Monster Hunter: Stars of Hope: Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-Four: Savagery

A couple weeks had passed since the first brigade landed and the operation could begin in earnest, and everything was going fairly smoothly, outside of the initial trouble with the Yian Garuga. Fortunately on that front, Nia and her team were cleared of any consequences that might otherwise befall them for slaying a monster that had no quest posted for it and wasn't bearing down on non-combatants; The simple matter of self defense and the mad bird's high likelihood of interfering with the mission and inability to be handled in any other way reliably was enough justification for them to take it down without prior authorization. It might have also not hurt their chances that Vehlan seemed thankful that they dealt with it in his stead, given his sensitive hearing that would likely cause him to suffer greatly in the face of such a deafening wyvern. Thus, Nia and her team were subject to little more than a refresher of the rules they nearly broke, alongside perhaps a bit of sorrow that this monster had to die, even if it was extremely annoying to its very last breath.

Though, that wasn't what was bothering Nia right now.

She had figured out that Sariko was possibly hiding something that she wished to not keep secret anymore, similarly to how she was. Ever since that anxious request to have the talk where one of them would reveal such a secret soon, Nia had been seeing things in Sariko's behavior that reminded her of how she had been feeling as of late, her close friend clearly just as vigilant for an opportunity for that discussion as she was. Yet, much to their mutual frustration, no such chances arose; When they were not busy with manual labor to expedite repairing this old fortress, making decisions regarding the defenses that would be used most by their team, or taking brief excursions into the nearby wilds to gather resources needed for the construction of Aelar's device, they were plain too exhausted from all of that work to do anything but seek rest. Not only did this delay a conversation that Nia really, really wanted to get over with already, but it also gave her plenty of time to wonder what could possibly be eating at Sariko now. Quite frankly, there were too many increasingly worrying possibilities for her to even want to consider any of them.

Fortunately, the fact that Vehlan had called her team to council was enough to distract her from such concerning thoughts, Nia and the others now patiently awaiting the wyverian's arrival in a room of the fortress that had been renovated into a command center. Most likely, this meant that a difficult situation involving a monster had arisen; one that was too complex for him to simply send them out without elaboration, and probably caused by a creature too dangerous for the other teams to tackle or for Vehlan to handle alone. Worst case scenario, the Safi'Jiiva had decided to become a problem ahead of schedule, though the team luckily didn't have to wait too long for the acting commander to enter the room and immediately dismiss such a dread-inducing notion.

"A Lao-Shan Lung is approaching the Iron Bastion", he announced succinctly.

That was a species of Elder Dragon whose name Nia recognized immediately from time she spent recently studying such monsters, knowing well the myriad legends that surrounded these 'old mountain dragons'. Enormous in scale, so much so that the simple act of them walking around was of great danger to their surroundings, these ancient titans were notably larger than the red dragon, which they curiously bore some superficial similarities to. Yet, it could be reasonably argued that the Safi'Jiiva was ultimately still a much greater threat than the Lao-Shan Lung that had lumbered onto the scene on account of its agility, arsenal, likely intelligence, and ecological impact. In fact, the same could be said of most Elder Dragons and these giants, given that Lao-Shan Lung possessed no powerful breath or anomalous traits beyond their earth-rending size and stubborn disregard for whatever obstacle was in their way, be it a mountain or a village, that was the main reason it was ever even hunted to begin with. In fact, that same stubbornness, combined with an admittedly well-deserved apathy towards the presence of all but the most threatening creatures, was well-documented in some instances to amount to fatal passivity; in particular, a couple specimens being so utterly determined to get from one point to another as to not fight back against hunters who were there to slay them, ultimately succeeding. Although, absolutely none of this was to say that they were to be taken lightly at all, as such a creature could cause ruinous damage to the Iron Bastion with little to no effort, perhaps without even realizing it, and tales did exist of what these giants could do to much smaller hunters when their tolerance reached its limit.

Such stories never ended well at all, one of them even being responsible for hunting in teams greater than four in number being seen as bad luck across the Guild, wherein a group of five hunters of great renown, though they ultimately were victorious, lost one of their ranks who was very close to another to the dragon.

