“So, your old town was overrun by Honno,” Serratia repeated, taking a drag of the cigarette she was finally able to light thanks to Rontu’s assistance. “It’s pretty common in The Barrens. I’m sorry to hear that.”

Rontu was a bit taken aback by the sudden sincerity in her voice, almost feeling like it was some sort of trap. “Yeah…I don’t really remember much about the actual attack. I ran into the Institute to look for people and then just…woke up in the Gemmer the next day. Shen and Archie were there too but apparently, they picked me up after everything happened.”

Shen had been woken up from his slight nap, quietly listening to the conversation. He felt guilty listening to Rontu try and dodge the potholes of his memory as he recounted the events of that day. He still hadn’t told Rontu the truth about the state they had left Lowlam in or the capabilities that he possessed. It puzzled him that at the start his friend had nearly leveled a settlement, but now could barely fashion fancy rocks together.

“The city was in…poor shape. There was nothing we could do for it alone,” Shen added. “Too many Honno for me to fight alone, and Rontu collapsed soon after gaining his abilities.”

Serratia nodded, her knee pulled up to her chest as she wrapped an arm around it. “So Rontu has only been a Shutok for a few weeks. I guess that explains why he can’t do much,” she said before turning to Shen. “What about you? You held your own for a bit.”

He was quiet for a few seconds, trying to decide if it was worth it to share that information. “Close to a year and a half. I have some formal training as well that aided me.”

“Does time have some sort of bearing on your ability or something?” Rontu asked, looking between them.

Serratia made a face as she looked up in thought. “Mmm…no. Not directly, anyway. Being a Shutok is more like working a muscle or training a skill. You get better the more you use it.”

Rontu tried his best to internally word his next question in a way that didn’t sound too prying, but so far it seemed like Serratia appreciated more blunt approaches. “How old were you then?”

She looked down for a second, putting her cigarette out on the bottom of her boot before flicking the butt into the corner of the tent. Serratia was quiet for a rather uncomfortable amount of time, enough to where Rontu opened his mouth to retract his curiosity.

“I think I was fifteen,” she said bluntly.

Rontu’s mouth slammed shut and his eyebrows seemed to rise by the force of it. Even Shen looked a little bewildered by this.

“There…there can be Shutok that young?” Archie asked her, having been content with listening until that bombshell was dropped.

Serratia shrugged a bit, her composure unchanged. “Yup. I mean my sister was even-” she began before cutting herself abruptly. “Forget I said that.”

Rontu and Archie exchanged glances from across each other, communicating entirely through their eyes that they probably should, in fact, forget that. A few seconds dragged on as Rontu desperately searched for something to ease the tension. His eyes settled on a tattoo he had never noticed before, a thin line wrapping up her left wrist and halfway to her forearm. Several small notches seemed intermittently dotted along it, like barbed wire.

“Nice ink,” Rontu quickly commented, gesturing awkwardly with both of his hands.

This seemed to snap her out of it, Serratia’s eyes flicking down to her arm and back to Rontu. “Yeah, thanks.”

In spite of his efforts though, she seemed done with the conversation. Serratia stood up from her seat and adjusted the collar of her vest, pulling her hair out of her shirt and letting it fall to her shoulders. “Horn will lose his mind if he catches me in here talking to you guys so casually. Don’t tell anybody I was here.”

Archie held up his hands and wiggled his fingers at her. “Well, you could always let us go. I won’t tell a soul,” he said with a forced smile.

Serratia rolled her eyes, giving the boys a thumbs down. “Not my call. Personally, I don’t give a damn what we do with you, but I’m not the boss.”

“Why aren’t you then?” Shen challenged.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Shen looked at her calmly. “Why are you not the leader around here? You obviously have the strength to fight whatever might come your way. Shutok included,” he added, moving his hands back and forth between Rontu and himself. “It only makes sense that you would be in charge.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, her lip almost curling in disdain. “I don’t even want to be around these people. You think I’d want to actually put up with bossing them around?”

“Then don’t,” Rontu challenged. “I don’t see a leash on you. No restraints. You’ve already got us beat in that regard,” he smirked, the corners of his mouth raising cheekily. “I guess you’re just a good little doggy.”

This absolutely enraged Serratia. In less than a second, she was covered in her shell and grabbed Rontu by his hair. He kept that smirk plastered across his mug, even showing some teeth as he bared his fangs back at the apex predator.

“You won’t,” he said, gazing into the glowing orange daggers across Serratia’s helmet.

She held him in place for a moment before lifting Rontu by the shirt. Making sure to retract any blades that would possibly main him, she delivered a quick punch directly to his gut before dropping him into the dirt. Rontu curled up and held his stomach, groaning to himself as he struggled to regain his breath.

“I’m not taking shit from a sheltered kid who plays in the dirt,” Serratia growled, her armor already dissolving. “Don’t ask about things you don’t understand.”

Watching to make sure the coast was clear, Archie leaned over and gently nudged his buddy. “Hey. Hey, you alright kid?”

Rontu nodded a few times, coughing into his arm.

Archie let out a sigh of relief, quickly changing his tone before roughly slapping his hands against Rontu’s shoulder. “What the hell was that all about? Why do you insist on pissing people off all the time?”

Shen shook his head, cradling his head in his hands. “I agree. It is not in our best interest for you to be angering our captors. What were you hoping to achieve with that?”

With a little bit of effort and a lot of pained breaths, Rontu pulled himself upright and leaned back next to Archie. He clutched his stomach and lightly massaged it. “Because she was right. I don’t understand why she’d obey someone like Horn,” he explained. “But I want to.”

Archie shook his head and slowly closed his eyes. “I swear, boy. That mouth of yours is gonna get you killed one day.”

Rontu smiled again, pausing to hiss at the pain in his abdomen. “I gotta think of some better one-liners then.”