"I'm telling Keiba I won't stand for it anymore."

Suna laid on their bed with their door closed, but even still, their mother's voice carried through the walls. She was so dramatic, Suna thought. Everything, always, was something to shout about.

"People could have gotten hurt. And that Slayer! Talking to Suna—"

"I know," their father said in a placating voice. "It's really ridiculous."

Suna rolled their eyes. Nothing bad had actually happened. Yes, people got scared, but no one, as far as they could tell, had actually gotten hurt. Keiba had come to check on everyone when she heard the commotion in the courtyard. Even between everyone shouting at her about the Slayer, she made sure all the women and children were unharmed. She wouldn't have let anyone leave injured.

In fact, she and Zale cleared out the men's baths as well, just to be safe. As Suna's parents ushered them out of the courtyard, all they could think was that the baths would be empty all night.

"They don't even belong here," their mother carried on. "You know they're just some...arm of Nacireman self-interest. Keiba should see that."

Suna rolled onto their belly, trying to tune out their mother's voice. Everyone always insisted that the Slayers just traveled to different locations to set up some kind of hub of power, with no regard for the locals or their customs — but Suna didn't understand how anyone could even be sure of that. No one ever left the village. All those stories were basically hearsay.

Still, the women had been so upset about those stupid fire lizards that Keiba shut everything down to let the Slayers finish their work without exposing anyone to the danger of further mishaps. It was all so stupid, in Suna's opinion. No one ever stopped to actually think about anything, they just hated the Slayers and wanted them gone. Even the slightest excuse for outrage was enough for them to insist on that, regardless of whether or not anyone had been in real danger.

They rolled onto their belly, feeling sorry for Keiba. It wasn't even her fault about the lizards, and yet Suna felt like she was getting punished by proxy. It made them so mad.

They thought about her shop full of curiosities, which felt like the only good place in the whole village. At least there weren't books that only men or women could read, unlike everything else in the village. Suna's mood soured even further as their thoughts drifted to the Black Susans, and the Dusting force, and the stupid separated baths, where everyone acted like the world would end if the wrong person went to the wrong side of the path.

At home, we all bathe together, the Slayer girl had said. Guys, girls, whatever.

Suna thought again about the empty baths. Surely the Slayers were done working by now. And probably Keiba and Zale would just be in the shop, not in the baths proper. Right now, it seemed suddenly, was probably the best chance they'd have at all to see the men's baths.

If they could get out of the house without their parents noticing.

As quietly as they could, they stepped out of bed and tiptoed to their bedroom window. Outside, the sun sank towards the horizon, and Suna tugged the window itself open to lean over the sill. Their mother threatened, once, to put actual bars on the windows because Suna kept sneaking out.

She never followed through with that, though. In this particular moment, Suna hoisted themself, carefully, over the sill of the window and crouched there, the band of wood digging hard into the soles of their feet. Gingerly, they stepped out onto the low, thatched roofing that extended into eaves overhanging the door to their home. They had to be careful now; the roof slanted and they didn't want to trip.

It took a little bit of strength to creep to the edge of the eave and grip on, dangling themself down as far as they could before dropping to the ground. It wasn't a far fall, but still, the impact stung their feet. They winced a tiny bit and then rallied. It was time to go.

The sun vanished below the high walls of the city, the sky purpling and stars twinkling to life as they walked. The windows of other homes glowed to life as people gathered for dinner in their kitchens. The streets were mostly empty, but still — Suna stuck to smaller alleys and narrow passages between buildings to avoid being seen. This way was more like traveling through a rabbit warren, but Suna made their way with confidence. It was a thrill to carry this map of the village in their heart that no one else knew. On the rare occasion they got turned around, they glance up at the sky.

Some number of months ago, they'd read about seafarers who navigated by the stars. They asked Keiba about it, but it was actually Zale who explained how it worked, sketching out the logic on one particularly worn starmap. Suna had sneaked out of their room many nights after just to practice orienting themselves around the village using only the stars as their guide. It was freeing in a way they hadn't expected — suddenly, they found, they could get wherever they wanted without getting lost. Or, wherever they wanted in the village at least. And maybe on all of Tephra, if they managed that one day.

Their feet made soft sounds over the cobblestone streets. In time, they made it to the inn and its entrance to the hot springs. A string of small, hanging lights illuminated the path to the courtyard, but otherwise everything was quiet. Steam flowed down the path, curling around their ankles as they approached the courtyard. Strange, Suna thought. Steam almost never came out of the baths like this, in this billowing quantity.

Once they reached the courtyard, the steam thickened, hanging like a diaphanous white haze in the air. Through the misty curls of vapour, they glimpsed the door to the gift shop. A glowing arch, leading into the shop itself. Silhouettes of people moved around inside. Keiba and Zale, probably, Suna thought, as they edged further into the courtyard—

Except then the sound of a low conversation drifted out of the doorway, and it definitely wasn't Zale or Keiba's voices. Suna's heart jumped a little with surprise.

"Trent, are you serious?" a voice hissed.

Suna scrambled over the stone floor of the courtyard to duck behind the cubbies and the racks of robes by the door, trying to hear better. 

Inside, another voice answered that Suna could hear less well. Not that it mattered; no sooner had the other person spoken than a tremor rattled the ground beneath their feet. Suna stumbled a little, almost falling into the wall of the shop. When the quaking stopped, they crouched in the shadows, straining to hear. 

The two voices whispered to each other, too quiet for Suna to really grasp their words. They crawled a tiny bit closer to the door, keeping tight to the shadows. Just when they were sure they'd be close enough to hear, a second, more violent quake rumbled through the earth. Suna nearly fell on their face, their arms shaking. Inside, there was a loud clap, like someone had dropped something.

As soon as the small quake passed, they tucked themself tight against the wall, hugging their knees to their chest. The whispers started up again, and Suna, desperate to hear, made sense of the last few words.

"We'll pay for this later."

Footsteps approached the door. Suna ducked back into the deeper shadows, holding as still as they could, and waiting, their shoulders tense with curiosity, for the strangers to pass.