"So, we're in for a real fortress defense against a Lao, then", Bucket remarked, "Just like in the old stories. Heh, this should be fun", though he was promptly corrected by Vehlan, the acting commander asserting, "Unfortunately, that shall not be the case. If the old mountain dragon meets our walls in their current state, it will pass through them like blades of dry grass. Thus, your skills out in the open field must suffice". That was quite concerning to hear, but before Nia could comment on the fact that facing such a creature in the open would vastly increase the chances of it taking offense to them, Sariko piped up, "Hold on, these Elder Dragons can't attack from a distance, right? Why don't we fly one of the airships over it and just... drop stuff on it until it gets annoyed and changes course?". Though this wasn't that bad of an idea as far as Nia was concerned, Vehlan was quick to dash it, responding, "Under other conditions, that could be viable, but we must consider the probable cause of the titan being stirred from its ancient slumber, that being the very terror we are working to depose", to which Nia was swift to inquire with concerned curiosity, "Wait, the Safi'Jiiva woke it up?". Promptly, the wyverian answered, "That is what Aelar and the other researchers believe, yes. If their conclusions are accurate, then that means the red dragon is closer than we thought, which would make it madness to expose our vessels in such a manner. Thus, there is no palatable answer to this dilemma; You all will be entirely alone in driving the old mountain dragon off". That wasn't good, and not just because of what they were about to have to deal with; If a creature like a Lao-Shan Lung had been disturbed from the incredibly deep sleep they were theorized to fall into by the Safi'Jiiva's presence, that might only be the tip of the iceberg in terms of changes to the ecosystem the red dragon was causing. Though, that would have to be a concern for later, as the team had now been left with the task of figuring out how to change the course of the old mountain dragon without it flattening them in the process.

Most likely, trying to slay it wouldn't be a good idea at all.

-----

Fortunately, it did not take them too long to find the Lao-Shan Lung after they had reached the location of its last sighting; If the wide path of flattened trees, crumbled boulders, and heavy tracks was not enough, the mere sound and shake of its thunderous footfalls was. Of course, the fact that the fog was finally starting to fade was helpful, but even if it wasn't, they probably still would've found the Elder Dragon at the edge of the river it was at now, drinking so deeply from the water as to nearly dry it up by outpacing the speed at which it flowed.

Before them was a colossus of a quadrupedal reptile with a somewhat dulled coat of copper-red scales across all its body, save for its beige-colored underside and darkly colored, thick-clawed feet. Upon its giant back laid a formidable array of backwards-angled, layered scale plates bearing dark spines that were largest at the middle of the titan, forming an armored defense that spread from the tip of its quite lengthy tail all the way up its nearly as lengthy neck to the back of its head. As for that part of its body, its elongated, heavy-jawed skull beared a crest at its back formed of a number of dense, dark spines, of which a smaller number also aimed forward over it maw, with purple-hued eyes that were surprisingly small for such a titan resting between these adornments. Finally, on the snout of this intimidating visage laid a single, copper-red, back-ridged, skywards-aimed horn, serving as both the most unique element of the Lao-Shan Lung's physical form and as a potentially deadly weapon.

Fortunately, the titan had not yet seen them, for it was too consumed in its consumption of the river in front of it to see either the hunters distantly behind it or the rocky knoll they were hiding behind. Unfortunately, however, they had now reached the point where any plan as to how to proceed would have to be put forward, Nia the first to inquire, "So... anyone have a better idea than I do right now?". Very quickly, she found disappointment when the others shook their heads resignedly, leading her to sigh and announce somewhat hesitantly, "Okay... these things have a history of not really paying any attention to people, so... I'm gonna get closer, get a better look, see if that gets us anywhere". When no objections from the others sounded, Sariko requested, "Alright, just... be careful, okay?", to which Nia promptly nodded and then vaulted over the knoll, beginning her cautious approach towards this Elder Dragon. It was not long before she passed the tip of its powerful tail, making sure to keep an eye on its movements; Even an idle, unintentional strike could break her to pieces, as it had with almost all of the few trees directly behind it it did not tear down on its path here. Yet, Nia soon found a measure of her focus diverted away from this when she noticed a quite concerning wound on the creature's hide that was not easily visible through the fog from where she observed it before. Distinctly, this wound appeared to be a concerningly recent and painful-looking burn mark on its dense-scaled back, forming a straight line sideways across its body; It didn't take long at all for Nia to recognize that kind of damage, stopping her in her tracks.

The Safi'Jiiva had done far more than passively awaken this giant.

