She had never traveled all on her own like this. At least, not while she wasn’t completing a mission for the tribe, and certainly not this far from home. Yang lost count of how long she’d been walking, feeling much less concerned with the sun’s position in the sky than with the strain of her heavy load of personal belongings on her legs and back. Most of the credit for that went to her full set of armor.

Well, no choice but to power through it.

Sighing, she lifted up the bag where she’d stored everything she owned just as it almost touched the ground, then readjusted the leather strap across her shoulder. This was going to be quite the trip.

An unknown amount of time later, she came across a quaint building on the side of a road. There was a sign next to the place that faced the road. Whatever words used to be etched into its surface had long since worn away. Two horses were stabled nearby, and there was even an unattended caravan parked next to the building. She heard people talking inside, but couldn’t see anyone. Yang paused and fought her natural inclination to avoid all contact with strangers. Honestly, she was worn out and could use a break. What was the harm? She stepped off of the dirt path and headed for the entrance to the building.

As Yang ascended the two small steps into what appeared to be a shop, several pairs of eyes fell on her. She tensed up, but felt relief when they all ignored her and resumed their previous activities. The shopkeeper was haggling the price of some sort of handheld contraption with a couple who seemed very interested. Across the room, a woman perused a rack of weapons. Yang couldn’t help but notice two things. First, she looked as if she hadn’t fought a day in her life, judging by the casual clothes she wore. Second, her long, dark hair resembled Yang’s mother’s hair, only much straighter.

Raven had yet to show her face again. In the back of her mind, Yang was on edge. She had to wonder whether her mother wouldn’t, or perhaps couldn’t, portal to her any longer. Had one or both of them broken the bond that allowed her semblance to work on Yang?

She approached the counter, waited for the couple to finish making their decision, and then stepped up with a stern expression on her face. The owner needed to understand right away that she wasn’t here to make friends. She wanted to be in and out of this place as quickly as possible.

He stared down at her over thick glasses, slanted eyes wrinkling when he smiled. “What can I do you for, young lady?” he asked, his voice like smooth fabric. Textured, but not scratchy.

Faced with the kind greeting, she found her own tone and posture naturally softening to mimic his calmness. “I, uh,” she said, pausing to think. “Are the horses outside for sale?”

He nodded toward the door. “We rent’em out. Help yourself. Just make sure you drop it at one of our waypoints along the road when you’re done. Look for the flags.”

On her way down the road, Yang had seen the tall posts with yellow flags on them that matched the banner across the front door of this place. She’d had no idea what they meant until now.

“Thanks,” she said, depositing an unnecessarily large amount of lien onto the counter and hurrying to the door. She stopped when he called out to her.

“Young lady,” he said. “If you’re gonna be out late, you may wanna stay here for the night. The Grimm like to hunt around these parts when it gets dark.”

She scoffed, then gave the store owner a half-smile. If only he knew how much he underestimated her. “Thanks, but I can take care of myself.” Yang pulled out her tantō and flipped it up into her other hand. The man’s eyes went wide and he said nothing. Her point made, she headed for the horses in the small stables by the road.

A sign hanging from the road-facing stable door read, “Take what you need.”

She did.

Fond of one of the horses’ shining sandy coat tinged with flecks of gold, she decided it would be hers. It didn’t protest as she put the gear stored nearby on its body piece by piece, checking that everything was properly aligned. Then Yang fastened her belongings down, pleased to see that this horse could easily handle the load. She tugged at its lead rope, guiding it onto the road just as a customer walked past, loaded up with a bag of recent purchases.

Yang and her new companion strolled along at a steady pace. She felt much lighter and more free now that he was bearing the weight of the armor set and her other personal belongings. Sooner or later, she’d need to climb onto his back and ride faster, but for now, the simple time alone to slow down and de-stress was doing wonders for her.

A signpost made with polished wood and twine directed her to turn right at the next intersection to reach some place called “Pine Family Farm.” She shrugged. Wherever that place was, she hadn’t heard of it and couldn’t afford a detour. It was already turning dark out, so she took the straight path that the sign marked “Mistral Terminal” instead. She would have continued all the way there, if not for a light rain that started to soak her and the horse. It whinnied and danced uneasily, prompting her to speed up a bit and take shelter under a tall tree by the side of the road.

They slept there together for an unknown amount of time. Yang wearily settled against the tree trunk, realizing just how exhausted she was after the long trek. Tribe living taught her to just keep going, but now that survival was on all her, and she had no backup to ease some of the burden, things were different. Although she didn’t want to admit it, Yang accepted that she’d gone overboard, perhaps only to prove to her mother and herself that she could handle this alone.

She wondered, just before sleep embraced her in its gentle caress, what Vernal, Shay, and the others were doing right now. Did they go looking for her? Were they missing her at all? Or had they gone home, cursed her for ruining their plans, and forgotten all about her? Her final thoughts drifted to her childhood idol April, the previous Spring Maiden. Yang really missed her, but every Branwen understood that life takes everyone at some point. April’s time just came sooner than anyone could have expected. The ex-princess hoped that wherever her late friend was now, she was proudly watching over her.

The next morning, Yang woke with a yawn and a stretch. She roused her horse with a gentle pat, and they walked for a bit until it had found a steady rhythm. Then she hopped onto its back and galloped. Multicolored specks in the distance grew in size, finally becoming full-sized people, caravans, and wagons. She’d never seen so many people gathered in one place before. Very few wore combat armor or weapon holsters. That meant she’d stick out like a sore thumb.

That’s just great.

Slowing to a trot, Yang maneuvered her way around those who weren’t in line. Up ahead, she spotted one of the yellow waypoints for her to drop off her horse. She grimaced, looking down at him with a sad smile.

“Well, boy, looks like this is it for us.” She gave him a soft rub on the head and followed the line as it inched forward. The lien pouch on her belt was chock full. She would need it to get where she was going. Yang could only hope that this wasn’t the worst decision of her life.