The three were silent as they walked. They strode into the light-lined hallway, the double doors cutting off the sound from the bright, lively laboratory. Their footsteps seemed loud in the tunnel as Jani led them back to the hidden entryway.

They turned the corner to see that someone, one of the scientists from the lab, was standing next to the door waiting to help them. He was carrying a torch. As they approached, he handed the torch to Jani and grabbed one of the two sets of handles on the inside of the door. Jani leaned back against the wall as Steric slunk past to take up the other handle, and on his mark the two men heaved the door to the side.

Jani whisked by without a glance at her father, who was left staring forlornly after her. The man who had helped them looked at him sympathetically.

Aria didn't think there was much she could do to rebuild that bridge, but she liked Steric, and hated to leave him so upset. Pausing under the pretense of adjusting her waist pack, she saddled casually up to the exit to check that Jani was out of earshot. She was already disappearing around the corner.

Noticing that Aria hadn't left yet, Steric looked at her questioningly. She figured that if she couldn't offer him any guarantee that Jani would forgive him, she could at least try to take his mind off of her safety.

She said, "I'll keep an eye on her. I doubt there's anyone who would want to hurt her…"

Total lie.

"…But I'll make sure she doesn't do anything too outrageous anyways. Things will turn out alright."

Steric still looked fairly morose, but at her words the look seemed to ease a bit. At last he sighed, shaking his head. "She is right to be upset with me. And I know that she will continue to be upset for a while yet. Still…in time, I hope we will be able to mend things." He smiled shakily at Aria. "Thank you for all you have done. And please, do see to it that she stays out of trouble."

Aria opened her mouth to reply, but she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Jani was standing at the end of the cave. She was grinding her teeth back and forth, and her eyes were narrowed to slits. If Aria had gotten that look from her two days ago, she probably would have chanced the quigs on the mountain and gotten the hell outta Dodge.

Aria shuddered slightly, and resolved to use her injury as a barrier between them on the walk back.

She shrugged apologetically at Steric, who winced. Aria turned and began walking away. A few moments later she heard a low rolling sound and when she glanced back a moment later, she could scarcely have sworn there was a door there at all.

Jani continued glaring at Aria as she made her way over. Aria whistled innocently and looked at the ceiling. Jani let out a small sound of frustration, whirled around and began stomping down the passage.

Dropping the obnoxious what-did-I-do look, Aria cantered to catch up, taking care to put her right side to Jani. She might deck Aria a good one on her left side, but Aria was fairly certain Jani wouldn't hit her on her injured side. Hopefully.

"What were you talking about?" Jani growled.

Aria hadn't thought Jani would be in a talking mood, so the question caught her off guard, and she stammered. "Oh, uh, you know…the…uh…you know."

Jani looked at her scathingly.

Aria gulped. "Uh…tak," she finished lamely.

Jani's stare didn't drop.

"Tak-light," Aria clarified.

Smooth as sandpaper.

Jani narrowed her eyes and was about to say something, when she walked headlong into a support beam that had been put up to fortify the wide-ceilinged tunnel they had just walked into. The side of her head connecting with the wooden beam made a dull thunk.

She began cursing so loudly that Aria figured the people in the designated explosion area were looking up to see what the ruckus was.

Jani began flailing the torch around in a frenzy, and Aria became slightly alarmed. Not only because she came within two inches of getting her hair set on fire, but also because if they lost that torch they would be bumbling around in the darkness until they managed to find their way out.

Jani paused for a moment, and Aria snatched the torch out of her hand, taking a step back. Jani used her now free hand to clutch her head. If it were anyone else Aria would be asking them if they were okay; as it was, she deemed it wiser to remain silent. She stood to the side, studying the wall with false interest until Jani got herself back under control.

Finally, with one last string of curses, Jani spat, "Let's just get the –"

Again, Aria winced at her choice of word.

"—out of here.

She turned and stomped off down the tunnel, turning left at the fork.

Tentatively, Aria called out, "…Other way."

Jani stormed by on her way past, screeching in frustration.

Aria let out a long breath, and followed.

