She was lying on the uppermost branch of an old hammock tree, idly cloud-watching, when the sky made a sound like thick ice cracking on the river during the mid-winter floods.

At first she saw a dark, quickly-moving shape out of the corner of her eye, and thought it was a skyknife. She held perfectly still-- if it wasn't diving for her now, it probably hadn't seen her, but if she moved she would draw its attention-- and then another object appeared. And another, and another.

Jia got to her feet, shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched a multitude of objects plummet from the sky.

Then they seemed to explode, expanses of something brightly-colored flowering behind them. Several of the objects drifted away, disappearing from her sight. She peered off after them, wondering how far away they actually were. She was very high up, so. . .

What was this? she asked herself. She'd heard tales from some of the older Inako about the ship the humans had arrived in, but that had been an enormous vessel, something so big it had blotted out the sun. Even accounting for exaggeration as the story had faded from recent fact to distant memory, she'd never heard of anything like this.

And she wouldn't be able to ask, either.

She sighed as she looked away from the strange objects and returned her gaze to the clouds. Or rather, where the clouds should be. Currently, one of the objects was falling directly toward her.

With a shriek, she twisted her body and jumped away, landing on another branch and pressing herself to the tree trunk, closing her eyes. Seconds later the tree shook; the sound of branches snapping drowned out her voice as she rattled off a short, panicky version of a prayer.

Then the tree stopped moving, and the sound of breaking branches was replaced by the deeper, more final sound of an object striking the earth. She opened her eyes and absently stroked her tail to smooth the fur back down. Her nose twitched at the strange, acrid smell in the air that only grew stronger as she flew to one of the lower, now-damaged branches for a closer look.

What she could see was colorful and shiny, and it was draped over a large lump. The way it fluttered in the wind made it look like fabric, but what would that be doing here? Fabric was to be worn, not shoved out of mysteriously-falling things. And she'd never seen any fabric as colorful as this, not even the ceremonial clothing that took years to dye and weave.

Then the sun caught the 'fabric', and she winced as it reflected the light back into her eyes. Hovering away, she landed a good distance from the thing, keeping her eyes fixed on it.

She really wished she could ask her nan about this. At this point, she'd talk to anyone, even Lin. Though she already knew that they would tell her to run.

Carefully approaching the bright material, she squatted and stretched out her hand. It was trembling, yes, but since no one was around to see it she couldn't bring herself to care. She touched it quickly, jerking her hand back. No pain. And, odd or not, it did seem to be fabric. It was just heavier, and the texture was different from anything else she'd felt.

Gathering her courage, Jia grabbed handfuls of the material and pulled, dragging it away from the lump it was concealing. The thing would be taller than she was if it hadn't dug such a hole in the soft ground, but that wasn't what surprised her. The object was a dark gold color, which made her frown. Before humans had come into the mix, skin and hair and eye color had been various shades of bronze and gold. It didn't seem right that this strange thing that had dropped from the sky should claim the same color that was so prized in her people.

It was shaped like a fuzz fruit seed pod. She walked around it, looking for anything that would let her see inside, but there was nothing. Just strange markings on the surface.

Telling herself she needed to think about this-- and she certainly couldn't think with it looming in front of her-- she walked the short distance to the river, sitting down on the bank and lowering her feet into the cool water. The sun was starting to set. Whatever that thing back there was, she hoped she could find answers before it got dark.

She had a few options. She could leave, and hope that she didn't stumble across any more of the things; try to break it open; or just watch it and see what happened.

She didn't want to leave. This area had a decent supply of food, the river was nearby, and while it certainly didn't lack for predators, at least she'd learned how to avoid them. And she had no idea what material the thing was made out of, but it sure didn't look like a stick or even a rock would be enough to break it.

Which left the third option.

Jia sighed. She was curious, but she didn't like the idea of getting too close to that thing again. She kept expecting it to move.

Don't be ridiculous, she told herself as she got up. It wasn't alive.

Then the ground shook, making her stumble, and she leaped into the air. She flew away from the river and back to the whatever-it-was, wondering if it had exploded. Her nan had talked about craters made in the ground years ago from something called 'bombs', but she'd never seen one herself.