Just as this startling realization caught her by surprise, however, another sight did the same: the Lao-Shan Lung finishing its drink and casually turning its head left to continue its journey towards the mountains. However, rather unexpectedly, it stopped the moment its violet eye glimpsed the human behind it, now equally as motionless. Of course, a moment's glance here and there certainly wasn't unheard of, but this was more than that, the titan staring at her for what felt like an eternity. Even worse, the more Nia looked into the eye of this Elder Dragon, the more confident she was in identifying the emotion behind it: the panic of a creature that had received a wound like that extremely suddenly, often exhibited by monsters which were taken most off guard by her team's occasional surprise attacks. While it being a bit shaken was understandable, it still wasn't normal behavior at all, which immediately raised the very serious question of what other norms it might defy. Soon, that very question was answered when the Elder Dragon's powerful tail began to pull away from her to its right.

The Safi'Jiiva had put this giant in pain and shock, and thus on edge.

As soon as Nia realized just how much danger she was in, that enormous tail came swinging back her way, forcing her to fire her grappler to the branches of one of those few remaining trees on her left. It was less than a second after she reached the height she'd need to evade this attack that the Lao-Shan Lung's tail struck the tree, effortlessly knocking its trunk out from underneath it and sending Nia back to the ground with force. Though, that certainly wasn't the hardest she's ever hit the dirt, so she was quick to both scramble back to her feet and briefly turn her head back when she heard her friends call out her name, seeing them leap from the knoll. Yet, she was just as swift to turn back to the old mountain dragon when she heard and felt its footfalls become forceful, her eyes growing wide to see that it had turned around fully to face all of them and was likely readying to charge. It did not take her seeing that advance begin for her to turn around and start running, her teammates quick to follow suit, all of them scattering just as Nia could hear the titan start moving, its size more than making up for its slowness. In a surprisingly short amount of time, the Lao-Shan Lung reached the knoll, its horn digging destructively into and uprooting it in a shower of stone and earth, though the Elder Dragon seemingly found confusion when no sign of the creatures that had attempted to sneak up on it was found. To this, it slowly reared up onto its hind legs, holding its head toweringly high to survey the area, in doing so also making a fruitless check behind itself to check if it had trampled any of these hunters.

Fortunately for Nia, she had both reached a hiding place behind a tree and spotted the others making it out of the giant's way as well, the fog obscuring their evasion. Though, as she stood with her back against that tree struggling to keep her heavy breathing as quiet as possible, she knew that this situation had now gotten out of hand. Each of them was staring down the barrel of what happened in all of the bad stories involving this species, and were all a single, worryingly easy mistake away from possibly receiving an injury that could end their careers at best; With as much weight as that colossal Elder Dragon had to throw around, it would be a threat even if it wasn't on the attack. Granted, the Lao-Shan Lung was likely just trying to scare them off, albeit being more thorough about it than Nia would prefer, and there was likely an opportunity to use this to redirect it away from its path towards the fortress, but the only priority for any of them right now was survival.

Suddenly, before she could work out what to do next, Nia heard what sounded like Bucket shouting something she couldn't quite make out, immediately followed by the unmistakable slam of the Elder Dragon falling back to earth. When she leaped from behind the tree to see what had happened, she saw that the Titan had miraculously missed the gunner, flattening only the large boulder he was just hiding behind, though it wasted as little time as it could in starting another charge as he himself started a run to avoid it. Similarly, Nia wasted no time herself, realizing immediately that the dragon was likely to outpace Bucket very soon, and responded by sprinting towards the giant and lobbing a flash pod from her belt directly at its eye. Fortunately, this stunned the Lao-Shan Lung enough for it to halt its charge, its heavy claws digging hard into the earth as it slowed, giving the gunner a moment to get to a safer distance. Yet, the old mountain dragon did not stay blinded long, this impairment cleared by only a few forceful blinks, after which it unfortunately turned its gaze right back towards Nia with what looked like an annoyed snarl on its face.

