The Crossing of the Paths
Second Edition
By MMM/AJ
Part I: Desert Wind

A/N: Hello again loyal readers! I feel the need to warn you that things are going to get a little more serious again with this chunk. I won't spoil specific details, but I will say that you should brace yourselves for some violence. Returning readers may also be kinda surprised by it, since it's all new to this edition. Hopefully it's the sort of intense stuff you guys will like! But I'll understand if it's too much for some readers and they have to dip out. Either way, thanks again for coming along with me this far!

Chapter 14: The Tip of the Arrow

Day three of the trip to Ven'ravé was uneventful for the vast majority of the day. In order to avoid Molduga hunting hours they set out once the morning twilight was over and the full strength of the sun had set in. Then, while Kalana and the other night-shift guards slept, Ruru and Hadara gave Mewtwo several long, studious hours of instruction in the Gerudo tongue. He was very fortunate that their language had the same grammatical syntax structure as English, making it simply a matter of memorizing new words and verb conjugations without too much complexity. The difficulty came from the sheer number of words Mewtwo had to learn, as well as pronunciation of certain sounds that he had never verbalized before, such as heavily rolled R's. Fortunately it seemed like the amulet that Kalana had given him was still working perfectly; he made clear and audible progress in sharpening his speech and memorizing words.

At midday they shared a lunch of dried Molduga jerky, which was indeed fortunately a different type of meat than the horrible sour green stuff Mewtwo had been eating before. According to Ruru the older green jerky came from a creature known as a "Leever", which was like a sort of predatory desert worm about the size of a dog with a huge fang-filled circular mouth. It was a fairly common desert staple based on what she said, and it was infamous for having extremely foul-tasting, yet nutrient-dense meat.

In the late evening there was another serving of Molduga jerky for dinner, along with some sliced Voltfruit that they had picked from the spring where Mewtwo had seen Amber. The fruit was tough and leathery with a chewy meat, but it had a refreshing and sweet taste that nearly rivaled Hydromelon. Mewtwo felt tempted to tell Hadara about his encounter at the spring, but something in his subconscious told him to hold it close to his chest for now. Instead, he sat back and enjoyed his meal and watched as the night shift crew began to wake up. The sun was starting to set, casting beautiful orange and gold across the sky, and Kalana yawned and grabbed some food of her own as she sat up and shrugged off the fog of sleep. It was then that Ruru smiled and chimed in.

"Hey mom! Mom! Mom!"

"Sa'oten my little Vehví, what is it?" Hadara asked in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Now that everyone is waking up, can me and Sumati lead a song or two while the rest are eating? I haven't had a chance to sing with Sumati since before I got caught by the Sulaaq and I wanna show Mewtwo some of my favorite old songs."

"Oh all right, very well. Since you were patient enough to wait until everyone was awake I'll allow it. But if Sumati isn't in the mood or anyone asks you to stop, please respect their wishes. Goddesses know, even Sumati's heavenly voice can be unwelcome when I have a splitting headache."

"Yay!"

Ruru then rushed over to the back of the passenger cabin and tugged on the sleeve of one of the Gerudos who had finished eating and was meditating quietly in her seat. She didn't respond at first, causing Ruru to yank more insistently. As Mewtwo watched this play out, he realized that the Gerudo that Ruru was pestering was familiar. She was one of the three musicians who had performed at his Rakeshan induction ceremony and had been singing during his game of Hajarud with Ruisa and Madiri. He'd never caught her name before, but he'd noticed her beautiful voice. She was a little shorter than Gerudo average, standing just shy of 6 feet tall, and she had none of the musculature or scars of the Rakeshan guards. She had a slender, almost wispy build and kept her hair tied up in a large bun on top of her head, secured with long golden hairpins that were set with topazes. She wore ample jewelry and had a few small tattoos of dragons along her upper arms.

"Miss Sumati! Hey Miss Sumati are you awake?"

"Yes little one, though I was admittedly attempting to meditate. What do you need?"

"Can you please sing with me for dinner? Pretty please!? It's to make the meal nicer for everyone." Ruru begged, giving Sumati the same cute puppy dog eyes.

"I suppose, do you have a song in mind?" She asked softly.

"Oooh, how about Talooru's Anthem?"

"Ah, I see you are feeling ostentatious this evening. That's quite a rousing song so close to nightfall. Do you have someone to play the Maraqé part for us?" Sumati asked.

"Oh...uhhh not yet. I guess I could play it, but I was kinda looking forward to singing with you." Ruru replied, looking saddened.

A gentle and reassuring smile crossed Sumati's face as she replied. "Your voice and your instrument are both tools of beauty, little one. They may feel different in practice, but ultimately they are two paths to the same end. Take pride in both, as they are equally capable of bringing joy to your audience with the proper amount of effort. That's why you wanted to sing after all isn't it? Besides, you can sing while playing, can't you?"

"Yeah I guess you're right! Lemme go grab it!"

Ruru then climbed up to stand on her seat and open the storage compartment mounted to the ceiling above it. She started to root around in the compartment looking for the instrument while Sumati unbuckled from her seat and walked over to sit in the center of the cabin on the floor. Excited smiles crossed the faces of the other Gerudos in the cabin, it seemed like everyone was eager for a performance. Not even slightly perturbed by all the eyes on her, Sumati crossed her legs and did a few breathing exercises while Ruru produced her Maraqé and sat down across from her. After a few moments warming up by playing scales, Ruru started into the song with a big smile on her face. It had a jaunty, uplifting melody and a steady marching pace, and Mewtwo could see the other Gerudos in the passenger cabin start tapping their feet along with the song. Sumati joined in after a minute or so, starting in the Gerudo tongue before transitioning to Common. Ruru sang along with her, and although she was a fair bit quieter than Sumati she still managed to harmonize quite well with her. Mewtwo still didn't know enough Gerudo to translate everything at the pace the duo was singing, but he could pick out enough words to tell that the Gerudo part and the Common part were roughly the same, just with the language swappped.

"We stand vigilant, in the desert sun.
We are brilliant, over everyone."

"A resilient desert flower, facing the sun's gaze.
Gerudo grows brilliant, while others fade."

"Gerudo! There is no strife.
Gerudo! Like water we flow with life."

"Vigilant in the sun,
growing brilliant,
Gerudo never outdone."

Mewtwo wasn't particularly enraptured by the simplistic, jingoistic nature of the lyrics, but Sumati's sublime voice more than made up for it. Listening up close and in a tighter space forced Mewtwo to pay much more close attention to it, and he found himself quite absorbed in it. There was a velvety timber to her voice that felt like cool, fresh silk caressing his senses. The positive and uplifting tempo and tone of the song enhanced that feeling even further, making it easy for Mewtwo to completely forget about the actual words of the song themselves. Here and there Ruru's Maraqé performance had an error or two, but this was more than forgivable due to her age and the long time she'd spent as a thrall. Mewtwo wasn't really paying attention to her anyway, since Sumati's singing had dominated his thoughts. The song ended after a few repetitions of the lyrics across both languages and all the passengers in the cabin gave a brief round of applause to show approval. Mewtwo clapped along with them, though his unusual finger shape meant he didn't generate nearly as much sound as human hands could.

"Can we do another song please?" Ruru asked excitedly.

"I think we should keep it to just one for now, we'll be stopping to make camp soon and I want to let your mother concentrate on finding a good place to park the caravan." Sumati replied with a warm smile.

Mewtwo's ears then could just barely pick up the sound of Hadara mumbling something from the driver's seat. "It's actually pretty nice for my concentration..."

This caused Mewtwo to smile a little, but he was soon taken by surprise when Sumati came over to sit down next to him.

"What did you think of the song?" She asked.

"The lyrics weren't especially captivating, but your voice elevated the experience significantly." Mewtwo replied honestly.

Sumati smirked a little as she replied. "It wouldn't have been my first choice to be certain. Talooru's Anthem was written by the daughter of Nabooru, who wasn't exactly lyrically inclined. But she wrote it at a time of grave peril, when our people needed a light of hope to cling to as a bastion against the growing darkness. The Sulaaq were actively preying on our people back then, hunting for new slaves to help them build their towers. Oftentimes something as simple as an elegant and uplifting anthem is the difference between holding on and giving up hope, and in that regard Talooru did succeed in her creation."

Mewtwo was again impressed by Sumati, there seemed to be quite an intelligent and eloquent mind behind her voice.

"Art has the power to alter our entire perception of the world, I suppose. Is that why you chose to be a singer?" He asked.

"Indeed. When I was but a little child, my mothers were both sculptors and artists. Ven'rakesh is adorned with much of their work. That fountain statue in the center of the square was their finest creation, and I can remember being fifteen years old and watching them work together to craft it. They unveiled it the day after a tower raid so that they could use magic to make water flow from the vases right as they showed it to the gathered crowd. The speech that my mother Vimati gave to the assembled throng is still burned in my mind, word for word. She said 'The beauty of Ven'rakesh is a symbol of our refusal to give up. No matter how many of us lose our lives to disease, starvation, monsters, or Sulaaq enslavement, we still fight to keep our home a shining beacon in this hostile world. It is the spirit of the Gerudo to fight and endure when all hope seems lost, regardless of whether evil reigns for 5 years or 500.' I have held her words very close to my heart for the rest of my life since then, especially after she passed. Though my hands lack the precision and skill to make art like she did, the Goddesses at least gifted me with a voice that can inspire hope instead."

Mewtwo was quietly moved by Sumati's words. He sat silent for a few moments, struggling to come up with a reply. But he did give an understanding nod to fill the gap, at least until the blaring crackles of the radio broke the silence.

"This is 'saur ten! Our gunner has spotted the dust cloud kicked up by an unknown vehicle closing in on our formation from the South. Requesting confirmation!"

Hadara scowled and leaned down to reply "Confirming!" before calling out to Mewtwo. "Mewtwo! I need you on that gun right now! Spin it around south and see if you can spot whatever it is they spotted!"

Mewtwo immediately turned around in his seat and grabbed the control sticks as instructed, though he fumbled and nearly fell out of the chair due to the sudden spike of nervous anxiety that had surged up in his system. He turned the turret south and spotted the dust plume they had mentioned almost immediately. It appeared to be coming at them nearly perpendicularly, and although it was too distant to make out any details now, the speed of its approach meant that it wouldn't be long before he could.

"Yeah there's definitely something out there. It's kicking up the sand and dust just as much as us, so it's probably a Helmasaur like ours. I'm willing to bet it's our thieving friend from the other day, come to reclaim the Scimitar."

"Sa'sheer!" Hadara hissed quietly, then keyed the radio again. "We have confirmation. All Helmasaurs prepare for combat! As soon as that filthy Va'no comes within range, all 'saurs with intact guns open fire!"

"Doesn't she still have one other artifact weapon you were concerned about losing?" Mewtwo interjected.

"Yes, but the beam weapon on that Helmasaur she stole could easily blow apart one of our Terrapins full of civilians, and I care far more about people than dusty old relics!" Hadara replied sharply.