And if this was a bomb, she thought, hurrying toward it wasn't the best idea. Before she could reconsider, she saw the keado. The large animal had stomped through the high grass on the other side of the landing site and was now nosing at the golden object, bumping it with its head when it didn't move. She cautiously hovered closer to the enormous animal. At least it was a plant-eater. The Inako kept a herd of their smaller relatives, the keaden, for food and milk, but this young one was at least twice the size of those, and it was wild. She had no idea if it would listen to her or not. "Hey!" she said. "Hey, don't fiddle with that."

The animal turned to her, blinked slowly, and then returned its attention to the object, pushing it out of the crater it had created and right off an embankment. Jia winced, waiting for an explosion or a shattering noise. Neither happened, and she reminded herself that it had survived a fall not long ago . . . but then, the fabric had helped break that. Leaving the animal behind, she flew to the edge of the ravine, looking down. The object was still intact, lying a good distance below.

She darted down next to it and tapped on it again. Then she noticed a handle on the side of the thing, and inspected it. She hadn't seen it earlier; it must've landed on this side. She'd seen things like this, on the doors at the human village. But if this was a door, what was inside?

Best to not even look, she thought. For all she knew, it could be something worse than a bloodtracker. You're alone out here, she told herself. It's not the time to go opening unknown doors.

Even as she thought the words, her hand reached for the handle. Fine, she thought. If you die, it's nobody's fault but your own.

She jerked the door open and then darted back behind a huge pile of rocks, holding very still for a moment before she peered out to see what, if anything, had emerged. Nothing. Unless it had leapt out while she'd been hiding, and was now crouched behind the object, waiting for her to reveal her location.

Oh, stop trying to scare yourself, she thought, ignoring the fact that she'd just done far too good a job. If she ever saw Caden again, she was going to give him a good swat for all those scary stories he'd told her when she'd been little. She stepped out into the open, and called out. "Hello?"

Logan groaned and tried to orient himself. He thought he’d heard a voice. Thought he’d seen treetops, too, during the fall, but now he couldn’t see a thing. Had nighttime fallen? He could feel air on his face, which meant the door was open. He didn’t remember opening it. Maybe it'd been jarred open in the fall. A wave of nausea swept over him and he lost the contents of his stomach. His head hurt. He reached up and his hand came away wet. Blood. He’d hit his head, probably been knocked unconscious for several hours.

He heard the voice again-- female. Probably another passenger. He stood, reaching in the dark to feel for the doorway. He stumbled through it, tripping and falling to his knees, retching again, but his stomach was empty now. He sat back, leaned against the pod, waiting for the voice.

For a moment shock kept her in place. What was a human doing all the way out here? This was far past their territory. Snapping out of her immobility when the man slumped, she hurried forward, taking his arm to help steady him. "Are you all right?"

Logan tensed, startled more by fact that he hadn’t heard her actual approach than the odd sound of her voice and her unfamiliar words. His hand clamped onto her wrist. “Who are you?”

She nearly grumbled at him, and then realized that she'd been speaking in her language, not his. "My name is Jia," she said, tapping the back of his hand in a silent 'let go'. "What happened?"

Her voice did nothing to ease his headache, though he could understand her now at least. It took a moment for him to process her question. If she wasn’t a passenger, she must be a villager. He was lucky to have landed so close to them. “I hit my head,” he said, relaxing his grip, letting his hand slide back to his lap. “When will it be light?”

She froze. "It is light. Not quite sunset." She moved from his side and crouched in front of him. His eyes were open, but they didn't focus on her at all. "Can you see me?" she asked, though a part of her already knew the answer.

He couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. It made no sense. “If it’s light why can’t I see?” He reached out, his fingers catching a handful of cloth. Then her hands were on him again, helping him as he struggled to his feet. He felt the blood rushing to his head, felt like he was turning a slow spin, and then he tilted and fell, unconscious before he hit the ground.

