Walls

"They've breached the Red Wall - get the cannons!"

The horde were flowing through sluggishly, trampling one another in their eagerness to clear the outer perimeter and get into the killing zone that lay between them and the massive inner wall. Somehow they'd found a weak spot in the ancient, crumbling outer wall - they must have been scrabbling at it for days, unnoticed, before sheer pressure broke through the last few layers of the soft, wet stone, constantly battered with the acid wind and rain from off the moor. Cursing the repair crew with some force, Nik jumped at the order, immediately running to prep the scatter cannons that should bring down the horde long before they got anywhere near the White Wall (though the days when the inner wall were truly white were long before she was born, for now it was all shades of grey and black and brown and in some places green where the nasty, foul-smelling acid-swamp lichen crawled up them like a scaly rash).

Even though the threat was minimal, tensions were still high in the company as each pair of gunners cranked and loaded the wide-mouthed cannons on the battlements. The grunts were ugly things, misshapen and shambling, and just the sight of them lumbering en masse towards the inner wall was enough to set the greener troops on edge. "Hold on!" shouted Bevon, five metres from Nik's own cannon and scrambling wildly to pivot his weapon towards the herd. "Hold! Wait just a second!"

"Line it up, you moron, you don't need to see the whites of their eyes, just point the damn thing!"

"It's not _working_, oh gods, oh gods, they're getting closer..." Bevon threw his weight against the cannon and it reluctantly creaked into position, the screech of metal on metal drawing the horde's attention and causing them to wheel in an unwieldy mob towards Bevon's position on the wall.

"Well done, kid," Nik said with a roll of her eyes, putting her shoulder to her own cannon to steady it while she looked through the sight. It wasn't difficult to find a target - or several of them - and soon she was tightening her trigger finger, exhaling deeply before sending a wide spray of shrapnel over the pitted field.

Just then, though-

"Hold! Hold, there's someone down there!"

Nik pulled away to get a wider view of the field, as did most of the other gunners; she heard gasps as they resolved the decidedly human figure in the killing zone metres below. It seemed the stranger had run through the hold in the Red Wall behind the horde and they were now carving a competent swathe through the lurching bodies as it made for the White Wall.

"What do we do?" Bevon asked no one in particular, his voice tremulous but also suffused with a certain amount of admiration. "Should we throw down a ladder?"

"Can't," Nik said matter-of-factly. "Horde might get up it." Her mouth flattened to a line as she watched the light figure continue to cut through the milling grunts. "Train your guns on the gap," she said. "The repair mechs will be there soon to close it. If this kid manages to take down the ones that already got in... then we'll talk about ladders."

The gunners listened, at least most of them, raising the cannon mounts to cover the gap in the wall, where a few straggling grunts were still shoving through. The figure below showed no signs of tiring, felling bodies with what looked to be a shockstick and a long-bladed weapon of some description that was running dark with ichor by the time the mechs trundled out to begin repairs on the wall.

Nik watched on, trying her best to look unmoved by the display as she watched the stranger go, though the longer the fight went on the more apparent it became that there were just too many of them - soon, no matter how fast and strong the lone fighter was, they would be overwhelmed.

At last, after what seemed like hours but could only have been minutes, she pulled her shoulder away from her cannon, pulling it back from the wall, muscles straining as she hefted it alone back on its runners.

Bevon looked aghast and thoroughly confused. "What're-"

"Just keep covering the hole," Nik snapped, stooping to retrieve her rifle, and the boy didn't dare say another word. Trotting along the wall to a better vantage point, Nik hunkered down to brace her gun on the parapet. The rainwater that had pooled on the ground, clearly due to a blocked gutter somewhere, immediately came up over her knee pads and soaked through her jeans, and she knew for a fact it wouldn't be long before her legs would begin to blister, but she simply pulled her hood back a little to see better, and took aim.

 

There were too many of them, Arika knew that, but that wasn't going to stop her trying. She hadn't come this far just to give up, and it was clear that none of the onlookers on the wall were going to cut her a break - or so she thought until she heard a loud crack from the wall and felt her side splattered with gore, turning just in time to see one of the horde fall to the ground, missing most of its head.

She threw up a hand in a salute, though her expression of gratitude was soon interrupted by another lumbering grunt which attempted to throw its arms around her and drag her to the ground. She ducked out of its grasp, spinning around and jabbing the shockstick into its torso and flicking the switch that sent an arc of energy straight through its cap, stunning the grunt into stillness so that she could slice across its neck with her blade.

The rest of the fight was... well, not 'fun' - fighting for your life was never actively enjoyable. But with her gun-toting saviour on the wall, the whole affair was considerably less horrific, and it was to her considerable surprise that Arika turned and sliced off the head of a particularly ripe grunt to discover that it was the last one. The repair mechs had bolted some temporary plating over the hole in the wall and had turned to watch the show, the mechanics reclining in the comparative safety of their cockpits, a few bludgeoned undead lying about them, though most had gone straight for Arika and perished there.

In the silence that followed, Arika watched with baited breath for some reaction from the wall, and though it was with some relief that she saw not a ladder, but a wave, presumably directed at the mechs, because with a hiss of hydraulics they began to move again, heading back toward the White Wall in their slow, long-legged gait, swinging across past Arika in a sign for her to follow along. One of them, a skinhead young man with a face full of piercings, shot her a broad grin as he approached, one hand leaving his controls to give her a thumbs-up.

Not content with trudging in their wake, Arika waited for a mech's path to bring it closer to her before using the last of her energy to sprint towards it, springing off a large hunk of rock and catching one of the long 'arm bones' and swinging herself up onto a jutting platform below the cockpit. Looping a leather thong through another gap in the machinery she hooked her arm into it and relaxed, the sway and step of the mech almost soothing after the gruelling fight and long-distance run that had preceded it. She could hear a low chuckle emanate from the speaker, rough and crackling, as the machines lurched toward the armoured door in the wall up ahead.

The City was, in comparison to the pictures and stories of old, barely a city at all. And yet as the gates opened to allow the mechs back inside Arika couldn't help but gasp at the streets and buildings laid out before her. The great warehouses where the mechs were serviced fanned out nearest the wall, and beyond that the bunkers where soldiers and scouts spent their time off the wall. Rising behind them were the clustered segments of city that housed the majority of survivors, the corrugated metal roofs pitted with acid, tiered level-upon-level with narrow streets running between the rickety buildings that in some places leaned in toward one another and even met at the top.

There were few people out on the streets, though she could hear the thrum of footfall and conversation that suggested that there were walkways and thoroughfares within the buildings. The street itself changed level, stepways and ramps leading off up alleys, constructed with gratings and rough metal sheeting and boards and even inset with thick plateglass grids suggesting that some chambers lay beneath - storerooms and warehouses perhaps or even dwellings.

Arika hadn't been in an inhabited place in a long time and never one this big, and in spite of her nerves she ached to explore, but this would have to wait, of course, because then a group of soldiers rounded the corner, headed her way, who clearly represented her 'escort'. After all, it was never going to be as easy as simply entering the City and everything being fine. They were going to want to know how she got here. They were going to want to know where she came from. They were going to ask her a lot of questions, only some of which she had an answer for.

She hopped down from the platform, hearing the pop and hiss of the cockpit opening behind her. She felt hot and clammy in her long waxed duster, though she knew better than to throw it off just yet as the skies overhead were thick with the scruffy grey clouds that could hiss down acid rain at any moment. What she did do was pull her thick-strapped goggles up her forehead, squinting a bit in the sudden switch from amber-tinted to the cold, flat blue of late morning. "Hoy!" she said, raising a hand in greeting to the soldiers.

"You'll come with us," one of them said, pulling his scarf away from his mouth but otherwise remaining covered.

"Right you are," Arika said with a nod, tucking her hands into her oversized pockets and running her fingers over the small things she kept there - a button, a twist of metal, a sand-rough piece of glass. "Lead the way."

Some of the troop went in front of her to lead the way as suggested, but a couple fell into step behind her too - clearly they were not taking any chances, though they had yet to ask her to surrender her weapons. Then again, perhaps the story would have been different had she been carrying a gun rather than a shockrod and a sword.

The soldiers led her down a narrow, dark alley by the side of one of the barracks, and down a series of steps to the level beneath, and soon they were winding through a maze of corridors - short and yet with considerable variety, some old stone, some dirt-walled and some clad with metal or dingy, once-white-painted panelling - to a small room with a single table and three chairs. Her 'interviewers' were already there: a young man with a short, scraggly beard and piercing blue eyes and an older woman with a long scar snaking across her otherwise handsome face. Neither were uniformed - for all their military precision, nobody wore uniforms these days and rarely even bothered with badges. Usually, even when everyone had to cover their faces, it wasn't hard to tell who the enemy was.

The woman spoke first. "I'm Kora. This is Gavin. Sit down."

Arika hadn't been given a chance to derobe yet so she took it now, shucking her longcoat and draping it over the back of her chair. Next came the long leather gloves, held to her sleeves with several clips which she unfastened and then left hanging down her arms as she tugged off her gloves. Last came her goggles over her short brown hair, the strap touseling it as it slid away. Thusly unburdened she plopped down in the chair, shockstick and sword still hanging from each hip.

"What's your name?"

"Arika. Longshanks," she said, leaving out her family name in favour of her scouting designnation.

"Longshanks - where from?" 'Gavin' asked immediately.

Arika took a deep breath. "From the Far Reaches," she said, her expression tense and set as if daring them to naysay her.

Gavin raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, while Kora's face remained entirely impassive. "Why are you here?"

"We need your help."

The young man blinked, and from the flicker of her expression Arika knew she finally had Kora's attention. "Why?

"We're under attack. There's a horde, bigger than any I've ever seen, and it's being led by someone. A man."

"That's ridiculous," Gavin said immediately. "No one controls the horde. They're animals - less than animals, even, all they do is hunger."

"I know the horde," Arika replied, her voice hard to hide the grief. "This man does lead them, somehow, and he is coming for the City. Please, if you want to protect your people you must trust my word..."

"Trust you? Like we trusted the Reaches to maintain clear trade lines?"

"That was not for lack of trying, but the marshes ris--"

"I'm not interested in excuses," Kora broke her off. "What proof do you have?"

"Proof?" Arika blinked, clenching her hands into fists underneath the table. "What proof could I bring of an invasion - a bloodied rag? A splintered gate? My presence is my proof - I was sent to bring you this message, along with two others. If they have not arrived, then..." She trailed off, a momentary sadness showing on her face before she steeled herself to continue. "I am not deceiving you, this threat is true."

"So let's say we believed you. What is it you want?"

"We need your aid. Soldiers, mechs, guns..."

"Leaving the City undefended?" Gavin scoffed.

"If you wait until they reach you it'll be too late," Arika insisted. "The horde grows as they travel, taking in new bodies - by the time they reach the City they will have enough to overpower even you. You need to attack them before they get that far."

"No one can breach the White Wall," the young man said.

"They won't need to if they can surround you and starve you out. Don't you see, your fortress is also a trap!"

Gavin rolled his eyes, but Kora touched a hand to his shoulder before he could respond. "We have ways around that," she said. Then she went on. "How did you get here? Did you have a vehicle? You said you came with two others, why did you travel separately?"

"We were separated by the Cumbrian Sea - we had horses, to start, but mine did not last," Arika replied, worrying at the ragged skin of her lips with her teeth. "These last hundred miles or so I travelled on foot."

"I see." Kora stood then, apparently considering their interview over, at least for now. "We'll take some time to consider your message. You're welcome to stay here in the barracks or, if you'd prefer to explore, you can leave your blade and shockstick with the quartermaster here."

"How long will you be in your decision?" Arika asked, standing as well. "There isn't time to spare - we need to leave as soon as we can."

"It'll take as long as it takes, Longshanks," Gavin replied dismissively. "Just be glad you're on this side of the wall."

Arika opened her mouth to protest that there were still hundreds _outside_ the wall, beyond their protection, but she knew better than to argue with him here and now. "I'll be ready and waiting, then, for you."

"Good. Someone will show you where you can get cleaned up and have something to eat. DO you need medical attention? Burn treatment?"

She glanced down; her hands were more or less untouched, but she knew her feet and legs were less so. "Yes," she admitted with a nod. "Thank you."

"Very well, Gavin will show you to the medic. I think he's treating some folk from the wall but I'm sure he'll get to you soon enough - there was nothing major as far as I'm aware."

_No, there wouldn't be, given that I did most of the work..._ Arika nodded again and began to gather her things together, folding her gloves and sticking them in her pocket and re-adjusting her goggles on top of her head.

 

The infirmary lay in a tiny corner of what Arika was realising was a small but tightly packed hive of rooms serving numerous functions beneath the main barracks of the City. There was a small queue of people waiting for treatment, mostly young men and women though there were a few grizzled greybeards in the bunch as well. Arika wasn't used to seeing so many people in so small a space and her head began to swim somewhat, forcing her to close her eyes and take several deep breaths to combat the sensation.

The folk waiting around were chattering away with one another up until the point when someone noticed Arika, at which point they fell silent, all eyes turning to her, appraising her openly.

"Hoy," she said to them somewhat weakly, nodding along with the greeting. The group didn't seem hostile, exactly, but she knew she must be one of a very few new faces to grace their presence within the recent past.

"Nice swinging," came a comment from a fresh-faced young man - barely more than a boy, really, standing over by a grim-looking woman leaning against the wall.

"Ah, right. Thank you. Good shooting, the lot of you."

"Hah, that was aaall Nik," the kid said, and immediately the woman beside him jammed her elbow into his ribs.

"Shuttit, Bev."

Arika shifted her gaze to the woman who had just spoken, sizing her up - she was a shade older than Arika herself, perhaps, with a lean, wiry frame, a shaggy mop of dirty blonde hair, a slightly crooked nose with a scar across it from an old break and pale eyes that met hers steadily as she looked over. "Well, I owe you a debt, then. Thank you for your aid in my time of need."

'Nik' raised her eyebrows, perhaps at Arika's manner of speech, more formal, she'd noticed, than that of the folk here. She gave a short nod. "Just keeping things interesting," she said.

 

"Bevon!" the medic barked, "get your arse over here and show me where it hurts." The boy blushed and hurried to comply with the older man's orders, and before long most of the City's men and women had been seen to. Arika had fallen into a doze in the corner, propped against the wall, and so barely noticed the room emptying until someone nudged her awake. "Huh?"

"You're up," Nik said. She'd just emerged from the infirmary herself, it seemed, though she had no visible bandaging or wounds.

"Oh. My thanks," Arika said, blinking the sleep away. The room was a lot more bearable in its less-busy state, meaning the smile she gave the other woman was easy and genuine. For her trouble she got a slightly confused look in return.

"You want me to wait, show you to a bath, or food?"

"I'd like someone to show me, though I understand if you have better things to do," Arika said, straightening up. "I'm reasonably able at following directions if you just want to leave them with me."

Nik shrugged. "Best not keep the sawbone waiting. You won't be long. I'll wait."

Arika hobbled out of the medic's room some time later, her feet and calves salved and wrapped. Her muscles were tight and aching and all she wanted was a bed to lie in and a hot cloth to press to her calves. Nik stood - a little gingerly perhaps - as the brunette exited the room. "C'mon then," she said. "I'll show you to the washrooms and fetch you some bread."

"Much appreciated," Arika replied. "I'll owe you doubly by the time this is all through."

"Don't worry about it." It was an instruction rather than a pleasantry.

 

Together they headed off down the corridor, Arika falling into step behind the other woman and committing the twists and turns of their course to the washrooms, which, it turned out, was just one room, really, a low ceilinged open block with baths and open shower stalls.

"There's hot water today," Nik said.

Blinking, Arika surveyed the room, giving a low whistle that sounded rather eerie in the bath block. "You know, I've heard about this, but..."

"Heard about... bathing?" the other woman hazarded doubtfully.

"Heard about whole baths you can have to yourself, instead of sharing them with your nearest and dearest."

"Who says we don't still share around here?"

"Well, I don't know if anybody will want to go after me, so maybe I should just cool my heels elsewhere..."

Nik rolled her eyes. "Relax. Run a bath - make sure you keep the dressed bits out of the water - lower legs?" At Arika's nod of confirmation Nik nodded back. "Figures. Must be a lot of marshland between the Reaches and here."

"A fair bit," Arika confirmed. Then, "How far have you been?"

"About half way. When I was younger I was an outrider."

"But now you just stay in the City."

"Sure. Well. I work on the walls."

Arika nodded, and then without any ceremony began to get undressed again, pulling off her longcoat and finding a hook for it to hang on.

"See you in a bit," Nik said matter-of-factly. "I'll bring bread. Maybe some beer or something, bet you haven't had that in a while."

Arika paused mid-strip, eyes widening once again. "You're going to have me owing you a whole raft of debts by the time I'm out of here."

Nik's brows drew together briefly. "That is..." She shook her head. "Not how I do things."

"Not how you do things in the City, or not how _you_ do things?"

The other woman just shrugged. "I'll see you soon, Arika. Enjoy your bath."

 

It was considered a fortuitous skill for a scout to have - the ability to fall asleep any time, anywhere. Perhaps it wasn't surprising then that upon submerging herself in the bath of warm, clean water the first thing Arika did was drift off, her legs hooked over the side of the tub and her head propped up on her rolled-up shirt, which smelled as if it could do with a dunk itself.

As such it was something of a suprise to be woken by a throat clearing by her side.

"I brought you some bread and beer."

"Hm?" Arika glanced up to find Nik at her bathside, a plate and mug in her hands. "Oh, gods, and here I am dozing."

"Well, I'm sure you have plenty of sleep to catch up on too," Nik said with a light shrug as she pulled a stool over from by another bath and placed the food and drink down on it.

"Mm... don't think I've had a proper night's sleep in a few weeks," Arika agreed. "It must be strange, sleeping here within the walls all safe and snug."

Nik raised her eyebrows a little, but then shrugged. "I suppose it must," she said, her tone strange and unreadable. "So," she said, sticking her hands into her pockets and stepping back a little from the bath, "I suppose I'll leave you to it. I see you still have your blade so I guess you won't be leaving the barracks..."

"Well, I had wanted to see the rest of the city... there's really no weapons allowed?"

"Only if you've been licensed to carry them."

"I've been carrying them since I was twelve - isn't that license enough?"

"Not around here."

"What exactly is the restriction for? Is there violence in the City?" Arika asked, frowning. She had always heard it talked about in such glowing terms - the idea that there might be problems was slightly upsetting.

"None at all," Nik said. "Because we don't allow unlicensed weapons within City walls."

"And what about if the grunts break through? You won't be ready to defend yourselves."

"The horde don't break through. And if they did, the militia would protect the people. We have well-established emergency procedures - if you're around for long you'll no doubt get to see one of our drills."

Arika's frown didn't fade. "How do you get licensed?"

"Ask me in a couple of weeks, if you're here that long."

"Weeks? Oh no, I'll be long gone by then," Arika said, ducking down beneath the surface of the water to wet her hair. When she re-emerged, Nik had turned to go and was on her way out of the room.

"I guess I'll just make my own way, then," Arika murmured, resting her chin on the edge of the tub and watching the other woman go. She couldn't exactly claim that her welcome to the City had been warm, but at least the baths were.

