Thalia pulled in her reigns, stopping Jigsaw s she looked at the town. It was just like your average Western desert town, only it had a big wall surrounding the edge like Wall Maria, an archway making the entrance and as sign hanging from it reading, "Fort Savannah".
    Thalia sighed a little. "Well me made it... But at what cost?"
    "This was a dangerous mission to begin with." Vern said. "Let's just get this over with so we can go home..."
    "This is ridiculous." Thalia said. "Two of our friends could be dead because Clancy craved that damn mineral!"
    "Look, Kal, let's just get this over with!" Vern snapped, and rode into the town.
    Thalia glared after him. Jigsaw glanced back at her, turning his head slightly. Thalia patted his head. "We're almost there, big guy, just hold on." She said.
    The chestnut shook his mane and took off at a slow pace after Vern.
    Upon riding into town, Thalia noticed it was rather cute place; but lacking water. There was a nice fountain in the center of town with no water to fill it, and altogether it looked dry. But it had shops lining the dusty streets, built of wood and a little steel.
    Thalia noticed a boy, sitting on the edge of a porch, scrunching his nose at the dust. He wore a black cloak that must have been uncomfortable in the heat. He seemed to have a sort of hunchback and some odd blue and orange war paint on his face. Thalia's conscience got the better of her and she hopped off her horse, pulling a canteen out of her saddle bag. "Here." She said, handing it to the boy.
    The boy stared at her curiously. "What is this?" He asked, seeming to enunciate each word naturally.
    "It's water." Thalia said. "You looked thirsty."
    The boy blinked. "I am an immortal being. I do not need water."
    Thalia stared at him. "...Right." She said. She looked away. "It looks like this town has a water problem."
    "Yes, it does." The boy said. "There is a water valve that is broken. It was turned off when it broke, and therefore cannot be turned on."
    "I see." Thalia out her canteen back in her saddlebag. "You sure you don't want any water?"
    "I told you. I do not need water."
    "Yeah, I thought you were screwing around."
    Before the boy could speak, Thalia climbed back onto her horse and rode after Vern.
    She glanced behind her at the setting sun and squinted. "Vern, maybe we should stay a night here." She called ahead
    "Huh?" Vern asked. He glanced back at her.
    "Well think about it." Thalia said. "It'll be dark within two hours, and there's an inn just up there. Plus we could use the time to recollect after loosing Clancy and Ginger."
    "Fine." Vern turned his horse around, walking up beside Thalia. "Why do you call him that?"
    "It's a nickname." Thalia said. "What, do you want a nickname too?"
    "I'll pass."
    "I think I'll call you smartass."
    "I don't like that nickname."
    "Too bad, smartass."
    Vern rolled his eyes and led his horse to the side of the inn, tying its lead to the hitching post before going inside. "I'll get us a room." He called behind him.
    "Get two rooms!" Thalia replied. She hoped Vern heard her, but couldn't be sure do to his lack of response.
    She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and hopped off Jigsaw, leading him up the the hitching post as well. She was tying his lead to the post when she suddenly heard a clamor arise not far away.
    "You're getting the water back?!"
    "Shh, don't get people's hopes up! We don't know if we're actually going to pull this off!"
    Thalia finished tying her horse and crept towards the sound, finding a small group of people talking behind the inn.
    "I'm gonna try to fix the valve." A girl with blonde hair in two ponytails on either side of her head and tan skin said. "But we might not be able to."
    An old man that looked like one of the townspeople nodded. "I understand... I suppose, I should leave you. There's nothing I can do to help."
    "That's alright." The girl smiled. "I'll do the best I can, sir."
    The old man nodded. "I know you will." He said. "Good luck, my dear." He limped off with his cane, walking past Thalia
    The girl watched him go and noticed the brunette lurking around the corner. She winced. "Oh dear, please don't get your hopes up." Thalia noticed she had an accent similar to Vern's. She'd never met a blonde Italian, but now she supposed she had.
    "I'm not one of the village people." Thalia said.
    "Oh, then a traveller?" The girl asked.
    "In a manner of speaking." Thalia said. "You're gonna fix the water problem?"
    "I'm gonna try." The girl said.
    "...Can I help at all?"
    The girl blinked. "Yeah, can't see why not." She said. She smiled. "Name's Saramelia, my friends call me Sara or Amelia, I don't care which."
    Thalia shook her hand. "Thalia."