Jia patted the side of his face. “Wake up,” she said, glancing around worriedly when he didn't stir. What was she supposed to do now? She didn't have any idea what was wrong with him; casting a healcharm could take too much out of her and if it didn't work then that would leave both of them weakened and in the open. During the day that was bad enough, but at night--

They needed to be at the top of the ravine, where they could take shelter underneath the roots of one of the hammock trees. But he clearly wasn't up for a climb and she couldn't carry him.

Then she registered something in the fading light that did away with her confusion, sending a bolt of panic through her instead. Blood. There was blood trickling down his face, and part of his dark hair was matted with it.

She needed to get to the river, and fast. Bloodtrackers might've already picked up on this scent, might be heading here even now.

Jia got to her feet and darted up to her tree, grabbing a couple of pieces of fabric she hadn't had a chance to sew onto her blanket yet. She had to hurry-- not only were the bloodtrackers a danger, but skyknives' favorite hunting ground was the river. She couldn't risk going there after dark.

Keeping her eyes on the sky, she left the shelter of the trees and crouched on the riverbank. She soaked the material and then flew back to the man. There were no bloodtrackers on him, but unfortunately he still hadn't moved.

Jia cleaned the blood off his forehead, then got to work on the more complicated task of the wound hidden under his hair. He jerked, and she winced in sympathy. “Shh,” she murmured. She wanted him to wake up, yes, but no need for him to do so just yet, when he'd simply be in pain.

She checked him over as best she could for other wounds, and then buried the blood-tainted cloths. Surely the humans wouldn't send people hurtling through the air without some kind of medicine, she thought, hurrying over to the vessel he'd arrived in.

Peering inside, she spotted what she was looking for immediately-- it was impossible not to, considering the size of the area. When she'd brought her nan to the human village, their doctor had come out to see them, carrying a case that had a silver symbol on it, two straight lines intersecting. There was a smaller box like that here.

Grabbing it, Jia knelt beside the man again. As she opened the box, the sun disappeared completely, leaving him only a silhouette and the contents of the box a mystery.

“Why couldn't you have landed in the morning?” she whispered, scraping out a small circle of bare earth, using a heatcharm to set fire to the short, dry grass that remained in the center. Edging the box closer to the firelight, she looked inside and sighed. The contents were still a mystery. She knew what tea to brew to calm a headache, what poultice could help repair a tear in a wing . . . she also knew which three berries to combine to make a paste that would stop bleeding and mask the scent. Unfortunately, two of those berries didn't grow in the area the Circle had chosen to leave her in.

Which meant it wasn't a help right now, she thought, her tail flicking back and forth irritably as she poked around in the box. Think.

Some of the contents were unlabeled, yes-- packets of tiny brightly-colored pills and one small vial of liquid-- but most were in boxes and bottles with writing on them. Several of the words were unfamiliar, but she did recognize the word 'bandage'.

Smiling, she tore open the box and then opened the wrapping around the small square of odd-feeling fabric. One side of it was dry and slightly puffed-out, the other side was flat and slick. She touched the edge of it, and her finger came away with a white residue. Some kind of human medicine, she thought. She applied the bandage, moving his hair out of the way as best she could.

The tiny fire she'd set had dwindled to almost nothing by that point, and Jia closed the medicine box and then went to the top of the ravine long enough to get at least some of her supplies. She landed next to the man as the fire went out, and edged closer to him.

When she'd wished for company, she'd meant for Caden to find some way to get to her. The humans hadn't crossed her mind at all, and she definitely hadn't pictured a scenario like this. Her powers weren't strong enough to let her become a true healer, and she wasn't a warrior, either. If the man's injuries did draw predators, she wouldn't be able to do much. He would've been better off landing closer to the human village.

But still . . . despite the worries, she couldn't help but be grateful for his presence.

When he came to it was morning. Logan could feel the dew on the ground and the sunshine on his face. The air smelt fresh and another scent mingled with the breeze, something alien; musky but not unpleasant. It reminded him faintly of oiled leather. The woman-- Jia-- must have found the med kit. She’d bandaged his wound. He moved his arm to feel his head and realized she’d been resting against him. He nudged her gently. “Jia. . .”