Mewtwo couldn't argue with her logic. He returned his gaze to the screen and eyed the dust cloud as it rapidly approached. In mere seconds it covered enough distance for him to resolve the details of what it was. He was right, it was the same Helmasaur that the thief had stolen, complete with the Rakeshan flag symbol painted on the hull and the sawed-off spikes. It was heading directly toward them, and judging by the rangefinder along the side of the screen, it would only be a few dozen more seconds before it was in firing range. Suddenly the screen made a loud chirp and highlighted the Helmasaur with a green targeting reticle, as well as a flashing red textual warning next to it in Japanese.

"WARNING: Friendly IFF detected! Firing control disabled!"

Thankfully Hadara had already explained to Mewtwo what to do if this happened. There was a small override button on the screen that he reached down and tapped, and the warning minimized and slid down to the bottom of the screen instead, unlocking the firing controls.

Mewtwo didn't realize it but he began to hold his breath as he focused on aiming the digital reticle at the approaching threat. His heartbeat began to quicken and adrenaline started to course through him as the familiar excitement of battle began to churn in his mind. His eyes kept darting back and forth between the range finder and aiming reticle for several painful moments. He was surprised when suddenly the thief opened fire first, despite clearly being outside of the effective range. Given they were both using weapons with the same exact specs, it didn't make sense unless she had never used one of these vehicles before. Either way the result was still harrowing; Mewtwo saw the red beam flash out and cause his screen to flare and fill with static for a few seconds. Since he was zoomed in on his target he couldn't immediately see if the thief had managed to hit any of them, but he did hear bursts of static and shouting over the radio that caused his stomach to sink. He decided to open fire even though the thief was still out of range, but she slammed on her steering column and swerved hard, turning back toward the West as if she knew he was going to fire. Their helmasaur made a loud electric pulsing sound and Mewtwo could feel the hull vibrate as the sharp, cracking report marked his shot. The red beam harmlessly struck the sand on the next dune beyond, and Mewtwo angrily swiveled to try and follow the thief's course. Unfortunately the weapon needed time to recharge; a slowly climbing progress bar appeared on the side of his reticle as the capacitors gradually refilled.

"This is 'saur eight, we're hit! It seems like she struck the tow hitch linking us to our terrapin, we're intact but the terrapin came loose!"

"No! Eight had a load of civilians hitched to them!" Kalana gasped.

"Terrapins can at least float on their own, so unless the thief shoots it again dead on it should coast safely to a stop after being knocked loose. Can someone fire on that damned thing already?!" Hadara shouted over the radio.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The thief's voice suddenly came over the radio.

Mewtwo's turret managed to turn enough to catch a glimpse behind them. The terrapin was slowing to a halt and the thief's Helmasaur had zoomed over to come up alongside it. Its turret was aimed at the terrapin, ready to open fire.

"If you attack, I will fire on the civilians and take them with me to the grave." The thief continued in a cold and emotionless tone.

Hadara slammed a fist on the console and then pulled on the control sticks to slow them down and turn them around. The rest of the caravan turned with her to head back toward the lost terrapin; nobody even entertained the idea of leaving the civilians behind.

"What do you want, Va'no?" Hadara snarled into the radio as they turned around.

"I want the Sulaaq Chosen that you're harboring. You are to power off your weapon and leave all but one Helmasaur back out of range as you come forward with him slowly. Once I have him, you'll have your civilians back!"

"He's not a Chosen!" Ruru shouted angrily from the passenger cabin.

"Shush Vehví!" Hadara scolded sharply, then turned to the radio and called out orders. "Saurs two through ten, do as the Va'no says. Park outside of range and wait for orders."

They coasted down to a slower speed now and began to approach the thief's position at a snail's pace. Hadara flicked the radio off just as Kalana stood from her seat and came up to speak with them.

"Can't we just shoot her first mother? Sulaaq weapons are instantaneous!" Kalana whispered angrily.

"No, there's still a second or so where a red light glows out of the barrel as it prepares to fire. The thief will see it and open fire on the civilians. Even if we do manage to strike her we'll lose dozens of our people in the process."

"Then what are we going to do? You're not seriously considering giving into her demands?!" Kalana asked.

"No, but give me a moment to think!" Hadara snapped angrily.

There was a minute or two where the Helmasaur slowly came to a stop, and Hadara hit the power button to park it gently on the sand. All of them tried to come up with an idea, and then Hadara heaved a heavy sigh. She double checked to make sure her radio mic was off and then spoke.

"This is going to be very risky, but it's all I can think of."

She reached down and produced a small Gerudo dagger from a sheath tied to her hip and handed it to Mewtwo. "We will pretend to hand you over. You keep this dagger concealed in your cloak, and once you get close enough to her, stab her."

"I can try, but judging by my last encounter with her, she thinks I've been mind controlling everyone in the village and wants to kill me in order to free you. There would be nothing stopping her from just swiveling that turret around and shooting me dead as soon as I started walking across the sand toward her."

"Hmmm..." Hadara hummed, rubbing her chin with a worried look. Another idea came to her though, and she spun around in her chair and flipped the radio mic back on.

"Since we don't have any guarantee you won't just shoot us dead as soon as we leave the helmasaur, I demand we perform the handover in person. We all climb out of our Helmasaurs and approach each other on foot without any weapons. We meet halfway, then you take Mewtwo with you and leave the civilians behind."

There was a brief pause while the thief pondered their demands. Mewtwo stared at the screen while he waited, noticing that now the sun was dipping beneath the horizon and the sky was beginning to darken. They were running out of time.

"Very well, agreed. But I want all of you to empty out of that Helmasaur, I don't want anyone staying behind and holding the controls. Nobody is going to sneakily fire on me while we do this."

"Agreed." Hadara replied, then flicked off the mic. "Alright everyone, pile out. Try to stand behind the 'saur just in case she decides to betray us. The hull will shield you from her fire."

Everyone grumbled and began to climb up through the top hatch, and Hadara grabbed Ruru by the arm gently when she started to get up to go with them.

"She doesn't know you're in here, just stay put. I don't want you in any danger."

"But moooooooooom!"

"Do you want to get a hole blown through your belly by the beam weapon?"

"I guess not..."

"Then sit and be quiet, and don't touch the radio or gun."

"Yes mom."

Ruru sat down again begrudgingly, and soon the rest of the group had climbed out. Mewtwo looked up at the sky above them as he followed, being the last one to emerge. Cool wind was whipping over the desert now as night began to approach, and deep orange reds were starting to coalesce and scorch the sky over the western horizon. Nervous anxiety was continuing to build in Mewtwo's belly, and his right wrist still ached from when the thief had wrenched it earlier to disarm him during her first attack. He shakily gripped the dagger with his left hand under the leather cloak as he and Hadara began to walk across the sand toward the thief's position. She had by now climbed out of her own helmasaur and was wearing a similar cloak over most of her form. She had a hood draped over her head to conceal her face, and the shadows cast by the sunset made her expression entirely obscure.

"Are you ready?" Hadara whispered quietly while they were still out of earshot.

"As I'll ever be. I'm...not exactly eager to add more blood to my hands, chief."

"You're doing it in the defense of your sisters, Mewtwo. It's for the greater good. We're only a few hours away from Ven'ravé now, and if we get through this then I will dedicate my share of the feast to you for your bravery and valor." She whispered.

Mewtwo nodded quietly but didn't have anything else to say. He couldn't bear to look at the thief now, knowing he was about to take her life. His eyes instead darted up to the horizon, glancing further North. He thought he could see a small plume of smoke rising above the dunes in the distance, but it was so far off that he couldn't be sure. Then, after what felt like mere seconds, they were close enough that the thief called out to them.

"There, stop! Come no further! Now only the Sulaaq may approach!"

Mewtwo looked back at Hadara with terror in his eyes. He felt naked and vulnerable without his psychic powers; it felt as though he was marching to his doom. She gave him an understanding look, then nodded her head.

Mewtwo began to walk toward the thief alone, holding his tongue as his heart pounded violently in his chest. Cold sweat began to pour off his body and his tail whipped and lashed rebelliously inside his cloak. This felt wrong. This was wrong. He couldn't do this!

Mewtwo was halfway there when suddenly the thief tossed her hood off and looked him in the eye. A steely gaze of determination and hatred flashed from her scarred face, causing Mewtwo to come to a stop. If she was intentionally trying to be intimidating she was certainly doing a good job.

"I will only ask you one more time Sulaaq, where is the Blade of Evil's Bane?!"

"Why won't you believe me when I tell you I don't know?!"

"Because I'm not an idiot, I overheard you whispering to your minions about the blade they couldn't touch, hidden away in one of the tunnels! I know you're keeping it buried deep somewhere because you're afraid of the power it possesses! I have heard the voices of the Goddess and she has urged me to take the blade and bring an end to you and the rest of your disgusting empire!"

"For gods' sake, if I was a Sulaaq with all this menacing, world-controlling power, why would I be wasting my time wandering around this dead empty desert with a scattered band of lowly survivors? Why would I bother with people who would have no possible way to threaten me and have nothing to offer me?!" Mewtwo yelled, trying to forcefully inject some logic into the mad thief's mind.

To Mewtwo's credit, those words almost seemed to work at first. The thief paused quietly, eyes widening as she tried to grasp the thread of reason. But something caused that thread to slip between her fingers; a look of madness and fury washed over her scarred features as she bellowed her reply.

"Shut up! Your mind games and trickery won't work on me!"

With that the thief whipped her cloak aside and produced a weapon! It seemed like she had come up with a similar idea to theirs with her own cloak. The weapon was a gorgeous polished bow made of ornate gold that glimmered beautifully even in the fading light of dusk. The weapon's radiance would have caused Mewtwo to stop and stare, if its owner wasn't preparing to use it to kill him. She reached down and grabbed an arrow from a quiver belted to her waist and began to draw the bow. Mewtwo, feeling that familiar cold surge of mortal dread arc through his veins, turned and began to sprint back toward Hadara as fast as his legs would take him.

"You treacherous liar!" Hadara shouted when she saw the thief nocking her bow and preparing to fire. She turned to run as well, showing a remarkable nimbleness and speed despite her age.

Mewtwo tried to focus entirely on running, ignoring the vivid picture that his imagination was trying to paint of an arrow embedded in his back. He began to dip and weave instead of running in a straight line, hoping to throw off the thief's aim. He suddenly saw a bright white light bathing the dunes all around him, throwing his shadow forward as if the thief had struck a flare. Then he heard the twang of a bowstring and clenched his teeth, diving to the ground in hopes of avoiding the projectile.

The sand slammed against him as he struck the ground, bruising his side and making his wrist scream in pain even further. No arrow struck him, but he did see a strange glowing white light sail a few feet past him, striking the dunes and continuing to luminesce a little while longer. He climbed to his feet rapidly and continued to run, looking down to see that it had indeed been an arrow, but it was glowing with radiant white energy. It fizzled out and stopped glowing as he ran past though, leaving him to wonder just what kind of technology the thief had put into her ammo.

"Stand still!" The thief shouted angrily from behind them, aiming another shot and starting to run after them.

