(Content warning: This chapter contains depictions of violence, gore, and sexual harassment that some may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised.)

“THIEF!”

The girl in pink looked back in shock at having been found out, and darted through the crowd. Harton bolted after the girl, causing several shouts of surprise as he dove through the sea of people. Roquewei, too, immediately sprang to action, closely following behind the Dlam. 

Sofia started to follow when she felt a hand grip her arm.

“Sofia, what’s going on? What happened?” Erae asked, visibly worried.

“Sh-she took my pack! She took my pack!” 

Erae looked up to see Roquewei rushing through the market. “Let Roquewei handle it. There are too many people here, I don’t want us to get separated. Stay with me.”

Sofia wasn’t listening. She was going through a mental checklist of everything in the pack. 

Our Lyfayan clothes. My sweater. What else? Sofia thought frantically. A couple of trinkets. Maybe some snacks…

Sofia’s eyes flung open. The earrings! She has my earrings!!

In a panic, Sofia broke free from Erae’s grip and started running after the others. 

“Sofia, wait!” Erae cried out. Strapping his new bag on his back, Erae hurried after her. 

Roquewei’s elven shoes lay forgotten on the ground in front of the shop. The owner, tutting at the situation, moved his attention to other customers.

A man in white with an orange turban and shawl walked up to the shop, and noticed the shoes on the ground. Picking them up, he inspected them, intrigued at the style and make. The man looked in the direction where the foreigners had run, and with a curious brow placed the shoes in a bag before continuing his way through the marketplace.

Harton had followed the thief to the main road between the market entrance and the stairs of the Jama Masjid gate. However, he soon lost sight of her in the smog amid the cars, motorcycles, rickshaws, and never ending flow of people. Even if he had caught the girl’s scent, the amount of smells enshrouding him would have prevented his being able to pinpoint her location. 

Constantly dodging vehicles, the Dlam kept running despite being noseblind. I have to get Sofia’s bag back!

A brief scent of Lyfay caught his attention. That must be it!

Without hesitation, Harton dashed down an alleyway in hopes of cutting off the thief at the next intersection. Instead, the Dlam found himself coming to a reeling stop.

A pack of six, scrawny stray dogs were rummaging through some trash and came to nervous attention upon his appearance. 

“Allow me to pass, please” the Dlam said, looking around warily

The smog around them seemed to darken. The leader of the pack, though much smaller than Harton, glared at him with menacing eyes and emitted a deep warning growl. Slowly, the others began to create a circle around the Dlam.

“I don’t want to fight,” said Harton, becoming annoyed at the hold up. “Just let me pass.”

One of the dogs behind Harton lunged and sank his teeth into the Dlam’s hind leg. Yowling in rage, Harton whirled around and raked his claws into his attacker’s side. Immediately, the stray released its grip.

The others jumped Harton as well, but after a short tussle he broke free and dashed out the alley the way he had come. Back on the street, Harton attempted to use the unpredictable traffic to lose his attackers. His leg burned with pain, but kept on running.

People and traffic parted like water in an attempt to rush out of the way of the dogs. Some of the pursuers disappeared, but the strays were still hot on Harton’s tail. 

The Dlam turned down another alley, knocking over trash and other items as he went. Suddenly, he felt himself knocked to the ground. The leader of the pack had somehow made it to the roof of a nearby building and jumped down on top of Harton. 

The two grappled, rolling around in the dirt until Harton landed a swipe at the leader’s eye. The dog yelped in pain and stepped back, but did not run away.

Winded and bleeding, Harton pulled himself back on his feet to face the leader. Other members of the pack soon appeared, flanking and once again cornering the Dlam. 

Even with his size, Harton knew he was at a disadvantage. His nose and lips began to curl into a ferocious snarl, and his hackles stood on end. Eyes wide and angry, Harton licked his lips nervously. 

Sorry Sofia, he thought to himself. I might not be able to keep my promise…

Teeth bared, he lunged for the leader.

Sofia came to an abrupt halt. She clutched the fabric at her heart, pounding from all the running. What… what is this feeling?

Looking around, Sofia realized that she had no idea where she was. She had run out of the market, past the Jama Masjid, and off road into a wooded area next to the main highway the group had crossed earlier. The crowd had thinned out significantly, but there were still a great number of pedestrians and vehicles.

