As she, Cynth, and Damon disembarked the human ship and made their way through the rolling hills of Altno — Damon glowering unflinchingly at Cynth, and Cynth staring stubbornly back at Damon — Will, the new one-stuck-in-the-middle, had a sudden appreciation for Cybele Valloma.

Which was a thought she immediately regretted having. Because something in her just hurt at the girl's name on her mind, even as she walked with the others through tree-dotted meadows and tried to ignore their clear mutual hatred. The idea of Cybele alone made her heart twist violently, anxiety kicking in overtime and questions crowding her insides. Who had she even been working for? Where was she now?

Why had she left her?

Will took a deep breath of clean cool air, slowly threading her fingers through the hair that covered her gills and trying to remain calm. This wasn't going to help anything. Cybele had never been trustworthy, and now that was Cynth's problem just as much as hers. Which should have felt good.

(And if she had kissed Will and not Cynth, who was to say that was for any reason more than convenience? If the situation were reversed maybe she would have kissed Cynth to save her too. Just the thought made Will's stomach clench, but she had no idea what the human would have done. She didn't. Know. Her.)

"Finally!" Cynth muttered, and Will blinked out of her thoughts. They'd only been walking a few minutes, but this was the first building they'd seen outside of the one or two private residences dotting the somewhat-paved road. It seemed to be some sort of business-front — small and wooden, yellow paint peeling, with brochures, posters, and advertisements stacked on top of one another and lining the large glass window in front. ALMOONS FESTIVAL, the biggest one said, with a design of moons on its corner. Around it, Will spotted an advertisement for the Regional Altno Faber Youth Choir, a phone list of local patria-owned businesses, and — this made her eyebrows shoot up, then chance a peek at Damon — a sign-up sheet for the Altno Vocares Organization. The Voc. Right there in plain sight. Above all of it, painted in crumbling letters at the top of the glass, read ALTNO TOURIST CENTER.

As if reading Will's thoughts, Cynth drawled, "Very welcoming."

Will squeezed her nails into her palms, the simple, sickening sound of Cynth's voice sending her throat thickening and heart rate quickening. "So, that's a we're-not-going-in?"

Cynth tilted her head to one side in mock thoughtfulness, before shooting Will the dirtiest of unnecessary glares. Her face looked even more severe than usual, the heavy makeup and dark hood she'd adopted in an identity-obscuring attempt lending her something of an unearned maturity. "Of course we're going in, Willa. Information is information." She glanced back at the tourist center, lip physically curling. "Even hibri information."

Cynth Leeyung always said the word hibri like it was something foul in her mouth, rancid and rotten and repulsive. She spat the word like a curse, like a slash across the heart, like it left behind a carcass. She said it like she knew you were listening and couldn't care less. She said it like there was a maid behind her with a broom and a dustpan, so willing to clean up whatever mess she made that she didn't even try to be perfunctorily polite. She said it like her whole heart and soul had been poured into nothing but this one, unrelenting hatred. She said it like she meant it.

And Will didn't know how to tell her — didn't know when it had become this hard, didn't know when it had become this true — that she meant it too. In every little thing she said, she meant it. In every little second's worth of eye contact, she meant it. One day she wouldn't be the first to look away. She wouldn't look away at all.

One day, Will would backhand Cynth Leeyung across the mouth and tell her that hibri were real and radiant and ruthless. She would tell her that she grew up looking out at the swamp where the children splashed and shouted and called her names, and the names meant human because there was nothing worse, and so the children yelled out tide bringer and ingrata and shore-girl like they were curses, like they were venom, like they meant hibri. And they spat the words. And they spat them like there was no tomorrow. And the words and the children were raw and they were restless, because they knew that this was a world where they had no tomorrow. This was a world where no matter how much they clawed and scratched and fought, Cynth Leeyung would always turn out on top. And she wouldn't even care. And she wouldn't even say their name right. And maybe Will had been a girl on the shore but at least she knew there was more to the cage she'd been trapped in. At least she barreled her way into an escape.

Hibri were fierce and flighty and faithful and flesh, and blood and gill and scale and wing and wood and fur. Hibri went to festivals and joined youth choirs, started business and painted tourist centers. Hibri was more than a word and more than an insult and more than Cynth Leeyung would ever know.

That's what Will was thinking. But for now, all she did was smile and nod and wage a quiet war.

Still disdainful, Cynth took a step closer to the building — and changed, her whole demeanor shifting just the slightest bit. Her shoulders lowered, her posture loosened, her hands clasped together in nervous readiness.

"Come on," she said behind her, voice still cold.

And Will tasted it like acrid sulfur on her tongue. If Cynth Leeyung was going to speak civilly to hibri, she would do it on her own terms, with her own hidden weapons — literally and figuratively. It was better to be underestimated than to lose the advantage for simple shock value. Cynth Leeyung was on Altno, and no one could know.

But that all turned out irrelevant. Because the person behind the door wasn't a hibri.