Mewtwo saw another shot sail past him a moment later; the glowing arrow went wide to the left and harmlessly struck a stone sticking out of the sand. He was immensely grateful for the thief's poor aim. He focused on the safety of their helmasaur in front of them as he ran. The other Gerudos were starting to climb back inside, terrified of the thief's arrows. At least they would be safe in there, protected by the vehicle's armor. Then Mewtwo saw the turret move, someone had jumped into the gunner's seat! There was another loud CRACK as a red beam flashed across the desert, blinking between Mewtwo and Hadara as they ran.

Mewtwo allowed himself the luxury to look back and see if the blow had landed. It had struck the sands directly in front of the thief, scorching a steaming patch of glowing glass onto the ground just a few feet away from her. She stumbled to a stop and turned around to run away, no longer wishing to push her luck.

"Thank Arceus!" Mewtwo gasped, coming up and hurling himself to the ground behind their helmasaur. The safety of cover gave him a surging blast of relief, but it wasn't enough to stop his heart from pounding.

Hadara landed next to him, panting raggedly and gripping her hips. "Sa'oveer! My heart is going to give out!" She gasped.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes...but I'm so done with this Va'no!" She replied, then climbed to her feet and shouted into the open hatch. "Keep firing, and don't be so merciful! Hit her this time, don't just do a warning shot!"

"The gun is still recharging! She's already back to her own Helmasaur!" came Kalana's reply.

Still heaving ragged breaths, Mewtwo stumbled to his feet. "Come on, let's get inside before she gets to the controls of her gun."

Hadara nodded and followed him inside, and as soon as they were in there Kalana came up to them and checked them for injuries frantically.

"Mother! Mewtwo! Are you hurt?"

"No, fortunately for us it seems the scarring over the thief's eye has impeded her depth perception." Mewtwo replied.

Hadara then stormed over to the console and grabbed the radio to shout angrily into it. "The deal is off, Va'no! Your vile treachery will not go unpunished!"

The thief replied with a much calmer, almost condescending tone. "You'll thank me for freeing you from the spell once the Sulaaq is dead. I am doing this to save you! All of you! We can try this again, but this time I'm staying in my Helmasaur! Send him out!"

Hadara spat angrily and flicked the mic off, then gestured to Mewtwo to sit down at the gunner's seat. "If she's really being honest and is doing this to save our people then she won't have the nerve to fire on the civilians. Mewtwo, just shoot her, now!"

Mewtwo obediently jumped into the gunner's seat and swiveled the turret around to take aim at the thief a second time. The IFF warning was still overridden and now the recharge process was complete. They were close enough that the range finder indicated they could strike with full effectiveness. Yet Mewtwo hesitated as he gripped the controls, unable to bring himself to fire. Again the thief's voice came over the radio.

"I don't have all evening, Chief! If you don't send him now, we could all be devoured by Moldugas before we make it to a safe haven!"

"Come on, fire! Just shoot!" Hadara urged.

Mewtwo bit his tongue and clenched his fingers on the control sticks. He tried to conjure the will to fire, but without that surging, overflowing power of rage to put him into the proper frame of mind, he couldn't do it. He suddenly could see the figure of Gary Oak standing up out of the hatch on top of the thief's helmasaur, grinning mockingly and beckoning to him to shoot. There wasn't any sound, but his mind could imagine Gary's smug voice calling out, daring him to do it. Kill again, it's easy, isn't it? The standoff held on for several more horrible, tense moments while Mewtwo stared at that grinning vision of Gary. Growing increasingly impatient, Hadara grabbed his shoulder and shook it, urging him to fire.

"Gah, stand aside and I'll do it!" Hadara shouted, then grabbed the controls and tried to pull the trigger herself!

Mewtwo suddenly found the urge to fight back, he yanked the controls upward as Hadara's fingers found the trigger and the beam lanced directly up into the empty, darkening sky. Another loud thrumming pulse of electrical noise reverberated through the helmasaur, followed by the whipcrack of the laser heating the air. Then Kalana firmly grabbed Mewtwo by the shoulders and dragged him out of his seat, easily overwhelming him with her superior strength. This time he didn't fight her, he got up and let her pull him aside into the passenger compartment while Hadara jumped into the gunner's seat. She tried to open fire, but the gun was still recharging again. She swore profusely in Gerudo and continuously pulled the triggers, but her anger couldn't change the rules of how the system worked. Then, the thief seemed to realize that it was time for her to quit while she was ahead, and she gunned the engine on her Helmasaur and took off straight south at maximum speed, abandoning the terrapin unharmed.

Chapter 15: Ven'ravé

Mewtwo sat silently in the passenger compartment for the rest of the trip that night. They had thankfully not lost anyone during the encounter with the Mad Thief, but they had been forced to use some rope to crudely tie the dislodged passenger terrapin back to the helmasaur whose tow hitch had been destroyed. They were now continuing along their course at maximum speed, trying to make it to Ven'ravé in one go instead of camping out for the night. Kalana and the others had argued with Hadara about the dangers of driving in the open during Molduga hunting hours, but Hadara was now adamant that they get to the safety of Ven'ravé as soon as possible to avoid further attacks from the thief. Since Q'diri wasn't with them, there was nobody with the authority to challenge Hadara's decision, even though everyone could tell she was in an unreasonably angry and fearful state of mind after the attack. Nobody dared to speak up as the caravan rocketed across the dunes under the growing darkness of twilight.

Kalana was sitting in the gunner seat now, being given the duty after it was taken from Mewtwo for his failure to fire on the thief. He was consumed with a mess of emotions that felt like a pot of boiling hot, sticky tar churning in his belly. He was angry at Hadara for risking his life with the dagger stunt and for trying to force him to kill again, but also full of guilt and regret over his inability to actually do the killing. They were still in mortal danger from the thief's attacks and now part of the blame for it rested on him for his inability to stop her. Fortunately nobody had tried to accuse Mewtwo of being a traitor or a Sulaaq for fighting against Hadara and refusing to shoot, but now he could see some anger and suspicion in the eyes of a few of the guardswomen sitting in the compartment all around him. Sumati was still meditating though, and Ruru was sitting next to Mewtwo on his left and looking down at the floor. She looked up and noticed the disturbed look on Mewtwo's face, then reached out to grab his hand and squeeze it.

They were lucky that night, no Moldugas appeared out of the dimly-lit dunes to chase down their caravan. The eerie silence seemed to have a foreboding aura though, and even though Mewtwo wanted to talk to Kalana to ask her questions and get some comfort, he didn't dare penetrate that silence. Fortunately he didn't have to, Madiri got up and swapped seats with the woman sitting to his right, then talked quietly with him.

"You faring alright after what happened? That was like the third time in a week now that you've almost gotten killed. I don't know what life on the Earth-realm is like so I have no way to know if you're used to being put into mortal peril this often."

"I had my fair share of battles back home, but my powers were always more than enough to protect me from the risk of death. To be entirely honest however, it's not the prospect of death that disturbs me the most. I'm more worried about how difficult it was for me to fire on the thief when previously I had no issues trying to kill the Sulaaq. I feel conflicted and guilty. It's hypocritical to lack the willpower to open fire to save some hostages when I was more than able to attack the Chosen who was gleefully murdering his thralls."

"Context matters, my friend. If what you said about the thief's intentions are correct, she thinks she's doing the right thing. She's delusional and nearly hurt a lot of innocent people, but there's a seed of good intentions in there. I don't think you're in the wrong for not wanting to slaughter someone driven by trauma and mental illness, Mewtwo. By comparison the Sulaaq are irredeemable monsters, they know exactly what they have done and are still doing to our people and they take pleasure in it."

"I suppose you are right. I still feel guilty about failing to defend the hostages she took though."

"They weren't harmed, so don't worry about it. I don't think our thief friend had it in her to kill innocent civilians, she was just bluffing. Why else would she have turned tail and fled the moment we fired the gun? I think you had an inkling of that too, even if it's subconscious."

Mewtwo nodded quietly and digested Madiri's wisdom gratefully. "Thank you Madiri. You have a talent for finding the nugget of moral clarity under mounds of self-doubt and uncertainty."

"You gotta be good at sifting through bullshit when you're friends with Ruisa. I say that only because she's not in the compartment with us." Madiri whispered with a mischievous grin.

Mewtwo gave a soft chuckle before asking another question that was on his mind. "By the way, do you know what was up with the bow that the thief was using to fire those glowing arrows at me? I wanted to ask the chief, but I have the impression she's not in the most receptive mood for conversation."

"I know it's one of those fancy heirloom weapons that the thief stole from the chief awhile back. I'd heard her mention that it was supposedly really really ancient, perhaps dating all the way back to before the age of Hyrule, but I've never seen anyone use it before. We know it used to contain immense magical power, but nobody has figured out how to activate this power for centuries. From what I heard, it can imbue any arrow that it fires with magical energy."

"Seems like the thief has figured it out somehow. It must be fairly powerful if it can function like that while under the influence of the Drain Devices." Mewtwo noted.

"Well remember, the drain devices seem incapable of drawing energy out of physical items that are already enchanted, so it makes some sense. That's why your Amulet still works. Though I'm not sure how the thief figured out how to use it. I think I heard her claim the Goddess was speaking to her, but I'm going to be really frustrated if that madwoman is worthy of the Goddess's guidance when none of us were!" Madiri said half-jokingly.

Mewtwo gave a cynical little laugh but didn't interject, so Madiri continued to speak. "I think the Chief wanted to force her to tell us how to activate the bow's magic earlier on, but her willingness to threaten our people has made it no longer worth the risk."

"Makes sense. Do you know anything about this other sword that the thief was asking about too? She's mentioned it both times that she's encountered me now, and the fact that she was asking about it while still in possession of Scimitar Azria tells me that it must be a different sword entirely."

Madiri shook her head. "I don't have the foggiest idea, unfortunately. There were a lot of different legendary weapons in older lore, but a lot of that lore was lost a long time ago, what with the burning of the scrolls and all that."

Their conversation trailed off at this point, leaving Mewtwo feeling at least partially reassured. He relaxed in his chair and turned to peer over Hadara and Kalana's shoulders at their screens. Twilight was now fading into the cool curtains of night, allowing him further relief as the danger of Molduga attacks had passed. But it seemed like fate was feeling uncharitable that evening, it noticed Mewtwo beginning to relax and decided to throw another curveball at them. Kalana straightened up in her seat and frowned as she spotted something worrisome.

"Mother, something's wrong. Do you see that up ahead? It looks like the glow of fires."

"Yes, I see it. I don't like it, the glow is too bright to be the village's torches."

A few minutes passed, then Kalana spoke up again. "Look. The light is reflecting off of what look like billowing clouds of smoke too."

"Something's happened. If we could go any faster I would."

Dread and tension surged over Mewtwo yet again as he tried to ponder what was going on. He found himself imagining the thief using her Helmasaur's gun to set Ven'ravé ablaze. He didn't know what the village looked like, so his imagination filled in the blanks by picturing straw rooves on adobe and sandstone houses, all roaring aflame as Gerudos fled in terror. He angrily chided his subconscious mind for imagining the worst and tried to forcefully control his anxiety as the minutes ticked by. But the closer they got to Ven'ravé, the more smoke and glow they saw and the more the dread grew.