 

The bread and beer were both rather stale, but they still felt like just about the best think Arika had ever tasted right now. She ate and drank them while still in the bath, feeling positively decadent nibbling on the crusty bread while her fingers grew pruney, and afterwards she dried herself with the threadbare towel that had been left behind for her use. She didn't much like putting on her well-used clothes again but didn't have much other choice, though she left her coat and gloves off as she was still indoors, for now. This area of the barracks seemed to be largely empty, perhaps simply due to the time of day; she wasn't sure.

Arika could've found her way back to the sickbay easily enough, but why would she want to do that? So aimless wandering it was.

Rather than head further into the warren of offices and storerooms she headed further upstairs, towards ground level and what was presumably a way to get out into the city. She passed a few closed doorways that looked enticing but she knew better than to nose around, particularly given the way that outsiders seemed to be viewed - at least by the soldiers and their bosses.

The close hallways smelled of dirt and wet boots, perhaps not unsurprisingly. Arika suddenly missed the scent of rain on the moors, sharp but familiar. Pushing up the stairs, she paused to peer out of one of the narrow windows, seeing the shadows of people's feet passing by.

"You're the girl from the killzone." As she turned and took in the older man standing behind her - his wiry frame, his light eyes, that shock of blonde hair - she knew immediately that she was looking at a relation of Nik's.

"Yes, I am," Arika replied, surprised to have been happened upon and recognised in this dim stairwell. "I've come from the Far Reaches to ask for aid."

"So I hear." At Arika's bemused look he explained. "I'm on the council considering your case."

"Oh! So you're an Elder, then?"

The man chuckled. "Flattery will get you everywhere. Yes, I suppose so."

"May I ask your name, sir?" Arika said with the usual deference Elders were afforded.

"Heler," he said, stepping forward and offering her his fist.

She lifted her own fist to his, somewhat confused when he tapped the top of her hand with his own instead of her knuckles. I guess that's how they do it in the city...

"It's a honour to meet you, sir. Though... if you're on the council, should we be speaking? Is that allowed?"

"Don't worry about that," Heler said with a shake of his head. "It's not really that sort of decision."

"I see." Arika smiled; if that was the case then surely they had already decided to send aid, and now it was just a matter of how much. Heler raised his eyebrows at this.

"There's very little you could say to me one way or the other that could affect the council's decision, even assuming I could change all their minds."

"Change their... you mean they aren't going to help?" she asked disbelievingly.

Heler shrugged. "A final decision hasn't been made," was all he would say.

"Godsdamnit!" Arika exclaimed, hand flying out to ring against the metal handrail, though almost immediately she took a deep breath and pushed down her anger, shaking her head as if trying to sweep away the emotion. "My apologies. I am still over-tired from my journey."

Heler tipped his head to one side. "They have no proof, kid. They're not going to send anyone out without proof."

"They'll have their proof soon enough when the horde marches on the City," Arika muttered.

"Aye, I'm sure they will at that. I'm sorry, kid."

Arika shook her head again, as if refusing to accept his apology meant she could refuse to accept the truth. "So I came all that way for nothing?" she asked then, and maybe it was Heler's repeated use of 'kid' that made her sound so young and unsteady.

"Ach, don't be so hasty, you never know. You had a look around the City yet?"

"No, not yet."

"You should. You never know what you might find in there. Go, get lost, get drunk, have fun." Helen shoved a hand in his pocket, then, bringing out a few thin, plasticy slips. "Here," he said, "that should be good for a bit of trouble - don't worry about them stiffing you, prices are standard here and never negotiated."

"I... my thanks," Arika said, hardly feeling in the mood to have much fun now. Then, "are you Nik's father?"

Heler smiled little. "You've met Nikoletta, have you? Yes, that's right."

"She helped me, up on the wall. She probably saved my life."

The smile widened. "That's my girl," he said. "You must give her my regards if you see her."

Arika doubted she'd be seeing the other woman again in her time at the City, but she nodded dutifully anyway. "Of course. Thank you for the currency - I owe you a debt."

"Not at all, I'm just sorry I can't be of more help."

"You've been very helpful." Arika paused, then hazarded, "do I really have to leave my weapons behind? I'm no threat to anyone but I honestly feel naked without them at my side."

"Oh, of course..." Heler rolled his eyes. "Hang on, come with me..." He led her along the corridor and around the next bend to where an old, rather battered looking phone hung on the wall, and picked it up, immediately barking into it. "Counsel Heler here... yes, yes, fine, listen, I have the girl from the Reaches here... well I'm telling you she is... Look, I don't care what they've told you you're telling to the public, _I'm_ telling you that - y'know what, forget it, that's not important, I'm calling to confirm that you can write up a license for her weapons." Heler rolled his eyes at Arika as he waited. "I don't care... I don't c- okay, y'know what, it's just a blade and a shockstick, it's not like she's bringing a machine gun, so just button it and if anyone gives you trouble send 'em to me, all right? All right. Good." He hung up, turning to smile at Arika once more. "Least I can do," he said.

"Would it be easier if I didn't go out into the city? I don't want to start any trouble..."

"Oh no, go on," Heler said with a chuckle. "It'll just be me that gets in trouble. And I _like_ a bit of a row now and then."

Arika raised her eyebrows but couldn't help but smile at the older man. "Fair enough."

"Now, go on, get out of here. See the sights, and get back to the barracks by dark if you need a bunk - though there will be places in town with room if you're stuck out there. We don't charge for accommodation in the City."

Her expression still bemused (why would they charge for accommodation? People needed somewhere to say), Arika nodded and turned to head up the stairs to the waiting City.

 

The inner streets were where the real life was, Arika realised as she stepped along the narrow bustling corridor. There was a far wider variety of people than she was used to seeing as well - old greybeards and young boys and girls darting in and out of the crowds of people, their high-pitched laughter shocking to Arika, who expected someone to quiet them before they drew the attention of the undead.

She got plenty of looks as she passed, ranging from sly glances to open staring from the younger and older folk, and more than one person had a second glance at her weapons. Her weapon pass was a colourful braid pin with a metal card hanging from it that had been scanned on her exit - she assumed that any militia who saw her would have the same scanner. She knew the city had some small measure of electricity, and of course she'd past field upon field of wind turbines in the muddy plains around the City, but still the use of such technology was rare these days - some of the devices still existed and some still took the time to learn how it worked, but it had come to be viewed with a measure of distaste in the time since the Rise and Fall.

There were a few crowded ground-floor shops that Arika took to be bars - she wanted to explore the City further but the bad news from Heler made her think that stopping for a drink wouldn't be a terrible idea. She kept walking until she found one that seemed less busy than the others and slipped inside (as best she could) to take the measure of the place. It was dark and the long central bar seemed to be made out of a smattering of reclaimed metal, the chairs and stools around it each different from one another.

When she arrived at the bar the tender was already pulling her pint - it seemed there was only one drink on offer, and when she fanned out her credit slips for him he raised his eyebrows but took one of the smaller ones without comment, making her wonder just how much credit Heler had given her.

"My thanks," she told him, tucking the rest of the slips back into her pocket. The beer was fresher than the mug Nik had left her, and Arika couldn't help but smack her lips as she set the pint back down.

"Good choice." The increasingly familiar figure sat down beside her on the next high stool along, tapping the bartop and prompting the tender to spring into action once more. "I see you managed to get a pass after all, how'd you swing that?"

"I asked one of the Elders. Your father, actually."

Nik frowned. "Right. Him."

Arika turned towards the other woman, one hand wrapped around her glass. "He was very kind. And very proud of you."

"He can stick his approval where the sun doesn't shine," Nik said with a snort.

"Have you quarrelled?"

"Close enough, I suppose."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Arika said, frowning. "He certainly seems to hold you in high esteem."

"So you say."

Nik didn't seem interested in discussing her father any further, and as much as Arika was curious to hear more about their apparently falling out she knew better than to press it. "The City is incredible."

"I guess," Nik said. When Arika just stared at her she shrugged, grinning a little sheepishly. "Sorry," she said. "It's all I've ever known."

"But you know what it's like outside the walls - you were an outrider," Arika exclaimed. "I've never seen so many people in the same place before. I don't know if I've ever seen so many people in my _life_."

Nik's smile grew a little, lopsidedly. "Well, enjoy your stay, I guess. Have a drink, have some fun."

"I'm having the drink - what do you do for fun here?"

"That very much depends what sort of 'fun' you're into."

Arika blinked, unsure of the insinuation in the other woman's words. "I like sport? And music..."

"I think we can manage both of those," Nik said, then tipped her mug back to drain her drink. "C'mon," she said, standing. "We'll start with sport."

 

'Sport' was not exactly what Arika had been expecting - to her the word meant one of the intense, fast-paced running and throwing games they played out in the Reaches, not... whatever this was.

"What did you call it again?"

"Boxing." Nik paused as one of the men in the ring swiped a kick at the other. "Mostly."

"And yet you don't allow weapons to be carried," Arika said, pursing her lips.

"Hell, this is one of the reasons _why_," Nik said with a laugh.

"Can anybody have a go?" Arika asked then, watching as the two men tussled against the ropes, their faces contorted in grimaces of concentration.

"'Course. You just put your name down and they match you up."

"Huh. Have you ever done it?"

"Sure. Why, you wanna see me fight?" Nik raised her eyebrows.

"I don't know, I was just curious," Arika replied, though now that Nik had mentioned it she _did_ wonder how able a fighter the other woman was.

A slight smirk crept onto the other woman's face. "I will if you will," she offered.

"Me?" Arika felt a flutter of nerves and excitement at the offer, and though she knew she should keep her head down and not draw attention to herself it was very tempting. "What does the winner get?"

"Prestige. Well, and credit at the bar for the night," Nik said. "Gambling isn't allowed here, so this isn't a money-spinner."

"All right." She had been hoping to make back the credit she had spent already, so that she could repay Heler in full, but credit to drink would at least mean she didn't spend any more. "I'd like to try it."

Nik looked genuinely surprised now. "Really?"

"Well, I'm a bit tired, and drunk, but I don't know if I'll be around tomorrow, so..."

"Hey, don't start making excuses already," the other woman said, beginning to lead the way through the crowd to the corner where a beefy, heavily tattooed woman was taking names.

Arika opened her mouth to protest, but any attempt at defending herself was lost in the buzz of the crowd as the match in the ring began to draw to a close with a brutal flurry of punches and kicks. The two women put their names down and Arika realised with a start that there was a good chance they would be boxing each other.

They were pretty far down the list, however, and as the night wore on more people arrived to join in, both the number of bouts to come and the crowd growing. Arika found the dynamics of the crowd both fascinating and slightly overwhelming; when it became crowded enough that she couldn't seem to move without bumping into someone or having an enthusiastic elbow jammed into her side she began to grow anxious again, the pleasant buzz from her beer disappearing under the weight of her unease.

"I'm going to step outside!" she told Nik in a raised voice, barely waiting for an acknowledgement from the other woman before turning and pushing her way through the sea of bodies towards the exit. She kept a hand on her blade, both to comfort herself and to ensure that no one tried to liberate it from its sheath in the crush.

The air 'outside' - in one of the long indoor streets that crisscrossed the City - was not much cooler, but it was a little fresher at least and she was able to move without bumping into anybody. Arika leaned against the wall, drawing in deep breaths and willing the buzzing in her ears to subside, which it did after a minute or so. Calmer, she glanced up to watch the people passing by, some of who stared back at her with varying degrees of curiosity and friendliness. In spite of the big fuss that had been made over her weapons, no one seemed to be bothered by her having them - it was as though, with the braid and card on her lapel, they just ceased to notice them. This seemed strange to Arika; it wasn't as if Heler had even tested her on how capable she was with them, or indeed as if he even knew her name, necessarily. That they should be so blindly trusting of a simple card didn't fill Arika with confidence but then, what did she know of such things? Compared to the residents of the City she was a child when it came to complicated issues of society.

The minutes stretched out, and at length her companion for the evening emerged to find her.

"Ah, there you are. Come on, we're up!"

Before she knew it Arika was inside the crowded bar again, setting her weapons and boots aside in a battered old locker and then being bundled into the gloves and protective headgear the other participants had worn. She was also given a worn gumshield that looked thoroughly used, but smelled and tasted of antibacterial wash - just as well as Arika hadn't relished being forced to choose between someone else's spit and broken teeth. The equipment was still slick with sweat from the last boxer to wear and, Arika saw as she pulled her fists up in front of her, spotted with their blood.

"You ready?" Nik asked. She'd stipped off her leather jacket and was just in a teeshirt, now, revealing a pair of tattooed and surprisingly muscular looking arms and shoulders given her slim frame. Clearly shoving cannons around the wall was good exercise.

The mouthguard already in place, all Arika could do was nod and give a grunt of assent, following Nik up to the ring a moment later. The crowd began to hoot and cheer as they emerged from between the ropes, just as eager for this match as they had been for the half-dozen that had preceded it; Arika wondered just how much of an appetite for fights they had to stand there all night and watch.

Nik was up on the balls of her feet now, circling with the other woman as they got the measure of one another. Arika was slightly taller, but her build was much slimmer than Nik's, made for long distances and stamina rather than brute strength. She gave a few feints to test how quickly the other woman could move and found that her reflexes were excellent - presumably what made her such a good shot - but she had a feeling that if she could keep Nik ducking and dodging her somewhat heavier frame would eventually begin to tire her.

The question was whether she would last long enough - one well-timed punch from those muscled arms and Arika would be laid out like a felled oak. The crowd around them, Arika was trying to ignore, but she could tell they were at that sweet spot between anticipation and boredom. One of them was going to have to make a move soon.

In the end it was Arika, impatient as ever, who planted her feet and swung a proper right hook at the other woman. To her mild surprise Nik took it, her fist connecting with the padding along the blonde's jawline. Arika had never hit a living person before - she was adept at killing grunts but that was a very different thing - and she froze for a moment, long enough for Nik to return with a neat, sharp jab. The punch was controlled, careful, and Arika was sure she must have pulled it somewhat. Still it was enough to get her moving again, and she began to move around the ring like she had seen the others do, keeping one shoulder forward and her arms raised again any other forays that Nik might offer. So focussed was she on the 'boxing' aspect of this endeavour that she almost missed the other woman's leg sweeping out, and she surprised herself - and the suddenly appreciative crowd - with her reflex reaction as she jumped neatly over it, ducked beneath Nik's guard and hit out with a jab to her middle and in that unstable moment while her leg swung through the air the other woman nearly went down, though she regained her balance again just in time.

Arika scrambled to stand again as Nik stabilised and they resumed their circling, though now that the ice had been broken there were several more tussles between them, though nobody was floored or even injured. While it had looked exciting from the audience Arika was beginning to realise she didn't have the stomach to really go after the other woman, and for whatever reason it seemed like Nik was still pulling her punches. As this went on longer, the crowd began to shout encouragement from the sidelines - clearly wanting to see something a little more exciting.

Arika still hesitated - she would have tapped out entirely but for Nik catching her eye during a close grapple with a challenging expression, and she could almost hear the other woman's voice in her head - "C'mon, you can do better than that". They broke apart again and something in Arika rose to the challenge; she lashed out with a one-two-three flurry of punches, wanting to prove to Nik if no one else that she was a capable fighter, and suddenly the crowd was a steady roar in their ears as the two women began to fight for real, punches and kicks raining down on one another as the adrenaline kicked in, and all there was was action and reaction.

Fighting grunts was a singular experience - for all their brute strength they were mindless, really, intent on only one thing in the end. Fighting a living, breathing person, especially one who had boxed before, was a completely different thing and despite the relatively low stakes Arika found herself just as invested in winning as she was out in the killing zone. Nik was flagging now, her movements just as heavy, her punches just as hard, but slower, her reactions slower, some of the spring leaving her step.

Arika continued to move around her, dodging her punches, keeping her dancing by kicking at her legs and sides. The crowd knew the end was nigh, now, and ratcheted up the shouts and cheers as they waited for Nik to fall.

When the final blow came it wasn't the one she'd expected. With a roar of apparent effort and desperation Nik aimed a right hook, wide and heavy, and Arika dodged easily to the side, ready to come round again, when she felt the impact to her left jaw come as if from nowhere and send her literally flying off her feet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the swoop of Nik's left backhand, which must have followed her hook, as the other woman stepped back almost sedately.

Her ears ringing, Arika could barely hear the roar of the crowd as she picked herself up off the mat. The announcer was already introducing the next fighters, she thought, and it was all she could do to slip through the ropes and relinquish her protective gear before sitting down heavily once more on a bench and reaching up to prod experimentally at her tender cheek and jaw.

"Good one," came a voice from beside her as Nik sank down herself, the springy bench giving just slightly. "Thought you had me there for a bit. Her headgear had flattened her hair down and she ran her hands through it now, her neck and bare arms glistening with sweat, heat radiating from her.

"I, uh..." Arika shook her head, the ringing slowly beginning to die down. "I thought so too."

"Come on, I'll get you a drink."

"So were both these free, or do I owe you some credits?" Arika asked when they had found a quiet corner to sit in.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Nik said, waving her hand.

"Well, my thanks. I could certainly use this right now... that was some hit."

"Hah, well, I wasn't going to last much longer if I didn't give it a go," the other woman said with a light shrug. "You thoroughly wore me out."

Arika raised her eyebrows, sipping at her beer. "I hope you'll be able to rest again before your next guard shift."

"Oh, sure, I'll be fiiine," Nik said, waving her hand. "Drink up, relax for a night."

"When are you next on the wall?"

"First thing. Day shifts this week."

"Oh. I see. Usually there's a bit of a reprieve from the horde the day after an attack - do you find it the same here?"

Nik nodded. "Pretty much. So... d'you do much of that back at the Reachers? Defence? Or are you always a scout?"

"We all have roles, but more often than not you get called on to do different things. There aren't enough of us to only have one job," Arika said with a shrug.

"Right, fair enough. So... how many of there _are_ you?"

Arika frowned. "You don't know much about the Reaches, do you?"

"Not really."

"Huh. That's..."

"Obnoxious?"

"I wasn't going to say that. It's just... strange."

"So tell me about it. I'm interested," Nik said, sitting back and taking another draught of her drink.

"What exactly do you want to know?" Arika asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, let's start with how many folk live out there."

"There were sixty-seven when I left... sixty-five now," she murmured. "Unless there have been more attacks, but there's no way of knowing here."

"Wow. That's... not very many at all. You must know everybody."

"There were over a hundred last year."

Nik sobered a little then. "Right. I see."

"I'm sorry," Arika said, shaking her head. "I do know everybody, yes. It's a very close-knit community."

"You must miss them."

"Desperately."

Nik's brows drew together a little. "I'm sorry," she said.

Arika shrugged. "If being here means I can help them then it's worth it."

The other woman's expression grew yet more guilty at this, and she knocked back most of the rest of her beer in a single, sudden swig.

"You don't think they'll send aid," Arika said then, her expression falling. "You think they'll leave the Reaches to be slaughtered."

"They'll see it as not running into an unknown situation," Nik said carefully.

"There are people out there that _need_ them. How can they be so cruel?"

"They're not cruel," Nik said quickly. "They're blinkered and scared."

"They're still going to allow people to die," Arika replied heatedly.

"But not our people," the other woman observed. "I'm not trying to excuse it. I'm telling you how it is."

"Your father is on the council," Arika said then, her tone growing desperate. "Can't you convince him to argue in our favour?"

"I can't convince my father to do anything."

"Why _not_?"