Muttering under her breath the entire time, Jani stalked ahead of Aria as they made their way through the tunnels. Aria felt a wave of sheer relief when daylight finally appeared ahead of them. She figured Jani must have felt similarly, because the second the torch was no longer necessary she was out.

Aria watched Jani disappear out the exit with a spark of alarm, and jogged to catch up. Fortunately Jani was waiting outside for her, kicking rocks around and generally being ornery.

Aria went over to her, pausing to smother the torch in the dirt before she reached grass. They were at the same mine entrance Tarek had brought her to the previous day, the one about ten minutes away from the town, and Aria was relieved to see that she could at least still point herself in the general direction of the town. She figured she would be able to make her way back to the inn by herself if Jani decided to ditch her…which looked very possible at the moment.

Deciding that honesty was the best policy – or at least the only one she could think of right now – she decided to tell Jani what was on her mind. "I was just telling your dad not to worry about you. You and I may know that there's potentially a homicidal maniac out there looking for you, but he didn't need to know that."

Jani snorted. "As if he cares."

In what she hoped was a calming tone she said, "He really does, though. I mean, I'm not gonna pretend to know what you guys have been going through–"

"Good." Jani spat.

"—but even I could tell that he's worried about you."

Again with the scathing look. Aria's stomach clenched, then unclenched in relief when Jani decided not to carry the subject further. Instead she turned around and began kicking more rocks around in frustration.

Aria sighed. She was tired down to her bones. She figured Jani was probably not doing too well herself, and after looking around to check their position, she said, "I think we should probably head back to the village. Alder and Tarek will be back at the inn around sunset. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna head over there, grab some more food, and hit the hay until they get there."

Jani looked up and said nothing, but shrugged jerkily. Glad that Jani was at last starting to cool off, Aria turned and began walking towards town.

They made their way quietly through the sparse foliage. There was little birdsong in the surrounding trees, and she saw very few creatures, save for insects, though she glanced up once as a large bird streaked by overhead. Roughly ten minutes later they approached the first of the buildings that marked the edge of town.

Aria perked up at the sight of paved roads and man-made structures. Her side was hurting and her feet were aching horribly. The Milago needed better shoes.

As she strode past the first of the buildings, she sighed contentedly and turned around to ask Jani what she planned to do with the rest of her day.

Before she knew it, something very large and angry had plowed full on into her right side, knocking her senseless and carrying her several yards into the side of the nearest building.

After a few moments her eyes uncrossed and she was staring into the snarling face of Dakka. The huge Milago girl had pinned her shoulders to the wall of a hut, and was right in her face. "Where. Is. JANI?"

What Aria intended to say was, 'she's right behind you! Perfectly fine! We're friends now, so can you please let me go?'

What she really said was, "Ack!"

Words? Words? Where were the words?

Happily, the gift of language had not deserted anyone else. From behind them, she heard, "Dakka! I'm fine. Let her down."

Immediately the pressure holding her against the wall of the hut relented as Dakka swung around, large head rotating towards the source of the voice. When she saw Jani, she said, "Oh," and trotted over to her.

Aria slumped against the wall of the hut. Her head was now pounding and ringing. She left like the victim of a badly botched lobotomy. She couldn't feel her injury, which she figured probably wasn't a good thing, but for which she was extremely grateful, nonetheless. Her head was painful enough.

Jani went over to her, and Aria was a little surprised to see a flicker of concern in her expression. She asked, "Are you okay?"

'Honestly, I'm not sure. My head is hurting terribly and I can't feel my right side, which is probably an indication of shock. Perhaps I should go back to the doctor?'

That's what she meant to say. What she really said was, "Ungh."

Jani's eyebrows furrowed and she said, "Huh. That's probably not good." Then she sighed heavily and turned to Dakka. "Hey. Where's Rill?"

Dakka looked around slowly. Then she jerked a thumb behind her, pointing to the part of the village she had just come from. "Uh, marketplace. I think."

Aria wasn't sure, but she thought the marketplace was not in the direction Dakka was pointing. Jani rolled her eyes and said, "Have you guys been looking for me?"

