After a light meal and a long nap, Aley emerged from the cabin. Jirn was leaning against the outside wall casually, but his eyes were sharp, keeping a lookout for any danger. He pushed away from the wall and tilted his head a little when she came out.

"Savioress. How are you feeling?" he asked politely.

Aley hid a yawn behind her hand. "Good. I think that's the hardest I've ever napped in my life." She peered at the sky, which was beginning to dull as the sun lowered. "What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day? Did Xinn say anything?"

"The general only instructed me to guard you and then left for a meeting. Is there anything in particular I can do for you?"

She shrugged. "I don't really want to go back to sleep. Is there something we can do for a little while?"

Jirn bobbled his head back and forth as he thought. "Well... there is usually a campfire getting started around this time. I'm not sure how the general feels about you socializing with other sariun yet though. He was adamant that we keep you away from everyone else because he didn't want to cause trouble."

She snickered. "I guess I get into enough trouble on my own. And I suppose I'm not exactly inconspicuous around here." She lifted her wings a little.

Jirn cast his eyes downward, looking uncomfortable. "Not exactly."

Aley popped her neck in the silence that followed. Actually, a campfire sounds amazing. Just like the ones we had at home. Maybe it'll make me feel not so far away. "Is there any way for you to contact Xinn and ask if we can go to the fire?"

His eyebrows scrunched. "I could take you to him—if he isn't still in a meeting that is. But I would have to walk you through the village and, like I said, the general doesn't wish for you to be paraded about."

She frowned a little. "Please? I'm so sick of being cooped up—I think I'm gonna go crazy if I have to just sit around for another night."

"Well..." He glanced away.

"You're not going to refuse the request of a savioress, are you?" Aley raised an eyebrow. "After all, I am pretty important, aren't I? More important than say... a replaceable general?"

His eyes widened slightly. "Of course you are important, savioress. I just want to act in your best interest."

"I think it would be in my best interest for you to take me to Xinn." She tilted her chin up. She felt a little bad playing the power card, but she really was going to explode if she had to stay home again.

Jirn exposed his neck to her. "Of course, savioress." He glanced around the forest, then led the way down a path that seemed to head into the village.

They only walked for a few minutes before they intercepted Xinn, on his way towards the hut. "What are you two doing?" He sounded a little confused.

"The savioress requested to be brought to you," said Jirn, uncomfortably rolling his shoulders.

Xinn frowned. "I told you I didn't want her walking through the village too much. Every time someone sees her, they panic because they think she's a valicaran. Someone might get too excited and try to hurt her."

"Don't blame him," said Aley, taking a step forward. "I made him take me. I'm bored, Xinn. I'm not going to spend all evening locked away in the house because that would make it no better than the cell. I want to explore, I want to meet people; it would be good for me to understand your culture, wouldn't it? Maybe it will give me some ideas how I can finish the war you're in."

His eyes were uncertain. "But the people might..."

"They have to know sometime, don't they?" She widened her stance a little. If there was one thing theater had taught her, it was that body language was extremely important. "What better way than to put me in a relaxed atmosphere? Show I'm not a threat and also that I'm just a person like them. I'm good with people, okay?" She smiled a little. Rocki always said that her people skills were both her greatest strength and weakness—she was able to talk to anyone, but that meant she had too many friends and not enough time to herself.

Xinn sighed heavily, looking at her for a long moment in silence.

She had one more point to make. "Also, you told me that things would be different when we came back. You promised to make me happy. I'm an extrovert, being with people makes me happy."

He grimaced a little, probably regretting his promise. "I see. If that is what you wish, I will grant it. Jirn, you are free for the night."

The other sariun nodded. "Thank you, general. Enjoy your night, savioress." He strode away, down the path Xinn had just come from.

Aley raised her eyebrows expectantly at Xinn. He sighed and gestured towards Jirn. "This way, savioress."

"I told you to stop calling me that." She began to amble down the path, not wanting to catch up with the other guy.

"My apologies. Did you rest well?" He put his hands behind his back, staring straight ahead.

Aley bobbled her head back and forth. "Yes and no. I slept really heavily and I think I was probably asleep for a few hours, but since I slept for so long I felt really groggy when I got up. And now I probably won't sleep hardly at all tonight because I took a nap." She sighed in annoyance. Xinn kept silent. "But hey, that means I'm wide awake to meet people. Meeting people when you're sleepy is no fun. Then again, if you're kind of loopy from being tired when you're talking to someone, that can be an absolute blast." She laughed. "I don't feel loopy though, just a bit tired still from napping too much. Apparently, you're supposed to only nap for twenty minutes max, but like, how do you time that? Because they don't include the time it takes to fall asleep, but you can't start a timer if you're asleep. I usually just set a timer for thirty minutes that way I have ten minutes to hopefully fall asleep and then the other twenty for actual sleeping. It doesn't always work though." She snapped her mouth shut, realizing she was rambling. That was weird since she hadn't really talked to Xinn much before. Not like this anyway.