    "Nice to meet you." Sara said. "Now let's fix the valve." She led the way away from the town, towards the top of a dune. "That man told me it was in this direction." She said. "But we'll have to find it ourselves."
    Thalia shrugged. "That's fine." She said, and thought for a moment. "Why hasn't someone tried to fix the valve before?" She asked.
    "Probably because the valve is surrounded by monsters." Sara said mildly. She blinked. "Oh, I probably should have mentioned that. This is gonna be dangerous, so if you don't wanna get hurt..."
    "Trust me, I can defend myself." Thalia said.
    "You sure about that?" Sara asked.
    "Yeah, I'm a soldier, I know how to fight." Thalia replied.
    "A soldier? Where are you stationed?"
    "Sky Army." Thalia said.
    "I'm a doctor at Yoglabs, I got sent to Sick Bay for some extra training." Sara said. "I was on my way home when I passed through here and wanted to help."
    "You were gonna go up against a bunch of monsters with no military training at all."
    "Well, somebody had to help." Sara said. "I've got a brother who only does things that will benefit him or his team, and rarely more. But his boyfriend kinda brings out a more caring side in him."
    "Yeah, that sounds familiar." Thalia said, thinking of Vern and Clancy.
    Sara looked at her. "Have you got a team?"
    "No, not officially." Thalia said.
    "The Sky Army seems kinda cool to me." Sara said. "I might consider signing up."
    "It's nice there, you should-" Thalia yelped in alarm as she suddenly tripped over something in the sand. "I think I found the valve..." She groaned.
    "Then we should hurry, the monsters will find us soon." Sara knelt beside the bit of metal, shoving piles of sand away from it. "You keep watch, I'll try to fix it."
    "On it." Thalia slid her sword out of its sheath and took a few steps away as Sara began searching for the spicket.
    Thalia was only waiting a few seconds before the first monster appeared; a zombie. Good, start with something simple. She whacked the side of its head with the flat of her blade; head shots were the way to go with zombies. It fell down to the ground and didn't move from there. Whether it was stone dead or merely unconscious, Thalia didn't have time to find out.
    An arrow whizzed past her side, narrowly missing her hand. "Sara!" She shouted.
    Sara instantly flopped flat on the ground; clearly she had been prepared for instruction. The arrow missed her as well, passing over her head and sailing harmlessly to the ground several meters away.
    Thalia tensed up and turned her head, gasping as she saw another arrow getting released in her direction. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her sword in front of her face in desperation. There was a loud, dull thunk and Thalia opened one eye to see the tip of the arrow embedded in the wooden hilt of her sword. She blinked and sighed in relief, then rolled forward to avoid getting hit by other potential arrows, as Sky had drilled into her head many times before.
    She brought her sword around as she stood, slicing the skeleton through its ribs and then shouldering it over, forcing it to collapse into a pile of bones in the grass. She kicked its skull away before it could recollect.
    "Thalia!" Thalia turned to see two zombies heading away from Sara, who worked diligently without moving from her spot.
    "I gotcha!" Thalia ran over. Jumping up and kicking one back. But considering she was still in training and had yet to be taught balance by her mentor, she lost it and fell back.
    The zombie still upright groaned and looked down at her.
    "You need help?" Sara asked.
    "No!" Thalia kicked it in the shin. And climbed to her feet. "Just keep working!"
    She looked around, but couldn't seem to find her sword. The zombie approached her and just sighed and punched it hard in its rotting nose. He stumbled back letting out a rather funny sound before he fell onto his back, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a derby way.
    Thalia saw the zombie she'd kicked coming again only now with a limp. She looked it up and down quickly. She was a female when she was a human, it looked like. She had been tall, and tan before her skin greyed. Thalia wondered if her eyes had been pretty; maybe she had a family. She thought for a moment, then wondered if zombies would continue to grow up if they were bitten as a child. Or would they stay immorally little? Perhaps this was the immortality men in movies searched for. The fountain of youth was hidden in black blood and mindless hunger for living flesh; feeling nothing as you ate others of your own kind. People that were your friends, or family, or both. Perhaps was the sickness of long life; the disease of eternity.
    "You got a crush on it or something? Kill it!" Sara yelled, snapping Thalia out of her daze.
    Thalia took a step back as she realized the zombie was almost on top of her. "She's a she, not an it." She said.
    "Thalia, we don't have time to make friends with it!"
