The four of them walked through the forest. There had been no sign of giants since the three that had attacked Gerda, nor of any other life-forms of any kind, allowing the forest to settle back into a peaceful silence broken up only by the crunch of snow beneath their feet.

It was so peaceful, in fact, that for the first time since leaving the Shadow Border Fou popped out of Mash's armor and leapt onto her shoulder.

"Fou? Foufoufou!" Smiling, Mash scritched Fou behind the ears. Gerda heard him and turned around, her face breaking out into a wide grin.

"Awww! You're so adorable!" Gerda ran over. "Can I say hi?"

Mash nodded. "Of course. Gerda, this is Fou."

"Hi, Fou! Nice to meet you!" Fou jumped onto Gerda's shoulder and began nuzzling her, causing the young girl to break out laughing. "Stop, Fou, that tickles!" She looked over at the other three. "You know, I've never seen an animal other than sheep outside the village before."

"Really?" Fujimaru looked confused. "But what about the crows? Patxi noticed a couple flying around us a little while before we found you."

"Crows?" Gerda frowned. "What's a crow?" Nervously, she looked from face to face, noticing the expressions on Fujimaru and Mash's faces. "Oh...did I say something bad? I'm sorry."
"It's alright." Patxi gave her a reassuring smile. "It was the same way where I'm from - those two are just from a special place far away from here."

"You mean where the Goddess lives, right?"

"Not exactly." Mash shook her head. "Somewhere really, really far from here."

"Oh, I see." Gerda blinked and slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, there I go rambling on again! What am I doing? I still need to get the herbs. C'mon, Fou! I'll race you!" She took off running, the little creature trailing behind her. As they followed, Mash, Fujimaru, and Patxi talked among themselves.

"Is it really all that strange that she's off by herself?" Patxi nodded towards Gerda. "She's like, what, twelve? Thirteen? That's the same age I was when I started tagging along on hunts."

"It's not normal in Proper Human History. Most people can't even get part-time jobs until they're 16 back in Japan, let alone do something that's as dangerous as this."

"Maybe circumstances are different here? Back in Russia they probably started early because of necessity, so maybe here it's the same way."

"Doesn't really seem like it. She's a lot more innocent than me or any other Yaga that age were, that's for sure."

Fujimaru shrugged. "Well, we could just, y'know, ask her. " Cupping his hands around his mouth, he began to shout. "Hey Gerda! Can we ask you a question?"

Gerda had been hopping around the snow with Fou, but when she heard Fujimaru she turned around and jogged back over. "What is it?"

"The three of us were just wondering - why are you out here by yourself? Isn't this the kind of thing that adults should do?"

"Normally yeah, but they're all busy getting ready for tomorrow. Everything's gotta look nice and proper for when the envoys arrive, right? There isn't anyone free enough to go look for herbs but me, and I couldn't just sit around."

"Envoys?" Patxi asked. If this Lostbelt has a bunch of secret police like the Oprichniki I'm going to lose it.

"Yeah - you know, the envoys from the Goddess. They come and heal sick people and reward you if you've been on your best behavior." Gerda tilted her head. "Didn't they have them where you're from, Patxi?"

"Well, sort of. Let's just say that the envoys were…" Homicidal maniacs fanatically devoted to a tyrant? "Not very nice. But that's not really any of your concern. Where are the herbs you're looking for exactly?"

"Not very far away." Gerda pointed at a mountain looming above them a little ways farther into the forest. "There's a clearing just up ahead where the fire and ice mountains meet. Rumor has it there's all sorts of herbs there. There's just one problem, though."

"Yeah?" Mash asked. "What is it?"

"I can't say for sure, but if the rumors are true those places tend to be really popular with giants." Gerda smiled. "But you all can take them out really easily, right? It sure seemed like it when you saved me!"

Mash and Fujimaru stole quick glances at Patxi before responding. "Yeah, of course we can, although I think we'd all rather avoid battle if possible. Makes it even easier, you know?"