Rather than starting another charge, the giant whipped around and tilted its head to dig that horn of its through the earth in an arcing swing at her, which Nia was only scarcely able to evade with a turn and dive away. Though, she had little time to so much as stand up before the Lao-Shan Lung reared its head back and moved to slam its skull chin-first directly onto her, to which she responded with an evasive grapple away; one that both saw her scarcely saved again and put a measure of sharp, rather unexpected pain in her left arm. Those times when Nia had to use her grappler so suddenly, and thus had no chance to brace herself for it first, were never comfortable since her injury to her arm, and were seemingly becoming more and more painful as time went on at that, even in spite of the ointments and medicines she still treated that limb with. Though, she had little time to be frustrated much by this worrying reality as she scrambled back up, soon noticing what looked like the titan preparing another full-body charge that she was still far too close to get out of the way of in time at all.

Suddenly, another flash pod erupted at the dragon's eye.

Nia was fortunate enough both that this interrupted the creature once again, and to see the device flying soon enough to guard her own eyes against it, allowing her to discern that it was Sariko who threw it. Of course, the blindness did not last long, and the Lao-Shan Lung was as swift as it could be to respond with a head swing at its new offender, which said offender was able to evade with much more ease than Nia had earlier. Yet, before the giant could attack again, another flash pod was tossed, this one sent forth by Perren, robbing the dragon of its focus yet again. When the giant's sight recovered once more, it turned to face the felyne responsible, but could not do anything beyond that before a flash pod cast out Bucket caught its attention, even though it was now so used to these bright lights that it no longer needed to blink them off. Naturally, wanting to test if what she could tell her teammates were trying now would keep up, Nia launched another one of her own flash pods, once again disrupting the giant's attention before it could do anything to its previous harasser.

As Sariko then launched another of her own, a massive smile lit up Nia's face.

This was the breakthrough they were looking for: Bright lights were enough to redirect the dragon away from its journey towards the fortress. Of course, Nia knew that they all only had a somewhat limited amount of flash pods between them, but she was soon to come up with a replacement that would both allow for lights that were much longer lasting and came with the means for them to be deployed at greater ranges: her standard-issue flare gun. If there was ever a way to change the giant's course, this was it. In fact, Nia was so confident now in the plan that was forming in her head as she reached for that flare gun that even the sight of the giant abruptly rearing up and drawing in breath for a mighty roar, seemingly doing so out of rising frustration towards all these ceaseless interruptions of its focus, didn't faze her one bit. Put simply, she couldn't help but feel that the successful end of their mission was now in sight at last, almost without a hitch.

Suddenly, there was something else she couldn't help but feel.

A faint noise echoed through the foggy air that conscious thought could only barely make out, though instinct recognized it an instant. The sound made the hairs on the back of Nia's neck shoot up, the already sore muscles in her arms tighten, and a noticeable bead of sweat run down her brow. This was a feeling she was very familiar with, it being one of the strongest and easily the most unpleasant of any feeling she knew, but Nia was as equally confused by it as she was alarmed; As far as she was aware, the source of this nerve-wracking feeling in the past was utterly gone from her life now, having been slain by her, unwillingly resuscitated, immediately slain again, and reduced to ashes shortly afterwards. There was simply no way it'd make sense for the source to be the same this time, though Nia did not have to wait long for a realization of what she was really hearing now to make her lock up even more.

That wasn't the beat of a Rathalos' wings.

"ROOOOOOAAAAA-".

A torrent of wind pressure fell over the area.

"RRRGGGHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOGGGHHH!".

The Lao-Shan Lung had only a second for its eyes to go wide when its roar was immediately cut off by a different, much more ferocious roar; Before anyone knew it, the issuer of that second call hurtled out of the fog in a massive, violently fast blur of red, some part of this new aggressor striking the colossus brutally in the side of the head. The old mountain dragon reeled and began to fall, Bucket and Perren only scarcely able to get out of the way in time before the titan crashed down with an earth-shattering thud. Though, the giant wasted little time in moving back to its feet so that it could glimpse this attacker, soon beholding the same terrifying sight high in the air above it as the hunters it previously was concerned with were now, its mighty and terrible wings dispersing the fog as if it were not even there at all.

It was the Safi'Jiiva, still bearing the tear in the right side of its mouth that Haldys gave it.