"Because I _can't_!" Nik said, slamming her mug down abruptly and pushing to her feet. "I'm going back to the barracks," she said then. "Enjoy your night."

Arika watched in shock as the other woman stalked out of the bar, too stunned and angry to call out to her despite the fact that her departure meant that she was all alone in the City. What had once seemed an exciting prospect that many Reachers dreamed of was now a disheartening reality, and all she wanted to do was finish her drink and find a place to bunk down for the night. She'd deal with the rest of her problems in the morning.

 

The woman behind the desk in the boarding house had stared openly at Arika as she made her way up the stairs to the room she'd been assigned, but hadn't questioned her and didn't seem at all surprised to see her. Word must have spread. She'd been given an 'occupied' tag to hang on her door, and it bolted from the inside, but like most of the other places around here it had no sign of a lock and key.

The room was relatively clean, and almost bare but for a single chair and a low palette bed. Unsure how or when she would awaken without a window, Arika was too tired to worry about that at the moment, and so after cleaning her face and hands in the washbowl she settled down for a fitful sleep.

The past few days seemed like a dream to her, and nothing was harder to believe than her experiences since coming to the City. It wasn't just the towering buildings and crowds of people, but also the reception she had gotten since arriving there that morning. Half the inhabitants seemed to view her as some strange curiosity, while the other half only saw her as a nuisance, apparently. The idea that she had left her friends and family in danger only to return empty-handed was almost too much to bear, and she squeezed her eyes shut before the exhausted tears could come.

 

Arika woke with a start the next morning to the sound of a loud bell ringing; immediately she was on her feet before she even realised what was going on. Surely a sound like that would attract the horde - but no, of course she was safe, surrounded by walls. With a shaky sigh she pulled her coat and weapons on and headed down the stairs, hoping the proprietress could direct her somewhere for her morning meal.

"A runner came by," the woman - a different woman this time - at the desk commented. "Says you're wanted back at the barracks, whenever you're ready."

"Oh," Arika said, perking up for a moment before she realised what she was likely being called back for. "All right," she continued more glumly, nodding. "Could you... um... which direction are the barracks from here?"

"Turn right out of the door, down two levels and you'll see the main drag. You okay from there?"

"I think so. My thanks."

 

The streets were already beginning to throng with people as she stepped out onto the terrace and made her way down toward the main marketplace and thoroughfare. Once there it was easy enough to get her bearings, and Arika was soon back at the barracks. Straightening her back, she approached one of the soldiers standing guard - there were more than she expected there, and she briefly wondered why the barracks needed guarding.

"I'm Arika Longshanks, from the Far Reaches. I was told I was wanted?"

The young man nodded, and jerked his chin toward the entrance. "Wait inside, someone will come find you."

"All... right." Arika gave him a hesitant but grateful smile and headed inside the building.

Soon enough, someone did come for her, another fresh-faced young guard who led her back through the maze of corridors toward the bowels of the military compound beneath the City. As they approached their destination she could hear voices - not raised, but definitely strained.

Arika tried to look nonchalant, but her heart sped up as they neared and she caught the tail end of the conversation through the door and realised the voice was one she was beginning to know quite well.

"...actually stop me, can you? So really my even giving you a heads up is just a courtesy and you can get off your fucking high horses!"

She waited until the murmurings in the room died down before stepping in to see Nik, standing in front of a table hosting five people, two of which she recognised as Kora and Heler, arms folded.

"Arika," Kora greeted her with a careful smile. "Won't you sit down."

The scout nodded, edging over to a chair and sinking down into it. She furiously tried to think what Nik's words could have been about - stop her from what?

"We've made the decision that we can't send anyone to the Reaches without some proof of your claims."

"But... but what proof can I give you?"

"You can't," Heler said simply, looking almost amused for some reason.

"But I can."

Arika's head whipped around to look up at Nik, eyes wide. "Pardon?"

"They'll take my word. I'm coming back with you. If you need help, well, it'll be late. But it'll come."

"You've... never been to the Reaches before."

"I... know that?" Nik was looking at her as though she was simple, now.

Arika frowned. "It's dangerous."

"Best you don't go back alone then, huh?"

"I don't think this is a good idea," Arika said suddenly, looking back at the council. "Please, just send a small force, that's all I'm asking..."

"We're not sending anyone," one of the other councillors spoke up, looking thoroughly unamused.

"Nikolette's accompanying you of her own accord," Heler explained. "Against advice."

"But you'll listen to her if she tells you that what I've said is true?"

Heler lifted his shoulders. "She's a trusted member of the guard," he said, confirming this with a nod.

Arika pushed to her feet, her expression sober. "Do you give your word?"

The man's brows drew into a frown. "We give you nothing, Arika Longshanks. My daughter has decided to accompany you on a journey. I am telling you that her word is trusted. If you are looking for assurances you will find none here."

Anger flared up within Arika, and it was only the slim hope of still receiving aid that kept her from giving an outburst that would almost surely see her escorted from the building. "Very well," she said stiffly, "then I leave today. My thanks to the Council for their consideration."

"Yeah, thanks for nothing," Nik offered, less apt to be tactful under the circumstances.

"Nikolette, this is the council, you can't-..."

But Nik was already on her way out. Arika wasn't long behind her, catching up to her in a few long strides, her expression a picture of confusion. "You're not really intending to come with me, are you?"

"Of course I am, I said I was, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, but I don't understand... why?"

"Because it's the only way you're going to get any help and if what you're saying is true, about the army, then we need to do something."

"You really think they'll believe you? No offence intended, but you didn't seem to be on the best of relations with most of them back there...

"They'll believe me. They may not like me, but they'll believe me. Look," Nik said, rounding on Arika, clearly tired of being questioned, "this is the help I can give. This is all I can do. If you don't want it, just say, because I should be on the wall right now and instead I'm here, for you. So what'll it be?"

"I want your help," Arika blurted, taking a step back to put some distance between herself and the other woman. "Please."

Nik gave her a long look. Then she nodded. "All right," she said. "So. You'll need to come with me and help me requisition the right gear and supplies. It's been a while since I was out there."

"It's best if we can travel fast and light. Are there horses?"

"A few. We'd never be given them, though. Then again..." Nik pursed her lips thoughtfully for a moment. "Leave them to me," she said. "You go down to the quartermaster, tell him you're looking for gear for me and you, say it's on Heler's orders. I'll see you in an hour? If we're leaving today it should be soon."

"Very well," Arika said, feeling marginally better than she had a few minutes before. "Where shall I meet you?"

"My room - just ask someone and they'll point you the right way. Name's on the door."

"Yes, all right. I'll see you in one hour."

 

The time allotted was almost not enough - Arika had never seen such a wealth of supplies before, and she could have easily spent several hours poring over the collection, picking and choosing the most useful pieces for their trip. In the end she erred on the side of portability, shouldering the two packs and making her way up to Nik's room, located on one of the top floors of the barracks.

The door to the room was open, and rather than loiter in the corridor Arika went in, pushing it to behind her. It was a spartan affair, only a pinboard covered in an assortment of bits and pieces to identify it as belonging to anyone in particular. Her hand almost automatically went into her pocket, fingering the trinkets there as she stepped closer to look over the board, curious about her new travelling companion.

It was a strange assortment of things - ancient, yellowing postcards, pages torn from books containing poetry or roughly circled passages, and even a few sketches in a rough hand but with a good eye. One was of the City from a distance, confirming, perhaps, Nik's assertion that she had once been an outrider.

Arika was so lost in her perusal of the poems on display that she almost didn't hear the door open behind her; luckily she did just in time, turning to see Nik enter with a couple of saddlebags slung over her shoulder.

"God us some food," she said. "You ready?"

"Um, yes. Have you said your goodbyes?"

Nik just shrugged. "Sure, whatever. Shall we get going, then?"

"Yes... we don't have any time to waste," Arika said earnestly.

"Right. Right." Nik nodded. "Well." Striding up and passing Arika, she grabbed what seemed a random couple of items from the board and stuffed them into her coat pocket, her whole bearing daring Arika to say anything. When she turned back to Arika the other woman just smiled, stepping towards the door.

"Shall we?"

 

Arika was pretty sure they'd just stolen two horses. It hadn't been until they had ridden out of the gates and heard the shouts behind them that she had begun to put things together - the way Nik had insisted they wait for a few minutes, nonchalantly cooling their heels, before approaching the stables, the significant looks she had exchanged with the young man on duty, the quick pace she had set as they rode off from the barracks. She frowned as they trotted over the open fields surrounding the City; starting with such deception wasn't going to help her cause, but without horses they'd never get to the Reaches in time to help anyone.

Nik had a good seat, though it was obvious after a few hours that she was rather out of practice judging by how she was flagging - clearly she was using muscles she hadn't in some years. Arika usually rode through the day, stopping only when the sun set and threw the gopher-pitted ground into dangerous shadow, but in this instance she pulled up around midday, turning in her saddle to look back at the other woman. "There's a copse of trees up ahead - shall we stop and eat there?"

Nik nodded. "Sure," she said with a light shrug, though Arika was pretty sure she also spotted a quick flicker of relief cross the other woman's face.

They let their reins drag after they dismounted - no use tying a horse only to have it eaten by a grunt - and took a seat under the shade of the wind-battered trees. Their provisions were slightly nicer than what Arika had come to expect on an expedition, cheese and fresh-baked bread and apples that likely hadn't sat in a cellar all winter growing more wrinkly and tough.

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Nik said with a wry smile as the other woman tucked in. "Couple of days of this and then it'll be jerky and porridge all the way."

"Oh, I don't mind. It's nice to have this while it lasts, though. We don't get much grain from the villages - this bread is delicious."

Nik gave her a long look then. "It must be... hard," she said eventually. "Living where you do."

Arika shrugged, tearing off another hunk of bread and wolfing it down. "Perhaps if you're used to different. Luckily most of us aren't."

The other woman nodded thoughtfully. "Would you have stayed in the City if you could? I mean, if this whole trip hadn't been about bringing help?"

"Stayed there? For good?" At Nik's nod Arika raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I don't think so. What would I have done there? There was no place for me."

"There's something for everyone in the City. You could have been an outrider, easily enough."

"Yes, but... my family's not there."

Nik nodded. "Of course. It was... just a hypothetical," she said. "I was just interested."

"Could you imagine living somewhere that isn't the City?"

"I can imagine all sorts of things."

"Oh. All right, then."

Nik ate in silence for a while, her eyes never leaving their surroundings, always on the look-out. Arika, by contrast, leaned back against the tree, ankles crossed, and even closed her eyes for a few minutes, enjoying the light breeze and the feeling of a full belly.

"Aren't you worried?" Nik broke through her reverie. "Out here, just sitting around like this?"

"Mm, there was nothing for miles when we stopped. We have at least another quarter hour before anything would be close enough to worry us. And besides, the horses would alert us."

There was a long silence, and when Arika opened her eyes to look at Nik the other woman was staring right back at her, her expression considering.

"You're hard as nails, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

Arika knew the expression, but she had never had it used to refer to her. "I'm just more used to being out here," she said with a shrug.

"I really never relax out here."

"You've got your weapons. And me. You'll be fine."

"Yeah. I'm... getting that."

"Good. So you might as well relax while you can - we've got a long ride ahead of us still today."

Nik sighed, letting herself fall onto her back. "It has been a long time since I was on a horse this long."

"I wish I could tell you you'll feel better in no time at all," Arika said regretfully. "If you want to run instead I suppose we could do that this afternoon..."

"No, no, I'd best get used to it."

"All right. Then you have my apologies in advance."

 

The rest of the day, as promised, was worse, and as sore as Nik was when they settled down for the night, curled together in their sleeping bags in the open air, Nik knew she was going to be sorer the next morning.

"Do you want me to rub your legs?" Arika offered, propping herself up on one elbow and leaning over the other woman. "It may help a little."

"Um..." Nik frowned a little bemusedly. "I guess that might be good, actually," she said. "Though if you want to rub everything that hurts we'd be here all night."

"Let's start with the legs and see how far we get, mm?"

 

"_Jeeeesus_... you're _good_ at this."

"I've had practice," Arika told her, fingers kneading the other woman's calf's muscles.

"Yeah? You guys all do this for one another back at the Reaches, do you?"

"When we're out on patrol, yes. It's always nicer when someone else does it, for some reason."

"I'll bet. D'you... want me to?"

"My legs are still pretty raw. Best not to."

"God, yeah, I forgot about that. You want me to wash and redress them for you?"

"You don't want to do that," Arika replied, pursing her lips. "I'll do it in the morning."

"Hey, I can handle it," Nik said, craning her neck round to look back over her shoulder at the woman currently straddling her legs, kneeding the backs of her thighs. "You don't wanna have to get on a horse feeling all raw and stingy. Why don't we do it tonight?"

"All right. I've got some supplies in my bag. How does this feel?"

"Good. And- _unh_ -sore. But good. Thanks."

"That's all right. You have good legs. Strong. You'll feel better in no time."

"Here's hoping."

Eventually Arika finished her massage and moved to get supplies out of her pack, leaving Nik to peel herself off the ground and re-situate herself on top of her sleeping bag. Even now in the dark Arika moved with assurance, only glancing up at the sound of a branch snapping nearby, which turned out to be just one of the horses' doing.

"Right then," Nik said, turning with a slight groan and pulling the first aid kit toward her. "Do your trousers roll up, or..."

Arika shook her head, nimble fingers already at work unbuttoning her fly. She shimmied out of the trousers, dropping them to the ground to reveal pale legs covered from ankle to knee with the tell-tale bandaging handiwork of [the city doctor]. Nik winced.

"'Kay. Let's get you... right." With a quick on and off again smile, Nik scooted a little toward Arika 'til she was alongside her slightly, and reached to begin unwrapping one of her legs. Arika endured this stoically, though as Nik unwound the bandages she could see that the other woman's legs were still practically raw, the blisters having burst presumably during the day's ride.

Chewing her lower lip, Nik finished what she'd started, careful not to wince herself as inch after inch of red, irritated skin appeared. This is what days up to your knees in the marshes looks like.

"The bandaging was quite good, the wounds are still pretty clean," Arika remarked, leaning over to inspect her legs.

"Doc likes to be able to send his soldiers right back out. They need to stand up," Nik muttered, taking in the damage. How was she even walking around?

"Even with as many as you have? I thought they rarely breeched the walls."

"They do. But that doesn't mean we don't need to stay fighting fit. Okay, so I'm guessing this is going to sting..."

"Best to do it fast, then."

"I'll do my best. Hang in there."

Arika reached out to place a hand on Nik's wrist and for a minute she thought the other woman was going to stop her, but Arika merely smiled and met her gaze. "I trust you."

Nik smiled a little in return. "Okay," she said. "Brace yourself, then. Here we go."

 

It stung. A lot. Even Arika couldn't help but hiss in pain a few times as Nik swabbed and rebandaged the wounds, though she was still a good deal more self-controlled than most of the soldiers Nik knew back in the city. First one leg, and then the other, though, they got through it, Nik working quickly and neatly, and though the bandages were perhaps not as accomplished as the medic's, they would serve well enough.

"'Kay, that's us," she said as she strapped the last bandage in place. "Back to bed, I s'pose."

"I'll take first watch," Arika said immediately, reaching for her trousers. "Unless you'd rather."

"You can," Nik said, knowing that it would likely be a while before Arika's skin stopped stinging enough for her to fall asleep in any case.

"All right. I'll wake you when it's your time."

Climbing into her sleeping bag, Nik shot the other woman a smile that was barely visible in the dim, hooded light that was all they could risk, even with the relatively sheltered area they'd found in a hollow backed up against a small ridge, and then turned over, closing her eyes. As she settled down to sleep she heard Arika begin to hum softly, a pleasant tune that she couldn't recall ever hearing before but that seemed to seep into her thoughts immediately, mingling with the morass of worries and smoothing them over, and she let the quiet melody lull her off into a surprisingly comfortable slumber.

It was nearly dawn when Arika woke Nik for her watch; she claimed only to need a few hours' sleep and made the City woman promise to 'wake her with the sun'. It was as nervewracking as Nik remembered to be on watch alone, and despite Arika's nonchalance about the matter by the time dawn came Nik was more than ready for another pair of eyes to join her.

Arika could hardly look more different when she was asleep - her features were much softer, her face younger in spite of the lines of weariness and the slight flakiness of skin that everyone who had to spend more than a few hours a day outside ended up with these days.

"Hey," she murmured quietly, pressing a hand to Arika's shoulder. "Sun's up."

She wasn't sure if the other woman had heard her for a good few moments, and then she realised that Arika was awake, just lying quite still, her eyes open and looking around their small hollow as if to get her bearings. Then, "so it is. Good morning."

"Good morning yourself. How d'you feel. Your legs?"

"Still attached," Arika said, sitting up with a smile. "Yours?"

"Wish they weren't."

Arika's smile turned sympathetic. "I'm very grateful for what you're doing, I hope you know."

Nik just shrugged, looking away. "I believe you," she said. "That means it's in my interest to help."

She couldn't see the other woman's face - was it her imagination that she sounded disappointed? "I suppose so. Do you want to prepare the morning meal while I ready the horses?"

"All right."

Soon they were on their way again; it wasn't long before Nik was saddle-sore and wishing they could stop for a break, but she plodded on resolutely, determined not to disappoint the other woman by slowing them down. Arika seemed as fresh and eager as the day before, alert to any movement on the horizon and seemingly able to ride all day.

As such Nik's body was screaming out for relief when they finally stopped for lunch - the last of the bread and cheese.

"How are you feeling?" Arika asked, passing Nik's portion to her.

"Okay." At a look from the other woman, Nik relented. "Pretty awful," she admitted.

"I've been pushing you too hard," Arika said regretfully, though this time she didn't apologise for it. "Do you want to rest now?"

"Mm, no, I'll be fine," Nik said, shaking her head determinedly.

"Do you have any painkillers?"

"Only for emergencies."

"Could you take a half dose now?"

"My lack of fitness is not an emergency."

"It could be," Arika said with a significant look.

"Well, it isn't yet."

"Mm. Well, it's your choice."

"Yep," was all Nik would answer, lips pursed.

They ate their food in silence, Arika keeping an alert eye on their surroundings as if she was expecting trouble. "There were some grunts here last time I passed through," she told Nik when the other woman caught her eye after a few minutes. "Stragglers."

"Doesn't seem to be any sign now," Nik replied. "Caught sight of some in the distance this morning but it seems to have been totally clear other than that."

"I know."

"Does that bother you? Would you have expected trouble by now? I thought this was the clear patch..."

"Avoiding trouble doesn't bother me. I just don't want to get caught out."

"So we stay alert," Nik said with a short nod. "Sorry, was just remembering how relaxed you were yesterday."

"I thought I heard something," Arika admitted. "But it's probably nothing."

"You want me to take a look," the other woman said, rising to her feet and immediately regretting it as her legs threatened to buckle beneath her. Still, she dutifully cast her eyes around the horizon, seeing nothing except scrubland and low, rolling hills. A moment later Arika rose to stand beside her, one hand coming to rest casually at the small of Nik's back as if to steady her, and Nik glanced across with a tiny smile. "I'm okay," she murmured. "Really. I'll adjust."

"It's not too late to turn back," Arika said then, chewing on her flaking lower lip. "If you wanted to."

"Eh..." Nik chuckled, shaking her head. "Not a chance," she said, smile tightening a little. "Stubborn as a mule, me."