    Thalia sighed. And took a final look, then noticed a pair of dog tags around the zombie's neck. Thalia winced. She had been a soldier of some kind. She stepped forward, kicking her hard in the ribs and and right hooked her in the jaw.
    She winced and shook out her hand as the zombie fell back just like its brother and lay still.
    Thalia was about to ask Sara for her progress, when she suddenly heard a very familiar sound. She whipped around just in time to see a pair of purple eyes before the sound was repeated and all that was left were purple particles fading away like sparks spat from a camp fire.
    Thalia blinked and looked around. "...Jack?" She called.
    "Huh?"
    Other than Sara's confused question, there was no response. She looked around again. "Jack!" She called louder.
    Neither girl spoke, Thalia waiting tensely and Saramelia just loosing interest.
    Then, all of a sudden, there was a screech and the sound of an Enderman teleport. Thalia yelped as she was shoved suddenly from behind. She stumbled but caught her footing just in time for the Enderman to teleport in front of her, swiping a clawed black hand at her arm. She yelped as three painful gashes were opened just under her left shoulder, but had no time to worry about it as she was shoved to the side. She fell down, unprepared, with a pained, "Oof!"
    She winced and blinked open her eyes. At first all she saw was sand. But then she saw a glint of silver and beamed as she saw her sword a few meters away. She scrambled to her feet and started to run towards it when suddenly, the Enderman appeared in front of her again. She had to fall back to avoid getting another bad gash and quickly got up, kicking the Enderman; but all her foot caught was air.
    The Enderman teleported again, and Thalia tried to throw a punch, but it on eye again teleported away before she could.
    The Enderman appeared behind her and she whipped around, jerking her head back to avoid loosing her eye.
    It teleported once again in front of her and was about to raise its hand again when suddenly, it was hit with a powerful stream of water. It screeched and looked at Sara angrily. The doctor had successfully put the valve back together and picked up the hose, turning it up all the way. She glared at the Enderman and hit it again with the pressurized water.
    It let out a final screech and teleported out of sight, to return another day.
    Thalia sighed in relief. "Thanks, Sara, you saved my ass."
    "Yeah, no kidding." Sara walked over to the pipe that connected to the town and screwed the hose into place. She waited a moment, but nothing happened.
    "Oh no..." She turned around and looked at Thalia. "I must've don't something-"
    Suddenly water practically exploded out of the fountain in the center of the little town, causing a few yelps and a girly cry. Then the villagers seemed to notice what had happened and there came cheers as their water was returned and the pressure on the fountain returned to normal.
    Sara smirked and at Thalia. "You were supposed to be saving my ass you know."
    "Well I did, but I couldn't find my sword!" Thalia said.
    "I'm just teasing, don't worry about it." Sara said.
    Thalia rolled he eyes and looked over at the female zombie she'd knocked out. She walked over to her, crouching beside her. She picked up the dog tags in one hand and examined them.
    "Claire Machiavelli." She read aloud quietly. "Skylord..."
    "Damn, that's terrible..." Sara sighed. "But you know we can't do anything."
    "Yeah, we can." Thalia stood up and went to pick up her sword. She walked back over the slowly moved to to the zombie's chest while Sara watched in silence. "Sorry..." She said, and stabbed her through her chest. She pulled out her sword again and sheathed it, taking her dogtags before she walked away.
    "Alright, well, I had better make haste." Sara said once they'd gotten back to the town. "Yoglabs is still a few miles on."
    "You sure you don't want to wait till morning?" Thalia asked.
    "I was supposed to be there this morning." Sara said. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Hey, and if you see my brother at the Sky Army base, tell him Gigi and I said hello."
    "Sure thing, what's your last name? I'll find him."
    "Lazorso." Sara saluted. "Later Private." She said, and walked off to the town stable without another word of goodbye.
    "Ah, I'm... Not a Private..." Thalia rolled her eyes, knowing Sara just didn't understand rank. "Oh, whatever."
    She turned and headed towards the inn, thinking as she went. Lazorso... Why did the name Lazorso sound so familiar...?
    She headed inside and looked around. It was a dimly lit place, with music from what sounded like 2002 playing in the corner. There were many tables laying out and a stairwell in the back of the room, but no one was in the room but the bartender. He looked at her. "You're the one the Euro kid asked for, eh?"
    "Italian accent?"
    "Yep."
