Alén and Naaro were in a huffy silence over the next several days. Not towards any of the others, though, just Kaas. Naaro was back at Aaska's side, chattering, laughing, and making jokes at his expense. That was typical of them, but these felt a bit more mean-spirited than usual, especially as both Aaska and Naaro would flash him the occasional dirty look.

His initial thought was to beat the contempt out of them, but he wanted to be back in their good graces, so he restrained himself and took their slights on the chin. Knowing the twins, they would forgive him soon enough. Their attention span was short and would move their ire to a new target if it somehow remained for that long.

Kaas was not worried about those two. No, it was Alén he feared losing trust with. She maintained her usual silence and obeyed orders regarding training and lookout duty well enough, but there felt like there was a wall between them now. He had a hard time reading her mood. And she refused to make eye contact with him.

With each day that passed, he felt his mood increasingly sour. Should he say something? What was there even to say? A part of him wanted to let Alén have her temper tantrum. But another part of him longed for her to look at him for guidance and comfort as before.

Tykus and Ludd were no help.

"You want my advice, Kaas?" said Ludd, grinning down at Kaas as he sat on a tree branch that Tykus had helped him climb.

Kaas folded his arms and glared at him. "Did I ask for advice?"

Ludd's smile faded, "Well, no, but I thought you could use some, seeing as how you look so lost."

He was taken aback by that. He, Kaas, lost? What utter nonsense. He had half a mind to knock the boy out of the tree for that.

Tykus, who was not far off, sensed Kaas's anger. "Don't speak to him like that, Ludd." He smirked at Kaas. "You want me to teach him a lesson in respect?" He smacked his fist into his palm.

There was no fear from Ludd at the threat. Tykus had no intention of hurting the little guy. Kaas suspected that he was just trying to make him feel better. Rather unusual, but Kaas was not in the mood for brownnosing. However, he was interested in what Ludd had to say.

"What makes you think I'm lost?"

Ludd didn't answer immediately. Instead, he raised his eyes to the countless fan-shaped leaves and plucked a few from their branches. "Yeah, so, I know haven't been with you as long as the others, but what I do know is that you like to recruit Ahngreel you see potential in."

"You are correct," said Kaas. Where was the boy going with this?

"But—and I might be going too far in saying this, so you can have Tykus kill me if you want—I think it's more than that. I think you see more than just potential in us." Ludd held up the leaves. Five of them. "These leaves are fragile and delicate, but they eat sunlight and feed it to the main tree. They strengthen it. And, as I understand it, without them, the tree withers and dies. But I've read in one of those books you gave us that there's a time in Earth nature when all the tree's leaves die."

He let go of the leaves so that they fluttered to the ground. Instinctively, Kaas caught them all. For whatever reason, that made Ludd smile. "To survive something called Winter, the tree allows all of its leaves to die and fall from its branches. And, so, the tree withers and dies, but get this, it's only temporary because later, it grows its leaves again and comes back to life. Just like an Ahngreel? Isn't that cool?"

"Are you comparing Ahngreel to trees? Do you think we're plants?"

"No. I just thought—"

"Get to the point."

Ludd exchanged a look with Tykus, then sighed. "I guess I'm saying that, sure, the tree can survive without its leaves, but it prefers to have them because they give it strength. They give it life and energy. The tree doesn't exactly need the leaves—at least most of them—but the leaves sure do need the tree."

"I see…" Kaas did not see, but if it would get Ludd to stop talking, then he would let him think his metaphor succeeded. Ludd really was too smart for his own good. He should apply his mind to battle, not trivial fancies, such as trees.

Tykus was on his side as he shook his head, "I dunno what Ludd's on about—though I'm sure it's good advice. But if you want my advice, old man, just show her who's boss. A good beating, that's what she needs. It worked on me whenever I stepped out of line."

Kaas rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, forgive me if I don't jump at the chance. Alén's a bit more—" He cut himself off.

Tykus and Ludd exchanged another glance. "More what, old man?" said Tykus.

Even Kaas wasn't sure how that sentence would have ended. What was Alén? He shook himself again and found a new ending. "She's not like you. Alén needs words, not fists."

"Whatever you say." Tykus crossed his arms as Kaas walked off.