"I've never met a mule before. Do they also like leg massages?"

"D'you know, I have no idea. It's just an expression, one D- Heler uses."

"It's funny, all those expressions left behind. 'Piece of cake'. 'Break a leg'. 'Take the high road'."

"Mhm," Nik agreed, her expression warming a little. "It's everywhere, what we had before. In the bricks we use, the songs we sing..." She shrugged, not having the words to convey what she wanted to, that strange nostalgia she knew both of them felt but neither of them really understood.

"Which one is your favourite?"

"Hm? Oh... hah. I like 'every cloud has a silver lining'. Y'know. For the irony."

"I like 'to everything there is a season'. It makes me feel like..."

"...there are seasons?"

"No," Arika said, scowling and giving Nik a gentle shove. "Like things will happen when they should."

"Mph, don't knock me," Nik said with a chuckle as she stumbled slightly. "I'm not the same woman who floored you the other night."

"Oh, so you're not _lucky_ any more, is that it?" Arika challenged, turning towards the other woman with a smirk.

"That wasn't luck," Nik said, smirking a little. "I just got bored. And I could do it again right now if I had to."

"Is that so? So all that wincing and groaning was just for show?"

"Oh no, I'm half dead all right. But I can always find energy for the things that really matter."

"I didn't realise maintaining your bravado was so important," Arika said.

"Are you questioning my ability to prioritise?"

"I just thought that soothing your saddle-sore arse would be more important than soothing your ego..."

"Hey, you're welcome to do both," Nik said with a chuckle.

"Oh? And how's that?"

Nik hesitated, then shook her head, chuckling. "Never mind," she said. "We should probably get going."

Arika raised her eyebrows, and Nik got the feeling that the outrider wasn't quite so naive as her Far Reaches upbringing might imply. "All right."

 

The rest of the day was as hard as the hours before it, and by the evening Nik was barely able to sit right on her saddle, and indeed nearly fell off when the time came to dismount, stumbling to the ground and having to cling onto her mount to keep herself upright. Arika moved to her side, sliding a hand to her elbow without a word and helping her to sink down onto a tuft of grass which was still somehow too hard and firm for comfort. "Keep an eye out. I'll prep camp."

Nik didn't even attempt to argue. "Thanks," she said, sinking back onto her elbows, craning her neck to keep her head upright as she took in their surroundings. They were beneath another cluster of trees, and as Nik glanced up she could feel the first drops of evening rain dapple her face. Arika moved swiftly around the campsite, untacking the horses, kneeling to start a small fire, dropping the saddlebags next to Nik's feet and nudging her with an outstretched toe.

"Mph?" Nik's eyes had been trained somewhat blankly on the horizon, ostensibly on 'look-out', and she glanced up now at Arika. "Right, sorry, what can I do?"

"Get us some grub, why don't you?"

"Right, yes, sorry, I'll - _shit_ - yep, one second." Trying to fight the urge to literally cry out in pain at the way every move she made hurt, Nik shifted back into a proper sitting position to begin rifling through the saddlebags. "So how many more days to the Reaches, then?" she asked as she pulled out their food.

"At this pace? We'll probably be there in another day and a half. Here, give me the kettle, I'll make tea," Arika said, turning away to fill the kettle with water from her canteen. "Unless we have to detour for any reason."

The news that they were more than halfway there seemed to be of some relief to Nik, at least, and her spirits if not her step lightened a little as she helped to prepare their evening meal. Her aches and pains seemed to lessen as well as the night went on, and it wasn't until she saw Arika tuck away a small leather pouch into the pocket of her coat that she suspected she might have anything to do with that.

Never one to shy away from confrontation she spoke up immediately. "Did you _dose_ me?"

Arika glanced up from her spot on the other side of the tiny fire where she was looking over the state of her boots. "You seemed in a bad way, so I put a few extra herbs in your tea, yes."

"What if we need them for something serious?"

"There's still enough left for that. Don't worry."

"Mm. Still. I don't like being deceived."

"You wouldn't take them when I offered," Arika explained, "and I wasn't feeling very safe knowing you wouldn't be at your best tonight. You have my apologies for the deception, but it seemed like the only option."

Nik scowled, but there was little she could say to this, and she went back to kneeding her own thighs idly, not really sure how best to work her sore muscles but theorising that her inexpert ministrations couldn't hurt more than she already did.

"You want some help?"

The other woman sighed, but wasn't about to turn Arika down. "Only if it's no trouble," she said with a sheepish expression. "You have your own stuff to deal with I'm sure."

"Out here your body is as important to me as mine," Arika told her, setting down her boots and moving to crouch behind Nik. "Of course I'll help."

"Thanks... How d'you want me?"

"Just lie on your front to begin with, I'll start with your calves."

Nik complied, her movements stiff and jerky as she shifted round to lie on her belly, pulling one of the packs to herself and wrapping her arms around it, resting her head on it. She felt Arika's strong fingers on her lower legs a moment later, working their way up her calves to test for knots and bruises. Once she had made one pass she pulled back, and Nik jumped as her hands slid under the hem of her trousers, her fingers now caressing the bare skin of her legs. Arika's hands were surprisingly warm, and through they were roughened from the outdoors the slight scratchiness was almost pleasant, and after her initial moment of surprise, Nik found herself relaxing into the experience. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt hands on her bare flesh (well, she could, but it had been some time), and though the whole situation was rather surreal, that didn't make it unwelcome.

Unfortunately her trouser legs were only so loose, and Arika paused as she reached her knees, tracing her fingertips lightly over Nik's calves. "Do you want to take your trousers off so I can do your thighs?" she suggested, her voice slightly lower and softer than usual.

Nik hesitated. She knew it wasn't strictly necessary. She knew that if they were somehow caught unawares she'd be underprepared. "Sure," she heard herself say, and she had flipped over and was undoing her belt and fly, pushing off the garment in question to reveal her pale legs, her knees still covered with a waterproof dressing from her own doctor's visit the other day.

"Do you need me to take a look at those?" Arika offered, nodding to her knees.

"Nah, they're fine," Nik said, shaking her head. "Just a little irritation from kneeling on the wall, nothing major. The dressings haven't fallen off yet, that's all."

"Is that when you helped me get into the City?" the other woman asked, trailing her fingers up Nik's shins slowly.

"I, um..." Nik looked a little defocussed for a moment, shaking her head to clear it. "Yep, that was it. Clogged gutter somewhere, ended up kneeling in a puddle."

"Helping me even before you knew me. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised when you volunteered to accompany me out here."

"I'm a glutton for impulsive acts that will likely get me into hot water," Nik said.

"Do you have a history of them then?" Arika asked, motioning for the other woman to turn over. "Tell me about it."

"Hah, ohh, nothing in particular," Nik said, turning and relaxing back where she was, feeling the other woman settle straddled over her lower legs. "I've just never really been one to play by the rules."

"That must be hard, living somewhere like the City," Arika commented, smoothing her hands over Nik's legs. "They seem to have quite a few."

"They do, though they're pretty corrupt. I got away with a lot by being Heler's daughter."

The other woman was silent a while, working at the knots borne of long days of riding. Then, "you don't get on with your father."

"Not especially," came the short answer.

"How come?"

"I don't like the way he- _mmm_ ...operates."

Arika leaned most of her weight into her hands. "Because of the corruption?"

"Bingo."

"Bingo," Arika repeated, her thumbs creeping upwards to the sensitive skin of Nik's upper thighs. "That's another one."

"It was a... game y'know. Bingo." Nik's voice was lower, now, almost a mumble, her breath coming in long sighs.

"How did you play?"

"Um... there were numbered balls, and you had numbers on a sheet and you picked 'em out of a crate or whatever and... I dunno. Something like that."

"Sounds a bit arbitrary to me." Nik could swear Arika was leaning closer now, her hands sliding up over her rear to knead against her lower back. "At least in boxing it's a game of skill."

"Skill and brute strength, in fairness. And guts."

"Guts are important. More than luck."

Nik chuckled. "I don't really believe in luck," she said.

"Then it's just as well you don't play bingo."

"Hmmmph." It was half chuckle, half grown as Arika's strong thumbs stroked long, smooth furrows up either side of Nik's spine. "You Far Reaches scouts are a touchy feely bunch, aren't you..."

"There's only so many ways to pass the time when you're out on patrol," Arika said, and it didn't sound like a joke. "You want me to stop?"

"Only if you're getting bored. Aren't your hands sore?

"Not as sore as you are, I bet."

"Believe me, you don't even want to be on the same _scale_ as me. Though... it's not so bad now. After the herbs. And... this. Thanks."

"You're quite welcome. How are your shoulders?"

"Hah, you're just a glutton for punishment, aren't you?"

"Don't be so sure - it's your turn to do me next."

"Hey, I didn't sign up for that... you don't want my clumsy hands all over you..."

"You don't know that."

Nik fell silent, then, saying nothing more as Arika shifted up her body a little, leaning closer to reach for her shoulders. The other woman's hands were almost hot now, her touch at once relaxing and keying up Nik's body as she smoothed her hands over her neck and shoulders. She was humming again as well, a different tune than the night before and one that Nik recognised as an old folk song, snippets of the words floating through her memory, fuzzy and disjointed.

"You have a nice voice," she murmured eventually.

"Do you sing?"

"Mm, sometimes, I guess. I mean, not really. But I can hold a tune I guess."

"Do you know this one? The Laird of Rosslyn's daughter, walked through the wood her lane..."

Nik didn't remember the words, but she knew the tune, and hummed along, joining in here and there when the chorus rolled around. Her voice was quiet and a little muffled, both because she was lying on her front and because of how generally fuzzy and vague she was feeling.

"There," Arika said eventually, her hands coming to rest on Nik's shoulders. "You're all done, unless you want to roll over..."

Nik favoured this with another low, slightly hesitant chuckle. "Thanks," she said. She felt Arika hesitate for a moment before swinging her leg out and moving away from her, giving a slight sigh as she moved to squat on a nearby rock.

Nik rolled over with a groan, though she felt much better now, and reached for her trousers. "You want me to... do you?" she asked, trying to sound casual in the suddenly rather thick atmosphere.

"No, that's okay. You must be tired. I'll take first watch."

"Do I need to look at your legs tonight or do your dressings feel okay for another day?" Nik tried now.

"I think they're still secure. My thanks."

"Right. Okay, cool." Feeling distinctly as though she'd done the wrong thing somewhere along the line, Nik buttoned her trousers before climbing into her sleeping bag for the night. She could see Arika perched on the rock still in the dim light of the fire, pulling out her sword and whetstone and beginning the long, slow process of sharpening her blade in the night.

 

Nik woke abruptly and suddenly to the rough shake of her shoulder, and was wide awake in seconds. "What, what's wrong?"

"Grunts. Half a klick south. Coming this way," came the harsh whisper. "Get your gun."

Nik was up and out of her sleeping bag, and then immediately back on the ground again as her legs buckled beneath her. "Fuck... I'm okay, I'm okay, just give me a second."

Arika reached down and hauled the other woman to her feet, her eyes narrowed as she turned her gaze back to the horizon. Nik scrabbled for her rifle before joining her, gazing out in the direction Arika had referenced. She couldn't see anything at first, but as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she could see a few hunched shapes lurching through the tall grass in their direction.

"We taking them out, or getting out of here?" she muttered.

"We'll have to run either way. Think you can take out a few while I ready the horses?"

"If I shoot them I'll alert everything for miles that we're out here..."

"Then hold your fire until it's necessary," Arika said, already sprinting towards the horses, who threw up their heads in alarm as she approached.

Nik trained her sights on the nearest of the grunts, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness as she heard Arika prepping the horses, slinging their sleeping bags loosely round one of the saddlebags, pulling together their coats. The creatures shambled closer, starting up the rise of the hill, the sound of their heavy breathing and stench of their decaying bodies preceding them and causing the horses to give a whinny of distress. "Shh, shh," Arika bid them, hurriedly tightening the cinches of their saddles.

At last, Nik realised that they were not going to be away fast enough, and she took aim at the first of them, shooting it neatly through the head. The crack of the rifle echoed all across the valley, and she was taking aim again in moments. The grunts broke into a run up the hill, and behind her she could hear Arika shout, followed by the sound of hoofbeats rapidly departing. "We've lost one!" the other woman said, "we need to kill this lot, fast."

Another three were dead by the time they reached the top of the hill, but there were six more, and they were soon in life-or-death hand-to-hand. Nik was shocked to feel something press against her back but as she craned her head she saw it was only Arika, shockstick and sword in both hands, pressed against her so they presented no blind spots to their foes. Machete in hand Nik dropped her rifle and pulled out her pistol, shooting one through the head as it approached and then darting out to slice at another, catching it across the neck but not deep enough to stop it from coming at her. The grunt lunged at her, its meaty hands aiming straight for her neck, and she had no idea how but some Arika was just _there_, and a blade was swishing out in front of her and the thing was stumbling backwards, head half-off, as the next lurched toward her.

Things happened quickly, then - it couldn't have been more than a minute or so of frenzied slashing and another couple of close-range pistol shots before the six figures lay dead on the ground around the smouldering remains of their campfire, and the two women were alone once more, missing a horse and utterly exhausted.

"I need to take the horse to find the one that ran away," Arika said, breathing heavily as she pushed her hair back from her face. "No, that won't work, they'll be drawn here, we need to get you somewhere safe..."

"I'll be fine," Nik said. "I'll find a tree, worst comes to worst I can sit and pick 'em off 'til you get back."

"Are you sure? I don't want anything to happen to you..."

"It won't. Go."

Arika paused, reaching up to wipe a bit of gore from Nik's cheek in a tender gesture before turning and vaulting up on the remaining horse. She spurred it forward immediately and was soon lost to the dark, leaving Nik alone with the bodies of the slaughtered grunts, wondering whether it was the battle, or just the lingering tingle on her cheek from Arika's touch that had her heart still hammering in her chest.

 

"You took your time."

Arika slid out of the saddle, looking the worse for the wear as she hit the ground. "I had to detour on the way back - there's another horde north of here."

"Great. Guess we have a long night's ride ahead of us."

The other woman nodded wearily, pulling her canteen off the saddle and taking a long drink. "Yep."

Nik sighed. "'Kay. Just lemme fall out of this tree then..." she said before beginning gingerly to make her way down.

"Did you see any other grunts to the south? Diverting now wi-- careful!"

The other woman chuckled as she fell the last few feet out of the tree onto her feet, surprising Arika. "I'm okay," she said. "Nothing I could see to the south."

"All right. Then let's get moving." Arika turned stiffly to climb back into the saddle, and it was only then that Nik saw the sticky shine of blood on her side, seeping through her shirt.

"Hey, hang on, hang on," she said, moving over to Arika and putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her mounting her horse. "You're hurt - when did that happen?"

"It's nothing," Arika said, shrugging off her hand. "Come, let's go."

"Let me look," Nik insisted. "We have time enough for that. Come on."

The other woman sighed but allowed herself to be led to a rock, shucking her coat with a wince and tugging up the hem of her shirt to reveal a deep, ragged gash in her side that had obviously crusted over and then broken open again with her most recent movement.

"Christ, Arika..." Nik made a face. "What did this? It doesn't look like a bite or claw mark..."

"I was riding too fast and the horse stumbled and threw me," the other woman explained, shaking her head. "I fell onto a rock. It's fine, it looks worse than it is."

"It must do, given that you don't look like you should be walking around at all," Nik said. "Okay." She blew out a breath through her nose, mouth flattening to a line. "Okay, we need to get out of here and this is gonna take a while to fix up. So I'm going to stick some antiseptic on this and bind it, and you're going to be really fuckin' careful on this ride, okay?"

"Okay," Arika agreed, nodding obediently. "We can't go too fast anyway, it's dark and the horses are tired."

Nik looked like she might have something else to say about this but she shut up, just moving over to the saddle bag with their medical kit to fetch bandages and antiseptic. As before, Arika stoically endured her attempts at cleaning and bandaging the wound, which was at least covered over and hopefully protected from infection by the time Nik finished. After a brief pause to repack their things and drink some more water they were back in the saddle, heading southward away from the coming horde and towards the Reaches, not so far any more.

Underslept and shaken, even Arika, eager as she was to get as far as they could, was relieved when Nik spoke up a little after dawn. "We haven't seen any movement in the valley for a while. I think we should stop, get you stitched up, and get a couple of hours' rest."

"All right," Arika said with a tired nod, casting her gaze about for a well-sheltered spot to rest, given the drizzle of rain that had been falling for several hours. Spotting what looked to be the crumbled remains of an old building in the distance she nodded towards it and then turned her mount in its direction.

Save for a lone, near-dessicated grunt in the ruin, quickly dispatched with a hack from Nik's machete, the building was empty, and they found a sheltered spot that still had good visibility to sit. "'Kay, let's see what extra damage you've done," Nik said with a wry smile as she sat down by Arika with the first aid kit.

Pursing her lips, the other woman began to strip off her shirt, revealing that she wasn't wearing any underclothes under her well-worn vest and leaving Nik briefly unsure where to look, though the large rip in her side soon caught her attention again. "Right. While since I've done this and we don't have any topical painkillers. You want a pill?"

"I'm all right."

"Okay. Right." Cleaning the gash thoroughly, Nik went through the motions she remembered from her emergency training to prepare to close it. She was sure-handed and steady, in spite of her obvious nerves, and though she wasn't particularly gentle in her actions her stitches were quick and neat as she pulled the edges of the ragged wound together. Arika was silent and pale throughout the procedure, and Nik was just finishing off when she felt the other woman waver, glancing up just in time to see her begin to slump to the side.

"Hey, hey..." Nik let the needle drop from her hand, immediately reaching to catch Arika as she fell against her. "Stay with me, here," she said. "Arika?" She brought a hand up to the other woman's face, checking for the tell-tale fever that would signify an infection already setting in. Sure enough the scout was warm to the touch, her pale cheeks flushing pink as she leaned against Nik.

"...don't feel so well," Arika mumbled, fighting to keep her eyes open.

"No shit," Nik muttered, panic tightening in her gut. "Arika, do they have antibiotics at the Reaches? Do you have those?"

"We did before. Might still have some, don't know if they've been used..."

"Okay." Nik's mind raced. "Okay. So you're going to need to stay awake just a minute or two, okay? We're still a day away but we'll ride together so you don't fall, that's..." Nik frowned. This was going to cause its own problems - her horse would tire faster and they'd need to swap between the two at least once to let them rest. But the only other option was lashing Arika to her horse, which with the horde around and the gash on her side had to be worse. "...that's how we'll have to do this," she finished at last, with a little more confidence now. "You're gonna have to stay with me a bit longer though, okay? Once we're up we'll... figure something out."

"M'really tired," Arika told her, though she dutifully tried to straighten up, reaching for her vest and carefully threading one arm through.

"Yeah, it's okay. I'll help."

 

Together - though really Nik did most of the work - they managed to get Arika into her vest and coat, her side well-wrapped to prevent any further contamination. Getting up on the horse was an even more challenging prospect; in the end Nik had to first help Arika onto a nearby rock before leading the horse near so that the other woman could climb on without wrenching her stitches. Nik then climbed up behind her, the other horse (now sporting both saddlebags) on a lead, silently thankful that they were at least both quite slight and able to travel like this.

