"Grisha to the tent, now!"

General Berezovsky's voice shocks Thalia from her trance. She had been walking toward the Grisha tent and zoned out. Time to amend that. She lifts her head and spots Zaria across the grounds, the girl wiping her hands down on the inside of her purple Kefta and pushing back the wisps of her hair attempting to make way with the wind.

"Thalia!" She shouts, grinning. Thalia puts on a timid smile for her, and the two meet midway toward the tent. Zaria hooks her arm through Thalia's without a second thought, leading the two the rest of the way to the tent. "I cannot wait to be on this Skiff, by the way. I never thought I'd see the day where chancing death would be appealing, but if it means I can escape Kirigan and his never ending list of demands for a few days, I'll take it."

Thalia thinks that is rather sad. Kirigan has a tendency to overwork Zaria to the point where Thalia has found her knocked out at her desk in the Durast workshop. She can understand and sympathise with the fact that Zaria would be happy to get away for a day or two, even if it meant going through the Fold to receive it.

   "Corporalki over here!"

   Thalia breathes a sigh, breaking off from Zaria and going to stand with her fellow Corporalki. Vladislav raises an awkward hand in greeting. "Hello, Thalia."

   She nods in acknowledgement, "Vlad."

They hadn't been able to look one another in the eye since Thalia walked in on Vladislav and Hetty (his partner, lovely woman) doing. . . things at the Little Palace. It was entirely her own fault, really. She should've knocked first, but Thalia had been having such a bad day and didn't think twice before barging into the Heartrenders quarters. Neither Thalia, Vladislav or Hetty had discussed it since. Thalia had picked up a habit of knocking several times and loudly announcing her arrival before walking into any room, though. 

   "Right," Berezovsky booms, his voice projecting over the expanse of the tent. General Kirigan stood next to him in his black Kefta, his face as emotionless as it always is. "As you can see, General Kirigan has come to see you off today. We expect this trip to go off without a hitch, so I want all of you on your best behaviour and on guard at all times. I don't want to see I'm missing another Grisha when you return. Am I clear?"

   Silence.

Berezovsky clears his throat pointedly, looking around the room for someone to speak, "Am I clear?"

   "Clear, Sir," comes the unanimous echo.

   "Good to hear," Berezovsky huffs. He turns his eye to General Kirigan, eyebrow raised. "Anything you'd like to say to the troops, General?"

General Kirigan looks across the room, his gaze sending an involuntary shiver down Thalia's spine. He always had a way of sucking the air out of any room he entered. He terrified her. Finally, Kirigan spoke. "Safe travels."

As the Grisha file out of the room, Zaria finds Thalia again, looking perplexed and utterly offended. "'Safe travels,' is he having a laugh? I know you're risking your life, and I know that I sit about doing nothing but hand out order after order, but I'm here to wish you safe travels!"

Thalia snorts, "Sounds about right. I don't believe there is any use in complaining, though. It's not as if one day he'll suddenly wake up realising he sits around doing nothing at all and decide to help us out a bit. It's as likely we'll find a Sun Summoner as it is for that to happen."

   Zaria sighs wistfully, "Do not get my hopes up, Thalia. It will only end in heartbreak."

   "A girl can dream, Zar," Thalia protests, her boots clunking heavily against the Fabrikator wood of the Skiff as they board. They approach Nia Savel'ev, who is doing check in of the Grisha boarding. "Alright, Nia?"

Nia greets them with a tight smile, looking down to her board and scanning it for their names. She looks up to Zaria, frowning, "What's your surname, again?"

   "Petrova."

   "You aren't on. . ." Nia trails off, her pen leading the way down the list. She purses her lips, and Thalia feels a pit begin to form in her stomach at the impeding end of that sentence. Finally, Nia taps her pen against the paper with an triumphant smile. "Aha! Sorry, Zaria. Pesky things, these lists. I've no idea why they gave me this duty, I can barely string my name together on a good day."

   Zaria grins, "Take it as a compliment that they trust you enough to account for us all, Nia. Are we good to go?"

   "Good as gold." Nia confirms, glancing at Thalia when she doesn't move from her spot. "I've got you down already, Thalia. Don't worry."

Thalia nods silently, flashing Nia a smile, following after Zaria. She's still reeling from that brief moment of panic when she hears her name called. Thalia whips around to face the line of First Army soldiers boarding the ship, Mal with them. She flourishes her hand in a wave, before ushering Zaria away as the girl lets out a series of both excited and confused guffaws.

   "Who was that?!" Zaria demands in a shout, wholly ignoring Thalia's pleads for her to be silent. "Thalia, he was fit! Where and when did you meet him? Does he have a brother, maybe even a sister? You know me, I'm not fussy."

Thalia scoffs, "Fussy, no. Louder than Angie on Kvas night at the palace, yes. Can you lower your volume?"