    "Black hair, turtle neck, kind of a dick?"
    The bartender chuckled. "Well, you certainly ain't honeymooners."
    "Oh, no no no." Thalia said. "He's totally gay."
    "Then why do you have separate rooms? Scared he'll make a move?"
    "No, actually, I just don't like him."
    The bartender laughed. He was a young man with a western accent just like everyone in town, maybe eighteen or nineteen years old. He had sandy blonde hair and brown eyes obscured by big round glasses. "I like you, you're fun." He said. He extended a hand. "I'm Rex, but my buddies call me Glasses."
    "Hello, Glasses." Thalia laughed. "I can't see why they would call you that, I just... I don't see it."
    "I know right?" Rex joked enthusiastically. "It just don't make no sense." He and Thalia both laughed. He gestured to her. "What 'bout you, what's your name?"
    "Thalia Kal."
    "Movin' here?"
    "No, I'm on a mission."
    "Mission?" Rex raised an eyebrow. "What are ya, a secret agent?"
    "No, I'm with the Sky Army."
    "Sky Army?" Rex set down the glass he'd been drying. "Haven't seen your kind round here since I was just a kid."
    "Really? Do you know who they were?" Thalia asked.
    "Well there was an old fella and and kid, probably 'bout your age." He said. "The older one seemed mighty scared a somethin'. And the kid kept callin' him CV. Dunno what means."
    "Neither do I." Thalia said. "You didn't get their names?"
    "Nah, sorry." Rex said. "Well, here's the key to your room. Room Four. The Euro's in the room just right of yours."
    Thalia nodded. "Thanks." She said, and walked up the stairs.
    She headed to her room, then hesitated and knocked on Vern's door instead. "Vern? Can I come in?"
    "Fine."
    She opened the door and found him writing something in a chair beside the bed. He glanced up at her. "Where've you been?" He asked, and noticed her arm. His eyes widened. "What the hell did you do?!"
    "What?" Thalia glanced down and noticed the three gashes on her shoulder again. "Oh right... Um... Helping." She said.
    Vern groaned. "You got into a fight."
    "Yeah, sorta."
    "Can you still fight?"
    "Yeah." Thalia rolled her left shoulder around. "I can still move it. But I'm right handed anyways, so I can fight fine."
    "Oh good, I don't have to care then." Vern returned to writing.
    Thalia rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna fix it. I'm in room 4 if you need me. Later..."
    Vern didn't give her a response as she left the room, going to her own room. After a minute or two, Vern glanced up at the door as it shut, and shook his head. "Moron..." He muttered, and stood up.
    Thalia groaned and flopped down onto her bed. She laid there for a moment, then got up. She sat on the edge of her bed, opening her travel pack and pulling out the bandages Seto made all recruits take on missions.
    She washed off her arm with water from the faucet in the bathroom, then dried her arm. It wasn't bleeding as much now as it had before. She wrapped the bandages around it clumsily, only able to use one arm.
    "Hey, Miss Kal." Thalia jumped as Vern walked into her room. "Let me help, si?"
    Thalia stared at him. "What's the catch."
    Vern rolled his eyes and walked over, sitting beside her. "You start to trust me."
    "I do trust you, I just don't like you." Thalia said, letting him undo the bandage and rewrap it.
    "It's alright, nobody likes me." Vern said. "I don't know why he does."
    "Because he's the dumbest genius in existence."
    Vern smiled a bit. "Yeah, you got him there." He sighed as he finished. "There... I'm no doctor, but my sister is. So I know a little... I'm gonna go to bed, I'm kinda tired." He stood
    Thalia looked up. "Actually, I have a question."
    Vern sighed. "What?" He asked boredly, stopping.
    "Do you know anybody with the last name of Lazorso?"
    Vern's expression remained stern as usual. "Who's asking?" He asked,
    "This is girl I met, asked me to tell her brother something if I saw him." She said. "Saramelia Lazorso."
    Vern's gaze softened. "Yeah... That's my sister." He said. "What'd she say?"
    "Oh um..." Thalia hesitated. "She said to tell you she and Gigi said hello."
    Vern stared at her, then nodded. He left the room without a word. Thalia stared after him for a moment, then shrugged and glanced out of window. She sighed and laid down to rest, even though the sun was still going down. Sleeping in a bed on a mission was a rarity; she wasn't about to pass it up for her usual restlessness.