The next biggest problem was navigation - Nik knew where the Reaches were, in theory, but she had been relying on Arika to keep them moving in the right direction thus far. Every so often she was able to get a little information out of Arika on their progress, but for the most part she was either dosing or delirious, and she knew they were veering off on a slightly skewed, curving route.

Midday brought its own set of problems; Nik wanted to stop to rest the horses and eat, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get Arika back in the saddle on the flat. In the end, she decided to simply slow down a little and eat as she rode, chewing on some dry jerky and scanning her surroundings for a place where there was at least some rise in the ground or a boulder or wall to let them swap the horses over.

It was during this sweep that she saw the tell-tale signs of a small horde of grunts, their heavy feet tamping down the long, dry grass. Arika must have spotted them as well, as she gave a small moan of alarm and tried to urge their mount to a faster pace, but Nik wrapped her arm around the other woman's waist and reached to still her. "Don't," she said, "no point. We're either going to run into them regardless, or they've already passed. We're just going to have to risk it - we can't afford to go around."

She felt Arika's hand gripping her arm tightly, but she gave a resigned sigh and ceased her interference and they continued to follow the beaten grass, which led towards a gently-widening plain which Nik knew was the start of the Reaches proper.

Nik was quite sure that if they ran into a horde she was going to feel obliged to die brutally defending Arika from them, so she was relieved to see the tracks they could see veer off to the east away from the road. Arika relaxed as well, leaning back against Nik, her body limp and feverish, and though Nik wasn't a praying woman she desperately hoped they'd find her village soon.

 

"Hoy! Who goes there?"

Heart in her throat, Nik called out - she could only hope it was a look-out and not a highway robber. _Wouldn't it be just the thing to get this far and then be killed by bandits?_

"My name is Nik. I have Arika Longshanks with me, she's sick."

"Arika?" The figure on the horse took a few steps closer, revealing a tanned face and piercing eyes which he narrowed at Nik. "Who are you to her?"

"I've come from the City. They wouldn't send reinforcements, so I came to take word back from someone they'd listen to."

She heard several ear-blistering oaths before the man reined his horse around, gesturing for her to follow him. "C'mon, let's get her to town."

The town was less than a mile away, just over the next rise where the plain opened out properly to reveal a ramshackle collection of buildings surrounded by what looked to be a patchwork fence composed mainly of chain link and barbed wire. There were a few figures out in the 'streets' and a couple more people stepped outside to watch them approach, hard, sun-tanned faces turned outward, arms ready to reach for their guns should they need them.

"Arika," she murmured into the other woman's ear. "We're here. You're home."

The other woman stirred, muttering something Nik couldn't quite make out. Their guide twisted in his saddle, frowning before motioning for the gate ahead of them to be opened.

"Think I'm going to need some help," Nik called across as they entered. "She's very weak. I think she has blood poisoning."

It wasn't until the gates were closed that people stepped forward to help, though they did so readily, accepting Arika's weak body and carrying her towards one of the near buildings, leaving Nik with the two horses and her surly guide.

Nik's own legs were barely supporting her, but she turned to begin unsaddling their gear nevertheless, hands shaking a little from fatigue. After a few minutes a small group of people emerged from one of the buildings, led by a white-haired old man with a bushy beard and a faded checked shirt. "My dear, my dear," he said as he approached, arms open wide, "you have my apologies for the poor welcome we've shown you thus far. Leave your horses - Hunter will see to them - and come with me to rest your weary bones."

"I... my thanks," Nik said, falling into Arika's slightly old-fashioned manner of speech. "I'd very much like to see Arika if I could. I think she needs antibiotics - do you have any?"

"She's being looked after," he said, "but I'm sure she'll be glad of a visit. First, though, come and sit for a spell, let us offer you some true Reaches hospitality. You look just about ready to fall over where you stand."

Unable to argue with this, Nik let the old man lead her into the small house from which he'd come, an old stone-build cottage that looked to be pre-fall. "My name is Ernst," he told her, leading her to a worn and patched sofa and beckoning her to sit. "I've heard that you came from the City with our Arika. What's your name?"

"Nik - Nikolette," Nik said, sinking down rather unsteadily onto the first soft surface she had felt in some days.

"Well, Nikolette, you have my thanks for bringing Arika home safely to us. You've travelled a fair way," he said, pottering around the small kitchen, putting on the kettle to boil. "Is this your first time as far as the Reaches?"

"Mm. I mean, yes, yes - I was an outrider for some time but I never came anything like this far."

"Alas you couldn't have come at a better time. Things are... tense, here, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"I, er, wasn't sure whether that wasn't just normal, sir. I don't like to judge."

"A very wise statement. But surely Arika has told you what we're facing, the threat to our town?"

"She has - though you don't seem to be under siege at this exact moment. Do they come in waves?"

His expression grew grim as he gathered mugs from the shelf above the stove. "It is my belief that we are being played with, like a cat would with a mouse. Our people are dying in drips, yet he does not finish us off..."

"He - you mean this... master, the person who seems able to control the horde?"

"Yes," Ernst said, nodding solemnly. "If he could not, I have no doubt we would be dead already."

"But why would he toy with you? Why not just kill you if that was his eventual aim?"

"Would that I knew, my dear."

Nik nodded her understanding, blinking a little as another wave of fatigue washed over her. The old man seemed to notice this and hurried to press a hot mug of tea into her hand. "Here, drink this up and then you should have a rest."

"I should... I'd like to check in on Arika if I could, I need to..." Nik shook her head, trying to keep it clear, both hands wrapped around the mug when she realised she didn't trust herself to be able to hold it steady in just one.

"She's going to be all right, I assure you my dear. You did a very brave thing."

"She's the brave one - you know she came the last stretch alone, and on foot? She's.. a remarkable woman."

"Alone?" Ernst shook his head sadly. "Alas, I had hoped that was not the case."

"I'm... sorry."

"That's... thank you, sir, I'll rest a little," Nik agreed at last, for much though she wanted to check in on Arika first, she wasn't entirely sure that, having sat down, she could get back up again. Ernst nodded and retrieved a knitted blanket from the back of a chair, placing it gently on Nik's lap, and as much as her head was filled with worries, Nik was soon asleep.

 

When Nik awoke she found herself wrapped in the blanket as if she had tossed and turned throughout her nap, perhaps a testament to the dreams she couldn't quite remember. The small cottage was empty and dim; outside it was dark and quiet.

Realising with a pang of hunger that she must have slept through the day and some way into the night, she rose stiffly, fighting the urge to cry out in pain as her whole body screamed at her for moving. Stiffly she made her way to the front door and stepped outside; most of the surrounding houses were dark, with just a few lit by flickering candles in the window. Looking across the open square she could see the building where Arika had been taken was busy, with people passing by the windows, their arms laden with what looked to be large bowls.

Wondering whether this was a large communal meal, or some sort of strange ritual, Nik's curiosity - and hunger - overrode her exhaustion, and pulling the blanket around her shoulders (for there was no sign of the rest of her gear in the room), she pushed up from the couch and exited the little house to cross the square to where Arika presumably still was.

Noise, light and warmth were her welcome as she stepped inside the hall, as well as the delicious aroma of food. It seemed it was some sort of group meal, as the main area was laid out with several long tables at which sat a motley collection of people - young men and women, mostly, though there were a handful of children dotted among them as well as an even smaller number of white-haired elders with places of pride at the heads of the table. Nik immediately began to scan the room for any sign of Arika. As she searched she was spotted by her erstwhile host, who pushed his chair back and approached.

"Nikolette, there you are! Just in time for the evening meal - I'm glad, for I thought you must be growing hungry but was loathe to wake you from your rest."

"Um... thank you, sir, I'm much obliged. Can I ask after Arika?"

"Arika's keeping quite well - she's just resting in a back room, now. Would you like to see her?"

"Very much, if that would be all right. But I don't want to appear rude, if I ought to eat first..."

"No, no, we're very informal here. Wilm, make sure to save our guest a bowlful, will you?" Ernest asked a young man passing by, who raised his eyebrows as he took Nik in, but nodded agreeably all the same. "Now come, right this way..."

Ernst led Nik out and along a narrow passageway toward the back of the building, which seemed to be lined with little rooms judging by the row of doors they found themselves on. At the third door down Ernst stopped and rapped a knuckle against the frame. "Are visitors being accepted now, ladies?"

There was a chuckle from inside, followed by a "Come in, then!". As the old man pushed the door open Nik spied Arika lying propped on a low pallet, a bowl of soup resting on her flat stomach. Though she was aware that there was another figure in the room she honestly barely noticed it in the flood of relief she felt at seeing the other woman awake and apparently better, her lips curving into a reflexive smile.

"Hey you," she said, and there was no hiding the fondness in her tone.

"Nik," the scout said, nearly upsetting her soup as she struggled to sit up. "Ernst said you were sleeping."

"I was - no, no, stay put, you're okay," Nik said, approaching the bed to kneel by it - with some difficulty. "How're you feeling?"

"Okay. Better," Arika replied, giving the other woman a warm smile.

"Good. Great. I'm glad."

"She shouldn't have been riding alone," came the interruption from the other person in the room - a young woman with long, honey-coloured hair. "She's lucky to be as well as she is right now."

"I'm not lucky, and I wasn't alone," Arika said with a shake of her head. "Nik brought me back."

"Yeah, but if I hadn't let you leave me to fetch the other horse..." Nik trailed off, shaking her head with a wry smile. There were way too many 'might haves' to get into on that front, and rather than say any more she just reached to place her hand over Arika's.

"She needs to eat," the blonde woman said with a sniff, "she's weak."

"Helena, please. I'm fine."

"No, you should eat," Nik agreed, glancing round at the other woman with a polite smile. "You missed two meals on the way here, we couldn't stop."

"Which means you must be starving as well," Ernst said jovially. "Come, let's get some food into you - I'm sure Helena can handle the invalid on her own."

"I'll see you later?" Nik directed back at Arika then, giving her hand a squeeze.

"I'm not going anywhere," the other woman said with a tired smile.

With a nod, Nik pushed to her feet and half-walked, half-hobbled after Ernst back out to the main hall for some food. It was a simple but filling stew, mainly vegetables, and some hard, flat bread which after her long ordeal seemed to taste as good as a fresh-baked loaf from the city. Ernst sat with her while she ate, telling her a little about the town's history and pointing out notable people at the various tables. Everyone had a job to do, something they gave back to the community, and in that sense the whole thing felt quite similar to the City, though in every other respect it could hardly be more different.

"And so is this everyone in the whole village?" she asked when he'd finished going around the table.

"Well, now, there's some out on patrol, and scouts further afield, but for the most part we're all here."

"And... Helena?" The pretty young woman from Arika's room hadn't appeared in the main hall yet, and so hadn't been included in Ernst's roll call, and didn't look like a scout.

"Ah, well, Helena helps out here and there, when she can."

"I see," Nik said, though she didn't.

Ernst gave a sigh, turning his battered metal spoon over in his hands. "Helena's not well. When she was born some folks said she should be put out in the cold, but her parents couldn't stand the thought. So she does what she can - she's very found of the scouts, dotes on most of them like their own mothers wouldn't."

"Right, all right," Nik said, feeling strangely relieved at the idea that Helena treated _all_ the scouts with such attentiveness and not just Arika especially. "You don't... do that here, do you? Let weak babies die?"

"We don't have a lot of babies here, one way or another. Letting them die'd be a sin and a shame."

"Right, of course. I'm... glad."

"Don't worry, dear, we're not so backwards as that," he said with a chuckle.

"All right - I didn't mean to imply-"

"That's all right. We've had our share of City folk pass through in my lifetime."

"Are they all as obnoxious as me?"

"Most of them don't bring wayward scouts back with them - after stitching them up, mind you. So you get more leeway than them."

Nik smiled a little, shook her head. "She saved my arse as well," she said. "And she only fell because I let her go off alone to catch our runaway horse."

"It sounds like there's quite a story there..."

"Oh, just the same old stuff, really - the horde, fighting for your life, and so on..."

"Ah. And here I was hoping for hijinks." Ernst laughed.

Nik's laugh in return was a little too enthusiastic as she remembered the close brush they'd had with the sort of 'hikinks' she certainly wouldn't have been able to share with this kindly old man.

"Well now, there are plenty of spare rooms here - I'll see to it that someone makes one up for you tonight."

"Only if it's no trouble," Nik said.

"That's what they're there for."

"My thanks, then."

Ernst was pulled away not too long after to discuss something with one of the women he had pointed out as responsible for fence maintenance, leaving Nik to fend for herself.

She fought the urge to head back to Arika's room, instead finding herself a seat at a quiet corner of the table and watching the room around her, only half paying attention, her mind beginning to wander. She had heard stories of the Reaches, but being here was another thing entirely. In Ernst's rambling stories and the communal meal she could see the bones of what was obviously a tight-knit community, but stretched over it was a sense of anticipation and dread, the stacked chairs at the back of the room belying how many weren't there to break bread that night.

At length, people began to filter out of the hall, and Nik decided that it had been long enough that she could reasonably take it upon herself to check in once more on Arika. Making her way back to the back room, she hesitated before knocking lightly at the door.

"Who is it?" came Helena's query.

"Just Nik again."

"Arika's sleeping, go away."

Nik blinked, slightly taken aback by the other woman's shortness after Ernst's warm demeanour. "I... all right. If she wakes, will you..." She trailed off. Of course she wouldn't. "I'll stop back later, then."

The door opened then to reveal Helena, who peered suspiciously out at Nik while blocking her view of the room with her body. "Why are you here?" she demanded.

Nik's brows drew together in mild confusion. "I came back with Arika so that I could take news back to the City council."

"Well, then, why are you still bothering her?"

"I, um... I didn't know I was bothering her," Nik said, blinking, feeling a blush rising to her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to check in, I thought... I didn't think my presence would be unwelcome," she finished lamely.

"She's under our care now. She doesn't need someone from the City corrupting her, hurting her. Why don't you take your news and go?"

"Corrupt- now, look here, I didn't come here to hurt anybody, I don't..." Nik could feel herself getting flustered now, the colour rising in her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I... just... tell her I hope she makes a good recovery."

"Nik?" came a weak voice from within. "Are you out there?"

Nik said nothing at first, just raising her eyebrows expectantly at Helena.

The other woman scowled and turned back into the room. "Shh, go back to sleep."

But Arika wasn't having any of it. "Let her in, Helena. I want to see her."

At this the other woman had no choice but to step back from the door and allow Nik entrance - Nik fighting her urge to shoot her a smug smile. No point in upsetting the locals needlessly, even if they were infuriating. It seemed Helena was intent on lingering even then, not leaving until Arika cleared her throat. "Privacy, Helena."

The other woman sniffed and limped out, shutting the door slowly behind her and leaving them alone, finally.

"She's, uh... attentive," Nik said, pulling a low stool over to the bedside and sinking down onto it.

"Mm, yes, my apologies," Arika replied, grimacing as she pushed herself up a little in bed. "Have you eaten?"

"I have, thanks - and you have too, good. You feeling okay? Genuinely?" Arika's fever had clearly broken if nothing else but she was very pale.

"Just very weak, but I'll live. Nik..." Arika reached out for the other woman's hand. "You have my thanks. You brought us here when I was nothing but a burden. Without you I would have died out there."

"Aw, come on, you know I wouldn't have left anyone out there like that - no person is just a burden." Nik tried for a smile, though she knew she was blushing a little again now in the face of Arika's sincerity.

"I was to you then. But you brought me home, and I owe you a great debt."

"Arika you don't owe me anything," Nik said, shaking her head, wrapping both hands around Arika. "You saved my life out there too - we're even."

The other woman smiled, sinking back against the well-worn pillow. "What do you think of our town?"

"It's very pretty. And you seem to have a strong community. You must have missed it a great deal when you were gone."

"I did. Though I know it's nothing compared to the City..."

"It's very different. But that's not a bad thing."

"That's very diplomatic," Arika said, smirking.

Nik lifted her shoulders. "The City's all I've ever know, but that doesn't mean that I like it."

"You don't? But... it's so large, and there's so many things to do. And so many people. And it's so _safe_..."

"Safety is relative," Nik said. "The City's safe as long as you toe certain lines."

"Well, even here we have rules..."

"You don't do rules like we do rules. Trust me."

"I do," Arika said, giving her hand a squeeze. "And I'll take your word for it."

Nik's smile softened a little, turning a little shy again. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said again, impulsively. "When I felt you burning up like that, so far from the Reaches..."

"It was my own fault; I should never have been riding that fast in the dark. I was just so worried about leaving you back there on your own."

"I was okay - I was a lot more comfortable up that tree than I was on a horse," Nik said with a chuckle. "But... it's sweet that you worried."

"It would have been better if I hadn't put you through all that because of it. I was not a good partner, and for that you have my apologies."

"No, no, you are - were. I can't think of anyone who would have been better to travel with," Nik said, with a sincerity that surprised her.

Arika gave a small smile. "How are you feeling, now that you're off the horse and back on solid ground?"

"Still very sore," Nik confessed. "Glad to be sleeping in a bed tonight."

"Just as well, since I won't be able to give you a massage this time around."

Another, slightly more nervous chuckle. "Yeah, I'll miss those," Nik managed to joke. "Oh, speaking of which, how are your legs, are they okay too?"

"They're fine. Your bandaging held up well."

"Good. Good." Nik nodded again, chewing her lower lip. "Great," she added. "So Ernst has been really welcoming," she offered then, by way of opening to further conversation.

"I'm sure he was," Arika said with a chuckle. "He loves a visitor, Ernst."

"You must not get very many."

"No, not really, which is a shame for him. He doesn't have much to do, anymore, and everybody likes feeling useful."

"True enough," came the reply, the blonde woman tipping her head in agreement. "They're, um, going to make up a bed for me here, he says. Ernst says. I mean, not _in here_. Obviously. Just. In this building."

"Well, looks like you're a scout now too," Arika said with a smile. "Maybe Helena will take a shine to you after all."

"Is it really just the scouts she's protective of," Nik asked, "or is she especially fond of you?"

The other woman shifted her gaze away from Nik's momentarily, giving a shrug. "I don't know."

Nik raised an eyebrow. "I'll bet you don't," she deadpanned.

"I'm sorry if she was rude to you. She means nothing by it," Arika said, though Nik wasn't sure how accurate that was. Helena's vehement dislike of her had seemed quite genuine.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. I should really be leaving in the morning."

"What, already?" Arika frowned.

"I've seen enough of the Reaches to tell a convincing story. I don't need to see the horde itself to believe you. A detailed account to take back will do well enough."

"Oh. I see. Well, that's... good."

"Mm. I mean, yeh, well. I should be getting out of your hair anyway. Wouldn't want you to get seen spending too much time with the outsider," Nik said, her tone mostly neutral and free from bitterness.

"Nik... you know that you're welcome here, right? And that even if you weren't I'd be proud to be seen with you."

Nik made a face. "I dunno, Arika. Your elders have been very welcoming but... I don't know. This isn't my world. I don't know what to do. And I don't want any of my behaviour making you look bad."

"This isn't the City, Nik. I'm not going to get in trouble for associating with you," Arika insisted.

"You sure?" Nik cast her eyes almost shyly in Arika's direction.

"Even if I was," the other woman said, reaching again for Nik's hand, "I wouldn't care. You came all the way from the City to help people you had never met. You're brave and smart. You saved my life."

"Hey, we've been through this, you saved mine too," Nik said, her fingers curling around Arika's.

