Under ordinary circumstances, Fiyu would not have been pleased to work her way along the side of a chasm over a river that meant certain death. Clearly, the fact that the Fithans avoided the central chasm meant that they felt the same, a reasonable amount of caution for once. However, as she made her way from rock to rock, Fiyu found herself surprisingly secure.

In their exploration of the deepest chasm, Friend Theo had shown himself to be familiar with this environment. Therefore it was not so different from traveling any new environment with an experienced relative, certainly safer than attempting to guide her friends through the Greater Dark without the requisite knowledge. There were risks, but they could be mitigated with preparation, which they had clearly done.

The one thing that did still trouble her was the amount of time remaining in the Chasm. If the event lasted for three days as was commonly said, then they still had plenty of time to harvest materials and retreat. Yet the fact that the exact time was variable, and the ambiguous fate of those abandoned within, left Fiyu considerably less sanguine. If it was up to her, they would have retreated, though she acknowledged that risks were necessary at times. She would have to trust in Friend Theo's knowledge.

He had assisted her many times, yet she had felt something within herself sliding ever since he and Friend Nauda had saved her life. Unlike an elder relative, she did not feel that respect and obedience was the appropriate response. Instead, he was her peer and they could travel forward together, sharing their knowledge and lives. If so...

Distracted by the unfamiliar thoughts, Fiyu failed to fully check the next rock she used as a hand-hold. It broke beneath her fingers, and the momentum sent her tipping over the side of the narrow ledge.

Before she could fall far, Friend Nauda caught her wrist. Since Fiyu had only just begun to slip over the edge, she was quickly able to right herself and obtain a secure position. There had been little danger, since Friend Theo moved ahead and had been prepared with his technique, but Fiyu still felt ashamed to have made the error.

"Sorry for grabbing you," Friend Nauda said. She had indeed released her as soon as she was stable, almost as if guilty, so Fiyu made sure to smile at her.

"It is okay, Nauda. Thank you for helping me."

As they continued crawling above the river, however, Fiyu found her thoughts surprisingly turbulent. Instead of feeling shock at the touch, the wrist where Friend Nauda had touched her glowed with a warmth that crept through the rest of her body. It was not so dissimilar from when she was grateful for her friends, but the fact that it occurred even when touched forced her to acknowledge what she was experiencing.

Her relatives had prepared her for this, of course. After a sufficient number of years of adulthood, she would begin to consider close companions as potential lifemates. Relative Guchiro had been of the opinion that it would be another decade for her, and she had thought that sounded reasonable. In a decade, she would have known herself and been well-established as a soulcrafter. Now, she found a confusing mix of sensations welling up within her...

Pausing momentarily, Fiyu took a deep breath and forced that part of her to recede. It could be explored later, while not under such dangerous conditions. Like many other impulses, it could reemerge when she was safe.

That task completed, Fiyu continued along the path with a clearer mind. Friend Theo and Friend Nauda were indeed valued companions, whatever else they might be. She would do her utmost to support them as they continued exploring the Chasm of Lamentations. So far, it had been as profitable as Friend Theo had suggested, so their findings would open up fascinating new paths for their soulcrafting.

Eventually they reached a much larger ledge that had been carved from the chasm surface, so they sat down to rest. By Fiyu's count, they had been inside the Chasm of Lamentations for nearly a full day, so even supported by cantae, they desperately needed rest. With relatively few words, they set up camp and traded watch times, which only affirmed her belief in her companions.

Fortunately, shielded as they were, no one disturbed them as they all rested deeply. When Fiyu awoke refreshed, she found that Friend Nauda was still finishing her slumber while Friend Theo sat at the edge of their camp, cantae twisting within him in a way she had come to identify with his new gravitational sense, even if she couldn't determine the details. She washed her face and went to sit beside him.

"I'm trying to push through all the interference to examine the situation on the surface," Friend Theo said. He looked upward, which Fiyu had not often done since the walls of the chasm stretching skyward were always a strong point of reference in her own senses.

Though she still primarily used her personal senses, Fiyu did look upward with her eyes. The sky was a ghostly strip of blue overhead, almost entirely swallowed by the chasm walls rising on either side. Even though the river was becoming broader, the cliffs still dominated her vision. Contortions of reality that felt deeply disturbing to her senses twisted over the center of the river in higher concentrations, no doubt proving dangerous to anyone who wished to fly overhead.