"Hmmm?" She opened her eyes, and then everything that had happened last night came back to her in a rush and she quickly sat up. She'd gone to sleep here with the idea that she'd know it as soon as he stirred; instead he'd had to wake her. "How are you feeling?"

Logan had read Addison Gerard's manifesto on Empyrean backwards and frontwards. The original colony had been smaller than the waves of today-- nothing had been prepared ahead of time as with the world of Wistera-- but they'd brought state of the art equipment with them and knowledgeable doctors. The original colonists would probably all be dead by now, but their descendants would have been trained. He sat up. “I can’t see. Your village-- is there a doctor? Can you get someone to look at my eyes?”

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I don't know where my village is. I was banished. I've been alone out here for--" She paused, shook her head. She very much doubted he cared about that right now. "We can try to find someone to help you. Once you are well enough to walk. Those things that fell from the sky-- did they all have someone in them?”

Banished? He tried not to frown, but he was as close to losing his temper as he’d been in a long time. Whether the blindness turned out to be temporary or not, he would need help accomplishing his mission and getting to the village. They were bound to have a ship there that could get him back to the Caspian.

He remembered her question. “The pods that were ejected would've had people in them," he said. "How many did you see? Did any others land close by?”

"Not very close," she admitted. "Once the fabric opened, the wind took them. Yours crashed into the tree I was in."

“That will be our second task, then,” he said, “Finding others.”

"What's our first?"

He smiled. “Eating breakfast.”

"Oh," Jia said. "Good. Glad you're feeling well enough to eat," she said, unfolding the blanket that had the fruit wrapped up in it and searching around for one of her rocknives. "You scared the life out of me stumbling out of there like you did. Especially when I saw the blood on your face. I thought the bloodtrackers would be on us in a minute. I buried the cloths I used to clean the wounds, don't worry." She handed him several pieces of fruit and then paused, realizing something. "What's your name?"

“Logan Rourke.” He bit into the fruit. It was tart and made his eye twitch, but he finished it as he spoke. “There’s water in the pod. Look below one of the seats for a picture like this--” He drew a raindrop shape in the dust. “Pull the drawer open. There should be several packages of it, and a container with small white pills.”

She winced at the idea of going into that pod again. However much she scolded herself for being paranoid, she couldn't get over the idea that the door would slam shut on her while she was inside.

Telling herself to just get it over with, she went and retrieved the water, telling herself that she was going to spend all day outside now to make up for even a minute in that cramped space. "Even if you explain, I doubt I'll understand why you'd agree to travel in such a small thing."

“I didn’t have much choice,” he answered, keeping explanations at a minimum for now. Once he’d learned more about her and decided how to best use that, he would know what information he could give. From what he could tell, she wasn't that old. Her voice sounded young, yes, but more than that, it was her actions-- the trust she’d immediately given him. He held out his hand. “Jia?” As he'd expected, before he could draw another breath her hand was in his. No hesitation. Definitely young. “Thank you for helping me.”

"You don't need to thank me for that. What else was I supposed to do? Walk away?"

“You could very well have done that, yes,” he answered. “I’m glad you didn’t.” He let her hand go and sat back, finishing the fruit and taking one of the white steri pills, which would hopefully counter any alien bacteria that might interfere with his digestion. He took another sip from the spout of the water bag she’d given him. Surprisingly, his head didn’t hurt anymore, but there was no sign of his sight returning. He knew he couldn’t let that deter him. With Jia as his guide they could at least move forward. “I had a vest on last night, and a belt. Did you remove them?”

"Yes," she said. "They're right over--" She paused, rolled her eyes at herself. She had to remember not to point. "I'll get them." When she picked up the belt, one of the objects on it started to slide out. Looking closer, she saw that the fastener had broken, probably in the fall. He was lucky he hadn't snapped his neck. She handed him the vest and belt, inspecting the object. The knives she'd recognized, and taken a moment to wish she knew how to make something as sleek. This was utterly unfamiliar. It seemed to be some kind of short silver stick with a handle, but the end of the stick was hollow. She looked around on the ground, wondering if a stopper had fallen out of the end.