They crested a taller series of dunes finally and the village came into view, though Mewtwo struggled to see it from his seat in the passenger compartment. He heard Hadara and Kalana both gasp in shocked horror, so he climbed out his seat and crept up to look at their screens.

Before them was a small mountain range, mostly made of dusty orange sandstone that had been thrust up from the Earth by some sort of violent seismic action. The foothills of these mountains were still a few miles ahead, and Mewtwo could see a large yawning opening in the cliff face of one of the tallest foothills. The village was nestled inside the open space, carved into the cliff face itself almost like the ancient human ruins of Petra. It was even bigger than Ven'rakesh, having four large vertical tiers filled with carved structures, and it was only accessible via a ramp that had been carved in the cliff face leading up to the settlement proper. There was evidence that there used to be a gate protecting this ramp near the top, but something had smashed it down. Flames and smoke were pouring out of about half of the doors and windows that had been carved into the rock, and there were huge holes blown open in several structures. Worst of all, there didn't seem to be any signs of people running around, though they were still perhaps too distant to see that level of detail.

"Goddesses..." Hadara whispered.

Mewtwo didn't even know how to respond. Dread churned in his stomach and his mind froze up as he tried to comprehend the scope of the destruction. Kalana started to whisper a quiet prayer and Hadara gripped the controls tighter as she focused on getting them in closer. They drove in silence for what felt like an hour as the terrifying vision of devastation loomed closer and closer before them.

"Chief... This is 'Saur four...Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" came the voice of one of the Rakeshan drivers over the radio.

"Yes Dera, I see it. We're going to pull up the ramp and search for any survivors. There could be Ravéan people in there injured and dying. We need to save as many as possible." Hadara replied, her voice wavering slightly with anguish.

"Those fires are huge though, they have to be fairly recent. What if there are still hostiles inside?" Dera replied fearfully.

"Then we'll slay them ourselves!" Hadara snapped.

Kalana might have normally tried to remind her mother to tone down the snappy attitude after hearing this, but she was still rendered silent by the horror on the screen. There was a pause before Dera acknowledged, fear still evident in her tone.

"Of course, My Chief."

Soon they were close enough for several more chilling details to come into view. Mewtwo, still watching over Hadara's shoulder, saw hundreds of blackened scorch marks and patches of glass all over the village and the rock around it. He recognized the marks as the same type created by the Sulaaq laser weapons. Some were smaller, matching the size of the beams he'd seen fired by the handheld weapons, but some were far larger. A few were the size of baseballs, or even bigger than that. Those set his gut churning with icy cold horror, he couldn't imagine what sort of weapon could do that. Now he could see that the gate had been blasted apart by one of these weapons, there were partially melted steel posts that had been blown off at ankle height, and the steel gates themselves were lying flat on the ground in pieces. It looked like someone had used those laser weapons to melt right through the supports holding up the gates and then blasted them with explosives to knock the whole thing over. There was one road's worth of flat land here inside the gate that ran parallel to the cliff face, and there looked like there had been railings to keep parked helmasaurs from falling off, but those had been melted and blasted away too. Scattered all over the ground were random personal effects, including Gerudo weapons like spears and scimitars, as well as pieces of armor. There wasn't a single soul in sight either, not even corpses were left. It was almost as if a great battle had taken place, and then someone had scooped up all the dead and taken them away.

Hadara brought the Caravan up into the village, floating over the fallen gates and coming to rest along the road. By now all the villagers had caught a glimpse of the screen and a quiet, repressed fear was starting to grow among them.

"Mom...what's going on?" Ruru asked quietly.

"I don't know sweetie, but we're going to find out. Stay here and be safe ok?" Hadara asked, letting go of the control sticks and turning off the main engines. She then turned back to the panel and made one more radio announcement.

"All civilians are ordered to stay inside their terrapins and helmasaurs until I expressly say otherwise! All able bodied Rakeshan guards, prepare for combat. This could be serious, I want you all to use your Sulaaq weapons for this. Gear up immediately and disembark when ready, and meet at the stairs up to the first level."

The guards inside the helmasaur with Mewtwo got up with grim looks on their faces and began to fetch their weapons out of storage. They still grabbed their spears and scimitars, but strapped them onto their backs and hips before grabbing the Sulaaq pistols for their primary weapons. Kalana grabbed the much larger rifle Mewtwo had seen her wield before. Madiri, being a part of the guard, also began to gear up and prepare. Hadara stood up from her seat and headed over to put her hand on Madiri's shoulder.

"Madiri, this calls for the Armor."

Madiri's eyes widened a little bit and she hesitated for a few seconds. Rather than argue though, she broke through the silence and nodded. "Yes ma'am. Good thing I managed to recover all the pieces after the Molduga incident back home."

Hadara then looked to Mewtwo with that same deadly serious expression. "I know you're not exactly fully trained with that spear that the Arbiter gave you, but I need you to help us. If I give you one of our rifles can I count on you to at least fire on monsters, or if worse comes to worse, Sulaaq, without losing your resolve like before?"

Thanks to Madiri's earlier encouragement he nodded without hesitation. "Killing a monster is far different from killing a Gerudo, you can count on me."

"Good. Stick with Kalana, you two can watch each other's backs. Here, take this and carry it with care."

Hadara leaned down to grab another black steel rifle out of the compartment under Kalana's seat. It was visually identical to Kalana's gun, though Mewtwo was surprised by the significant weight when Hadara dropped it into his hands. It was far bulkier than he had expected. This would undoubtedly make it cumbersome to carry and difficult to wield in a quick manner.

"This switch on the side will prevent it from firing even when you pull the trigger. Keep it on until you're ready to shoot. The reservoir is built into the back of the weapon here, you can release it by pulling this lever back. We don't have any spares though, so use the 30 shots wisely." Hadara said, giving him a quick crash course.

"I understand."

Hadara nodded, and after a few more minutes of prep work, they opened the ramp on the back of the helmasaur and began to pile out. Mewtwo felt the bitter cold night wind whipping at his cloak, contrasted with the radiant heat from the fires burning above them on the upper levels. About 100 Rakeshan guards were gathering at the large, wide central staircase that was located at the heart of Ven'ravé. This staircase traversed all four of the settlement's tiered vertical layers, each of which was carved deeper into the rock than the one below it. The smell of burning wood was heavy on the air, but fortunately Mewtwo didn't seem to detect any hints of burning flesh.

"Flares up!" Hadara shouted, heading to the front of the group. She struck one herself and held it up with one hand while wielding a Sulaaq pistol with her other.

Dozens of other guards struck flares in the assembled crowd, and now the area was bathed in bright white light. No threats appeared from the darkened, empty buildings around them, but neither did any Ravéan Gerudos. The tension building in the air made Mewtwo feel sick to his stomach. This was so far divorced from his battles at home on Earth that he felt unmoored from reality and adrift. Logically he knew fighting without his powers was as simple as aiming and shooting the rifle, or stabbing with the spear, but emotionally he was out of his depth. It was comparable to the raid that he and Kalana had pulled on the Sulaaq tower, but so much worse due to the carnage he knew he was about to witness.

"I want everyone to split into four equal-size groups! Each group takes one tier of the settlement and sweeps it! Nobody is to go alone, I want a strict adherence to the buddy system as you sweep the town. Drop a flare next to any survivors you find, shoot beasts or Sulaaq on sight! When we've finished the sweep, meet back here!" Hadara ordered.

Mewtwo weaved his way into the crowd of guards as they began to disperse. Along the way he spotted Madiri in her full suit of armor and got a closer look. The light from the flares illuminated the details and he saw that the armor was basically a full suit of solid heavy plate mail complete with pauldrons, gauntlets, greaves, and boots. The main breastplate was made of polished steel and had the Rakeshan flag carved into a circular plate located on the center of the chest, and it had tall shoulder guards around the helmet to protect against swings targeting the head and neck. The greaves and boots were coated in thin bronze plating that gave them a golden-brownish lustre, while the rest was bare steel. The helmet was unusual, having a solid plate front with five circular holes in a pentagonal pattern. Underneath it he could see a suit of chainmail for additional protection. Madiri was hefting the same huge double-sided battle axe as before, which looked difficult to wield even with both hands. She saw him noticing her and gave him a thumbs up.

"What kind of armor is that?" Mewtwo whispered.

"Armor of the Iron Knuckle. It's the toughest stuff we have. I'll tell you more about it later, get going." Madiri replied, then shooed him on further into the group.

Mewtwo found Kalana near Hadara and put a hand on her shoulder, and she quietly nodded and gestured to him to follow. "I'll lead the top floor group!" She called.

They didn't try to move quietly as they stormed up the steps and headed into the top tier of the settlement. The fires were strongest up there and they had to avoid the buildings that were burning with a wide berth, since the radiant heat was strong enough to cause burns. The walkways along the cliff face were dangerously narrow in a few places, which meant some buildings were entirely cut off by the heat and flames. All around Mewtwo could see hundreds of those black scorch marks on the sandstone, and once they began to enter buildings he spotted drying, darkening bloodstains. The Rakeshan guards spread out into pairs as they searched and Mewtwo stuck close to Kalana as instructed.

They searched houses, finding all the furniture, food, and supplies discarded haphazardly and left where they lay. Beds and chairs were empty. Partial suits of armor were in the process of being unloaded off of their racks, making it seem like the Ravéan people were trying to put their armor on when they were attacked. Weapons lay scattered all over the floors. No dead bodies of any sort were anywhere to be found. No Gerudos, no monsters, no Sulaaq. They searched storerooms and found heaps of stored food. There were piles of grain and canned food stolen from the Sulaaq left untouched in some of them, while others were blown open and set alight. They found an armory and searched it, finding that some of the stored weapons that the Ravéans had stolen from the Sulaaq were left hanging on racks, as well as plenty of Gerudo weapons. There was a back door to the armory that looked like they had tried to barricade by pushing a pile of heavy furniture against, and bloody handprints were smeared on the wall around it. Gerudo handprints. Pools of blood were covering the floor by the barricade, but again there were no bodies. The only sound they could hear was the crackling of the fires, the hiss of Kalana's flare, and the howling of the night wind outside the windows.

"Where is everyone?" Mewtwo whispered as they slowly crept out of the armory and down a hall leading deeper into the rock.

"I don't know, and I think I'm glad I don't." Kalana replied in a whisper.

The light of the flare cast thick, sharply-defined shadows as they moved through the halls. The movement of the light source caused those shadows to slide around as they walked, which tricked Mewtwo's eyes and set him on edge even more. They passed multiple guard barracks behind the armory and all of them were similarly furnished, yet abandoned. They left that building and went down multiple other corridors, finding the same thing again and again and again in every single room they checked. Ven'ravé was a ghost town now, and not even the dead were left to give them any clues. A sickening sense of horror and kenopsia pervaded the entire place, and Mewtwo found himself wishing they could at least find one person to ask what had happened.