"I do." Gerda began walking forwards again. "But no matter what, come on! We're almost there!"

This is really gonna suck, isn't it? Patxi's heart had already started beating faster. There's probably going to be loads of them, and they're going to see us the moment we get anywhere near the herbs, and then they'll -

Patxi shook his head, chasing away the thoughts. Fujimaru saw it and frowned. "You hanging in back there?"

"Yep." Patxi replied through gritted teeth. "Never better. Absolutely. It's just a few giants."

Fujimaru reached up and, before Patxi could back away, patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We'll be sure to stay as quiet as we can, and if a giant or two does happen to detect us you and Mash'll be more than enough to take them out."

"If you say so." Patxi wasn't convinced.

The clearing Gerda led them to was the greenest place Patxi had ever seen in his life, carpeted with all sorts of grasses, flowers, and trees right up to the mountainside. The air was even warmer than the rest of the Lostbelt, warm enough that Patxi seriously considered getting rid of his coat. A river gently meandered through the center of it, completing the image.

"Oh, wow." Mash breathed. "It's just like a big garden!"

Perhaps it was; Patxi had no idea what gardens were like, having never even heard of the concept before. All the same, it was incredibly beautiful in its own way, with the plants rustling gently in the wind as the river quietly trickled along.

It was also filled to the brim with giants. Both mountain and frost giants traipsed around the clearing, occasionally grunting at one another, so far unaware of the new arrivals.

"They like it here for some reason." Gerda whispered. "No one ever knows why."

"Maybe they like the warmth?" Fujimaru suggested. "It would explain why there are so many of them. I bet Holmes or da Vinci would know."

"Have to admit, watching them's actually really fascinating, isn't it Senpai?" Mash pointed at a pair of earth giants on the opposite side of the clearing. "Them communicating really does suggest they've got some kind of language, and if that's true then maybe we can learn it?"

"Um, guys?" In his opinion, Patxi's own whisper sounded embarrassingly high-pitched and panicked. "Can we stay focused on the herbs, please?"

"Oh yeah." Gerda looked back out at the clearing. "Aww, they're right in the middle by the river…"

"So we'll have to sneak over." Mash reached up and softly pressed a button on the Ortinax. "Good - stealth mode is still engaged. Actually, we may be able to whittle away at their numbers a little if we stay around the outer edges. Then we can grab the herbs and make our escape."

Escape. Good. Very good. "How?"

"Da Vinci said she installed a set of them in the Ortinax. I haven't had the chance to try them, unfortunately, but we can probably make good use of them."

"You guys have skis? " Gerda's voice began to rise. "That's amazing!"

" Quiet! " Patxi hissed and clammed a hand over her mouth. "They'll hear us."

"It's alright, Patxi." Fujimaru looked around. "None of them seem to have noticed. It probably won't last for long, though, so we should get going."

Mash and Fujimaru began to creep forwards, followed by Gerda, while Patxi -

Found that, once again, his legs refused to move. Rooted in the spot, Patxi tried to stop them from shaking. Come on. Don't be a coward. You can do this. It's just a few giants. He took a deep breath, and then another, and tried to force his right leg to step forwards. It didn't budge.

The others were getting perilously far ahead. Damn it! Patxi closed his eyes, hoping that maybe if he didn't see them he'd be braver. It didn't work, and in fact only seemed to make things worse, because now instead of a bunch of giants stomping around Patxi's brain filled itself with images of a dozen Ivans slowly circling him. Opening his eyes again, seeing how far ahead everyone else had gotten and realizing that he was almost at the point of being left behind, Patxi knew he needed to act.

Okay. I can do this. Three...two...one…

Heart pounding, Patxi took a shaky step forwards, then another, looking straight ahead at the biggest object he could see that wasn't a giant: Mash's shield. Just focus on that. Keep walking straight ahead, and you'll be fine. Slowly he caught up to them, ears open to the slightest hint a giant had spotted them, focusing on Mash and reminding himself that all they had to do was kill a couple, get the herbs, and run.