"Well then, when we go back to the City you won't be ashamed to have me there at your side."

"Not at all." Nik blinked. "Hang on, 'we'?"

"I'll be better in a few days, and then I'm coming with you. You can't go back alone, and you'll need someone to lead the army back."

"Arika..."

"Yes?"

"You're too weak for that journey, you can't just jump straight back on the horse."

"I'll be fine with a few days' rest, you'll see," Arika said, shaking her head.

Nik hesitated. "You don't want me to head right back? Every day we waste-"

"I want to come with you," Arika interjected earnestly. "I need to make sure they do the right thing."

The other woman smiled a little teasingly. "You mean you want to make sure I don't fuck it up," she said.

"That's not true! I know you'll do your very best."

"But you want to make sure I do it right nonetheless."

"I want to make sure we get the help we need," Arika said solemnly. "You've seen our fences - they won't protect us forever."

Nik nodded. "If you're sure a few days' wait isn't going to make more of an impact than your absence would," she said, "I'll be glad to have you. With me, I mean. On the journey." She had to admit that the prospect of a few days' rest from horseback wouldn't do her any harm either. And that she had no particular wish to leave Arika behind her.

"Two days," the other woman said assuredly. "Then we go back. It will be good to rest the horses as well - we don't really have any to spare here."

"All right. That works. But only if you're well," Nik said determinedly, again giving Arika's hand a squeeze. She sighed, then, chewing on her lower lip for a moment and then adding, "I guess I ought to be getting to my own bed, if it's made. Leaving you to sleep in peace."

"Of course, you must still be very tired."

"Think I could sleep a week," Nik confessed with a sheepish grin. Still she didn't move, though, her fingers lacing in and out of Arika's now.

"It will be strange to wake up and not see you watching over me," Arika said then, seemingly oblivious to Nik's nerves. "I know it's only been a few days but it was a very reassuring sight."

Figuring that 'if not now, when?', Nik offered, "You too. I mean, I liked waking up with you there. As well." She frowned. That hadn't come out quite as could-be-innocently as she'd planned.

"Perhaps you should move your pallet in here, then," Arika replied with a smile, tugging on Nik's hand gently. "So we can both see each other when we wake."

"I'd like that," Nik said automatically, but she seemed to consider the logistics of this for a moment before adding, "but I've already caused your people quite a bit of inconvenience."

"Well, you could just join me on mine, I suppose, though it's only meant for one..."

The other woman hesitated. "I don't want to make things uncomfortable," she said, her meaning somewhat oblique.

Arika's expression turned somewhat confused. "We're both slim, I'm sure we'd fit. But you're welcome to sleep in your own room tonight as well, I wouldn't want you to wake up any sorer than you already are."

Nik hesitated. Dare she? "You don't think Helena would be angry with me?" she asked with an attempt at a teasing smile.

"Is it important to you that she thinks well of you?"

"It's important to me that you don't get any grief on my behalf."

"I can handle Helena, don't you worry."

Biting back a knowing remark at this, Nik instead opted to take the offer before it was rescinded. "I suppose it'd be nice to get into a bed that had been pre-warmed for me," she said with a tiny smile. Arika smiled back at her and shifted gingerly to one side; as she lifted the blanket Nik could see she had changed into (or been dressed in) a light cotton vest and a pair of pants, leaving her bandaged side and lower legs exposed. Realising that she was still more or less fully dressed herself, Nik rose from where she sat and quickly stripped off down to the same, suddenly self-conscious about how grimy and travel-worn she felt, and no doubt looked. "I should... have a wash first," she said. "Mind if I..." She gestured toward the washstand in the corner of the room - old fashioned, no tap, just a jug and bowl.

"Please, I insist," Arika said with a grin.

"Thanks." After a quick wash during which Nik was torn between wanting to be clean and her self-consciousness at the other woman's eyes on her, she felt a little less filthy when she made her way back to Arika's bedside and slipped beneath the covers beside her. The pallet was a little larger than a single bed, but still quite cosy, and certainly Nik felt her bare legs slipping past Arika's as they settled, skin on skin or, in some places, the light tickle of their bandages. With a contented sigh Arika slipped an arm under Nik's head, staying relatively flat on her back so as not to jostle her wound too much, and after taking a moment to blow out the candle by the bed, the other woman took this as an invitation to wrap an arm gingerly around Arika, turning toward her, eyes closing. After a moment Arika began to hum, the low noise seeming to reverberate through Nik's body as she lay next to the other woman. The tune was that of another folk song, its lyrics only half-remembered by Nik, though she knew enough to know it was a love song, as so many of those old tunes were. Smiling, she let her head rest against the slighter woman's shoulder, breathing in her sweet, clean scent - clearly she'd washed since her fever broke because there was none of the sourness of illness to her any more. A tiny tremble ran through her as she felt Arika's fingers tracing a light pattern on her shoulder, and she snuggled closer, careful not to press against the wound in her side. Even after her nap and Arika's day spent abed both women were exhausted from their travels, and they were asleep before anything else could happen between them.

 

Nik woke to a mix of different sensations, some pleasant and some much less so.

Beneath the covers, she could feel that Arika had rolled a little onto her good side in the night to curl against her, arm wrapped around her and even one leg swung over hers, her body warm and welcoming, as though they'd always slept like this, wrapped up together.

The room, however, was now flooded with a sharp, cold light from the now-open window, and on top of that, Helena was clattering about, apparently making as much noise as she could in the process of setting breakfast down and tidying the room.

"Oh! You're awake!" Helena exclaimed when she caught sight of Nik's bemused expression, her own guise entirely innocent. "Was there something wrong with your room last night?"

Tamping down her suspicions, Nik managed a sleepy smile, and shook her head. "Arika and I decided to share. I'm sure my room was fine," she said evenly. "I'm sorry if I put anyone out."

"Oh, it's fine, we're used to City folk thinking they know better than us," the other woman said sweetly. She turned to lift the basin in order to empty it out the window; Nik noticed she was dragging her foot, causing her to walk with a funny shuffle-and-limp - perhaps that, then, was the weakness of body to which Ernst had referred.

"Can I help?" she asked then, though she was loathe to leave the warm embrace of the other woman still cuddled close against her.

"No, no," Helena purred, "you stay right where you are." Arika, who had been sleeping soundly through all this, gave a small sigh now, and this time Nik caught the look of pure jealousy and hatred that flashed over Helena's face before she schooled her expression back to innocence and heaved the water out the window. Nik felt a little bad, now, but not bad enough to resist the urge to relax back into Arika's arms once more, reaching beneath the blanket to cover the other woman's hand with her own.

Eventually Helena ran out of things to tidy in the small room and despite the amount of noise she was making Arika managed to sleep through it all. She shot Nik another venomous glance before limping from the room, pulling the door shut behind her with a loud enough sound that Arika flinched in Nik's arms, pushing herself upright a moment later and giving a whimper of pain as the wound in her side protested the sudden movement.

"Hey, easy there," Nik murmured, twisting and sitting up herself to support Arika, smoothing her hand across the other woman's back. The scout came to her senses quickly enough, turning to look around the room briefly before focusing back on Nik.

"Good morning."

"Jury's out," Nik countered, but with a smile. "How're you feeling?"

"Much better," Arika told her, raising her arms very cautiously over her head for a stretch. "Last night was very restful."

The other woman's smile widened reflexively. "I'm glad," she said.

"Have you been awake for very long?"

"Just a few minutes," Nik said. "Long enough to get my morning stink-eye from Helena."

"She's a sweetheart, really. I'm sure she'll warm up to you with time."

"Well, sweetheart or not I doubt she'll have said time," Nik said pragmatically. "I'm sure I can cope. As long as _you_ approve of me I reckon I'm doing okay."

"Of course I do. So," Arika said, leaning back against the wall, "what are you going to do today?"

"Oh, I don't know... Is there any way I can make myself useful around here, d'you think?"

"I'm sure there's plenty you can do, if you're up to it. Don't overexert yourself, though, you need to rest still."

"It'll be good for me to stretch my legs," Nik said.

Arika nodded. "You should ask Keller..." She trailed off for a moment, her expression sobering, before she spoke again. "Ernst will set you up with something, I'm sure. Do you know where to find him?"

"This place is pretty small; I'm sure I'll manage to run into him."

"No doubt."

"Are you going to keep to bed today?"

"I may get up, but don't worry," Arika said, holding up a hand to cut off any protest from Nik. "I'll stick to easy tasks, like helping in the kitchen."

"Is that easy? It doesn't necessarily _sound_ easy..."

"What, you've never done kitchen-work before?"

"Not really in my remit."

Arika gave a delighted laugh. "I see. How fortunate for you."

"Well, somewhere as big as the city people get assigned certain roles..."

"What if all the cooks were ill?"

"That would never happen."

"But still, cookery is a good skill to learn."

"I know how to prepare meals," Nik contested, "I _was_ an outrider. I just imagine the workings of a kitchen feeding many people to be more complicated than that."

"Would you like to learn?"

Nik really didn't care. But she _did_ quite like the idea of spending more time at Arika's side. "You just want someone skivvying alongside you," she replied in a teasing tone.

"Many hands make light work," Arika said with a grin.

"Ah, but too many cooks spoil the broth!" Nik countered triumphantly.

"Well then, we'll have to stay away from the soup," the other woman chuckled, leaning in to wrap her arms around Nik's waist and nuzzle her cheek affectionately.

Nik sighed appreciatively, turning a little and leaning into the other woman's embrace. "It was nice to wake up with you," she murmured. "Look, I know I've been a bit... weird. I'm sorry about that. I'm honestly not an idiot. I just... I dunno, out there, the whole 'long nights in the wilds' thing, that's... not really my bag, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

Nik pulled back - just slightly, to look better at Arika. "Shit... did I completely misunderstand you? I thought..." She closed her eyes, then, shaking her head, a blush immediately springing into her cheeks. "Never mind, sorry. Forget I said anything."

"Nik, I don't understand. Speak plainly - have I done something to offend you?"

"No, no." Falling over herself - figuratively - to deny this, Nik was shaking her head all the more vehemently, "No," she said again. "I just." She blew out a preparatory breath, and sucked another in. "I thought you were hitting on me. Out there." She paused again, then clarified. "For casual sex. And, well, we're brought up to be really careful about that stuff, and I don't know how it works with women but it still kinda goes against... what I've been taught," she finished lamely, now unable to meet Arika's eyes. "But I guess I misunderstood. So y'know. Just pretend I'm not an idiot. Please."

"Oh." When Nik glanced up at the other woman she found her observing her with a frank, open expression. "I was intending to sleep with you, if you'd have me. I didn't know that you didn't do such things. My apologies for that."

"Ah." Nik was still blushing, but managed to hold Arika's gaze, at least, shooting her a wry smile. "Right. Then... I guess my apology stands. I'm sorry for being weird about it. It's... not that I wouldn't have liked to."

"I see." Arika's expression was touched with disappointment, but she smiled anyway and leaned in to place a light kiss on Nik's cheek. "Well, we ought to rise or the day will get away from us."

"I suppose so. Is there... anywhere I can wash a little more thoroughly, and perhaps at least rinse out some of my clothes?"

"The room that was intended for you will have a basin and water. If you'd like to wash your clothes I'll fetch you something to wear in the meantime..."

"I have two sets;" Nik said with a shrug. "I can just stay filthy today and have cleaner clothes tomorrow, I don't want to be a hassle."

"It's no hassle. Go change, and I'll show you to the washhouse."

"You've been very kind to me. I really appreciate it. We weren't so kind to you."

"You were."

"I beat the shit out of you. That's not quite the same as dinner, laundry, and a snuggle in bed."

"You made me feel welcome when no one else did."

"Well, I'm glad of that, at least, then," Nik said with a tiny smile, resting a hand on Arika's arm as she stretched her still-aching legs out in front of her, doing her best to limber up a little before forcing them to support her. The other woman supported her as she gingerly stood, smiling up at her from the pallet.

"I'll be ready to go in a minute - just come back when you've changed."

"I'll be right back, then."

 

 

Upon exiting the room Nik immediately realised that she wasn't sure where to go - which of the other bunks had been alloted to her? Worse yet, she didn't know if the rooms were occupied by other scouts, making peering inside a daunting prospect.

As it turned out the house - bunkhouse, town hall, whatever it was - had a number of people milling around it, so she was able to stop someone - an unfamiliar young man who stared at her openly as she spoke. Eventually however he directed her towards her room, which did indeed have a basin of clean, fresh water waiting for her, as well as a freshly made-up pallet along the wall. She almost felt a pang of guilt for having inconvenienced people by having a room made up and then not using it, but then, she'd probably be in it tonight, wouldn't she?

It didn't take long for her to wash and change; though she had made a show of not caring whether she had a chance to rinse her clothes she had to admit they were quite dirty and could do with a wash. The ones she was wearing were still pretty grimy but not quite so bad, and so she was feeling a little better as she emerged and made her way back toward Arika's room.

The door was ajar, and as she approached she could hear from within the sound of quiet murmuring and, surprisingly, weeping.

Immediately slowing her pace, Nik approached rather more closely, listening carefully to the sounds from inside.

"...maybe he's still out there, he could be!"

"I didn't see him die, it's true."

"Oh, Ari..."

Chewing her lower lip, Nik backed up. She didn't recognise the crying woman, and clearly she was receiving bad news about one of the scouts that had been sent out. Moving well back along the corridor she jammed her hands into her pockets, waiting for the scene in Arika's room to play out.

A few more minutes passed of soft crying and murmured reassurances - though Nik noticed Arika never gave out false hope, only solace and comfort that the other woman would be supported by the rest of the community in her sorrow. Eventually she heard them both get to their feet, and then the door opened, silhouetting the two woman in a tight embrace. Nik bowed her head respectfully as the stranger departed, backing up against the wall to let her pass. When she looked up again Arika was leaning on the doorframe looking obviously drained, though she smiled when she spotted the City dweller.

"Ready for the washhouse, I see."

"If that's still okay," Nik said, approaching with a tentative smile.

"Yes, of course. I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to change yet - come in, I'll just be a minute." Arika began to strip even before Nik had the chance to close the door behind her; the bandage on her side stood out in stark relief to her tanned skin as she pulled her vest over her head and hunted around carefully for her shirt. Nik's first instinct was to turn her head away - and her second to keep watching since Arika obviously didn't care. She was coming back round to the first option again (after all, Arika might well mind if she knew about the tiniest twist of excitement Nik had felt as the other woman turned and afforded her an unimpeded view of her toned stomach and small breasts, nipples standing out in the cool air) but then before she could act one way or the other Arika's shirt was found and the view was covered up. Her leggings followed in quick succession with a certain amount of creative wriggling, and after shoving her feet into a pair of low boots the scout was ready to go.

They moved more slowly than they had out in the open fields, but then, they weren't trying to evade the horde now, only wash some clothes. It seemed most people were up and about now and they alternately stared at Nik and greeted Arika warmly as they made their way across the open square towards a small, squat building with smoke billowing out the chimney. The washhouse interior was hot and billowing with steam, filled with people all hand washing piles of clothes, sharing old baths filled with hot water.

"Arika!" one of the men bent over the tubs exclaimed, straightening up to clap the young woman on the back - a move that made Arika wince, Nik noticed. "I heard you were back. How did it go in the City, have they sent their army?"

"Not yet," Arika replied with a shake of her head. "But hopefully soon. I'll be returning there in two days' time to plead our case once more."

"Are you serious? They wouldn't send anyone? Why those self-"

"Meet Nik," Arika said, interrupting his rant with a pleasant smile. "She came with me from the City to see the Reaches and report back. I owe her my life." The man frowned, but nodded at Nik grudgingly.

"Welcome."

With a tight smile Nik tipped her head in return. "Thank you," she said.

"She has some clothes to wash - shall we muck in ourselves or do you have the time to add to your load?"

"Oh, ah... Sure, um, leave them with me," the young man said with a shrug.

"Oh, that's not necessary," Nik said quickly, "I can-"

"There's no need," Arika said, reaching out to clasp the washman's forearm briefly. "My thanks, Glover. We'll be sure to save you something nice from the kitchens."

Nik felt thoroughly ushered out of the washroom, feeling rather guilty. "I could've managed," she said. "I feel bad making someone else wash my clothes..."

"We all pitch in where we can here. Glover isn't washing just his clothes, and we won't be cooking just our lunch."

"All right, okay. I mean, I get that, it's just all a bit... informal, I guess, compared to what I'm used to."

Arika turned and gave her a smile. "There's a lot that's different here."

"I'm getting that."

"Besides, how do you wash your clothes in the City?"

"Oh, we have public washhouses, just like you. But it's a little more formal than that, I suppose."

"How formal can washing your clothes be?" Arika asked teasingly. "Excuse me, miss, could you pass the soap? I've filled out all the necessary paperwork..."

Nik laughed. "You'd be surprised. There's an assembly line and ticket machine."

"A ticket machine? Oh gods..."

"We have a lot of people!"

"I know, I know. It's just... amazing to think of, that's all."

"I'm amazed that you seem to know everyone's name."

"There aren't that many of us," Arika said with a shrug. "And I've lived here for twenty-odd years."

"You're only twenty?"

"Mm, something around there, I guess."

"But you're so..." Nik trailed off, unable to find quite the word she was looking for.

"Wrinkled?" Arika suggested, grinning and displaying those self-same laugh lines crinkling at the edges of her eyes.

"What? No! Not at all. Just... so confident. Poised."

"Only here in my little town. I'm not so poised in the City."

"You still had plenty of poise then, trust me."

"You didn't hear the things I wanted to say to your Elders."

"And yet you didn't. And anyway, whatever you've said I've probably said worse."

"Yes, well, I'm not related to them," Arika said with a shake of her head.

"I'm only related to one of them and believe, that wouldn't stop them locking me up if they decided I'd crossed the line," Nik said with a wry chuckle.

The scout stopped for a moment, reaching out to lay a hand on Arika's arm and frowning in concern. "The actions you took to get here won't cause that to happen, will they?"

"Hm? Oh..." Nik shook her head. "Don't worry about that," she said.

"Nik..."

"Mhm?"

"I don't want you to return to your home only to get locked up because of me."

"Well, I guess we hope that doesn't happen, then," Nik said with a on-then-off-again smile, cocking her head a little as she gazed at Arika. The other woman looked back at her earnestly for a moment, obviously biting her tongue to keep from saying more.

Then, "come, we ought to get to work."

 

Working in the kitchen was busy and challenging but by no means boring. They were tasked with various odd jobs throughout the morning - scrubbing and peeling potatoes, cleaning a large cast-iron pot that had been left to soak in a bucket of scummy water overnight, fetching things from the storage cellar out the back of the hall - all things that kept them moving around the large kitchen and unable to speak more than a few words at any given moment to one another.

Nik found it strangely pleasing - though her legs ached, her feet didn't, and it was actually nice to be getting around on the ground for a bit. And once she got into the rhythm of the work it was actually almost enjoyable - certainly satisfying.

And of course, at the end of it they got to sit down to a solid meal, surrounded by the others from the town who Arika told her had been busy with various duties themselves. They certainly were hungry, whatever they had been doing, and made short work of the meal they had spent most of the morning preparing, as did Nik herself, who was scarcely less famished herself.

"So, what next?" she asked as they helped clear away and wash the dishes, up to their elbows in lukewarm suds in the kitchen.

