Verana found herself trekking through the wild on foot for weeks with the Feysha on a trip that would have taken her just over a day if she had merely flown. While they trekked, the winter slowly warmed and the world came alive again, turning towards spring. She watched the skies   carefully now, uncertain about what else could be up there with her and she only flew to stretch her wings at the beginning and end of each day.  She found herself spooked by the concept of not being alone up there. As quickly as her confidence in the sky had built, it had been dashed from the run in with those strange men who called themselves Vayans.

One of them had been her brother apparently. And as far as she could fathom, her father had fallen in love with a Queen who had wanted nothing to do with a half breed child.  Not that Sencha had elaborated much past explaining who Vasha had been and how it had come to be. Whenever Verana had tried to bring up the subject through the journey south, Sencha had looked so pained that her words had died in her throat.

Verana forced herself to push those thoughts out of her mind, along with as much of the fear of the skies as she could.  Sencha had taken to asking her to spar every evening when she returned from her brief flight and she would accept. She was grateful for the chance to fall back into the role of pupil, relearning how to fight, even as they both tried to figure out how she could use her wings to move, as she described what she remembered of those five being able to do. 

They had Shaktay's southern mountains without  Verana realizing it, until her friend appeared through the trees during one of her many sparring sessions, which were going about as well as anyone could expect. She could practice balance and small moves based off her memories and Sencha's understanding but both of them knew that compared to how those Vayans had moved through the air, she was a novice and would remain so without a winged teacher to help her move forward.

"There have been a great many outsider's ships sailing to the island." He said thoughtfully, giving her a look, offering his own greeting. "Glad to see you didn't die somewhere alone in the mountains."

"I asked her to stay with me, Shaktay." Sencha said easily, offering a shrug. "Its a hard thing, knowing that I can no longer keep up."

"We'll be on the edge of the Wild  closest to the palace by tomorrow afternoon." Shaktay offered,  giving Verana a once over. "Fighting is hard again, is it?"

She sighed and sheathed her blades, nodding to him. "I feel like a child, all over again."

Shaktay nodded at that, watching her for a long moment before offering her a grin. "All the more reason for more practice."

And with that, he took over from Sencha for the evening, drilling her, forcing her to adapt her movements, as Sencha watched and provided his insights,. They didn't stop until she was too exhausted to hold her wings open at all.

It was dark by the time they returned to the main part of their camp, where Shaktay's patrol had mingled with Sencha's. Food was already being cooked and Verana sat down tiredly against the trunk of a tree a fair distance away from the others, letting her wings hang open as she felt the power of the earth begin to soothe her exhaustion and muscle pain.

Shaktay wandered over to her, taking no heed to her wings and sitting down beside her, leaning his shoulder against hers as he handed her a plate of supper. He paused for a moment, turning to regard the large expanse of her new limb, one hand reaching out to run over the multi-coloured skin as he chewed his own food. When she laughed at the tickling sensation he caused, Shaktay merely grinned and glanced over to her. "So. Tell me about these Vayans. How do we kill giant flying humans?"

Verana snorted and rolled her eyes. "They're a bit more than that. Not as fast as we are on the ground, but they're stronger...."

Shaktay shrugged. "So that is why you are stronger than most Feysha. And they're dumb?"

"I don't know if they're dumb." Verana shook her head slowly, mulling over her answer as she had a few bites of the stew. "But they're arrogant. They seemed very surprised that I wasn't listening to them."

"Do you think they are like humans, where the women are... less?" Shaktay murmured, frowning ever so slightly.

"No." Sencha answered, moving to sit down across from them. "Vayans don't believe in that. They have female warriors, they have a Queen. But they are protective of their kind. More so their families. They expected Verana to listen because her bother is the Heir to the throne and they were his... cadre, I suppose."

Shaktay frowned in thought, before nodding.

"They called me Rulin, or were surprised when I was not one." Verana whispered into the following silence, raising a curious brow. "What is a Rulin?"

Sencha shook his head slowly, frowning. "I don't know. I have never seen one. They have been enemies of the Vayans for as long as Clairval has been around. And apparently my father killed two of them, protecting your grandmother, long ago. It is their graves that I attend every year."

Shaktay frowned. "And these Rulin?"

"Verana's mother only spoke of them a few times. According to her, they are a dark, violent race of people. Their king is a brutal man and they are extremely dangerous. They are faster, stronger, than Vayans. And..." Sencha lifted his eyes to glance toward Verana. "With your wings, perhaps even without them, they would kill you on sight for being even part Vayan.  No questions asked. There's no peace to be had between them, not if we are in any way allied with the Vayans."

Verana frowned softly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Surely it is not that simple, good and evil."

Sencha gave her a shrug and looked down to his food, Shaktay offering her a careful look. "Evil depends on who is telling the story. But if they see you as evil because of your wings, they are enemy, Verana."

"I do not feel that, not in my heart." She shook her head slowly and glanced up at the canopy of trees above them. " But we have not seen them here before. Is it coincidence that I met my brother a few weeks ago? Or is there more happening over there that will send them this way, like the men in the boats?"

Shaktay inclined his head. "I believe more of them arrived in the human capital. More of the same boats. More of our people."

Verana frowned, glancing his way once more. "Then it is time I go find my friends."

Sencha sighed softly and looked up to her. "Eat. Rest. This is a long war we will fight, I feel."

She could feel the pull of her Path, talking about those strange winged people from a far away land. As if they called her, as if that was where she needed to go. But there was a thrumming, twisting urgency within her heart when she thought of those boats. That was the first step she must take.