“Thank you,” Logan felt over everything on the belt to make sure his knife and laser were accounted for. The knife was in its scabbard, but the pistol was not. Perhaps he himself had been too trusting in assuming her naiveté was genuine. “What are you doing?” he asked softly.

"A fastener's broken on your belt," she said. "The silver thing almost fell out. I hope you weren't trying to store anything in this pipe, by the way, because it looks empty."

Logan kept himself from repeating her words out loud, but barely. “Jia,” he said, carefully keeping his voice neutral. “Put it on the ground, right now.”

The tone of his voice nearly made her heart stop. It seemed calm enough, but she'd heard the same sound in her nan's voice when she'd waded into too-deep water as a child, telling her to come back toward them; in Caden's voice, telling her to hold still when she'd stopped to rest on a branch that had a stinger sitting on the end of it.

Gingerly, she set the silver object on the ground in front of her. Even now, it looked harmless. "It's down," she said. "What is it?"

“It’s a weapon,” he answered finally. He held out his hand. “Take me to it.”

She took his hand, carefully rested it on the weapon. "What does it do? And does everybody who landed have one?" He was blind on a dangerous planet-- if it was her in that situation, she'd have had at least three panic attacks by now. But aside from those first few disoriented moments, he'd been completely calm. That this small object could unnerve him frightened her, as did the idea of a multitude of humans who might not be so calm wandering around her world with those things.

Logan gripped the pistol firmly in his hand, checking the safety with a slight brush of his fingertip and finding it off. For an instant, he pictured Jia staring into the barrel, pictured her turning the gun on him, and then quickly shook it off. “Stand behind me,” he told her, “and center my shoulders in line with a tree. 20 paces.”

Jia did so, telling him once he was the distance he'd asked for from a haresh tree. Her hands still on his shoulders, she leaned to the side to inspect the tree itself, checking the trunk to make sure that no barkrats were clinging to it. She wasn't sure what this 'weapon' was going to do, but from the sound of it she didn't want anything living to be in its--

Then he pulled a small curved lever on the underside of the object, and it seemed to explode. She shrieked and darted several feet into the air, only landing again when he set the weapon down. She stared at it, her ears flattened, giving it a wide berth as she walked to the tree. The trunk was only slightly wider than her body, and it was too easy to picture what could've happened when she looked at the small hole in the front of the trunk and the enormous hole in the back.

She walked back to him, her arms crossed tightly. "Who would invent such a thing? Even bloodtrackers do not deserve a death like that."

“No matter,” he said. “Now that you know what it is, you know to stay away from it.” He strapped on the belt, securing the gun in the holster as best he could.

They folded the parachute and tied it into a small, tight bundle which he put her in charge of carrying. It could be used for a tent if it rained. He would prefer to stay moving all night, but Jia told him the moons would set early this evening and without the light filtering in through the high forest canopy, it would make it too hard for her to navigate. Besides, there were things that hunted at night.

They emptied the pod of all emergency rations and packed the medkit as well. They were ready to go by mid-afternoon, or would have been, if Jia had not insisted on checking and replacing his bandages.

He was nearly sure now that her actions and speech represented her true self. She seemed eager to please, and he had no issues with taking advantage of that. If he’d had his sight he would've used eye contact to further strengthen the bond he was trying to create with her. As it was, touch would work as well. Perhaps better. He reached for her hand again to thank her.

Jia smiled, taking his hand in both of hers. She almost cast a healcharm, just to see if it would help, but finally decided against it. He wanted to cover as much distance as they could today, and she was already unsure if she could keep up with him for long. Whenever she'd headed out on food-gathering trips, she'd needed to stop and rest constantly; she'd been far from the strongest Inako in the village.

But she didn't want to mention that right now. The news that they couldn't travel at night had already disappointed him; no need to pile onto that with the information that he'd had the good fortune to get stuck with a guide who tired easily. Perhaps she could make it, just so long as she didn't do things that would weaken her further, like cast charms. If he was still blind a few days from now, then she'd risk it.