Arika pursed her lips, looking down at the dishwater with an expression of deep concentration. "Ernst has said he would organise you to go out and see the bodies, if you wanted."

"The... bodies? I'm not sure I follow."

"The bodies of the people that have died. And the grunts. For proof."

Nik blinked. "Jeeesus..." She shook her head, turning from the sink to face Arika properly. "I don't need to see that."

"All right."

"Arika, look at me."

The other woman dragged her gaze up from the sink to Nik's face. "Yes?"

Nik had been going to say something - about her believing Arika, about how they didn't need to convince her any further, about how honestly this whole trip had been more a show for the council than any real need for her to see with her own eyes what was going on. Instead, with the other woman staring up at her, eyes wide and filled with trepidation in the otherwise empty kitchen, Nik just stepped forward and pulling the younger woman into a careful hug, enveloping Arika in her arms but being sure to avoid squeezing her sensitive middle.

Arika was wiry and whip-strong but she folded into Nik's arms almost immediately, laying her head on the other woman's shoulder and taking a deep, careful breath.

"We're going to fight this," Nik muttered, her breath hot on Arika's ear. "I swear, if I have to lead a fucking rebellion out of the City myself, I'll see us fight this. I promise."

"They put us out here to be the canary, you know," Arika said, her voice still (mostly) even and calm. "Like in mines. But when we start dying, they suddenly can't be bothered helping us."

Nik pulled back a little at this, staring down at Arika in mild confusion. "I don't know what you mean."

"Why else do you think we're here, in the Far Reaches?"

The other woman's brows drew together. "I assumed that a group must have broken away, back at the Fall..."

"They sent us out here. Gave us supplies, timber for buildings, even. Told us we were the outpost, and if anything should happen we could count on their support. But they just wanted warning, so they could prepare themselves."

Drawing in a long breath and releasing it again, Nik settled against Arika once more, hugging her in a pensive silence. Arika sighed again, wrapping her own arms around Nik's waist tightly. "Fuck 'em," Nik murmured. "I'll make them help if I have to burn down that hellhole to do it."

"No, don't," Arika said, shaking her head. "Too many people have been hurt already."

"I suppose. Christ, Arika, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's not something they'd want to share, I imagine."

"Guess not. I'm going to make sure they find out. Back at the City. One way or another."

Arika pulled back slightly, reaching up to place a palm gently on Nik's cheek. "Just be careful. Please."

"No promises," was Nik's reply, though she sighed quietly, tipping her head to lean into Arika's touch.

Arika's thumb skated over her cheekbone, the pads of her fingers rough against the other woman's skin. "You mean a great deal to me, Nik. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."

"Guess you'd better keep close tabs on me, then, huh?" Nik replied with an attempt at a wry smile.

Arika nodded, though a moment later Nik felt her waver where she stood a little. "I think... I might need a rest this afternoon," she said, dropping her hand to steady herself on Nik's shoulder.

"All right." Nik hesitated, then added, "Would you like me to come with you?"

"Are you tired too?"

"Not especially," Nik said, "I mean, I'm aching, but I'm not sure I remember what 'not aching' feels like any more," she added with a grin. "I suppose I should really be making myself useful rather than just hanging around you."

"I'm sure they'll find something to keep you occupied, if you want to help."

"Right. Yeah, 'course."

 

In the end Nik couldn't quite justify staying with Arika, especially once Helena arrived and busied herself alternately fussing over the scout and shooting daggered looks in Nik's direction. Nik wandered off, eventually finding Ernst in the town square and inquiring how she could help, much to his apparent delight. There were a dozen things needing done, but eventually she settled on fence-mending, a rather repetitive and mindless task mainly involving reinforcing the tears in the wire fence with thread, sinew and anything else they had on hand.

If Nik was aching before, she was certainly sore now as she made her way back inside, going to her room for a wash and discovering that someone had thoughtfully laid out some clean clothes there - not her other outfit, which couldn't possibly be dry yet, but a simple shirt and trousers that while a little big at the waist were perfectly comfortable with the addition of her belt.

Thusly attired, she told herself that after so many hours it must surely be okay to check in on Arika. Her knock at the door was greeted not with Helena's unwelcoming hiss or Arika's sleepy murmur but with a deeper, unfamiliar voice. "Yes?"

Stomach instantly clenching Nik almost turned tail then and there, but reminding herself that she had no reason for worry, she simply called, "Just Nik - from the City? Figured I'd check in on Arika, say hello..."

"Oh. Come in..." Nik pushed the door open to find a handsome young man sitting by Arika's bedside, dressed in dusty leathers and clasping her hand in his. The young woman smiled at Nik and pushed herself up in bed.

"Nik, this is Justus, my spouse. How was your afternoon?"

_Of course he is_. Realising that Arika clearly felt no discomfort and so nor could Nik show any, the other woman just nodded, forcing a tired smile onto her face. "Busy. But satisfying," she said. "Got a good stretch of fence patched up."

"That's wonderful," Arika remarked, smiling back. She let go of the young man's hand and patted the end of the bed, by her feet. "Come, sit and tell me more."

"I, um..." Quite sure that there was nothing she'd like to do less at that moment than sit and pass the time of day with Arika and her husband - not right now, not 'til she'd had time to process it - Nik fought for an excuse, eventually settling on a rather lame, "I should... really get some rest. I just wanted to check in."

"Oh." Arika looked distinctly disappointed. "But it's almost supper time - you don't want to miss the meal."

"I'll not be long, just want to lie down for... a little bit," Nik said, literally backing up.

"Very well..."

"I'll... see you soon. At dinner, probably."

"I hope so."

 

Nik felt numb as she shut the door to her room behind her. She wasn't an idiot. She realised right away from Arika's manner, her ease and friendliness, that she, Nik, had misread the situation, and after all the other woman had only ever propositioned her in a casual sense. It was really coming after their encounter earlier that day in the kitchen, the tenderness in the way Arika had spoken of her affection for her, that this new information had taken on a special sting.

_In short, you're an idiot._

She couldn't rest now even if she wanted to, but the room was too small for anything but the most abortive pacing so she sat down on the edge of the pallet and tried not to dwell on the two individuals just a few doors down the hallway. It was impossible, of course, and she ended up turning over every detail in her mind - they way they had been sat, clasping hands, the stubble-chinned good looks of this 'Justus', the sadness in Arika's expression when Nik had elected to run away.

Determined that she would not let her own inability to process things in quite the way that Arika did interfere with what had become a good friendship, Nik steeled herself, and made her way out to the dining room not long after the bell went. Arika was there at a table with several other young men and women, talking quite animatedly to a rapt audience. She noticed Nik after a few seconds and waved her over enthusiastically, and Nik tried her damnedest to look cool and collected as she approached, though no one but Arika seemed to really care one way or the other.

"And here she is - my hero," Arika announced with a grin. "And tomorrow we're going to leave to go back to the City and make sure they listen this time. We'll bring the army back with us, just you wait and see."

"You sure you're ready?" Nik asked. "Tomorrow isn't far away at all; we'd need to start early..."

"Are you calling me weak? Of course I am, I'm almost as good as new!"

Nik knew this wasn't quite true but she said no more, disinclined to tease Arika that night, and particularly in public. The others didn't seem particularly inclined to comment either, mostly quietly tucking into their meals now that Arika had finished her story. The scout made room next to her on the bench, patting the seat as if to encourage Nik to join her.

Trying not to show her reluctance, Nik took a seat as gestured. _Cool and collected, remember? What the hell has happened to cocky untouchable Nik? It's like that woman just doesn't exist here..._

Luckily Justus wasn't at the table; glancing around the room Nik could see that he was seated next to Ernst at the big table up front. Arika caught her eye and grinned. "Ernst insists on getting fully reports from all the scouts that come in. Just as well, too - Jus' can be such a bore."

The blonde managed a smile, though it didn't last long. "Right," she said. "It, um, must've been nice to see him again, though."

"I suppose, though it doesn't really matter much right now, what with my wound and the fact that we're leaving tomorrow."

A slight flush rose in Nik's cheeks with the mention of Arika's wound getting in the way. _Well, not just a spouse in name, then, but you knew that._ She nodded. "We could stay another day," she offered. "We'll ride faster if we rest longer, I'm sure, I don't think it would make much difference to our arrival time."

"No, no, I want to go as soon as possible - I'm only sorry we had to delay as long as we did."

"All right. I just..." Nik trailed off, shaking her head. "I need to just stop trying to keep you here," she said with a wry smile. "That must be like the fourth time I've done that. I just want you to be well."

"You just don't want to drag my carcass back to civilisation again," Arika replied, grinning. "I know the truth."

"I'm not sure I want to drag _my_ carcass back there, to be honest."

Arika sobered slightly. "I wish you could just stay here. That it was safe to do so."

"That's not exactly..." Nik shook her head. "I don't know what I meant. Everything just seems so much less... _complicated_ here. There are so many people in the City and so many resources to manage, it means everything needs to have rules attached to it, protocols, licenses. It's safe, but... I don't know. I've started to wonder about the cost."

"Well, you could always come back to stay here when it's safe to do so," Arika suggested. "You'd fit right in."

"I... doubt that. I'm sure not everyone would be happy to have me around."

"Oh, this isn't about Helena again is it? What has she done this time?"

"What? Oh... I suppose. Just... I don't think I would fit in very well here."

Arika frowned, thought she didn't say anything more, lapsing into silence as she poked at her food. Nik turned her attention to her own bowl, quickly emptying it and realising in the process that she was actually very hungry indeed. Soon she was putting it aside, and standing to take her leave.

"Are we still leaving tomorrow?" Arika asked, looking up at her with an inscrutable expression.

Nik blinked, looking thoroughly confused. "You told me like three times you wanted to," she said. "But we don't have to if you're not ready."

"No, I do want to go. It just seems as if you're torn..."

"I'm ready whenever," Nik said determinedly. "We're on your schedule here."

"All right. Then we'll leave tomorrow."

"Okay."

"I'll see you then, I suppose."

Nik nodded, gritting her teeth unconsciously as she swung her leg over the bench and made her exit from the dining room, determined to go to her room and stay there until the moment they had to leave the next day. She resolutely stripped down and slipped between the blankets on the bed, setting her head on the pillow as if she could will sleep to come. It didn't for some time as footsteps and murmurs echoed in the hall outside, but eventually she drifted off, her stomach still clenched unpleasantly with the new knowledge she had gained that day.

 

"They're here! Everybody up!" Nik was jolted from sleep by a pounding on her door, which moved on after a moment, though the cries continued. "All able hands to the guns!"

She was up and half-dressed before what was happening really set in. They were at the walls. Only they didn't have walls, they had a fence, and instead of cannons and a kill-zone they had a few people with rifles. Her pulse roaring in her ears, Nik took up her own rifle and was out, fully dressed to find the town in full Alert. Almost every resident seemed to be at the fences, some with guns, some with clubs and sticks. It was completely dark and so it took a moment for Nik to see the threat, but once she did it was almost staggering in its size - at the edge of the lantern light was a massive horde, enough to almost ring the town completely, shambling slowly towards the fence which suddenly looked like barely any barrier at all.

"What the..." A hand grabbed her elbow roughly and at first she almost struggled, but then she found herself propelled forward, and someone - one of the men she remembered taking her horse from her the day before - was talking gruffly, matter-of-factly.

"You only shoot if you have a head-shot. If they're up at the fence you use a knife - you got a knife?"

"Wh- yes, yeh, I've got one."

"Good, use it, ammo is precious. Keep at arm's length from the fence, never get closer than you have to."

And there it was, right before her, the fence, and beyond it the horde, in greater numbers than Nik had ever seen it, advancing through the dark. It wasn't long until they were within the light cast by the lanterns and the first shots began to ring out, dropping them expertly only to be clambered over by the other grunts. Head spinning with this very different sort of wall defence, Nik kept up as best she could, easily taking out a few grunts at distance and pulling out her long knife when they got up to the fence.

It wasn't the first time she had killed grunts hand-to-hand by a long shot, but there was something about the sheer numbers - every time one fell it seemed like two more took its place, throwing themselves against the fence until it rattled and shook. Nik was amazed anew at the people of the Reaches - nearly everyone in the town, young or old, was out, hacking and stabbing away without hesitation. These people were brave, pulling together, each and every one of them, and she felt a new wave of anger as what the Council had done to them, at the fact that would leave them to die like this.

The first breach came after almost half an hour of defence - one of the sections of fence just seemed to split and Nik couldn't help but worry that it was part that she had been responsible for early that day. There were shouts of alarm and a concentrated effort to drive back the grunts so that someone could dart in to repair it. It was then that she saw Arika, sword and shockstick in hand, wading into the fray to stun the nearest grunts so that the fence could be hauled back together and lashed into place.

Before she even thought about it she was running into the fray, tossing her gun to a villager and pulling out another long knife to join Arika. Several people tried to stop her but she tore away from their grasping hands in order to begin hacking at the nearest grunts, stabbing her blade through eyes and temples. Arika was closer to the hole in the fence now, her weapons a blur as she toppled opponents left and right around her. Whirling in a circle, she spotted Nik, her eyes going wide in surprise and worry. "Go back!" she shouted, shaking her head. "It's too--"

And then a scabby arm hooked around her middle and pulled her back onto the morass of bodies, which pulled away from the fence in order to engulf her. Even in their shock the Reachers were ever practical; several of them moved forward to close the gap in the fence even as they listened to Arika's shouts of panic and the slavering mumblings of the grunts.

With a roar of panic and frustration, Nik pushed on through the gap, determined that no one was going to stop her running into the dark after Arika, that if Arika was going to die then obviously Nik would be there beside her. There was no time to think about it, only to act, her aching legs propelling her forward as she shrugged off the hands that tried to hold her back.

She could just see the tan of Arika's leggings, flailing as the grunts pulled her back from the fence. It was unusual for them not to immediately fall on their victims to devour them and yet they didn't seem to be doing so here. Nevertheless she plunged on after them, launching into the fray with her knives. The gunshots from behind them had stopped, of course, which meant that Nik was now on her own to try and liberate Arika from the horde.

The grunts closed around her, and it was only through sheer luck and determination that she managed to ward them off, fighting towards the spot she had last seen the other woman. She could hear her still shouting Nik's name, giving her hope that she was still alive. When a strong hand reached out of the pile of scrambling bodies and grabbed her wrist, she very nearly began to hack at it without even looking, but then she felt another join it, gripping on further up her arm, and looking down she realised that the hands didn't belong to any grunt. Relief flooding through her she gripped the other woman's arm and hauled backwards with all the strength she had.

Together Nik and Arika emerged from the horde; behind them Nik could hear the Reachers give a jubilant cheer. They began to run full-tilt for the fence, Arika tugging on Nik's hand to direct her towards the nearest gate, and before long they were both back in the compound and being bustled off to the main building - Nik protesting at first until it was explained that the fence was mended and the horde was retreating.

 

Arika seemed to be in a state of shock, stumbling along numbly until the people around them made to separate them into their rooms, at which point she came alive, grasping Nik's hand tightly and refusing to part from her, and so both of them were bundled into Arika's quarters, and only when Arika was quite sure that Nik wasn't going anywhere did she let go and begin, on autopilot, to strip off her clothes to be checked over as the attendant - Helena, Nik realised now, gestured to Nik to do the same, the other woman's usually obvious dislike for now entirely overwhelmed with relief and worry.

Somehow they had managed to come through the ordeal with only minor wounds and scratches, though the gash in Arika's side had reopened in her struggle and needed rebandaged. Nik was largely unscathed, though her clothes were ripped and gore-covered, and she stood shivering a little wrapped in a blanket as Helena left to find them something else to wear.

Without saying a word Arika pushed herself up off her bed and came to wrap her arms around Nik, leaning into her as if hoping to both comfort and be comforted herself. Nik brought her arms up around her, pulling the blanket around them both. "Careful," she murmured as the other woman pressed closer, "your side..."

"It's fine," Arika insisted, shaking her head. "I just want to be close to you right now."

"We're okay," Nik said, the words coming almost as a whisper through a shaky sigh. "We're okay now." She didn't try to release Arika or pull away though, tipping her head to press her lips to Arika's bare shoulder, not so much a kiss as just another point of contact, her breath warm on the other woman's skin.

"I can't believe you left the fence to save me. That's the bravest thing I've ever seen anybody do."

"That's because you didn't see that woman fighting her way through a horde, alone and on foot, to ask a bunch of imperious arseholes for help for her people," Nik contested, though she couldn't help the warm little butterfly that awoke in her stomach at Arika's words.

"That was desperate, not brave," Arika murmured, tracing a hand slowly up Nik's back. "And I didn't know they were arseholes when I first came."

"Well by that reckoning I was desperate, not brave, too," Nik says. "I really didn't think about it. I just couldn't lose you like that." The words were out before she really parsed them, or what they might be taken to mean, but she left them there, anyway, hanging between them.

Arika pulled back in order to gaze into Nik's eyes earnestly. "Well, you didn't. You saved me."

"We've been through this," Nik said, trying to sound cocky as a blush rose in her cheeks. "I save you, you save me. It's what we do."

"It'd be nice to live somewhere where we didn't need saved all the time," the other woman sighed. "But I suppose we were born too late for that."

"I guess so."

"Still, I wish you would stick around. It'd make me feel safer..."

The other woman gave a sad smile. "You've got people here to keep you safe - the other scouts - Justus..."

"He doesn't make me feel safe like you do. I'm just a friend to him."

A few implications from this sank in with Nik one after the other, then. First, Arika's feelings about Justus - the matter-of-fact mention of her wound before, Justus being 'just a friend' and yet her 'spouse', and the same population of the Reaches brought her to a conclusion that she really didn't know _what_ to feel about. The second followed on almost immediately though, and it was this that spilled from her lips.

"What do you think you are to me? Not just a friend?"

"I care about you very much, Nik," Arika said solemnly. "Even if you only want to be a friend to me it doesn't change the way I feel when I'm around you."

"Arika..." Nik sighed, closing her eyes tightly. Her head - her whole body - felt full to bursting with the stimulus from the past couple of days. Coming to understand these people and why they were here, spending that night in a bed with Arika, finding out about Justus, the attack and the strange behaviour of the horde - there was too much to process all at once, too many questions and warring emotions and it was all she could do not to just burst into tears, though Nik couldn't remember the last time she'd really wept for any reason at all. "I don't understand your life, or your relationships," she said. "What you do with Justus, the other scouts, what anyone means to you - I haven't figured it all out and it's all different from what I know or expect. But at this point what I want from you is whatever you'll give me - anything or everything." She lifted her shoulders in a light shrug that reminded her how much her whole body ached. "I think it's pretty clear at this point that when it comes to you I have no self-preservation instincts left."

"Just as well I'm around to save you, then," Arika replied, smiling a little. "And you have my apologies - maybe I've pushed you too much these past few days, I was just so... excited to have found you. I feel like I've waited my whole life to meet you."

Nik blinked. "That's a pretty big statement," she said, swallowing. "I don't... really know what you mean by that."

Arika looked slightly confused. "I mean that I love you, Nik. All of you, with all of me."

Suddenly that roaring noise was back in Nik's ears, her breath releasing in a rush, and again she felt tears prickling behind her eyes. Rather than risk Arika seeing this she leaned in to hold her close again, sure the other woman would be able to feel her heart hammering in her chest. "You never told me that," she muttered.