When they were done, Kalana and Mewtwo met the rest of their group and headed back down to the bottom tier. They were gradually joined by all the rest of the guard, who were speechless and forlorn as they gathered.

"Nothing on the top tier. No survivors, no bodies. They left all their food and weapons where they laid." Kalana said.

"Same thing on the third tier. There were signs of a major battle by the market district, but no bodies." Ruisa added.

"Much the same on the second tier. Not a soul left." Madiri said, lifting the huge metallic helmet to speak.

Hadara nodded grimly. "And the bottom tier was also the same. It seems Ven'ravé is no more."

The weight of that last sentence sent a quiet, shocked pause through the crowd. The truth sank into their minds slowly like a lead weight squishing down into a thick gel; it took several seconds before anyone spoke up again.

"It must have been the Sulaaq. They are the only ones who would take all the bodies and leave all the food and weapons behind. If this was the work of the Lizalfos every last item made of steel or gold would have been looted, along with every last bite of food." Kalana said.

"So it would seem." Hadara replied with a nod.

"Why though? What brought on this attack? If they did it to collect slaves then it would explain why nobody is left, but the Sulaaq haven't done large-scale enslavement raids since they were building their towers. Are they building something else now?" Madiri asked.

"It's a declaration of war." Ruisa said with a deathly serious tone.

The entire crowd of guardswomen turned their gazes to her as those words caught their attention.

"Think about it! This is all a part of Mireth's Prophecy! First there came the red storms on the night of Mewtwo's appearance, a sign that The Traveler had arrived. Then, when he and Kalana went to raid the tower, they sent a Chosen! Nobody has even seen a Chosen in hundreds of years, its appearance has to mean something. Then a Molduga comes to attack our people right outside the gates of Ven'rakesh, and now this. All these ominous portents can't be a coincidence! Something big is about to happen. I think the Sulaaq know that this age is coming to an end, and are choosing to move on us first!"

"What do we do then?!" One of the guards replied fearfully.

"Firstly we don't let ourselves give in to fear!" Hadara shouted, seemingly frustrated by the looks of terror spreading through the crowd. "Our ancestors were actively hunted for years during the fall of the old world. The Sulaaq chased them all across the desert, and despite their disorganization and lack of supplies they survived! We are far more prepared and better equipped than ever before, and if we have to return to the nomadic ways of old then we will. For now this is not a time for fear, this is a time to pay respects for the dead. Our Ravéan sisters didn't know the threat was coming and they deserve respectful, somber last rites."

"What if the Sulaaq come back? Or the Lizalfos come to loot the ruins?" another guard asked.

"The Sulaaq won't be back, they got what they wanted. There's nothing left here for them. And if the Lizalfos try to storm the ramp, we have Helmasaurs with beams ready to cut them down en masse." Hadara replied firmly.

"What then? Where do we go? Taji Alirha can't exactly continue as planned!"

"The way I see it, we have two options. We can go home to Ven'rakesh and pick up the fifteen Honored Guard we left behind and then devise plans for how to proceed from there, or we can head Southeast to Ven'vha and shack up with them while we decide what to do."

"What about heading straight south to Ven'suul?" Ruisa asked.

"They will have departed for Ven'vha on their own Taji Alirha trip by now, assuming they haven't also been attacked. They may already be in Ven'vha as we speak."

"Clearly we should go to meet them there then, our chances of surviving a Sulaaq attack are much greater when we have gathered in numbers." interjected another guard.

"We can't just leave our Honored Guard behind like that! It's not fair! My sister is among them!" Madiri protested angrily.

Their conversation was interrupted suddenly by the sound of a wooden beam collapsing and crashing to the ground in one of the burning buildings on the uppermost tier. They all turned their gaze up and stared for a moment, but fortunately no flaming debris came crashing down onto their heads. Mewtwo gripped his rifle tightly and turned to the crowd to chime in.

"I think I would feel much safer surrounded by more armed guards. The trip to Ven'vha sounds like a good idea."

Several people in the crowd nodded, but Hadara scowled. "Chief Kamilia will not be happy to see us and may turn us away, especially if the Suulan people are there taking up all the free space in the village. We'd be crammed into alleys with no beds or roofs over our heads, but ultimately I think it may be the best chance our people have for survival in the face of the Sulaaq threat."

Everyone seemed to be in agreement with this except for Madiri. A look of resentment and fury came over her face and she tossed her hands up.

"This is wrong! You're betraying our oaths to our sisters back home! You can't just decide to leave them behind like this! With only fifteen of them there, the Sulaaq will make quick work of them! I can't believe you'd expect me to just abandon Q'diri like this!"

"It's for the greater good of all our people, Madiri. I understand why you'd be upset though, especially-" Hadara said, but Madiri cut her off.

"Especially since I already lost one sister to the Sulaaq? You're heartless, Hadara! I comforted you and Kalana when you lost Ruru and now you do this to me?!" Madiri yelled, her voice taking on the texture of angry sobs. "And I can't even contest this decision through tradition because our Arbiter is the one you left behind!"

"She's right, and she's not the only one who left family back home!" Another guard shouted angrily.

Anger began to simmer in the crowd, and Mewtwo could hear a few of them arguing with each other in the background. It had been long enough now that their flares were all starting to die out and even the fires in the settlement were beginning to recede, allowing the darkness of night to settle in. Dim orange firelight cast downward from the upper levels was all that remained to illuminate them, and it cast long downward-pointing shadows on the faces of the Rakeshan people as they muttered.

"Can't we pick a temporary Arbiter to act in Q'diri's stead, just for the journey?" Someone called out.

Mewtwo turned to look for the source of the voice and saw Sumati had poked her head out of the top hatch of the Helmasaur she had been sitting in. She had called the suggestion out, and it immediately quelled the arguing in the crowd.

"Yes, and it should be someone neutral, who doesn't have family back home to bias their decision." Another guard said.

"Why not Mewtwo? He has no family here in the group or back home, and he has shown to have a fair, yet implacable mind." Ruisa suggested.

"Yes! He's perfect!" Madiri added.

Hadara raised an eyebrow and turned to look to him. "Well, what do you think, Mewtwo? Would you be willing to at least offer a decision for us, even if it was just this one time?"

Mewtwo felt all the eyes settle on him and that terrible social pressure slammed onto his chest like a boulder. He looked over at Madiri though and saw that she was giving him a hopeful look. Her eyes were watery with tears, though she was fighting them back and wiping them off with the back of her hands. She had taken off her armored gauntlets for it and was looking him right in the eye. He understood from her gaze that she was putting her confidence in him, not only because he had saved her life but because she thought he would favor her side after the bond they had formed.

"I...do not think I am qualified to be an Arbiter, I don't know your traditions well enough. But if I had to at least offer just one decision here and now on this dilemma..."

Mewtwo trailed off as he tried to wrack his brain. He hated the idea of disappointing Madiri, especially after all they had been through together. But he already knew what he would choose; he wanted to give their people the best possible chance of survival.

"I would agree with the Chief. Safety in numbers is our best chance to make it through this alive."

Madiri's expression sank, and the light of rebellious fury seemed to go out of her eyes. She lowered her arms and looked down at the ground. "I...I guess I have no choice then. At least if it's you making that decision Mewtwo, I will respect it."

The sorrow in Madiri's face was like a jagged dagger hitting Mewtwo in the chest. He didn't know what to say now, but he had a feeling that this was beyond fixing with mere words. Even though the rest of the crowd settled into agreement and the arguing stopped, he didn't feel like he had helped. Was losing Madiri's respect worth it?

"What about everything left here in Ven'ravé? We can give last rites to the people tonight and then rest, but we shouldn't just leave all this food behind to rot." Ruisa asked.

"You really want to rob the dead Ruisa? You disgusting amalaq!" Madiri snapped, her tone far angrier than the joking context of that word.

"She has a point. We can leave behind the weapons and clothing of the dead, but leaving the food is just making charitable donations to the Lizalfos. If we're going to return to being nomads, we must never leave behind a morsel of edible food. It's an unfortunate truth, but one we must abide by to survive." Hadara replied.

Outrage returned to Madiri's expression, she gave Hadara a horrified look before shouting, "Fine! If this is the way you want to live, then do it, but I will have no part in it!"

With that, Madiri hurled her weapons at Hadara's feet and turned to walk away. She shed her armor and tossed the pieces on the ground as she walked, each one making a loud clank as it landed on the sandstone road. She headed to the rear Helmasaur and opened the ramp, then vanished inside. The crowd watched quietly the entire time; nobody dared to stop or interrupt her.

"Enough. We have work to do. Everyone head to the storehouses and begin gathering the food. Once we have it all, we'll pull the Helmasaurs away from the village and make camp at the base of the cliff. I don't think anyone wants to sleep in the houses of the dead tonight. I think last rites for the dead can wait until the morning, we all need some rest."

Chapter 16: That Familiar Sound

Unsurprisingly, the Gaze of the Sulaaq returned yet again that night. But Mewtwo was too browbeaten by the fall of Ven'ravé to conjure up another show of defiance during the dream. All he could do was bury his face in his hands to block out his view of the glowing eyes, and while this helped to an extent it didn't stop that horrible sinking feeling of dread from settling in on him. He sat quietly and tried to wait it out, only for his ears to catch another hint of distant, distorted words. Just like the last time this had happened the sound was quiet and extremely difficult to make out, but it almost seemed to be a little bit clearer than last time. He raised his head and stared down the glowing eyes as he tried to catch the fleeting words.

"We managed ... vermin ... Northern village..."

"All..."

"...your orders... most... standing."

"...expected effects... guest... time is... results."

Mewtwo was almost disappointed when the dream suddenly was interrupted. He was shocked awake by the sounds of people clattering their gear in the camp nearby. It had almost sounded like he was tapping into some sort of Sulaaq conversation during the dream. Maybe the device they were using to project the vision into his mind was accidentally picking up more than intended? He grumbled tiredly to himself and got up out of his sleeping bag to begin the dreary work of helping to pack up their camp and load the tents into the Helmasaurs.

Mewtwo couldn't bear to attend the last rites for the Ravéan people that came after that. After helping pack up the camp he sat inside the lead Helmasaur while the others held the rites up inside Ven'ravé. Even down there at the base of the cliff he could hear them singing the Song of the Valley together; the sound of it carried on the wind and haunted him for what felt like the better part of an hour before everyone returned. Then, moving in total silence, the Rakeshan Gerudos climbed into their caravan and departed. The food had been stowed overnight and with the funerary services complete, they had no more reason to stay. Ven'vha was another two days away at maximum speed and Hadara was worried that the Sulaaq might realize they were parked at the settlement and come to attack again. Best to keep moving and avoid the towers as best as possible.

Mewtwo noticed immediately that Madiri had chosen to swap seats with Ruisa. Now Ruisa was sitting in the front Helmasaur with them and Madiri was in the rear. Mewtwo understood the message this sent quite clearly; it felt like another twist to the knife in his chest. He still couldn't blame her for it though, even thought it hurt deeply. As the caravan set off for the day, Mewtwo quietly sat in the back of the passenger compartment and stared at the floor, unable to bring himself to ask for any more lessons from Hadara.