   "Only when you clue me in on who that hunk calling your name back there was!"

   "For Saints sake, Zaria, please shut up."

Thalia leads Zaria to her post, leaning against a large hunk of the Skiff with a heavy sigh. How was it that her day kept gradually getting worse? What would happen now, would she get taken by a Volcra and be eaten for breakfast? By the way Zaria is looking as she awaits answers, Thalia finds she wouldn't mind that option so much.

Better to get it over and done with. "His name is Mal."

"Mal." Zaria tests the way the name feels on her tongue, her face lighting up with unbridled glee. "Mal. Mal, Mal, Mal. Mal Mal Mal Mal Mal. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Awfully short, though. Mal."

"We get it. His name is Mal," someone pitches in. Thalia is suddenly debating whether or not it would be a good idea to throw herself overboard in order to avoid this entire ordeal. Zoya is climbing onto her post, hands situated on the ladder to raise herself up and man the sails. "Gorgeous man. Can't say much for his taste, though. He'd rather talk to you than have a good time with me. It's a pity, really. I'd have taken him on the ride of his life."

   "Yup," Thalia forces out, flashing Zoya a thumbs up as she slowly backs away from the situation. "I'm sure you would have, Zoya. No doubt about it. I really need to be off—"

   "Hold on a moment, Thalia!" A hand reaches out and grabs her elbow, successfully halting her steps. Zaria is staring with a look of disbelief on her face, beaming. "Was he the one Zoya was talking about? Thalia Vassilieva, did you lie to me about a boy?" 

A forced laugh rises from Thalia's throat and she rips her arm free of Zaria's grip. She backs up faster this time, raising her wrist and checking the non-existent time on her non-existent watch. "Wow. Would you look at that, its time for me to go. See you on the other side!"

Just as she is safely out of Zaria's proximity, Nia shouts for everyone to take their places and Thalia does so efficiently. She stands beside Saskia, who has on her typical 'entering the Fold' stoic expression on. Across the ship, as one of the staff announce it is being closed up, Thalia can see Mal having a heated discussion with a girl who Thalia can only assume is his friend. She is wearing a cartographers uniform, and upon a quick look around the ship, Thalia discovers a group dressed in matching ones. Thalia hadn't heard any word on the cartography unit coming along, but she also is only ever informed of these things through other people, and she has been alone for most of the morning.

An Inferni who Thalia knows only as Natacha makes her way to the front of the crowd and begins giving the rundown that Thalia has heard more than enough times. Do not light a lantern. Do not make a sound. Darkness is good. Silence is safety.

   "Ready for launch!" Dima shouts, pulling a string and dislodging the sail. Zoya sends a gust of wind toward it and propells them further when the cue of approval comes from Natacha, and the ship sets off toward the Fold.

Thalia had once imagined she would get used to entering the Fold. That perhaps someday, she would not find herself riddled with anxiety as the ship neared the darkness. But how did one prepare herself for that? Thalia did not know how to combat the fear that came with sending yourself into the equivalent of a black hole on this very earth. To be enveloped by darkness, daring to so much as breathe and chance becoming Volcra food.

It reminds her of Fright Night back at home. The one night a year where children were allowed to run wild in the Vassilieva farm, and their family members would hide in different places and attempt to catch her and her brother. But Thalia was fast on her feet, and had never been caught.

Not yet.

With one final glance at the safety of the light outside, they are plunging into the dark.

   "Anything?" Natacha asks Saskia, in reference to the Volcra. They brought Heartrenders along to sense their heartbeats and give the troops a warning and grant them a small window to prepare themselves for shooting before they were attacked. It was a small advantage, but there was only so much they could do in a situation like this.

Saskia shakes her head, "Not yet."

As they tread deeper into the Fold, Thalia channels her energy into listening out for Volcra heartbeats near them. Nothing so far, but she cannot let her guard down. Letting your guard down while in the Fold is like giving up your life willingly.

She hears a click, and the small source of light they have goes out. Natacha taps at it frantically as the soldiers man their rifles, a clicking sound that made Thalia feel sick to her stomach following. The flick of a lighter echoes.

No.

Thalia's face drains of all colour as she catches sight of a cartographer holding a lantern. A lit lantern. Natacha begs for him to blow it out, but it is too late. The cartographer is lifted from the ship by a Volcra and disappears into the dark.

All hell breaks loose.

The lantern clatters to the ground, setting the floor of the ship ablaze. The light draws more Volcra in, and Thalia finds herself searching the ship desperately for Zaria. She finds the Durast firing off shot after shot from her rifle, and relaxes ever so slightly. But the gun drops to the ground not a moment later.

A Volcra seizes Zaria by digging its claws into her shoulders, soaring upwards from the ship. A scream rips free from Thalia's throat, and before she can comprehend what is happening, she is blinded by a burst of light, and Zaria's body drops limply to the floor.