Dakka nodded enthusiastically. "You said you saw that girl in the crowd, and you were gonna go grab her, then we lost you and you never came back."

Jani sighed heavily. "Yeah, I ran into some trouble."

Dakka turned and glared at Aria.

In mild exasperation, Jani clarified, "Not with her."

Dakka pouted, as though disappointed that she wasn't going to get to take her frustrations out on Aria. Aria had difficulty sympathizing.

Dakka turned back to Jani and asked, "Where were you? We've been looking everywhere."

Jani was about to respond when she glanced back at Aria, who was still looking rather dazed. She said, "I'll tell you guys about it later. For now, help her up and let's go." She made to move, then as an afterthought added, "She's injured. Watch out for her right side."

Dakka looked at Jani in openmouthed confusion. They had, after all, tried to beat the living daylights out of the girl just two days previously. The sudden change in treatment must have been fairly baffling.

Fortunately, when Jani started walking away towards town Dakka shrugged heavily and went over to Aria, who looked up hesitantly at the looming Milago girl.

Dakka just stared at her in confusion for a moment, as though wrestling with the logistics of transporting an injured person. She reached out a hand a few times, not quite sure of where to put it. Then she decided on a simpler approach.

She scooped Aria up bridal-style and started trudging after Jani.

Aria was not feeling very comfortable with the arrangement, but she definitely didn't want to risk being dropped, so she tried not to fidget.

Jani looked back to make sure Dakka was following, and snorted with laughter at the slightly alarmed look on Aria's face.

She figured things could be worse. The position wasn't agitating her side, so as long as Dakka didn't drop her, she decided she could live with the awkwardness.

As they moved closer to the heart of the village, it became more populated. They got a whole lot of odd looks, and Aria had to wave off a few guards who approached Dakka warily. Aria figured she probably had a reputation with them.

They passed a small, fenced off grassy area where some children were playing, and the children laughed as they came into view. The laughter was quickly cut off as Dakka's head whipped around towards them. They all let out little yelps and scattered, a few of them giggling impishly as they ran.

Finally they came within sight of the inn. Dakka was now panting a bit, and Aria was eager to be out of her arms, so she started wriggling slightly as they neared the door.

Dakka looked down at her, then dropped her legs. Aria clutched onto Dakka's arm to steady herself. She then righted herself, and wheezed, "Thanks."

Dakka grunted. Jani had paused by the door, and she stood waiting as Aria made her way over, limping slightly. She lifted up the side of her shirt and asked, "Is it bleeding again?"

Jani looked at her with open contempt, as though disgusted that Aria was too squeamish to look at her own wound. Then she scanned the injury and said, "No. You're fine."

Aria let out a long sigh of relief. Thank goodness. Dakka had certainly hit her with enough force to reopen it. She was lucky.

Aria gestured to the doorway, but Jani shook her head. "You go ahead and rest up here. Dakka and I are gonna go find Rill. I have to fill them in on what happened."

Urgently, she whispered, "Not the Traveler stuff, right?"

Jani rolled her eyes. "No. I'll just tell them Maal is a bad guy. I don't need to tell them why."

Based on the largely unquestioning obedience of Dakka, Aria decided that Jani was probably right. Still, she had to be certain. "Alright. Thanks. I'm really not supposed to let this Traveler stuff get around."

Jani continued without acknowledging the sentence. "I'm gonna drop by my house to grab some stuff. I'll be back here by sunset for the meeting. See you."

She made to turn around, and Aria felt an unnecessary pang of alarm at the thought of being left alone again. She knew it was illogical since they would be meeting up again in just a few hours, but she was getting very tired of being left alone.

She had made an involuntary movement of protest when Jani had turned to leave, and now Jani glared at her questioningly. Trying to cover up, Aria said, "Er, be careful. Keep an eye out for…you know." She finished lamely.

Jani looked at her without saying anything. She apparently didn't consider that remark worthy of a response. She turned and began walking away.

Dakka had been staring at them vacantly, but as Jani stalked past she turned and followed close behind. She glanced back once at Aria, almost tripped over her own feet, and quickly turned back around.