After an uncounted number of hours, lunchtime arrived. More Molduga jerky, along with canned fruit of some unknown description taken from the Ravéan stockpiles. Everyone ate in silence; it was clear the weight of the previous night's events was taking its toll on all of them. Thankfully Ruisa scooted over to sit next to Mewtwo after the meal was over and tried to strike up a conversation.

"Hey you. For what it's worth, I think you made the right decision last night. About choosing to go to Ven'vha, I mean."

Mewtwo nodded quietly before replying. "It was the only logical choice. That does not make it feel any less terrible though."

"Yeah. Q'diri is my friend too, but she's a tough old bird. If anyone can survive a Sulaaq attack it's her. Besides, maybe 15 people will be too small of a target for the Sulaaq to bother with? Maybe they'll sit there for the next few days completely undisturbed and unaware of what's going on out here. I personally think that if we're going to go back to the nomad lifestyle like our ancestors, that we should finish organizing with the Vha'an and Suulan people to make one giant caravan, then travel to Ven'suul and Ven'rakesh one last time to pick up the Honored Guards from both villages before setting off together into the unknown."

Mewtwo allowed himself a little smile. "That doesn't sound so bad. You know what I think we should do? Once we have gathered everyone together and retrieved all the Honored Guards, we should choose a single Sulaaq tower to raid, but this time we don't just raid it, we claim it for ourselves. Think of it this way, once the drain device at that tower is destroyed, I'll have full use of my powers. Then not even an entire army of Sulaaq will be able to stand before me. We can collapse the train tunnels underneath it to prevent the Sulaaq from using them to enter from below, have the guards man the tower's exterior-facing weapons, and turn it into our own fortress."

"Hah well there is one flaw to your plan, once the drain device is down then there won't be any power to run the exterior guns. But still, I like the way you think! Those towers are far more armored and defensible than even the most heavily fortified Gerudo settlement. If there's any place we can hold them off, it's in one of their own towers. The hard part will be picking one out that isn't too heavily defended. For all we know it could have been an entire army of Immortals that stormed Ven'ravé, and we have no idea which tower that army is parked at now. It could be any of them, and that's the sort of festival that I wouldn't want to stumble into." Ruisa replied.

"Indeed. Still, it's nice to have a plan. For now though, I still feel worried that I may have lost my friendship with Madiri after last night."

This caused Ruisa to give a more somber nod of understanding. She reached over and put one hand on his back reassuringly. "I feel you. I've nearly fucked up my friendship with her a few times before, but she's always come around after awhile. She'll eventually forgive you, you just gotta give it time and let her have some space. Besides, you got me here to watch your back now, and even though I ain't a replacement for someone like her, I can keep any damn Vura or crazy thief off of your back no problem. I still owe you one after all, remember?"

Mewtwo finally managed a full, sincere smile for the first time that day. "Thank you Ruisa, you're a good friend too, I'm sorry I didn't recognize it before."

"Hey forget about it! You're still our Alafir after all, you got a lot to learn and that's no fault of yours."

Ruisa smiled and then gave Mewtwo a firm smack on the back, fortunately missing his second neck yet again. How grateful he was that so far nobody had accidentally struck it even with a slight glance, he knew how much it hurt to get struck there. Their little show of camaraderie seemed to enliven the others in the compartment too, Mewtwo saw a few of them smile, including Ruru and Sumati. Gradually over time a few people began to have quiet conversations as the atmosphere lightened just a little. Even though they didn't quite get back to the same levels of mirth and conversation as before their arrival at Ven'ravé, it at least lightened up enough that it no longer felt oppressive. The day's travel went by uneventfully and they eventually found a small plateau overlooking a flatter stretch of sands where they could settle and make camp for the night.


Now it was Day Five of the Rakeshan Tribe's journey through the desert and Mewtwo was starting to feel stir-crazy from being cramped up in a tiny vehicle for so many days in a row. He was fortunate that he had at least been blessed with a night of dreamless, restful sleep the night before. But now, as he sat in his cramped little seat in the passenger compartment and drew doodles on the margins of his Gerudo Language notes, something felt off. A different flavor of dread seemed to permeate the air that afternoon. For a little while Mewtwo tried to shake it off and focus on his doodling, but the feeling gradually grew stronger as the hours whizzed by. It wasn't until he realized that the sunlight seemed to be darkening that he was able to put a finger on those feelings. He looked up from his parchment and glanced over Hadara's shoulder to see the sky outside was beginning to fill with a dusty haze.

"Chief, what do you make of the weather?" Mewtwo asked, standing up and walking over to get a closer look.

"It looks like a sandstorm is coming. Sometimes these storms come in one big obvious wall of sand, sometimes they kick up clouds of finer dust that precede them and hide their approach."

"Is it safe to drive through them?"

"In flatter stretches yes, but I don't know this particular plot of territory between Ven'ravé and Ven'vha well enough to know how far the flats continue on. I would rather stop and waste a day than accidentally clip the top of a tall dune I didn't see coming and wreck the caravan."

"What about the weird multicolored mode on the screen that gives the ability to see through blowing sand?" Kalana asked.

"It's not foolproof, the colors can sometimes mask the contours of the ground if you're not paying close attention. Using that to drive through a sandstorm is something I'd only risk in a dire emergency, so let's just come to grips with losing a few hours at minimum."

"Wonderful. At least we'll be protected from the blowing sand in here. Maybe you can teach me how to play that game 'Keese and Leevers', Kalana?" Mewtwo suggested.

Kalana laughed loudly in amusement. "That old children's game? That's not what I would expect you to have an interest in my friend! Sadly I don't have a deck of the necessary cards to play."

Mewtwo almost spoke up to point out that she had said earlier that she always carried a deck on hand, but then he remembered that it was Madiri who had said that and a fresh wave of melancholy crept over him.

Hadara leaned over the control panel and keyed the radio. "Attention all Helmasaurs! Sandstorm incoming. We're going to park and wait it out. Slow down and stop behind me. We'll hope that this one is a short one. If there's daylight left after the storm clears we'll continue on then."

A few of the Gerudos in the passenger compartment grumbled in frustration when they heard this, but none of them bothered raising a complaint. Hadara eased down on the throttle gradually; once they coasted to a stop she turned off the engine and settled them onto the sand with a soft, gritty thump. Now only the ragged rushing of the gales outside met Mewtwo's ears. He turned and headed back to his seat with his tail dragging morosely across the floor. Sitting down, he quietly listened as the winds of the sandstorm began to ramp up as it approached. Time crept by slowly, and as they waited and listened to the storm, that subtle sense of dread and anxiety continued to crawl into the back of Mewtwo's mind. He lost track of time for awhile as he waited, until a thought struck him and he decided to go back to ask Hadara a question.

"Hey chief, has there been any record of people hearing voices when their dreams are invaded by the Gaze of the Sulaaq?"

"No, never. Why do you ask?"

This made Mewtwo hesitate for a brief moment. His instincts were to hide whatever might set him apart as bizarre or unusual, but he reminded himself that he was already quite unusual by Rakeshan standards and spoke up anyway.

"Well, because I've been hearing some faint, muffled voices every time the Gaze returns to my dreams."

Hadara furrowed her brow, initially unsure of what to make of this. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by the abrupt and loud sound of a much stronger wind buffeting the Helmasaur and making it rock. The gritty, ticking hiss of sand and pebbles raining down on the hull accompanied this howling rush, and Mewtwo saw the dark, opaque orange of the sandstorm darken even more on Hadara and Kalana's screens.

"Sa'oten! This one's a real tile scourer!" Kalana remarked.

Hadara nodded in agreement and then spoke up again, this time louder so she could be heard over the roaring winds.

"What do these voices say?"

"It's difficult to make out, they sound extremely quiet and indistinct, as if whoever was speaking was quite distant. I have barely managed to make out a handful of words, but the last time it happened I could almost discern the vaguest shreds of meaning. It sounded like I was overhearing the orders relayed between Sulaaq, and it sounded like they were mentioning Ven'ravé."

At this point Ruru got up from her seat and squeezed her way up to stand alongside Mewtwo, uncomfortably crowding him in the process.

"Mom, do you hear that?"

"Ruru, this is a fairly important conversation, can you please-"

"Mom! I can hear the sound of a Molduga again!"

All four of them paused for a brief moment to listen. Mewtwo couldn't make out anything else over the overpowering din of the sandstorm, but that gut feeling of dread was getting stronger.

"Sweetheart please, it's mid-day and I don't hear anything at all other than the storm." Hadara said softly, though her face was tinged with concern.

"You never hear it! Your ears are old and rickety like a rack made of Deku sticks! Can't you believe me after I was right during the lore lessons last time? That was mid-day too!" Ruru protested.

Hadara turned to look over at Kalana, who shot her a glance that seemed to say "She has a good point." She raised one finger as if to ask for silence, then pushed Mewtwo and Ruru back a few steps so she could climb out of her seat and lower herself to the floor. She pressed her ear to the metallic plated surface and listened for several seconds, knowing that the vibrations in the ground would transmit directly through since they were sitting firmly on the ground instead of hovering. The entire group watched in tense silence as she listened.

"Something...I do hear something. It's really hard to make out over the wind but...it does feel like the ground is subtly reverberating."

Hadara's eyes widened a little, and then she spun around in her chair and barked a command over the radio. "I want every driver to swap their screen over to rainbow vision and sweep the area! Look for shifting sands that stand out from what the wind is blowing!"

Hadara then tapped a few buttons on the control panel and the screen instantly shifted to infrared. Now they could see the desert much more clearly through the stifling dust of the sandstorm. The picture was still extremely fuzzy and indistinct, and the artificially bright multicolored overlay appearing on everything suddenly was jarring. But it did outline their surroundings at a moderately acceptable level when compared to the completely opaque wall of dark orange they were seeing before. Hadara couldn't see any signs of movement in front of them, so she turned and watched Kalana's screen as she swiveled the gun turret and performed a sweep of their entire surroundings.

Mewtwo almost made an aside to point out that the system they were using wasn't called "Rainbow Vision", but he decided this wasn't the time for idle pedantry. Now even his ears were starting to pick up on the very low, subtle rumbling. It was the same familiar sound as what the Molduga made when he encountered it outside Ven'rakesh, and he guessed that his subconscious mind must have been picking up on it before he consciously realized it. That certainly explained the dread he was feeling. He focused on watching Kalana's screen, not even noticing that Ruru was still squeezed in next to him watching too. He could see some vague fuzzy clouds of blowing sand that whipped across the ground at a low level, but no big shifting telltale bulges just yet.

"This is 'saur ten, I see them! 500 feet out! Three big moldugas, burrowing under the sand! They're heading straight for us!"

"Sa'oveer!" Hadara snarled, then reached down and slammed the startup button on the control panel. She hit the radio and then shouted "Everyone power up your engines and take off immediately! Use the rainbow vision to see the other 'saurs in the caravan and stay in formation! We're going to have to risk the impaired visibility and hope we can see any dunes approaching despite the overlay!"