Most strikingly, to any sense, the chasm ahead of them finally left its straight path and turned to the left. Even through all the disturbances, Fiyu could easily feel the density of the earth: the river cut into the western plain, eventually driving it against the spiritual barriers that defined the Chasm. Beyond that, she thought that it straightened out again, partially shifting underground, but the terminal point dissolved in a haze of interference.

"I don't sense any fighting on the western side," Friend Theo said not long after, "but I don't trust cantae senses very far here. How does it feel to you?"

"I will try." Fiyu focused on the lack of pressure above the stone walls, seeking anything that disturbed the air. She could still feel people to the west, few moving quickly, therefore... "I believe that the truce to the west has held. There is no fighting, at least not compared to the battlefield to the east. Fewer people than I expected, perhaps because they have harvested what they can and are retreating."

"How many of them are close to the river? Someone might try to walk north along the peaceful side, then drop into the chasm and fight from there. I can't feel anyone close, but it's such an obvious strategy, someone must be trying it."

"Ah. There is... a somewhat large group further back from us, with a well-equipped camp. I cannot determine their exact activities, but Rulers there could reach the river in under an hour, easily."

"Try to keep a sensoryorgan on them when you can." Friend Theo tilted his head to look behind them and to the east. "It feels like the Strongholds have largely deadlocked one another, but I'm not sure. Do you think anyone has pressed further north than us?"

"I have already been monitoring that," Fiyu said with a slight smile, knowing that he would be pleased. "The Authorities obviously outpaced us by far at first, but when we traveled along the river beneath their fights, we moved ahead. For several hours there was no one near us, but the time we spent harvesting the cavern and resting has allowed many to catch up. The area further north remains largely clear, but likely not for long."

"Then let's look even further north. The interference is getting worse, but I think if we combine our senses, we should be able to determine some more."

Friend Theo did not truly mean what he said, since they were too weak and too unfamiliar with one another to combine their senses of the world. A much lesser version of the technique was possible, however, and they cast cantae to the north together. Brushing their souls was a strange thing, but with Fiyu's body firmly focused on the threats, she felt only determination.

Though a bit clumsy, Friend Theo's sense of gravity was quite powerful. Through his cantae, she could easily feel the sharp lines of the canyon overhead as they widened. She ignored those broad patterns and instead searched within, trying to filter out the chaos of the river to locate the oddities within. It took several minutes, but eventually she felt that she had acquired a clearer representation of the path ahead.

"There should be something ahead," Friend Theo muttered, almost to himself. "A larger space opening to the east, before the final stretch of the river. But I'm struggling to find it..."

Fiyu shook her head. "You could not find it because you are looking for something separate from the river. It feels to me as if a barrier has been eroded, and the river has partially flooded that space."

"But there's a cavern there? I thought it would still exist."

"There is a partially underground region to the east that contains a number of angular structures that I believe must be buildings. Many of these are flooded or otherwise damaged. This leads to a larger shore region alongside the river that could be safely navigated. It does not last until the widest part of the river, but there appears to be an island in the center that may have another structure."

"There it is." Friend Theo smiled thinly and stared to the north. "The first structures you felt are ruins, though they were largely picked over before. The shore is one of the safer spaces near the river, so others may arrive there as well. But it's that building on the island I'm most interested in. When I visited here before, I wasn't able to reach it, so unless someone else looted the building, that might be our next most valuable target."

"And on the journey there?"

"Keep a lookout for flowers tucked into the chasm walls, but we aren't likely to find anything until we reach the shore, and only if we get there first."

Now that they knew the path forward, Friend Theo was obviously determined to hurry again, stopped only by decency in not jolting Friend Nauda awake. As soon as she roused, they would all likely be pushing forward, to explore these ruins and the shoreline. Then the island, and beyond...

Though they had still only navigated part of the Chasm of Lamentations, Fiyu was increasingly certain that the moans surrounding all of them were growing louder. She wondered how loud they would become by the time they reached the ominous density pushing against her senses at the end of the river.