Am I doing that thing that I do where I meet a shy person and I want to be friends, so I just talk on and on until they finally start also talking when I ask them questions? Not that Xinn is shy, but he is very quiet. I don't need to make friends with him though, he technically kidnapped me. He has been pretty nice since then though. Her eyes followed Jirn as he split off from the main trail and hustled away from them.

"Are you sure you're not a little loopy?" Xinn asked dryly. When Aley glanced up at him, he was smirking a little.

She giggled. "No, I'm fine. I tend to ramble in silence. It seems to work for making friends."

He glanced at her. "You want to be friends?"

"I mean, yeah, I'd rather be your friend than your enemy." She chuckled a little.

He nodded. "Understandable. I make a rather formidable enemy."

She threw her head back and laughed. "I can imagine. I don't think I'm very scary personally, but I make a very good friend, so I think it would also be in your best interest to be nice to me."

He chuckled a little.

They walked in silence until voices were heard and the glow of a fire could be seen. Xinn put his hand on her shoulder as they approached.

"Warning off the other men?" Aley said smugly. Oh crap I just flirted with him. He might not appreciate that.

"Showing that you are under my protection," he replied blankly. "You look more valicaran than sariun, they might think you an enemy." He raised his chin a little when the campfire came into sight.

Okay, so flirting yields no retaliation. Might be kinda fun to keep doing it. "Well then it's a good thing I have a big strong general to keep me safe." She smiled but didn't look at him when his gaze fell on her. Instead, she surveyed the sariun at the fire. There were twenty or so; pretty evenly split between male and female. There was a lot of laughter and loud conversation in the sariun language, chiefly from a group of adults that looked a little younger than Aley—probably eighteen to twenty years old. One girl seemed to be telling a story by the way the group was cackling as she waved her hands.

An older woman with a milky eye that looked like she couldn't see out of it spotted Aley first. She bolted to her feet, pulling the male whose hand she was holding up as well, chattering something nervously in Sariun.

Whatever she said caught the attention of the people around her, who whispered to their friends until everyone was staring at Aley and Xinn.

The general was stiff beside her. "Good evening, comrades. Do not fear—this is not a valicaran spy. Her name is Aley, and she is one of the savioresses." There were gasps, whispers, and murmurs, but he continued over them. "We found her and her sister on a small planet, hidden away from the prophecy and their people. The other savioress was taken by a valicaran, but plans are already being made to rescue her. The war will finally be over soon."

A male sariun stepped forward, the scars covering his arm illuminated in the firelight. "General... are you certain of this? She looks too... valicaran to be our savioress."

"She is a mix," Xinn said. "Yes, she has wings, and her skin is closer to that of a valicaran, but she has the fangs and blue eyes of a sariun, as well as blades. One of her parents was a sariun, so she is just as much one of us as she is valicaran."

"If she's the savioress then how does she plan to end the war?" a girl called out challengingly.

Xinn's eyes narrowed. "It is not up to you to question the savioress."

"It's a good question," Aley butted in, glancing at him, then back at the girl. "I honestly don't know yet. I'm hoping things will be clearer when I see Rocki again."

Someone else called out. "Just because she has a sister, and a mix doesn't mean that she's the savioress. What proof can you offer?" Murmurs of agreement spread around the fire.

Xinn's whole posture said, irritated. "Think about the prophecy. Do I have to explain it to all of you?"

Aley tapped his arm, leaning in towards him. "Um... you might have to explain it to me," she said softly. "I don't think anyone has bothered to explain what the prophecy actually says. I'm honestly at a loss for proof as much as they are."

He glanced at her and nodded sharply. "The exact words of the prophecy: 'When the war has raged and burned one hundred years standing long the clashing of stars will come to an end. Killed by one swift stroke, cut into ribbons over the latter years. Who is this savior to be? They are two made from two. An abomination in our eyes, but a speck in the eyes of others. Find them on a planet of mystery where they live unawares. When they are found, the end of the war is near. They who have the savioresses have the victory.'"

His eyes cut to the group. "It has been a hundred years since the war started. 'Two made from two' would reference the fact that they are of both sariun and valicara blood—which is considered an abomination to us given our species are enemies. Her true nature didn't show until she set foot on Kliktal, so she would have been only an ordinary woman to anyone else. The planet they were found on is one that we have not particularly noted in the past given our tendency to keep to our own planet. We had supposed 'where they live unawares' meant they were not able to be found by us, but it has now been theorized that it may indicate the fact that Aley had no idea what was happening on Kliktal. I see no reason for anyone to dispute her claim as savioress." He bared his fangs a little at the end.

There was silence as everyone glanced at each other uneasily.

Someone cleared their throat and Rokh stood from a spot on the ground that had been hidden behind a few other people. Aley's shoulders dropped, relieved to see a familiar, friendly face. "We are horribly rude," he said politely. "Would you like to sit with me, savioress?"

She smiled. "You can just call me Aley. All of you." Her eyes swept over the group before walking towards them to sit with Rokh. Xinn followed close behind. "I would actually like to forget I'm the savioress for tonight," she said as she claimed a spot beside the younger sariun. She beamed up at the others. "What do you usually do at campfires?"