Too bad he didn't have wings, too, then they could just fly out of here. As was, she'd scouted around until she'd found a way up that wasn't too steep.

She took his hand again when they reached the path-- it was the best way they had, but it was still rocky, treacherous ground. "Once we get up top, we can follow the river," she said. "That way we'll have water when yours runs out, and hammock trees grow close to the river. We can hide in or under them from predators."

He was sweating profusely by the time he made it to the top and his head was pounding again. Jia startled him by speaking from in front of him when he’d thought her behind him the entire climb. He chalked it up to his concussion and took a moment to regain his balance before plodding on. He had no way to check his watch for the time, or to look at the coordinates to the original colony site, but he could still feel the minutes turning into hours. There were short periods of time when he couldn't hear Jia’s footsteps, but when he called her name, she spoke almost immediately at his side. Other times they walked hand in hand, with her voice to guide him over and around obstacles.

They took a short break so she could change his bandage again and then they headed out. When they got to the river, Jia helped him down the bank. The walking was much easier there and the young woman chatted amicably, telling him about the plants they passed, the colored stones that some back in the village collected and kept for good luck, and how the keado had nosed his pod into the ravine.

“I thought it was going to shatter,” Jia said. “If I'd known you were inside it I would've worked harder to get the keado to leave.”

She tried to think of something else to say, couldn't. Did the man ever need to rest? Jia wondered.

So just tell him you need a break, she thought, but once again couldn't make herself speak. After all, it wasn't as if he didn't have good reason to find help as soon as possible, and if he was able to keep up this pace after such a nasty fall, then she should be able to do the same.

And she'd been telling herself that since early afternoon. The thoughts were getting less and less convincing. She knew she didn't have enough energy to fly anymore, and soon it was going to be an impossible chore to just keep putting one foot in front of the--

She yelped as her next step hit the rain-slicked earth wrong, and she slipped and fell.

"Jia?" Logan asked, turning in the direction of her exclamation and the subsequent splash.

She sighed. "Yes?"

"Are you all right?"

"Just bruised my dignity, that's all," she muttered, slowly getting up out of the mud puddle. Her leggings and shoes were soaked with dirty water. "Can we stop at the river for a moment?"

Wiping off her mud-caked hand as best as she could on her tunic, she took his hand again when the ground started to slope downward. Looking around the riverbank, she saw no predators or fresh tracks, and smiled with relief as she took off her satchel. The corner of it was also wet, but fortunately her spare set of clothes were resting near the top of it, untouched. Emptying the rest of the satchel and spreading it and one of the blankets out to dry, she got out of her filthy clothes, sighing happily at the chance to actually sit down as she got into the shallow water. Maybe the mud puddle hadn't been such a disaster after all.

"There aren't any animal tracks around here, don't worry," she said. "Unfortunately, I did not see human tracks, either. Been checking the riverbank on and off all day, since this is somewhere people would go. Just so long as they didn't try to go too deep without anyone nearby. The lostra hunt in deeper water. One of them bites, and you're unconscious before you can make it up to the riverbank. They don't usually come this close to shore, but if I suddenly stop talking you'll know something's wrong."

"I'd figured out long before now that if you're not talking, something's wrong."

". . . oh," she murmured, glancing away from him. She probably had been talking his ear off. She looked back at him when his palm brushed against the tips of her toes, and was relieved to see the smile on his face.

"I was just teasing you, Jia."

"All right," she said, trying not to shake her head at herself.

"And if you need to rest again, all you need to do is say something."

At that, she did shake her head. For being blind, he could still see a lot. Then, realizing what he might be thinking, she quickly spoke. "I didn't fall on purpose."

"I know."

"Though I think I will stay here for a few minutes."

"I figured as much," he said. And this time, when he smiled, she smiled back.

The sun was starting to set when they climbed back up the riverbank. Logan heard her suck in her breath. “What is it?”

“The rainbow fish are flying to their nests.”

He could hear the wonder in her voice. “Is it safe to watch them?”