Will stepped into the building behind Cynth, eyes hastening to adapt to its warm-toned, crowded interior. Along the wall, a huge poster of Altno had been propped up, "YOU ARE HERE" marker-drawn near one coast. Underneath, Will spotted typed-up facts: the national color (sage green), national animal (fanged bison), national patria (fabri), and national icon (Furyn Orlane, the caela country singer). Behind the desk sat a heavy middle-aged woman, reading a book. When she noticed the trio enter, she looked up annoyedly — and Will got her first good look at the woman's features. At first, she had assumed the woman was part-rana, like her; it was usually the most easily disguised patria, particularly in hibri. But the woman's face was as human as they came, and when Will glanced down at her fingers, they weren't webbed.

These combined observations would have made Will a blatant hypocrite, if she weren't already. What other hibri looked human in this general area? Her, obviously. And she'd already made a massive mistake back when she'd assumed Lusan's species.

Luckily, she didn't only have those clues to go by. In front of the woman sat a plaque — really, a printed-out notecard — and it read, letters bright on the plasticky, navy-blue surface: Anne Barrows, Altno Human Representative. Which made it official, in more than one way.

Next to Will, Cynth had stilled. Will took a shaky breath, imagining Cynth's mind was probably trying to bewilderedly sleuth out what in the moons was going on here. A human — a governmental representative, no less — who willingly let hibri advertise on her shop? Who at least somewhat endorsed phrases like local patria-owned businesses and hung up signs including the national patria? Will herself was startled, but not overly so; she'd heard, loosely, that things were different out of the heavily human-controlled Altiu. It was Selino's central continent, essential for trade, and the home of New Earth — places like woody Altno or mountainous Altarbae were far less crucial for human control. There were still human representatives in most places, like this Anne Barrows, but oftentimes other groups held power. Will would hasten a guess that Cynth had landed at the same conclusion, unless her shock at seeing hibri not expressly discriminated against had actually eclipsed her usual scheming.

Anne Barrows coughed, unamused by the three silent, staring strangers. "What do you want."

And that must have been enough to break Cynth out of her daze, because her next words were instantly sugary-sweet. "Hello! Miss Barrows? So nice to meet you! My companions and I just arrived here from Altiu — we could use any intel you have."

Anne stared back, unimpressed. Slowly, she pointed to her left, where a small display of papers leaned on the desk. "I got maps and I got brochures."

Cynth gritted her teeth and beamed, and Will quickly darted forward and grabbed a few maps/brochures. Might as well get something useful before the incoming condescension attack. She could feel Damon's eyes boring into her; she tried not to let it show.

And then Cynth laughed, just a tad too light and too long. "I'm sorry, I should've started with an introduction. My name is — " Will drew in a breath " — Phori Rook, I'm looking to gain an outreach to human children. Do you know of any properties I could make my base?"

Anne glanced back down at her book, then up again. "Sorry, what is it you're doing?"

Cynth loosed an exasperated sigh. "Educating children, Miss Barrows, on self-defense and the danger of patrias — an education it seems they've been missing out on."

Will winced, but Anne Barrows just raised an eyebrow. "Mm. Uppity." Her voice had the slight tang of a rural accent, the kind mostly native to Western Selino. "You won't want the Voc to hear you talking like that."

Now Cynth smiled with her teeth. "The Voc! Of course. So they have... outreach in these parts?"

Her judgment in the word outreach was clear, but the older woman reacted with nothing more than a dry chuckle. "'Outreach.' They're in charge, honey. And don't get me wrong, I don't mind the patrias — I love a good faber man myself — but those Voc hibri are too much. Patrolling the whole country, spying like they do."

So the rumors really were true — out here, patrias made the rules. Just the thought set Will's heart pumping, though she wasn't sure whether it was with exhilaration or terror. Hibri made the rules — but she wasn't a hibri anymore. Not in others' eyes, at least. This Voc could just as soon be her killer as her savior.

"Ah," Cynth said, voice still light. "And where, exactly, is this Voc located?" A small pause. "So I can avoid it, of course." Will got the distinct sense that Cynth knew Anne Barrows wasn't worth anything, and that she was flaunting it. Unwise.

"South coast," Anne said, gesturing again to the maps; Will's hold on her new stash tightened. Then the human's eyes returned, once and for all, to her book: a clear dismissal.

Cynth simpered. "Thank you ever so much for your help! I'll be sure to avoid that area!" Turning on her heel, she swung through the door and left the little shop behind — Will and Damon just behind her.

Once they were safely outdoors, Cynth exploded. "The nerve of that woman," she practically spat. "Hibri fucker!" Her eyes darted around, landing on Damon. "I bet you liked that, didn't you, rebel? The Voc?" She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. Will had a feeling the lack of immediate control was what had her riled up — now that she was wanted for several different crimes (and, presumably, by her parents as well) she couldn't just go around flaunting her Leeyung status. But this left her with a lack of power, something she wasn't remotely used to.

"Where are we... going?" Will asked, hoping her tone was neutral enough.

"Where do you think?" Cynth replied, tone darkly savage. "This place is full of animals. We're going straight to the center of the zoo."

So once again, Will was following Cynth toward a questionable and most certainly problematic fate, this time at a rebel base the three were most certainly not prepared for.

Oddly enough, she thought she was getting used to it.

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