While Hadara grabbed the sticks and the helmasaur powered itself back up, Kalana turned and shouted to everyone "Get back to your seats!"

Mewtwo didn't wait for Ruru to make her usual protests, he gently picked her up and carried her over to put her in the seat next to his. She whined indignantly as he sat himself down afterward.

"Hey, I wasn't gonna complain that time, I think I get how scary Moldugas are after what happened to you and Madiri last time."

The helmasaur finished starting up and floating off the ground at this point; it began to rapidly accelerate, causing all the passengers to be squeezed together like sandwiches where they sat side by side. Mewtwo gripped his seat and grimaced as he felt Ruisa accidentally smash his tail against the wall.

"Best not to waste any time." He said to Ruru in a soft, serious tone.

"Ten, are you sure you saw three of them? That's insanity!" Hadara called out over the radio.

"No, there's more! I see five now! They're closing in on us!" came the reply.

"What the hell is even going on?! They never group up like this, ever!" One of the passengers murmured quietly.

"Maximum speed! They can't keep up with us when we top out the engines!" Hadara ordered, her voice sounding increasingly fearful. She then squelched the radio and said to Kalana, "Watch behind us!"

Kalana nodded and spun the turret around, getting a view of the nine other helmasaurs and their terrapins as they raced across the sand. They stood out far more clearly than anything else on screen due to the huge clouds of red and orange heat billowing out of their backwash and blasting directly down at the ground underneath them. The artificial coloration even highlighted hidden engine vents on the sides of each vehicle, showing the intense heat as solid white lines. They couldn't see any signs of the Moldugas from this far ahead, but the increasingly frightened crowd of chaotic voices on the radio told Mewtwo they were there.

"Sa'sheer! Chief, there's...there's ten of them now!"

"They're still gaining on us somehow, even though we're at max speed!"

"Goddesses above!"

"Stay calm everyone! Saur ten, you have a working turret! The impacts that the beam makes on the sand are more than loud enough to draw their attention. If they get too close, fire at an open patch to draw them out! Then saur nine, you use your turret to fire on any that leap up into the air to attack!" Hadara ordered.

"Right, got it! I'm going to fire now!" Ten replied.

Mewtwo saw a blinding flash of white on Kalana's screen as the 'saur at the back of the formation opened up. A lingering beam-shaped white column of air formed, connecting the turret to the ground behind them for a brief moment before the winds of the sandstorm carried it away in tattered puffs. Then Mewtwo saw it; the red and orange outline of the Molduga's form erupted from the dark blue sands and sailed up through the air with its jaws gaping open. Another flash marked the next 'saur opening fire, and Mewtwo could see the beam connect with the open mouth of the leaping beast and burn all the way through, lancing up into the sky undeterred. The molduga collapsed onto the sand and flailed wildly in agony, and then two more erupted up underneath it and clamped their jaws around it, sawing into its flesh with their jagged teeth and nearly ripping it in half. Mewtwo was equal parts sickened by the stomach-turning display of gory cannibalism and perturbed by the contrast between that horror and the gaudy rainbow of colors it was being depicted in. He didn't have long to watch it though, as the three immobile forms rapidly faded into the distance as the caravan continued to streak across the desert. But even over the howling winds and the hum of the engines he could hear the gutteral, visceral shrieking of the dying monster as its brethren gorged on its still-living body.

Brief cheers of relief came over the radio as the Gerudos watched three of the ten pursuers leaving the chase. But the cheers were short lived, there were seven of the creatures left and they were closing in rapidly. Now Mewtwo could see the bulging disturbances appearing on the horizon behind them, they were less than one hundred feet away from the rear 'saur and closing!

"Sa'sheer! Sa'sheer! They're too close! The gun's still charging!" He heard ten's driver yell frantically.

"Kalana, shoot backward just behind them to at least give them a distraction!" Hadara shouted.

Kalana pulled the trigger and her whole screen went white as the heat from the blast overwhelmed the IR camera for a few seconds. When the image cleared they saw another Molduga erupt through the sands at the spot where Kalana had struck. Nobody else had a turret that was fully charged, so it flopped onto the sands unchecked without any beam striking it. It too instantly fell victim to its ravenous brethren, though this time only one bothered to stop and feast. Now there were five left, and they were closing so fast that nobody had any options left.

Mewtwo heard the driver of saur ten screaming in terror as one of the five closed the gap and came up underneath the terrapin attached to it. The yawning jaws clamped down onto the metal hull and bucked the metallic plating beneath their incomprehensible jaw strength. The terrapin was lifted up into the air by the impact, and the tow hitch keeping it attached instantly snapped apart. Mewtwo's heart practically stopped as he watched this nightmare playing out; he imagined all the people inside that vehicle and he clenched his fists with abject rage and sorrow. The helmasaur that had been attached was thrown wildly off course by the impact, even though the hitch had broken off it went spinning off toward the south and nearly clipped the ground as the driver desperately tried to correct its course. As the molduga landed on the sand, they saw the entire hull crumple and collapse like an eggshell, crushing whatever contents were inside. It broke off the pack now and settled into the sand to hungrily chomp on the remains of its prize

"NO!" Mewtwo shouted.

"It's a food cargo terrapin, nobody was inside of it!" Kalana said, not taking her eyes off of the screen as she watched the progress bar for her gun's charge creeping up.

Ten's driver began to loudly pray over the radio, but somehow she managed to halt her spin and get going straight. Her gunner then shouted "I'm charged! Firing a distraction shot again, nine you better not miss this one!"

Ten swerved back onto course and started following the caravan again, having managed to spot it on their IR camera. They blasted another empty patch on the sands with a whipcrack and flash of white, and one of the four remaining moldugas in the pack answered and immediately was struck by fire from Nine. Now none of the remaining three bothered to stop and attack their fallen comrade; they were closing in to striking distance on the caravan a second time.

"We're out of options now, everyone scatter! You know the way to Ven'vha, we'll meet up there by the end of the night! We need to try to confuse them!" Hadara ordered desperately.

Immediately the entire caravan began to fan out as their drivers picked random directions facing away from their pursuers and swerved. At this high speed they didn't have enough maneuverability to turn very sharply, so the breaking formation formed the shape of a fountain whose stream was dispersing upward. One molduga initially tried to focus on Ten, but then changed its mind and zoomed off after Nine instead. The second one zipped forward toward Four, then jumped left after six. The third actually slowed itself down and continued heading straight on toward One, which was carrying Mewtwo and company. Their brief waffling bought everyone in the caravan a reprieve from the reaper's clutches, and for a moment the radios fell silent as all the Gerudos watched to see what their pursuers would do next.

"I think it's working. Look, one keeps dipping back and forth now." Kalana said, pointing at her screen.

"It's only borrowed time, once they pick a target and get focused we're going to be right back in the line of fire again. Goddesses please, give me just one small rocky plateau!" Hadara replied.

Hadara focused on the path ahead sharply now, trying to spot anything like a foothill or mesa they could head toward for cover. Kalana kept watch on their rear, and now everyone in the passenger compartment was leaning around to stare at her screen. They lost sight of two of the moldugas for a short while, as well as the other helmasaurs as they zipped off in different directions. But the third one was beginning to close in on them again, so Kalana aimed down at the sand and fired another distraction shot. A thrum, a crack, and a flash of light marked her shot, but this time the molduga didn't go for it. This time it stayed straight on target. This time, there was no terrapin to absorb the molduga's wrath like a shield. The rumbling bulge zoomed toward them at impossible speed, its menacing shape wildly contrasted by the garish, cartoony colors of the infrared screen.

"Mother, It ignored the distraction shot! Mother! It's about to reach us! MOTHER!" Kalana shouted, her voice swelling with panic as the molduga closed to striking distance.

Mewtwo, helpless to do anything to save them, grabbed Ruru and pulled her into his arms protectively, wrapping himself around her and closing his eyes. He didn't want to see the jaws coming this time.

Rather than the Helmasaur collapsing into a crumpled, crushing ball from the molduga's bite, it instead swerved HARD to the left as Hadara did the only thing she could do. She slammed the steering sticks to the left, not caring that it would send them into a wild uncontrolled spin at these speeds. Since the passenger seats didn't have seat belts, he and the other Gerudos were thrown from their seats and slammed against the walls by centrifugal force as the helmasaur spiraled out of control. Mewtwo heard the sound of sand grinding the undercarriage beneath them as the vehicle skimmed and skidded along the sands, spinning haphazardly through the air. Someone's elbow jammed him in the ribs as they were pinned against the steel wall. He could hear Ruru sobbing in abject terror and all the other passengers screaming as they careened tumultuously through the sandstorm. Mewtwo could barely make out the roar of the molduga as it breached too, but at least it seemed like Hadara's desperation maneuver had allowed them to dodge its lunge.

There was a dull thudding slam in the distance as the beast landed on the sands after missing. Hadara, still cushioned against the force of their spin by her seat, yanked hard on the sticks to halt it and right them. They managed to come to a stop after what felt like an agonizing eternity of uncontrolled chaos. Mewtwo opened his eyes and looked around to see that everyone else was alive, if a bit bruised and banged up. He still held Ruru tightly in his arms though, since she was clinging to him with a steely grip of fear and still crying. The screen settled into stillness with the Molduga in front of them, thrashing its body and trying to burrow itself back into the ground.

"Kalana! Fire on it NOW!" Hadara yelled.

"I'm so dizzy! Please Goddesses let this hit!" Kalana begged softly, then turned the reticle and fired.

By some miracle the gun had finished charging during their careening spins and she still managed to connect her shot on the soft underbelly of the beast, gouging a bright glowing white hole through its flesh. It shrieked and flopped wildly in agony, losing focus on its digging attempts thanks to the beam puncturing several vital muscles. Hadara then turned them around as fast as she could and slammed the accelerator again, taking off into the sandstorm a second time.

"Is everyone alright?" Kalana asked, turning around to assess the people in the passenger compartment.

"We're fine. I've got a wicked bruise on my ribs but I don't think anyone's seriously hurt." Mewtwo said.

While Kalana was looking around at the crowd of people, Mewtwo spotted something on the screen that caused his blood to practically freeze solid in his veins. Off in the distance behind them were the rapidly approaching disturbances in the sand caused by the last two moldugas! They had abandoned chasing any of the other members of the caravan and were coming for them!

"Shit, Kalana look!" Mewtwo gasped, pointing at the screen with a shaking hand.

She spun around and spotted them, then gripped the sticks and swore profusely.

"Sa'oveer! Mother, the last two, they're here!"

"I don't think I can dodge two of them, if I swerve away from one it'll sap our speed and the second one will grab us out of the air!" Hadara said, now starting to sound panicked herself.

"I don't wanna be eaten!" Ruru sobbed.

Mewtwo turned his attention to her again, knowing it was the only thing he could really do. He hugged her tighter and leaned down to speak softly into her ear.

"It's ok Ruru, we're here. As long as we're together, we can get through this. Remember what you said to your sister and I back at the tower after we saved you? We're a team. Three heroines."

