Amusingly, the last bit of the way was the hardest for me. Not because of enemies but because of ever-increasing tension and worry. Even before the change, I hadn’t been good when it came to handling other people and now, with the change hanging over us all, I doubted that my clumsy and often awkward manners would help ease tensions. No, if anything, I felt it was more likely that I’d insult someone, making them snap and forcing me to defend myself. It was so easy to imagine such a scenario going down, it was almost sad. In addition, there were those wonderful traits I had picked up, Outsider chief among them. Those would almost certainly add to my troubles, but there was nothing I could do about it. And yet, even with all that in mind, I wanted to check on Mrs Wu.

Silva and I had waited till twilight set in, giving us almost an hour to cross the last bit of distance, until the sun would actually rise and those hateful rays would bring their curse with them. I had decided to wait, simply because I felt an approach while there was a bit of light out would be seen with less suspicion than an approach during the dead of night, where it was harder to tell friend from foe. Sure, I might have been able to make the approach undetected but I had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well, after all, if I could sneak up on them, the logical conclusion would be that others could do so, too. Regardless of my level, regardless of my ability with Darkness Magic, people would worry and tensions would rise.

As we moved, I noticed quite a few dead Shattered on the ground, some of them with broken arrows in them, the others merely with holes where arrows had likely been removed. Realising that there were people nearby, I decided to take a risk and remove my concealment. With twilight creeping across the sky, the Darkness I used to conceal myself wouldn’t last forever and at some point, people would notice me. Or they wouldn’t and I could march into their base, wherever that might be, unopposed, at least until I wanted to talk to them. At that moment, people would obviously notice me and given that I’d be within their base, they’d have plenty of reasons to see me as a threat and react accordingly. Not the best first impression.

On the other hand, if I let the locals make contact on their terms, while I was outside of their controlled zone, they’d hopefully see me as a fellow survivor, not a threat that had invaded their base. But that didn’t change the fact that walking down the street without my concealing cloak of darkness wrapped around me was making me feel self-conscious as if I was walking down the street naked.

We never made it to the gym itself, one intersection before we got there, I noticed movement on one of the rooftops. Looking up, while casually staying behind one of the many parked cars on the side of the road, I called out.

“Hello on the roof,” I called, trying to pitch my voice so I didn’t disturb everyone who might be sleeping while making myself heard. The figure I had noticed up there shook, making me think that they had been half-asleep, not fully paying attention.

“Who?!” the voice called back and from the pitch, I had a feeling that they were quite young. Moments later, before I ever had the chance to get a better look or respond, the figure disappeared from my view, taking cover up on the roof or something, but I was able to hear a few words regardless. It sounded like the guard I had noticed first was getting somebody else, the course of action quite amusing, given that they hadn’t really made contact with me.

After a moment of thought, I decided to stay put even if I hadn’t been told to. That way, the locals could make their own determinations and I wouldn’t be seen as a threatening figure. If I simply marched on, that might be what would happen. And given the dead Shattered I had seen, I had no doubt that somebody here was quite adept at taking down threats to their little community.

It didn’t take long, maybe a minute, until another figure showed itself. This time, instead of a juvenile youth, the figure looking down at us was a middle-aged male, maybe in his forties, with a longbow in hand. I was relatively certain I had seen him before, likely on my way to Mrs Wu’s gym, but I had no idea what his name was.

“Show me your eyes,” he called down, without even giving me a greeting. In turn, I pushed back my hair, making sure that my entire face was easily visible, and looked up, allowing him to ascertain that I actually had eyes, instead of the flames marking me as Shattered.

“Well, she’s human,” he muttered, too soft for a normal human to understand, “What brings you here?” he asked, though the tension in him had already decreased quite a bit.

“Looking for someone, Mrs Wu, the owner of the gym over there,” I replied, nodding towards that building. It only then occurred to me that I had no idea about her first name, I was certain I had seen it at some point, but I just couldn’t recall. Even in my mind, she had always been Mrs Wu, or Teacher Wu.

“Head on in, most people have holed up at the gym, turned it into a shelter,” he directed. Looking around, I noticed that it wasn’t the only building that had people on the roof, there were guards watching each approach into the area, protecting those within. It made me wonder if they had preparations for the underground approach, or if the vermin in the sewers hadn’t made itself known to them.

Regardless, I simply called out my acceptance to the guy on the roof and kept going. Soon, the sun would rise and I had no desire to be outside at that point.

We continued on, and I felt a strange itch between my shoulder blades as if my instincts were warning me that there were armed people at my back, people who may or may not have my best interests in mind. After days of hyper-vigilance, it wasn’t easy to push that feeling aside and relax, nor was I certain that I even wanted to relax. These people likely knew Mrs Wu, but I didn’t know them.

When we reached the gym’s doors, there was another guard, also with a bow in hand, giving me the once-over, before she opened the door fully.

“Looking for Mrs, Wu?” she asked, her eyes wandering from Silva to me and back, looking a little intimidated. So far, she hadn’t tried to Observe us, at least from what I could tell, but maybe the weapons at my side or the splattered blood that coated Silva made it obvious that we weren’t messing around.

“Yes, she has been my teacher in the past. After all this, I wanted to make sure she is well,” I replied, leaving out the other option, that I wanted to make sure she had dignity in death.

“She’s probably still asleep, but come in. You know your way around?” the guard asked, looking a little less tense.

“I knew the gym before the changes hit but I don’t know what changes have been made,” I told her, and she gave me a quick explanation, telling me that the main workout room had been turned into the sleeping quarters for women and children while the smaller one was for the men. I had no desire to really mingle with either group, not until I had talked with Mrs Wu and made a decision about my future actions, so I simply moved into the foyer, away from any windows, and made myself somewhat comfortable. Hopefully, Mrs Wu would appear at some point, or I would have to go look for her.

“Samantha,” a familiar voice brought me out of the light doze I had been in, my eyes flickering open. “It’s good to see you well,” Mrs Wu told me, standing a few steps away from the position Silva and I had chosen.

“Teacher, I’m glad you are okay,” I told her, rising to my feet. There were a few more people in the area, some of them looking at me with a mix of suspicion and caution, but overall, the reception wasn’t overly hostile. Cautious, sure, but given the situation we all were in, that might be expected.

“Come, tell me how you fared these last few days,” Mrs Wu invited me, gesturing towards the door to their living quarters. Nodding, I followed along, Silva plodding behind me, clearly not intending to leave me alone.

After sitting down on the couch, a strange feeling arose within me, the situation was so familiar, so similar to the talks we had after my lessons before, but also so very different.

“Would you like some tea?” she asked and I had to hold a giggle in, her manners hadn’t changed at all. The world had burned, and she was just the same. Shaking my head, I let out a sigh, before starting to tell her about my last couple of days.