She had lost sight of the girl in pink a while ago, but somehow had always managed, even through the smog, to catch sight of Roquewei’s long, blue hair. His being nearly a head taller than anyone else certainly helped. Now she had lost sight of him, too.

Suddenly, despite being surrounded by people, she felt very alone.

Panic began to seep in as she realized she had nothing to help herself. No phone, no money, not even the earrings. What am I going to do?

Breathing through her mask had already been difficult while running, but now it felt restrictive as she attempted to prevent herself from having an anxiety attack. She pulled at the mask, but instantly regretted it as she fought back a coughing fit. Replacing the mask, Sofia regulated her breathing and decided that rather than stay put, she should keep walking in the direction she thought she had last seen Roquewei. 

The ringing of a manual rickshaw careened past her. A flash of pink caught her eye. 

“Hey, stop!” Sofia cried out. 

The young woman in the carriage looked back in shock and urged the man driving the rickshaw to move faster. 

Sofia flagged down another rickshaw and pointed. “Follow them!”

The thief’s rickshaw was moving quickly, but Sofia’s kept pace. Soon they arrived at what seemed like a mass transit center. The young woman in pink jumped out of the rickshaw without paying her driver and ran into the station.

Sofia, not wanting to lose sight of her again, ripped off the bangles from her wrist and handed them to her driver. 

“That's all I have, sorry!” 

The crowd of people once again began to grow. Sofia struggled to keep an eye on the culprit, who still clearly had her pack. Down the stairs and through white and dark orange hallways, the two women wove past people on their way home from work.

The young woman in pink, seeing Sofia gain on her, pushed even harder through the crowd, running through the security checkpoint and jumping over the turnstile to reach the platform. Sofia followed suit, causing a murmur in the crowd. 

On the platform was a modern looking silver metro train with a violet stripe. A train was leaving as Sofia came to the platform and she was worried she had lost the thief. To her surprise, she was able to glimpse the young woman in pink some distance ahead of her.

Another train soon arrived, as did security guards. The girl in pink hurried into one of the first cars. Sofia, not wanting to be detained, pushed her way through and just barely made it into one of the metro cars before the doors began to close. 

Sofia was squished right by the door to the car due to all the people, with barely any room to breath. There weren’t many places to hold on to, so Sofia reached up to grip the top of an available bar. 

Nothing could have prepared her for what happened next. 

As the train began to move, Sofia suddenly felt hands touching her everywhere. There were hands on her face, her neck, her arms, her chest, her stomach, her thighs. They were petting her, fondling her, searching her, groping her...

In shock, Sofia froze, unable to move or retaliate. She couldn’t see where the hands were coming from - they seemed like they were coming from everywhere!

When a hand reached in between her legs, she snapped out of her catatonic state. Slapping the hand away, she closed her eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs.

Refusing to open her eyes, she heard a commotion around her and felt as if she suddenly had more space. Then a body pressed in close against her again, and tears filled her eyes as she expected the worse. 

“Hey, are you ok?” a familiar voice asked.

Cautiously looking up, Sofia found a tall, ruddy skinned man looking down on her from over a face mask. He was wearing the same yellow and white kurta pajama as Roquewei, but he looked different. His eyes were hazel, his ears rounded, and his hair...

Wait… Sofia’s eyes opened wide in realization. His hair is black!

Panicking, Sofia frantically grasped at Roquewei’s chest, searching for his leigheas pendant. 

“H-hey!” the “new” Roquewei stammered. Gripping firmly but gently, his thumbs against her palms, Roquewei pushed Sofia’s hands away. “What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Sofia didn’t answer immediately. Her tear filled eyes kept moving across his face, as if trying to convince herself of what she was really seeing. 

“Y-your h-hair…” she eventually muttered. 

“What?” Roquewei asked, not quite hearing her. 

The train stopped at its next station and the doors flung open. A stream of people poured out, almost pushing Sofia and Roquewei with them. Roquewei gripped the bar by the door and pushed Sofia against the wall, shielding her with his body. 

More people came on to the train, entirely filling the space that had been vacated. Roquewei peered out the door through the crowd until the car door shut. Turning back, he saw Sofia’s upturned face studying his. He was glad for the mask that covered the color rising in his cheeks.