Before he could get out of earshot, he heard Ludd whisper, "You know what? I don't think he got my metaphor." He sounded disappointed.

Tykus's reply was flat, "I gotta be honest. Neither did I, buddy. Neither did I. You've gotta work on your delivery."

"You think? I thought I was—"

By the time Kaas reached the canal, the babbling of the water had drowned out theirs. For a moment, Kaas stared down at his own reflection, distorted by the churning current. Did he really look lost?

A scuffling sound from the bridge made him look up. The twins were spying on the human, and he had thought Alén had gone with them to avoid him. But there she was, sitting under the bridge, hugging her knees as she, too, stared into the water.

Kaas's first instinct was to turn back the other way, but as he watched her glum expression, he found himself splashing his way toward her.

She looked up, and her mouth tightened as she began to stand. To turn away from him again.

"No, wait," Kaas held out a hand for her to stop. He was shocked by his own tone. It was not an order but a plea.

But Alén did not stop. She turned from him and began to run away.

"Please, Alén. Come back." His rational mind told him to let her go and that she would be back, but again he felt his feet move on their own as he gave chase.

She did not get far before Kaas succeeded in catching up to her. He grabbed his wrist, which she promptly yanked out of his grasp, and sank a fist into his face. Kaas staggered back, more hurt than injured, as Alén continued to run from him, out of the water and up the grassy slope.

If she thought Kaas would give up after that, Alén had another thing coming. His initial shock had been replaced by anger. She had the gall to hit her master! When he got his hands on her…!

With a renewed vigor, Kaas raced after his insubordinate soldier, determined to pay her back tenfold—no, a hundredfold! He'd deal with her the Ahngreel way, just as Tykus had said. But no sooner had Kaas begun to chase Alén did he catch up to her.

She had stopped halfway up the slope for some inexplicable reason, eyes fixed ahead of her.

Kaas's fists were curled, ready to return the punch she had delivered to him, but then something at the top of the slope caught his eye. He and Alén were just tall enough to see over the hill, and what he saw made him stop too.

A human man was crouched on the path. Kaas's first thought was that they had been caught and that the human was merely crouched in fear at the sight of two Ahngreel. However, his eyes were fixed upon the ground on a second human, this one much smaller. It was crying as it wailed a strange word.

"Papa!"

The larger human did nothing to help except to whisper into his offspring's ear.

Kaas stared, though he did not know why. Something about the way the human refused to help the smaller one stirred his heart. Though the child cried and screamed that word several more times, it slowly began to push itself up with shaking arms. The man stood, smiling as he offered a hand, which the child took gladly.

Kaas could tell as the child stood that it did so by its own power, the hand acting only as a point of leverage. An act that stirred something within his heart.

The man exclaimed words of praise in his native tongue as he rested a hand on each of his child's soldiers. Kaas sensed the man's awareness of their presence long before his eyes moved so that as the man turned his head to look in their direction, he and Alén were crouched and hidden from view.

Kaas glanced down the slope as he feared that Tykus and Ludd were in view, but he breathed a sigh of relief to see that the tree the boy had been sitting in was now vacant.

After a few seconds, Kaas chanced a glance atop the slope and saw that the man and his child had begun to walk down the path, hand in hand. Kaas watched them go, lips pursed.

He felt Alén's eyes on him but refused to look at her.

"Come," he said curtly. She obeyed in silence as they stuttered their way down the grass. Kaas lead them back through the canal and under their bridge. He half expected Tykus and Ludd to be there, but Kaas saw that they were alone as the shadows fell over them and their footsteps echoed around them.

Then he rounded on Alén, face hard as stone. "That was reckless of you! We were this close to being discovered by that human. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Her eyes were downcast as her fingers began to pluck her bloody bandages. "…Sorry."

"After what you did—striking me? Do you think a simple apology will be enough?"

She shook her head. Her lips tightened. Kaas raised a hand, which made Alén flinch. She closed her eyes, ready for the blow. But it did not come.

Alén opened her eyes to see that Kaas remained frozen in place, hand raised. Images of the man uplifting his offspring flooded his mind. His entire arm shook as he willed it to lash Alén's cheek. She had done it to him. It was only right that he'd do it back. Yet Kaas found he could not. Now his lips spasmed as he gritted his teeth.

