, but we had to give him his treatments and explain to him…" He searched for a softer word to use. "…His condition. Jet's so stubborn, he tried to break the arm of a doctor who gave him his first sedative."

Virginia's laugh sounded a little more hysterical than she wanted it to be. She was just so relieved. "That sounds like Jet all right!" She cried.

Shane looked at her almost piteously. "But there's a few things you need to know about him, first. He's lost a great deal of hearing in one of his ears and his circulation is not too good at the moment. As such, he has trouble standing and walking. Please make sure he stays in bed, all right?"

Adjusting his glasses, Clive nodded grimly. "I shall make sure he does."

"Thank you." Shane replied, bowing a little. He was grateful for that. "Also, don't startle him. His heart is extremely fragile. Other than that… he is Jet, as you all may remember him. You may go see him now." As the three members of the Maxwell Gang moved towards the door at exactly the same time, instead of moving away obligingly, Shane stuck both his arms out and remained wedged into the doorway, obstinately staying there.

"Hey, Shane! What gives?" Gallows asked, wondering if he should remove Shane by force or not. He had been out here for a whole hour now, just waiting. He wanted to go in, now that Virginia was there with him. He didn't want to start by getting ticked off at his younger sibling.

"I'm sorry." Shane continued from his place in the doorframe, lowering his arms. "Jet does want to talk to all of you, but he's asked that you'd come and see him one at a time. Otherwise, you might overcrowd him. Do you understand?"

The way Shane said the word 'understand' was like a beacon of black light in Virginia's mind. It was only now that she considered that Shane was allowing visitors not because Jet was getting better, but because Jet was getting worse. Because it was getting so very close for that time, the time. The last time.

She was now sure of it.

Jet was getting ready to say his final good-byes.