“For a minute or two,” she said. "The forest isn’t far.”

He sank to the ground, pulling her down beside him. “Describe them for me.”

“They’re hard to see in the water, but when they break the surface and fly, their fins catch the light and cast rainbows all over each other,” she whispered, following a flock with her eyes to a nearby tree overhanging the water. “They make the leaves look green and blue where they nest.”

He stroked her palm. “I wish I could see them.”

“I wish you could, too.” She paused. "The sun's gone," she said. "We have to go.”

Getting up again nearly made her yelp. She hadn't spent so much time walking in . . . well, probably not since she'd taken nan to the human village, and even then they'd rested more often. She felt like she could fall asleep standing up.

"This is when the skyknives come out," she explained, trying to keep herself distracted from how weak her legs felt as she led him away from the water and started looking for a suitable tree. "They hunt in the river. Or by it."

It was more difficult to walk on the forest floor and he concentrated on staying upright, twice almost tripping on a root or branch. It was obviously too dark for even Jia to see now, and he heard her sigh with relief when she found them a suitable camping place.

He didn’t bother to mention the podshute-- she’d explained how some of the tree trunks grew together, forming cage-like enclosures where it would be safe for them to rest. He removed the laser rifle and his carisack, but kept his gunbelt around his waist as he squeezed into the area, dropping the supplies at his feet. The air smelt like rich earth and decomposing leaves, and again the musky scent that he was coming to associate with the young woman.

He knew it was stereotypical and probably false, but he couldn't help but think of Jia as a blond. Her voice was most likely to blame for that; upbeat and very constant. Blond. Blue eyes, though he knew the only reason for that detail was Lauren.

She was telling the truth about living out here; at least, that was what her hands said. They were small, but callused. And she'd helped to catch him on the irritating occasions when he'd stumbled over something. A city-dweller she wasn't, which was why he shouldn't be associating her appearance with Lauren in his mind. Lauren was a city woman through and through.

He idly wondered if she was all right.

The ground was soft and gave beneath his weight as he sat down. There would be no need for a blanket tonight; the air was still plenty warm.

Jia peered around the area again. She'd already triple-checked, but ever since the time she'd surprised a young taloncat underneath one of these trees, she'd been wary. But at least the predators rarely ventured under here-- the adults couldn't even fit-- which made sleeping under the trees infinitely safer than sleeping in the curved branches. Unless they were the branches near the very top of the tree, which wasn't an option right now.

Curling up at Logan's side, she knew that the previous night's reasoning of wanting to wake up when he did wouldn't hold, and reassured herself that it was because they were in a tiny area; there wasn't anyplace else to stretch out. As long as she had a rationale, then she could do this, but if they found a larger sleeping place tomorrow then she'd keep to her own area. Because while she could freely admit to herself that waking up next to someone was a welcome thing after weeks of solitude, having it be the sole guide for any part of her behavior made her feel silly.

"We'll probably find someone tomorrow," she murmured. "I saw some pods fall off this way."

Logan nodded, then agreed verbally, since she probably couldn’t see the movement. He opened the carisack and pulled out his water bag. He didn’t unwrap another nutricube even though his stomach was painfully hollow. Depending on the distance from the village, he might need to make them last.

He’d been impressed with the information Gerard had given him on Empyrean, until now. It was obvious that the man didn't know nearly as much as he’d professed. And why would he? He’d only been a child when he'd lived here. What would a child know about flying fish and skyknives? There was an extensive section on the plant life, and the medicinal properties thereof. Which was why Logan wouldn't eat anything until he knew for a fact that it wouldn’t cause temporary paralysis, or insanity, or turn his skin blue.

He leaned his back against the tree trunk. “Are you thirsty?”

"Yes."

He listened as she gulped the warm liquid, then put the empty bag away and smiled. There’d been no mention of eating, or checking his bandage. No observations about their surroundings. “You must be tired,” he said. “You’ve barely said two words since we sat down.”

"No, I'm fine, just--" Then she sighed. Even she could hear the exhaustion in her voice. "Yes, tired. I am too used to staying in one area. Haven't done that much walking in a long time."