"Th-three heroines, protect each other to the end." She said, her sobs making her stammer a little as she repeated that line.

Ruru then clenched her fist and lightly bumped it against Mewtwo's hand, just like they had done when they swore that oath. He clenched his fist too to return the gesture.

"Mother, they're starting to get close again and I think they learned to ignore the distraction of my shots, what do we do?" Kalana asked urgently, not paying attention to Mewtwo and Ruru's private moment.

"Save the recharge time. I have a better idea. Does anyone have any bombs?!" Hadara called back to the group.

"I have one!" Ruisa replied, then opened a compartment under her seat and produced another big black powder bomb like the ones he'd seen them use before.

"Maybe a different type of blast will tempt them where the beam has failed! Crack open the top hatch and toss the bomb out behind us! Quickly, we don't have much time!" Hadara ordered.

"Sa'sheer, flint! Does anyone have any flint?!" Ruisa scrambled.

Another guard produced a flint, which Ruisa then began to strike against the steel wall behind her. A few sparks flew, but they missed the fuse on the bomb. Ruisa shouted an angry cry of frustration and tried again. A spark landed on the fuse but didn't catch.

"Ruisa! Now! They're right on us!" Hadara yelled, panic rising again in her tone.

A third strike. The fuse didn't catch.

"Goddesses damn it!" Ruisa yelled.

Fourth strike, and then the fuse erupted into a shower of sparks. It was lit! Ruisa then stood up and pushed up on the hatch. The wind pressure kept it down however, causing her to grunt and strain in futility for a second or two.

"We're going too fast, chief! The wind is holding the hatch shut!"

"Then partially open the rear ramp door! It's stupid and dangerous but we're running out of options! Try to only open it partway!" Hadara ordered.

Ruisa swore to herself under her breath and walked over to grab a handlebar on the side of the back wall and hit the switch that opened the door. As soon as a crack opened and the ramp began to swing down, roaring wind blasted into the compartment carrying sand in with it. Blowing sand stung Mewtwo's eyes and he snarled and reached one arm up to rub it away. Ruisa yanked the switch back upward before the ramp could swing all the way down, stopping the full fury of the unubstructed sandstorm winds from blasting into the compartment. With just a foot or so of clearance she reached up and began to toss it, but she hesitated.

"The fuse is too long, gotta wait and let it burn down or we'll leave the bomb far behind at these speeds and the moldugas might ignore it!" Ruisa yelled, barely audible over the wind.

"Fuck that, throw it now!" Another guard shouted, then reached up to swat the bomb out of Ruisa's hand!

It sailed over and clipped the rim of the ramp, and for a split second it almost looked like it would bounce backward into the compartment and explode then and there, killing them all! Ruisa gasped and leaped forward to bat it upward and over the rim, just barely imparting enough force to send it over the top and tumbling out into the winds. Her desperate maneuver caused her to lose her balance however; she tumbled forward toward the ramp and slammed against it facefirst. The mechanisms that raised and lowered the ramp made a horrible metallic screech and the ramp began to judder and jerk, lowering another few inches downward before stopping. Those steel parts were only so strong and they were only designed to take impacts from the exterior of the vehicle, not the interior. More wind whipped through the narrow opening, carrying sand that stung Ruisa's eyes. She scrabbled and yelled in panic as the pull of the wind began to draw her backward, and the ramp made horrible cracking and ripping sounds! They heard a thundering BOOM a moment later as the bomb went off, and then a hum and a whipcrack as Kalana opened fire. Mewtwo wasn't paying attention to Kalana's screen though, he was gripped with terror as he saw the ramp about to give out and dump Ruisa into the abyss!

"Kalana! Take Ruru!" Mewtwo yelled, then stood up and brought her over to put into Kalana's lap.

"Mewtwo what in the Goddess's name are you doing?!" Kalana asked.

"I can't let Ruisa die!"

Mewtwo then reached down to grab a rope from one of the storage compartments and wrapped it around one of the handlebars on the roof of the vehicle near the upper hatch. He tied a knot as fast as he could, then used the rope as an anchor so the wind couldn't suck him out of the compartment as he rushed back toward the door. Ruisa hadn't managed to climb to her feet yet because the wind would catch her if she wasn't pressed flat on the steel, but she saw Mewtwo approaching and reached out her hand to him.

"Oh Goddesses, the last one is coming and the gun is still charging!" Kalana shouted suddenly.

"I've got another bomb!" Said the guard who had acted so recklessly before.

She grabbed a second bomb out of storage and tried to strike the flint, but by now the wind was too intense and any sparks got sucked out and never came close to the fuse. She kept trying anyway while Mewtwo reached down and grabbed Ruisa's hand.

"I have you! Try to push yourself forward!" Mewtwo urged.

Ruisa nodded and then used her legs to push herself away from the ramp slowly. Unfortunately, that was too much for the strained and ruined mechanisms to handle and the ramp gave out, swinging down and slamming onto the sands that were roaring past beneath them! Ruisa thankfully managed to hold onto Mewtwo's hand despite her body flopping and smacking brutally against the steel ramp, but the winds were overpowering now. Everyone in the passenger compartment desperately grabbed handlebars to avoid being sucked out, and they all screamed in shock and horror as they saw the ramp collapse. The helmasaur shuddered and dipped as the ramp began to viciously grind against the sand underneath them; the drag force began to sap their speed immediately. A rock passed beneath them and struck the underside of the ramp with a deafening CLANG, causing it to bounce upward and then land on the sand again, giving Ruisa another brutal beating as her body struck the steel plating.

"HOLD ON!" Mewtwo shouted at the top of his lungs.

He felt his arm muscles screaming in agony as he struggled to bear the weight of an entire adult Gerudo woman by himself. His arms weren't trained for this, he didn't have the strength or endurance to do this for long. Ruisa, despite having the wind knocked out of her, gasped raggedly and began to pull herself up.

"I'm...not gonna die just yet! I still have to save your ass! Twice now after this!" She replied, giving him a look of steely defiance to tell him she had no plans to let go.

Then something emerged from the blowing orange sands behind them. Something big, horrible, and filled with rows and rows of jagged, serrated fangs. Through the opaque orange wall of dust, a dark yawning maw came surging up toward the helmasaur's ramp, clearly visible in this close proximity. Time seemed to slow down again as Mewtwo's brain went into survival mode and he tried one more time to conjure his psychic powers.

Nothing answered his call.

With one simple, terrible gulping motion, the molduga closed its jaws around Ruisa and the ramp. The fangs came just short of Ruisa's wrist, and the action of the mouth slamming shut around her and the ramp sheared it off of the back of the helmasaur entirely. There was no way Mewtwo could hold on against its sheer weight, Ruisa's hand was ripped from his grasp. She was gone.

The molduga fell to the ground and landed with a thudding slam, and the physical force of the ramp being torn off caused the helmasaur to go into another careening spin due to its speed. Mewtwo used his now freed hand to grab the handlebars inside the rear door, and that action immediately saved his life. The rope, unable to hold his entire weight against the spinning centrifugal force, immediately came untied and fell loose. Mewtwo had to drop it and grab a second handlebar while bracing his feet around the rim of the door to avoid being flung out of the spinning vehicle like a rag doll. Screaming filled his ears, mixed in with the roaring of the wind and the hum of the engines straining to halt their spin. It all seemed distant to Mewtwo though, whose mind was starting to go into shock from the toll of the panic, stress, and adrenaline. It was a miracle that he and the others managed to hold on and avoid being thrown free.

After their second spin cycle finished and Hadara managed to bring them to a halt, she yelled "KALANA! FIRE!"

Kalana, still gripping her sister firmly in her lap, used one hand to grab the control sticks and aim. When she pulled the trigger this time however, dizziness ruined her aim and she missed by a wide margin.

Mewtwo took a few moments to regain his own sense of balance as the 'saur came to a stop. He heard Kalana cry out in frustration as she realized she had missed, and then he looked out the back of the helmasaur to see if he could see anything. The sandstorm blocked his vision for a moment, but then something strange happened. A pocket of calmer winds seemed to wash over them, allowing the heavier sand to fall down and come to rest for a brief moment. There were still finer dust particles in the air that kept him from seeing too clearly, but now he could make out the silhouetted outline of the hulking body of the beast that was devouring his dead friend.

Still shaking from overexertion and exhaustion, Mewtwo almost fell over and passed out from the strain of what he had endured. But the sight of that nightmarish...thing chewing and chomping on the remains of his friend caused something to snap inside him. The red tinge returned to his vision as the same old rage boiled up inside him. It was that same bloodthirst that had driven him to kill Gary, but so much worse. Now it was bolstered by grief and a desire for righteous vengeance. Without his psychic powers to use however, he went for the next best thing. He reached over and grabbed one of the Sulaaq rifles that one of the guards was holding and ripped it out of her hands violently.

"Mewtwo...what?" The guard panted, too disoriented by the spinning to speak properly or fight to maintain her grip on the weapon.

Mewtwo then jumped out of the open door on the back of the helmasaur and began to run across the open desert toward the molduga. It was too busy enjoying its meal to notice him approaching and just sat there and chewed. Mewtwo flipped the safety switch off and raised the rifle, then aimed and fired.

CRACK!

The red beam gouged a steaming hole through the beast's hide, despite the fact that he'd hit it where its hide was tougher. It let out a surprised shriek and curled its body up defensively, but it wasn't dead. Mewtwo fired again.

CRACK!

A second hole seared through the fin that the molduga had raised to try and shield itself. Tears were streaking down Mewtwo's face, clouding his vision now. He didn't even care that he'd probably done enough damage to kill it, he let out a wordless yell of fury and sorrow and fired again.

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK CRACK CRACK!

CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!

As shot after shot ripped and burned through the monster's body the damage overcame it and it went limp on the sand. Steam and smoke poured out of the blackened holes, and the fat began to ignite. Mewtwo came up alongside it now and stopped running, but he wasn't satisfied. Still yelling with uncontrolled anguish he just kept firing.

CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!

Click.

The gun began to beep with a shrill alarm as it overheated. The plastic grip grew hot enough to start burning Mewtwo's hand; he had clearly fired far too quickly for it to disperse the heat. The battery was dead though, all he could do was stand there and pull the trigger, which made clicking sounds every time.

Click click click click click.

Mewtwo then did the only other thing he could do, he raised the rifle and slammed the butt of it down into the beast's lifeless, beady little eyes.

Crunch. Squish.

The blue-green jelly of the vitreus humor coated Mewtwo's hands, and its slickness made him lose his grip when he tried to wrench the gun out of the eye socket. He scrabbled with it one more time, and then fell to his knees as exhaustion caught up with him and his arms failed to find the strength to lift anything. There, just about to pass out from exhaustion, he wobbled on his knees next to the head of the molduga and cried. His vision began to blur as the inevitable gripped him, but he could still catch one more glimpse of a residue of blood on the inanimate jaws of the beast he had slain.

"You...were supposed to save my ass...Ruisa."

Then finally, darkness mercifully took him.