Nia was entirely right with fears she had to fight off weeks prior, so much so that the rapid transition from shock to what she was feeling now didn't faze her at all; The sight of the red dragon, the monstrous murderer of one who she cared dearly about, her made her blood boil, her fists clench, and her eye twitch. Even the mere realization that its wingbeats had become that ingrained in her subconscious would've been enough to leave her quite frustrated, had this terror not appeared to push that anger far enough to become all she was in this moment, her rage only held back by the fact it was currently too high up in the air for her to attack it. Of course, her anger was an anomaly, for every other being now looking upon the red dragon, as it looked down imperiously upon all of them, was quite reasonably experiencing something entirely different: fear. For the other hunters here, they were very suddenly out in the open against an Elder Dragon of calamitous might that they had given reason to attack them in the past; If it decided to do so again, there was remarkably little any of them could do about it. Sariko in particular had also caught sight of the state that Nia was in, recognized it quickly, and was now desperate for a way to reach her without drawing the Safi'Jiiva's attention. Yet, perhaps none of their fears matched that of the Lao-Shan Lung, its terrified eyes locked with the living death above that had attacked it before, and now had found it again.

It was the terror of prey caught by a predator.

Abruptly, though perhaps expectedly, the Lao-Shan Lung turned and began to run away, its tail nearly striking Sariko as it attempted to flee. However, this would be no more than an attempt, as the Safi'Jiiva was quick to reposition itself in the air above the old mountain dragon's path, a sapphire beam firing from its maw and searing another burn line across its victim's hide as the much larger creature roared out in pain. As soon as it was done reeling from this, the Lao-Shan Lung immediately turned to escape again, only for the red dragon to repeat its maneuver, this time crossing a beam over the wound left just before, leaving the titan in frightened agony. For most of the hunters watching this savagery, a realization that was as terrifying as it was saddening became clear: The giant was utterly helpless.

It couldn't even run.

However, it appeared that the Lao-Shan Lung came to this conclusion as well, and decided that if it could not run, it would have to make a stand. Instead of turning to flee again, the giant reared up slowly onto its hind legs once more, its gaze soon at equal level with that of the Safi'Jiiva in the air mere meters from it, which seemed taken aback and almost indignant at this sudden defiance. Then, with as much courage as it could muster, the colossus drew in a deep breath, readying a mighty, deafening roar aimed directly at its airborne oppressor to show that it would not fall so easily to such a cheap onslaught.

This transgression was not allowed an opportunity to be uttered.

Before voice could escape the Lao-Shan Lung's maw, the red dragon let itself drop a short distance in elevation and then, with a powerful flap of its wings that sent all the hunters to the ground with force, lunged back upwards. In a split second, the Safi'Jiiva's blade-lined jaws clamped down hard on the old mountain dragon's throat, the larger dragon's eyes going wide with pained shock as its act of defiance was silenced. Then, much to the alarm of those who could still see what was happening in spite of being knocked down, the Lao-Shan Lung was almost lifted off the ground and began to fall back, the sheer force of the terror's wrath just enough to topple even this enormous creature. Swiftly, the giant fell to the earth on its back with the Safi'Jiiva still at its throat, all feeling the immense shake of their impact and seeing the huge cloud of dust and debris it disturbed.

They all also heard the loudest, most visceral cracking sound they had ever heard before.

When the cloud cleared, and they were able to stand back up, the grim finale of this display became clear, all the hunters seeing the Safi'Jiiva lording over the limp, still, bloodied remains of the Lao-Shan Lung; a dragon that was threatening all of them greatly mere moments ago, executed with ruthlessness and ease by the only dragon here still breathing. For most here, this was a horrific sight that left them frozen and slack-jawed, though all Nia could register now was that the red dragon, which every fiber of her wanted to unleash similar brutality upon, had made the mistake of landing at last. It was now within range for her to attack; all that her ire needed for it to take the reins fully.

Suddenly, a hand grasped her own tightly from behind.

She realized without having to turn and see that it was Sariko, her close friend coming to her aid at the last second and shattering her rage without saying so much as a word. Instantly, Nia's eyes widened with abject terror at the sight of what she had actually started striding towards, the nightmare before her turning a dismissive, yet still scornful look towards all of them, before taking off with another flap of its wings that almost knocked them all over, inexplicably leaving its kill behind. As it disappeared into the more distant fogs once again, Nia's eyes began to tear up and her breath became shaky at another realization: She was seconds away from being reunited with Haldys. Even worse, she likely would've been killed before she could even recognize what she was doing, meaning that she would've died as the version of herself that she feared and hated most: the side that was nothing but anger. Overwhelmed by all of this, Nia could not help but whip around and wrap her arms tightly around Sariko, crying forcefully over her close friend's shoulder.