“Your hair is… is black,” she said, with a little less tremor in her voice. 

Coughing lightly, Roquewei realized that she was seeing him camouflaged for the first time. “I see… I guess the Lyfayan energy has worn off.”

Sofia reached for the pendant again. “Let me hold your necklace!”

“Why?” he asked, still holding her back.

Tears welled up for a second time in Sofia’s eyes. “I was able to follow you because your hair stood out. When I couldn’t see you anymore I figured as long as I looked out for your hair, I’d be ok. But now…”

“We can’t risk having my pendant visible and emitting energy,” Roquewei said. “We can’t risk it being stolen. How would we find a way back to Lyfay?

Not really listening, Sofia continued to spiral. “You look so different… Your hair, your ears, even your eyes! I-if you hadn’t said anything I wouldn’t have recognized you! Wh-what happens if we get separated again?”

Roquewei let go of her hands and held her shoulders. 

“I will find you,” he promised. Sofia looked at him in surprise. The sincerity of his tone grounded her, and her breath began to calm.

Roquewei, surprised at himself, dropped his hands as the train stopped at another station. The crowd pushed against them again, almost pushing Roquewei out the door. He looked back to see terror in Sofia’s eyes, and also a wandering, unknown hand reaching out to touch her.

He forced his way back into the car and shoved the man back into the metro car. 

[“Keep your hands to yourself!”] Roquewei shouted loud enough for many on the platform to hear. The man, embarrassed at the unwanted attention, slinked away into another part of the car. 

In the corner of his eye, Roquewei noticed the young woman in pink weaving through the crowds. Grabbing Sofia’s hand, Roquewei forced his way through the crowd to follow the thief. The young woman made it to a different platform and entered another metro car of a train lined in yellow.

“Come on!” he said as he tugged Sofia’s hand. They made it onto the same train just before the doors shut. 

This train was less full than the previous one, but Roquewei was still wary. Coughing again, he scanned the interior of the metro car. He then realized he was still holding Sofia’s hand.

“S-sorry,” he said, as he dropped it. He faced the rest of the train, using his body once again to shield her from the crowd.

To Roquewei’s surprise, Sofia grabbed his clothing and turned him, burying her face into his chest. Taken aback, Roquewei gripped the bar by the door for balance. Eventually, hesitantly, he wrapped his other arm around Sofia’s trembling shoulders.

They stayed this way for a while in silence. After passing several stations, Sofia finally calmed down and stood up straight, creating space between them.

“Thank you, Roquewei,” she said softly. He slowly dropped his arm from her shoulders. “Do you think we’ll be able to get my bag back?”

“Well,” Roquewei responded in a matching tone, “I’m a decent tracker. I… I don’t want to promise anything, but… I’ll do my best.”

“We’ll do our best,” Sofia corrected. Roquewei looked into her determined eyes for a moment before nodding.

“We. What is in there that you’re so desperate to have back, anyway?” Roquewei asked.

Sofia averted her gaze. 

“If you’re worried about our clothes, we can can get another set once we return to Lyfay,” Roquewei assured her. 

“It’s not the clothes I’m worried about, although I do feel bad about them. It’s something more… precious. There’d be no way to replace it.”

She lifted her face to meet his eyes. “It was a gift. I-I don’t want to lose it… I can’t… I have to find it.”

Roquewei’s eyebrows rose in curiosity. A gift? She can’t mean the bag itself. What else has she been carrying around? Something from Erae?

He watched as she turned her face to look out the door as the train came to stop at another station. Could it… have something to do with what happened at the last gate?

A voice came over the speakers announcing the name of the station: “Jahangirpun.”

The amount of people exiting the train had dwindled as the journey went on. By this time, only a handful of people disembarking and moving through the platform. That meant when the young woman in pink appeared and headed for the station exit, Sofia was able to spot her easily.

“Roquewei, there she is!” Sofia started to make a run for it, but Roquewei held her back.

“I think there’s a better way.” He led her off the train and then quickly, but quietly followed the young woman through the station. Outside, Roquewei noticed the young woman walking rather than taking a vehicle.

Looking over the nearby terrain, Roquewei quickly assessed the situation. Turning back to Sofia, whose eyes were glued on the girl, he said, “Follow me.”