"I thought it might make you uncomfortable. It still might have." Nik could hear the frown in Arika's voice, though it didn't keep her from squeezing her tightly in her arms. "Has it?"

"Confused, maybe," Nik said. "A little scared," she confessed then.

"Scared? Why?"

"Because... I've never loved anyone who loved me back. Before. And I don't really know what to do with that. And because our lives are dangerous and short, and as much as if you'd died tonight I don't know what I'd have done, if you died now, having said that, I think it would kill me."

"Oh, Nik. You're much stronger than that, I know it."

Almost as if on cue, a wave of fatigue overtook Nik, then, and she stumbled a little against Arika as her legs threatened to give way beneath her, as though all the stress and anxiety that had been keeping her upright had begun to leak out of her.

"Come on," Arika said, stepping back a little to turn Nik towards the bed. "Let's sit down." Nik let the other woman pull her down onto the low pallet, the blanket still draped around her shoulders, though she was shivering again, her wiry frame trembling beneath Arika's touch.

"Nik... Nik, look at me. Look at me," Arika insisted, turning Nik's face towards her with a light touch of her hand. "We'll stay here tomorrow. We'll rest. It'll be all right."

"I'm fine," Nik insisted, "I'm just cold, and tired, I'm all right, but your side... we probably do need to take another day, with that wound opening back up..."

Arika frowned, but nodded her assent all the same. "Yes, probably."

Impulsively, Nik turned her head to the side, touching her lips to Arika's hand, her eyes fluttering closed. "That scared the hell out of me," she whispered, her rapid-cycling mind hitting again on the moment when she'd seen the younger woman being carried away and engulfed by the horde and the darkness.

"And yet you jumped through the fence after me. What did I say - that's bravery."

"Shush," Nik said with a reflexive smile, shaking her head. "Stop being so tricksy, my brain's goo right now."

Arika smiled as well, her thumb stroking over Nik's cheek. "It's late. Or early, I suppose. We should get some sleep."

"Mm. I mean, yeh. All right."

"You'll stay here with me, won't you?"

"If you'd like me to." Nik paused, then qualified. "If you'd like me to then I want to, yes."

"Of course I'd like you to."

"Then of course I will."

Arika grinned and leaned forward to bump her nose against Nik's affectionately. "Good."

Skin singing now in spite of her fatigue, Nik let Arika guide her beneath the covers. They were already stripped down to their thin vests and underwear and had both washed when checking for bites, and though Nik felt that Helena, at least, was likely to be back before the night was out she couldn't seem to care right now. Though Arika continued to stroke her fingers along Nik's bare arms and shoulders she didn't make any move towards further intimacy, though Nik could tell by her slightly-parted lips and heavy-lidded eyes she was not ambivalent. Perhaps it was because it was late and she didn't want to keep them up any longer, or perhaps it was another reason altogether. With all the uncertainty in Nik's mind about quite what she and Arika might or could be to one another she didn't dare take any further steps herself, and so she tried to put the very idea out of her mind, just shifting closer to wrap her arms carefully around Arika and try once more for sleep.

"Goodnight, my brave warrior," Arika murmured, sighing and nestling in next to Nik.

"Don't be ridiculous," Nik muttered in return, but she tightened her embrace briefly, turning and pressing a kiss to Arika's forehead.

It wasn't easy to sleep in the next morning; there was too much bustle going on outside as the town scrambled to finish cleaning up the mess from the night before, and Helena had soon appeared in their room to clear up the first aid supplies and refresh the bloodied water from the previous night. It was easy enough to stay in bed, however, with Arika's arms wound around her and her sweet breath on her face, and she gave a contented sigh, leaning to touch her nose lightly to Arika's.

The other woman's eyes fluttered open and she smiled sleepily at Nik. "Mm. Is it morning?"

"Mhm," came the murmured reply, and Nik's lips curled into a smile in return.

"We should rise, help with the cleanup..." Despite her words Arika made no move to get up just yet.

"You should rest. I'll go help but you need to heal."

"Mm. So do you. I'm sure you're still sore from our journey."

"Well, regardless I know that you're not going anywhere..."

"I'm going to get up and help!"

"Mm, nope," Nik corrected her, shifting to rest her weight on the other woman.

"Hey!" Arika exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Nik's waist. "Let me up."

"Make me."

Arika's arms loosened, and she crept her fingers up Nik's sides towards her armpits, smirking.

"Uh uh, that won't work on me," Nik said with a shake of her head.

"Everyone is tickly!"

"Not me - but you're welcome to try."

With an adorably serious face Arika did indeed attempt to tickle Nik, though she failed miserably, eliciting not even the tiniest squirm from the other woman.

"See?" Nik raised an eyebrow. "Now, you really shouldn't struggle; you'll pull your stitches again."

"I need to get up!" Arika protested.

Suddenly realising that really, she didn't know the other woman well enough to know whether she was being playful or serious now, Nik let go, pulling back and moving back onto her side. "Sorry," she murmured.

"You would have been in another minute," Arika told her, grinning as she pushed herself to her feet stiffly and hunted around for a pair of trousers. "I have to piss like nobody's business..."

With a chuckle, Nik rolled onto her back with a groan as her muscles cried out at yet another day of overexertion.

"You should stay right there," the other woman instructed her. "There's been more than enough heroics for one day."

"You should piss and come back to bed," Nik returned. "I'm serious, Arika."

Arika made a face, obviously torn. "I need to help the town. There'll be much work to be done..."

"How much will you help the town by getting an infection and dying partway back to the City?"

"You're surely exaggerating..."

"Does it matter? With even the smallest chance of that shouldn't you be doing everything you can to avoid it?"

Arika pursed her lips, then gave a brief, girlish smile. "All right. But I'll at least stop and get us some food, save someone else the trip."

"Breakfast in bed sounds good to me."

"Good, then I'll be right back."

Nik lay back on the firm mattress with a long sigh as Arika exited. They'd told one another how they felt. More than that, they felt the _same_. She ought to feel a lot better than she did right now but at the end of the day she still felt almost as at sea and confused as she had before. Perhaps it was because, as she had remarked yesterday, she had never actually felt this way about someone who reciprocated her feelings. Every girlhood crush had led to nothing but heartache; every teenage dalliance had ended in disappointment. And now Arika was telling her that she loved her, that she didn't want to be without her, and yet she still wasn't sure what that meant, and had no idea how to go about finding out.

Except, of course, by asking, but that was a daunting prospect. From what she had managed to piece together over the past few day Reaches society was quite different than what she had been raised to expect, and the idea of fitting into that, even to be with Arika, was almost unthinkable. No, she'd wait, just a little longer. This limbo might be confusing and uncertain, but at least she could be sure of one thing, that Arika wanted to be with her. Perhaps that would carry her for long enough that nothing else would matter by the time she'd figured everything else out.

Arika returned within a few minutes with a trayful of food - apparently people in the Reaches subscribed to the idea of feeding people up after a hard night's fight. Setting the tray on a chair by the bed she crawled back under the covers with Nik, nuzzling her neck as she reached across her to grab a hard roll.

Nik ate steadily for a bit, realising once she started that she was actually very hungry. Perhaps unsurprisingly Arika ate with a healthy appetite herself, devouring the meal with nary a crumb dropped in the bed, much to Nik's relief. They washed the meal down with mugs of fresh, cool water and then reclined back, sated.

"Mm," Arika sighed, her head resting on the other woman's shoulder. "How I wish I could stay here forever - I'd never move, just frow fatter and fatter and more content."

Nik smiled a little, turning a bit to wrap her arms around the other woman. "Wouldn't we all."

"Do you ever have days in the city when you do no work?"

"Hm? Oh... yes, about one day in every seven - depending on the work we do."

"Really? Whole days?"

"I did, yeah. Shopkeepers, that sort of thing, a bit less often. We got rest when it was judged we needed it to do our work better."

"Mm, that sounds wonderful," Arika sighed. "Maybe life in the City isn't _all_ bad..."

"No wonder you find it so hard to contemplate the idea of a day in bed."

"Work never stops in the Reaches, even when you get tired."

Nik's arms tightened around Arika, and she turned to kiss the other woman's temple. "Well, today, you'll need to let someone else do it."

"But what will we do instead? We can't sleep all day."

"You watch me," the other woman said, settling deeper into the pillows with a chuckle.

"I might have to - I don't think I could sleep another wink," Arika said, propping herself up with one arm.

"Then I hope you have a book stashed somewhere; no point sitting watching my ugly mug all day."

"Nonsense, you have a beautiful mug," the other woman replied with a grin. A moment later she leaned down to plant a kiss on Nik's cheek.

"Mph, you definitely need more sleep, you've gone blind."

"Oh, hush. I know what I see."

Nik cast her eyes downward, shaking her head. "Mm. Well."

"What do you do on your free day in the City?"

"Drink, play cards, fight... All the stuff I'd do after hours as a general rule."

"Hmm... well, it's far too early for drinking, and I know better than to fight you," Arika said with a smirk. "I suppose I could fetch some cards..."

"You have those? Thought you were all work and no play," Nik teased.

"Well you have to pass the nighttime somehow."

"I-..." Nik broke off, realising that the automatic innuendo that sprung to her lips now might be a little too close to the bone right now, and just shrugs. "Well, I'm sure I know a few games you don't, if you're interested."

"Yes, all right. I'll be right back," Arika said, beginning the process of extricating herself from the bed once again.

"I could go if you like - I'm probably a bit fitter than you, still..."

"Do you know where to find the cards?"

"I will if you tell me," the other woman replied with a roll of her eyes, shifting now to get up herself.

"Well, I was going to ask Justus for his," Arika said, sinking back down into the bed. "He'll probably be in the map room."

"Ah. Mayb- right, yes, okay," Nik said, steeling herself and pushing to her feet. "I'll. Um. Go... talk to Justus. Then."

"All right. I'll be right here, waiting patiently."

"Right." Feeling thoroughly at sea, Nik took her leave and went to look for 'the map room'.

If she had been hoping that time would've made people less likely to stare at her, Nik's feats the night before had only served to make her more noteworthy, and she noticed several people murmuring to each other as she passed through the main hall. Luckily someone took pity on her eventually and directed her towards the map room, where she found the tall, handsome scout busy at work sketching out additional details on a finely-drawn map.

"I, er..." Nik cleared her throat and tried again as she hovered just inside the doorway. "Arika said you might have a pack of cards you could lend her. I convinced her to stay in bed today," she added quickly, "if we're still leaving tomorrow..."

Justus glanced up, raising his eyebrows at Nik's sudden appearance. "Yes, all right... I should have a pack with my things."

"Right. Thanks."

"Do you want it... now, or shall I bring it by her room in due course?"

"Oh! Er, just whenever is fine," Nik said, backing up with a sheepish smile. "Absolutely. Sorry."

"I'll be finished with this in a minute, if you'd like to wait."

"No, no, it's fine. I'll see you later."

"Nikolette?"

Heart in throat, Nik turned. "Yeh?"

"Your actions last night were very impressive. If the rest of the army is like you we will have no trouble with the horde."

Nik was speechless at this for a moment. When she found her voice she could only manage, "Thanks."

He nodded. "Arika is fortunate to have found you. I shudder to think where we'd be if you had not come."

"She's saved my skin more than once too," Nik felt the need to say.

"Hopefully in a few days you'll both have saved everybody's skin," he told her then. "You've seen what we're up against. You know we don't have much hope left."

"I'll bring people back," Nik promised fervently. "One way or another. I promise."

"Careful with your promises," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I intend to keep that one."

"I hope that you do."

"I'll, um... leave you to finish up there - sorry to disturb you."

"That's all right. I'll bring the cards by shortly."

 

"He's going to stop by," Nik said as she slipped back into the room. "How're you doing?"

"Mm... I'm quite bored," Arika remarked, looking up at Nik from her cross-legged position in bed.

Nik chuckled as she rejoined the other woman on the pallet. "My dad used to say there are no boring things, only boring people."

"Well, my natural inclination isn't to sit in bed all day, so I don't think normally I'm a boring person..."

"Then I suppose you'll need to think of a better way to keep us occupied."

Arika raised her eyebrows and shifted, patting the bed beside her. Scooting across, Nik moved closer, that tiny little butterfly coming to life in her stomach again as it now did every time she was close Arika.

"I can think of several ways," the other woman murmured, turning towards Nik, "but the last time I suggested them you didn't seem very keen."

Nik didn't try to pretend that she didn't know what Arika was referring to. "It wasn't that I wasn't keen," she said. "I just wasn't keen to be... just one among many."

"Why not?" Arika asked curiously.

"Because..." Nik's brows drew together. "Because I felt like it wouldn't mean anything to you. And it would to me."

"But it would mean something to me. Of course it would."

"I didn't know that. The way you talked, I thought..." Nik sighed and shook her head. "Forget it. I was being stupid. I didn't understand how you... worked. I still don't, really."

"Well, do you want to know?" Arika inquired gently.

"Yes. No. I... don't know."

"Well, if you do want to.... all you have to do is ask."

"I know."

"All right." Arika just sat there, looking at Nik. The other woman sighed softly, turning to settle onto her back.

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding a little wretched. "I don't know how to hear what I think you're going to say."

"What do you think I'm going to say?"

"That Justus is the man you are expected to have children with."

"This year, yes."

Nik frowned, and nodded. This new information was clearly not something she knew but nevertheless didn't seem to change her countenance much. "I have no right to object to any of your customs. But that's going to be hard for me."

"Why? How do you do things in the City?"

"We don't have a low population issue," Nik said. "So we don't... we wouldn't have a partner we were with only to have children. Or, I mean, I'm sure some do, people can do what they like, but... I wouldn't."

"Hm," Arika said, pulling a pensive face. "I see. So you choose only for love?"

"We choose based on whatever our personal preference is," Nik said carefully. "I... don't know what I'd choose. I suppose that, yes, I've never been with anyone I didn't consider I might have a future together with."

"I never really thought about it, how different things must be in the City," Arika said then, frowning. She pulled her knees up to her chest and then wrapped her arms around them. "I suppose we must seem rather backwards and odd to you."

"No, no, nothing like that," Nik said, "I get it - you need kids, I get that. And I get the scouts out in the wilds thing too, plenty of our outriders are just the same, I just... It's a lot to take in."

"If I were to get with child I wouldn't go into the wilds, after a time. So I suppose I'd be 'normal', at least for a little."

"And then you'd have a kid. And that would be weird too. I mean, once they were born, what happens then? Who brings them up? It's all..." Nik rubbed a hand over her face. "It's just so much to take in, and I want you so badly, I do, and then I have all of these thoughts just crowding in on me..."

"I'd go back to scouting once the child was born. We don't expect only the mother and father to raise them alone." Arika shrugged. "But if that is not something you could foresee being in your future, I understand."

"It's just a lot, Arika, I never expected to have to deal with this stuff, I never expected any of this." Nik brought a hand up to cover her face. "I don't... where do I fit in? In all of that. Your spouse is Justus, or whoever else, your fellow scouts you mess around with out on the road and... I don't know what that makes me. I don't know what that leaves for me. I'm trying to understand. I just can't. It's just not how I work, I suppose."

"I wouldn't 'mess around' with others if it bothered you. It's just a pass-time."

Nik sighed. "It feels stupid to be worrying about such things at a time like this."

"I suppose so."

"And it's all I can really think about."

"Have you tried not worrying about the future?"

"Are you kidding me?" Nik glanced over at Arika with raised eyebrows. "What else should I do?"

"Enjoy today," Arika told her sincerely. "There's no point in planning for the future if you don't cherish what you have today. Otherwise you're just running a race you'll never win."

With another long, slightly shaky sigh, Nik reached for Arika's hand, then, gazing up at her. "Show me how," she said. The other woman leaned in readily, smiling as she reached up to stroke Nik's cheek.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure I've never felt like this about anyone before," Nik said. "Is that sure enough, d'you think?"

"I'd say so," Arika murmured, and a moment later her lips were on Nik's, light but insistent. A gasp caught in Nik's throat, not surprise at being kissed - she'd known that was coming - but at the sudden flood of sensation that the act brought with it, the release of the tension that had grown between them and its replacement with a new sense of expectation, an immediate need for more as she returned the kiss. Arika's hand slid around to cup the back of Nik's head as she deepened the embrace, letting go of her hand in order to smooth up her leg from her knee to her thigh ever so slowly. The other woman whimpered quietly, everything that had been pent up inside her over the past few days flowing freely now, her hands roaming the other woman's body, stopping suddenly when she felt a quick intake of breath.

"Hey, your side... be careful, we should-"

"Hush," Arika said, bearing Nik down onto the pallet bed and kissing her again, deeply.

Nik felt pretty helpless to protest even if she'd wanted to, the other woman's hand still creeping ever higher up her thigh as their kisses left her breathless and shaking. Arika's movements were sure and practiced, but they felt like nothing Nik had ever experienced before. _I guess this is what love feels like..._ The thought was at once exciting, and a little scary, and also sent a tiny bubble of joy through Nik, and it was this that escaped in a quiet, almost childlike giggle as Arika's lips left her mouth and moved to nibble along her jawline.

The other woman pulled back, her smile wide and genuine as she gazed down at Nik. "Have I finally tickled you?"

"No, I just..." Nik shook her head. "I think I'm just... happy."

If it was possible, Arika's smile grew even more. "I'm glad. I want to make you happy, Nik. Almost more than anything."

"Almost?"

"Well, I want to protect the town. Keep people safe."

Nik smiled. "Of course."

"But I'm so glad you're happy. I worried that we might go back to the City and you'd want to stay there."

The other woman's expression flickered, then. "I don't know what's going to happen then, Arika. I really don't know."

"But you dislike it there," Arika said, furrowing her brow. "You've said as such many times."

"I know. But my whole life is there. It's... just not something I can think about right now."

"Oh. I see."

"I don't know if you do," Nik said, looking thoroughly conflicted. "What I'm trying to say is... of course I don't want to go back. But any sort of normal life seems so far away right now - the other side of the horde, this master person, us trying to bring an army back from the city, holding the Reaches together and more than that, making sure that the City won't treat you like this again... I feel like what happens next might rip apart everything I know. You talk about the future like it's something we can predict in any way. Like the Reaches or the City will be anything like what they are now. I don't think they can be." Nik pushed up onto her elbows, lifting her head to catch Arika's lips in a light kiss. "I think you and me are going to tear everything down, and build it all back up. I wouldn't want to make any bets about how things will be for us when that's over."

"You're right," Arika replied, bumping Nik's nose with her own. "There's so much I love about the Reaches I don't want them to change at all, but they will. We can only wait and see what will be."

"Exactly. So believe me, I do want to be with you, one way or another. I just... can't think about the future at the moment without acknowledging that really, I have no idea what it's going to be."

Arika smiled. "It seems strange to think that you've been a scout and a soldier - you'd be far better off a philosopher, I think."

"I always wanted to be a poet," Nik confessed with a sheepish smile. "But we don't really have jobs like that any more."

"Perhaps it's not a job, but a calling. After we change the world you can write it all in a poem."

Nik chuckled. "That'll be the day."

"I'd like to read your poetry."

"Mm." The other woman gave a quiet snort. "I don't think so."

Arika raised her eyebrows. "Have you written some already?"

"Ah..." The other woman looked sheepish again. "You meant some time in the future as opposed to now. Right. In that case, sure, some day."

"Do you have it with you?"

"Hah, er, a little. But you don't want to see it, honestly."