When they were in position, Fujimaru held up a hand. "Okay," he whispered, "Get ready. Patxi - your target's the Bergrisi at two o'clock."

"R-right." Patxi unslung his rifle and fumbled with it, cursing his shaking hands, before raising the barrel towards the giant. I can do this. I can do this.

"Mash, once Patxi shoots take out the Jotunn at 7 o'clock with your shield. After that, fall back and prepare the skis."

"Understood, Senpai."

"Gerda, you and me'll make a break for the herbs before going to Mash."

"O-okay." Gerda gulped and stood up straight. "Let's do this."

Great, Patxi thought, the little kid's braver than me. Don't even want to know what the other two think about THAT.

"Everyone, get ready. Five… Four… Three… Two… One… NOW! "

Patxi fired straight at the Bergrisi's neck, shooting again and again, trying to keep it off-balance. Mash rushed the Jotunn and broke its' root with her shield before knocking it to the ground while Gerda and Fujimaru sprinted towards the river, and as they did so Patxi advanced on the Bergrisi and switched targets from the neck to the flanks. He shot bullet after bullet, still terrified but managing to keep a better lid on things, and finally the giant tumbled to the ground.

As it fell, for the first time Patxi noticed the three giants that had been standing behind it. No. Oh, no no no. "Uh, guys? We've got a problem."

Mash slammed her shield down into the Jotunn's throat with a grunt before turning to look. "Senpai! Three more in front of us!"

There was an echoing crash behind as well, and when Patxi whirled around his heart skipped at least a dozen beats: a good dozen giants were advancing from behind as well.

From there, everything became a blur. Patxi was dimly aware that he was shooting again, this time towards the three advancing from their escape direction as Mash whaled on them with her shield, and somewhere along the line a few of Fujimaru's servants briefly materialized to take care of the ones behind, but besides that he had no idea what was going on. Chest hammering Patxi kept shooting where Mash told him to, hoping that Fujimaru and Gerda would just get the damned herbs already, not even noticing that two of the three giants had fallen dead to the ground. Then Fujimaru told Mash to engage the skis, then he ran over to Patxi and grabbed his arm, and for a second Patxi was back in Moscow being forced forwards by the Oprichniki before the roar of a giant shook him back into the present. He clung to Mash as the human clung onto Mash and Gerda grabbed his tail, saying something about needing the envoy's protection, and then with a whoosh the Ortinax's skis activated and the four of them shot forwards.

"See?" Gerda said once they'd gotten far enough away to stop for a moment. "I knew things were gonna be easy for you! There's no way that envoys like you would be squashed like the other adults are!"

Speak for yourself. Personally Patxi thought they were more lucky than anything to be alive, and he was still in fight-or-flight mode, so much that he didn't even register what exactly Gerda had said.

By contrast, Mash heard it loud and clear. "Hold on - what do you mean by 'the other adults?' Did something happen?"

"Just the usual." Gerda looked around. "Hey, we're almost there! Just a little more and we'll be at my village!"

"What's 'the usual?" Fujimaru asked. "Was someone wandering out into the forest?"

"That's part of it, yeah." Glancing up at the sky, Gerda winced. "Can we talk about it later? It's starting to get dark out."

They sky was in fact beginning to turn from blue to purple, a phenomenon Patxi had never seen before. It was transfixing, and had their lives not still been in danger he might've wanted to stay and watch the transformation for a bit, Patxi realized. But instead, with the giants still somewhere behind them and his body still in fight-or-flight mode, Patxi simply readied himself for another ride on the Ortinax's ski things. The four of them blasted forwards through the afternoon, Patxi alert for the sounds of hostiles all the while, until finally they arrived at the outside of a wooden palisade.

Safety, at least for the moment.