Alén's bangs fell away from her face and exposed the other eye they usually hid. Her eyes twitched left and right as if unsure of what was about to happen next. Kaas did not know either.

Why can't I do it?! She needed to learn who was in control here. And yet…and yet…

So many thoughts and feelings were suddenly filling his mind as he stared at Alén. At the little girl that he'd found lost in the darkness of the Zeroth. Alone. Rejected by the Ahngreel due to her scarlet blood. 

She was almost as tall as he, almost as wide. The years of hard training showed themselves in her toned arms and shoulders. This was not a helpless child. Her Talent surpassed all of them combined. But he could not help picturing himself upon that slope, urging her to stand by her own power.

And then, for the first time in his life, Kaas felt all fight leave his body as he rested his hand upon her shoulder. "I spoke rashly earlier. Er…you are a leaf. And I am a tree."

"…?" Her grunt was questioning as she looked between him and the hand on her shoulder.

He scratched his goatee with a finger. "The tree needs the leaves, but leaves don't need the tree. Or…wait, was it the other way around? I'm the tree…. I think, but I don't need the leaves, which provide me life from the sun, but not in Winter."

"…?"

"I don't know what Winter is either! Apparently, things die. Including leaves! But not the tree for some reason. But then it does and doesn't. I'm not sure anymore." Kaas released his growing frustration with a sigh as he placed his other hand on her remaining shoulder. I tried, Ludd. I tried. "Let me start over. We are not human. And we are not defined by human relationships. But that does not mean we cannot be more than soldier and master."

Alén's mouth tightened, "…What…does that mean?"

"I…don't know," said Kaas as he hung his head, "You, Tykus, Ludd, and the twins…you are all more than my soldiers. I cannot lie to myself any longer."

"You are…like that human. He was Papa… Father."

Kaas's head shot up so fast that he almost snapped his neck. "Do not compare me to a lowly human! We are nothing alike."

Alén's eyes again darted between the hands on her shoulders. He knew she was thinking of that human holding his offspring in a similar way. He pulled his hands from her like he was burned. Alén's ears drooped a mite as her eyes filled with sadness. Her bangs fell back and hid her eye once more.

Again, Kaas's heart twinged. There was a dull ache at the sight of her hurt. But he pushed past it. He needed her to understand. "I…know you're frustrated. You've been denied as an Ahngreel by many. They take one look at you, at the color of your blood, and label you as an abomination. Your blood may look like a human's, but you are not! You are Ahngreel! It's tempting to want a unit like theirs, but it is false."

Kaas hesitated for a moment before using his thumb to brush away her bangs. Not only did this reveal Alén's other eye once more, but it also exposed his mark; a red triangle that curved across her cheek and under the eye.

He let his finger trace the mark that he had colored himself. "This. This represents the bond we've forged. And it was not because you were born to me but because you earned it. This is real. It marks you as my soldier."

She pulled her face from his and let her hair fall back into place. "…what does that mean?" Her face took on a look of deep disgust. "What…do you want from me?"

Kaas could not even fathom what she meant by that. But what did he want from her? Why did the image of the man and his offspring come to mind?

She far outstripped him in power, but what little strength he had, he wanted to give to her. He wanted to see that smile again.

Kaas missed it more than he could describe. She used to smile at him so much more when she was young. Now, her face bore little emotion. And what was there had to be coaxed out of her.

She was looking at him now with that neutral expression of hers. Kaas struggled to find the words. "I'm…sorry. I've failed you. I cannot be what you want me to be."

She looked away from him to stare at the slope that could barely be seen from beneath the bridge. "…"

"But that does not mean we cannot be allies of sorts."

Her eyes returned to him, "…allies?"

"Yes! Ones who share a common goal. To take down the Hidaar! And enjoy each other's presence! All of us." Kaas was beginning to build enthusiasm. This was it! He was on the mark. Or at least he thought he was, but she was but a stone wall to his fervor as she just stared at him blankly.

"A-and don't worry. Our time will come. The Hidaar's blood will be back in the veins of an Ahngreel."

 That had not been the case for so long, even with the Hidaar before Darris. That filthy human! Though he was only Hidaar for 100 years, his stink still lingered in Sohaud long after death.

"…Mm." And with that grunt. Alén began to walk away.