She was in no way ready for the battle to come.

-----

"Well...", Vehlan spoke up wearily to the currently seated, though very worn down hunters before him in the command center, "We are fortunate at least that the old mountain dragon threatens the Iron Bastion no longer". There was no response, for all were far too shocked to give one. Of course, shock was not all that plagued them. Bucket and Perren, for example, were almost as struck with concern for Nia's clearly ailing state of mind as they were with unease from what the Safi'Jiiva's savage display a few hours ago. To an extent, they were also somewhat alarmed by Nia's own display during and shortly after, but that was something they could put aside, both of them able to tell how little control their friend really had in that moment, even if that in and of itself was also worrying. Sariko, naturally, was more consumed with concern for Nia than she was any terror regarding the other thing that had happened today. Then, there was Nia, who was taken entirely by a ruinous mixture of fear, regret, and, most of all, deep self-hatred; She was so disappointed in herself in so many different ways.

After a moment of silence, the acting commander let off a resigned sigh, soon declaring, "However, I unfortunately must inform you that the Lao-Shan Lung is not the only victim of the red dragon's persecution". When all turned tiredly towards him, Vehlan elaborated with uncharacteristic, yet wholly understandable unease in his voice, "The decimated remains of a nearby Kushala Daora, possibly slain closely between the red dragon's first attack on the old mountain dragon and its last, and, more distantly, a Lunastra have been discovered. I am also awaiting confirmation on sightings of a similarly wounded Chameleos". After this, he paused for just enough of a moment that the others could consider that the Safi'Jiiva catching wind of the less easy to catch Kushala may have been the only reason the Lao-Shan Lung survived the first attack at all, before he concluded, "These grim events show clearly the intent of our enemy: to wipe clean the land of any that can lay claim to it other than itself... That very well may include us before long". This was all devastating to hear, the reality of the damage this would cause to the surrounding ecosystems clear even before it could be felt. Elder Dragons were a vital part of the balance of nature when not acting outside of it, and were never to be felled lightly, typically only ever hunted when they were left with no other choice; something that was true of all monsters, in the grand scheme of things, but much more so with those as influential to the natural world as these.

The red dragon was slaughtering them like they were nothing. The operation against the Safi'Jiiva had now become a war, and one they were losing at that.

Another few moments of dread-filled silence passed before the acting commander spoke once more, declaring sincerely, "I am not blind to either the trauma you are all faced with or the weeks of exhaustion that led up to it, so I know it would be madness for me to ignore what my eyes tell me... For the rest of today and the entirety of tomorrow, barring a crisis we cannot foresee, you all shall be considered on leave". To this, Sariko responded quietly on the exhale of a deep breath, "Thank you, Vehlan... That's really appreciated", the wyverian simply nodding and taking his leave in response himself. Not long after this, Bucket took his leave as well, and Perren soon after, though both stopped before exiting the room until they were confident that Nia would be alright, knowing that Sariko probably would do a better job of helping her than they had or could. Then, after a couple more moments of silence, during which Sariko had reached out her hand to give fortunately rather assuring, even calming pats on Nia's shoulder, she stood up too, but did not move to leave before asserting, somewhat hesitantly, "Nia... That talk... We should have it tonight". To this, Nia winced hard; It was the first time since the incident with the Magnamalo that she genuinely felt like screaming at her close friend, only barely held back by a more conscious desire to never do such a thing again. Sariko's timing almost couldn't have been worse. Yet, her strong feelings against this, which were likely quite apparent, wavered quickly when Sariko insisted rather firmly, "Nia, look at what happened today... We might not have another chance".

It wasn't often at all that Nia hated Sariko being right about something, but she was of clear enough mind to see the truth in these words at all, leading her to only be able to respond with a resigned sigh and a tired, eyes-closed nod. When her eyes opened, Sariko prompted her silently for a hug, to which Nia was quick to accept as she rose up from her seat. After this embrace had time to calm both of their nerves a bit, Sariko finally took her own leave, though not before making sure that the worn out smile that had formed on Nia's face didn't vanish the moment she first turned her back. It was the first moment Nia had any real joy in the past few hours, formed of appreciation that, even in spite of how she had acted earlier, Sariko was still there for her without fault, seemingly perfectly understanding every aspect of what she was going through; It was a kind of love that Nia still had trouble believing she deserved.

Soon, it would be tested like never before.