Aria looked after them until they were out of sight. Then, side really beginning to throb, turned and gimped into the inn.

Kren was sitting behind his desk, head propped up in one hand, snoozing. A bit of drool glistened on his lower lip. Aria felt awkward about waking him up, so she accidentally-on-purpose bumped into a large chair as she was walking up to the desk. He started, head jerking up, and glared tiredly at her as she approached. "Eh?"

She reached into her pack and rustled around until she found the money pouch. She pulled out a handful of quills and said, "Um, could I get a room and some lunch, please?"

Kren growled out, "Fine." He held out his hand for payment.

Aria had no idea how much to give him. She looked down at the quills in her hand, frowned, then held the entire handful out to him. He stared at her for a moment, and she felt her face heat up. He sighed heavily, rolled his eyes, and plucked six quills out of her hand. Based on what she knew of the currency, that didn't seem like a bad price at all. She smiled thankfully at him, and he jerked a thumb over to the tables.

They were all open, so she sat at the one nearest the desk and other rooms. Kren disappeared, then showed up a few minutes later. He dropped off a place covered in chopped fruit and vegetables, a piece of bread, and a glass of water. She thanked him – he ignored her – and quickly tore into her food.

She enjoyed the meal. They generally tended to eat healthy at her house, with freshly prepared meals almost every night and some sort of produce, only splurging on restaurants or fast food a few times a month, if that. Once a week they had a fend-for-yourself night, where everyone made their own thing and ate wherever they pleased, and Aria tended to scarf down a Hot Pocket or a bowl of chicken-flavored ramen with grated cheese on top. She found that, as good as the fresh food on Denduron was, she was really craving something hot, greasy, salty, and chock-full of carbohydrates. Her mouth watered at the thought of a plate of Dino Nuggets or a microwave chimichanga. Still, beggars can't be choosers. When she got home she would gorge herself on Taco Bell or something, but for the time being…

She finished the last piece of fruit – another of those apple-like delicacies – and chugged her water before scarfing her bread. When she was done she yawned and made to stand up. She found that she had stiffened up a bit, and her side protested at the movement. She forced herself to her feet and, using the wall to steady herself a bit, limped towards the room she had slept in during her previous stay. Kren peered at her strained gait curiously, but didn't say anything.

Finally making it into the room, she glanced around. There was a small end table between the two beds, though there was no chair. She felt in her waist pack and found, sure enough, a few pages of loose-leaf paper and a sealed inkwell, as well as a slightly-crumpled quill.

She sighed heavily. All she wanted was to lie down and rest for a while, but both Uncle Press and Alder had been very insistent about her keeping up with her journals. Not allowing herself time to debate over it, she grabbed the table and dragged it heavily over to the bed. Plunking down on the edge, she kicked off her shoes, pulled out her stationery, and thought over what had happened since her last journal.

She organized her thoughts and began writing.

As she wrote, she found herself glancing around for a snack. She was accustomed to snacking while she wrote, even if she had just eaten. It probably wasn't very healthy, but it helped her focus. Alas, she doubted that Kren any tortilla chips or Pringles. She wrote steadily, occasionally pausing to look out the window while she played something over in her mind or wondered how best to word it. Once she saw a bird fly by her window, and watched for a few minutes to see if it would appear again before at last pulling herself back to her writing.

At last she collapsed onto the bed, pausing for only a moment to draw the rough cloth curtains across the window. It was usually difficult for her to nap during the day, brightness and heat being her two big deterrents, but she felt exhausted enough to sleep for a week. At least.

She sat herself down on the edge of the bed to kick her shoes off, and looked across the room to the other bunk. She remembered waking up to find Uncle Press gone just two days ago, and felt a pang of misery at his absence. She knew that Alder was probably in the Bedoowan village right now, looking into bailing her uncle out, but she figured the odds that she would get to see him tonight were slim. Heck, for all she knew the odds of ever seeing him again were slim.

With that depressing thought in mind, she leaned back carefully to avoid straining her side, rolled over, put an arm over her eyes and settled down to sleep.