Kaas deflated. He could sense the disappointment emanating from her. Or perhaps that was just his own. "Don't you worry, Alén. Your time will come, too."

She spared him a glance. "…?"

"Soon, I promise. With the Hidaar dead, you will go down in the annals of Ahngreel history as a powerful, long-lasting Equituum."

"Not with that level of recklessness," boomed Tykus, whose thumping footsteps preceded him. He stood on the other side of the bridge with the canal between them. His voice echoed as he added, "What happened?"

"I should ask the same thing," said Kaas. He noticed that Tykus was alone. "And where's Ludd?"

Tykus shrugged. "He's off somewhere. Said he had to do some thinking."

"That right?" Probably to go think of another metaphor or some such nonsense. "Why didn't you go with him?"

"Didn't think I need to," said Tykus as he folded his arms. "He can take care of himself. After all, he was the one who spotted that human in time, unlike someone." Tykus turned scornful eyes toward Alén. She shot back with a slight scowl.

"…!"

"Do not blame her." Kaas blocked Tykus's gaze as he stood between the two.

Tykus looked offended. "You're taking her side? After an idiotic stunt like that?"

"I provoked her; she acted in defense. That was all."

"She almost got us caught!"

"For which she will be duly punished."

He rounded on her, or at least he tried, but she was already walking away back up the slope. "How did she—?"

He was tempted to chase after her again but instead resigned himself to sigh and sit down. Leaning his back against the wall, Kaas looked up at Tykus, who still stood on the other side of the canal.

"What did I do wrong, Tykus?" His eyes turned to Alén, almost up the slope. Teenagers.

"I don't think it's her fault, old man." Tykus folded his arms.

"What, you think it's mine?"

"Who's to say?" said Tykus as he also leaned on the underside of the bridge, "But do you think you can build loyalty by beating your soldiers down?"

"Isn't that how it worked for you? And you've been with me from the beginning."

Tykus smirked at that, "Yeah, well, I'm a bit different from the others. An older generation and all that. Kids these days can't appreciate overwhelming authority."

Kaas scoffed, "That can't be why you're still around, can it? I can admit when I'm outclassed. And you outclass me in power like a sheer cliff."

"Yeah, I do. But I'm the kinda guy who sticks to what he started. You said you'd take me to the top, so I'm gonna hold you to that, no matter how long it takes."

Without another word, Tykus hopped across the canal and towered over Kaas for a moment before lowering himself to sit beside him.

Kaas smiled, "That so? Well, the others aren't as patient as you are. They long for results now. Especially Alén. But we're in no hurry. As long as that girl is alive, the Hidaar will be here."

Tykus hugged his knees and shrugged. "She's not the only one. Ludd's eager to prove himself to you. That's what the whole metaphor thing was about. But he also wants to prove his value as a fighter."

"I see." Kaas nodded slowly, "You can tell him that he already has my approval." Without him, they would not have made it this far. He was the one to give them the information about the tournament, the one who spied an opportunity. And it was his invisible blood that let them sneak through Sohaud undetected. "They all have value. I'm only recently learning that it's more than just their fighting. Aaska and Naaro keep everyone in good spirits. Ludd's insights and observations are second to none. You keep everyone in order but still see their strengths."

"Uh…" Tykus scratched his nose as he tried to cover the patches of brown that began to color his cheeks. "Where is this coming from?"

Kaas shrugged, "I guess I'm feeling sentimental. It's that Alén. She…" he shook his head. "She's a very strange girl."

"And I thought I was your favorite." Tykus's tone was harsh, but the grin plastered on his face said otherwise.

"I don't have a favorite!"

Tykus chuckled, "Sure, Kaas, sure."

"I don't! All of you are an equal asset to the team."

"Asset?" Tykus was silent for a moment. "Y'know, I think I'm starting to understand Ludd's metaphor. At least some of it."

Kaas did not respond. So, Tykus continued.

"You are the tree, stubbornly standing against the wind as all your leaves are blown away. And the rest that aren't are the ones that you let fall from your branches."

Tykus clapped Kaas on the shoulder and used him to push himself to his feet.

"You've only got a few leaves left, old man. And they might be the last ones you ever get. Don't let them fall."

And with that, he, too, walked away. And left Kaas alone with his thoughts.