“Here,” he said. “Give me your foot.”

Jia raised her eyebrows. Maybe he was exhausted, too, she thought, because that sentence had made absolutely no sense. "What?"

“Your foot,” he told her. “In my lap, now.”

Jia laughed quietly. "Anyone ever tell you that you're bizarre?" She edged over slightly, wincing as she stretched her leg out to place her foot in his lap. "There. Now are you going to explain, or am I going to keep wondering if there was something in that water?"

He chuckled. “Trust me.” His hand dropped to her leg and continued down her shin. Starting at her ankle, he kneaded her heel, applying less pressure when she jerked slightly, but continuing carefully, massaging the arch of her foot and the area beneath her toes as well. He felt her relaxing and repeatedly moved his fingers up either side of her shin and back down her calf.

Jia sighed, surprised and bemused to hear that the sound was less like a normal sigh and more like the contented moan a viatar made when she scratched it behind its ears. It made her feel a little ridiculous, but not nearly enough so to make her move away.

“Still think I’m bizarre, then?” he asked, tapping her other foot. “Next.”

"Of course," she teased, resting her other foot in his lap. "But a good kind of bizarre." She knew there was something else she wanted to say, or ask, or something, but she was having trouble concentrating on it. She closed her eyes. She'd remember in a minute.

When Logan first woke, he thought that he was dreaming. He blinked once, again, and sat straight up. He could see! Out of focus, and fuzzy around the edges, but he could make out the brown of the tree trunks around him and the pale gray-green light of morning filtering between the branches.

Them.

Her legs were no longer thrown across his lap. He squinted, deciding the formless hump across from him must be her, and almost shook her to tell her the news. Instead he lay back again, deciding that since they would be able to move faster today, it wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes again for a few more minutes.

The screech of some kind of animal woke him a second time. He couldn't tell if minutes or hours had passed, but the lighting was different, more gray than green, and the air felt damp. He turned to Jia to rouse her and his hand froze.

His vision had cleared considerably and they were no longer alone inside their enclosure.

Gasping, he scrambled backward at the sight of the creature between them, pressing his back to the slender tree trunks, twisting his body to press himself through them and falling flat on his face outside. He turned, certain he had made enough noise to bring the creature awake and after him and then gaped as he saw a foot poking from beneath whatever the thing was. It must have killed the young woman in her sleep.

It made a sleepy moaning sound, and he blinked in confusion as his mind and his sight came to a the same realization at the same time.

He was looking at Jia. Just Jia.

She wasn't a human.

Her wings, fully spread, would easily span ten feet. They were brilliantly hued, a gold metallic color with a pattern of darker segments running through. He crept around to the other side of the tree for a better look. One of the wings was folded flat against her back, the other half spread on the leaf-littered floor. Her tail was curled partway over her body. He couldn’t see her face, only her short, dark brown hair. The murals on the walls of Gerard's mansion had depicted the Inako as golden-toned blondes, but given the interbreeding that had occurred, her dark hair wasn't a surprise. He could picture at least some features-- the race had elongated ears and feline-like noses.

He watched her for several moments and then moved back to the opening they’d used as an entrance, reaching inside the ring of roots for his rifle and pack. No wonder she’d been so exhausted last night. She hadn’t been used to walking, indeed. Why walk when one could fly?

He moved to the next tree and set his pack down, relieved himself, and used the dew from a giant leaf to wash his hands. He needed to think, get his bearings.

He remembered his wrist computer and activated the compass. He sighed with relief. They were headed in the right direction. If they continued to follow the river upstream they would eventually arrive at the colony. It would take longer than traveling cross-country, but perhaps that couldn’t be helped.

Jia had saved him the trouble of infiltrating the Inako village and capturing one of them. All they needed to do was get to the village, find a ship that would take them into orbit, and they could be on their way back to Second Earth in a matter of weeks.

He returned to the tree but stayed outside. It would be best to keep his restored eyesight a secret, then. Keep her sympathetic towards him as long as he could. Putting his back to the tree, he waited.