If the heated arguments on the dock hadn't woken the villagers, the explosion certainly had. As the group rushed toward the source of the blast, with Firens tagging along, they passed by many sleepy villagers sticking their heads out of windows, looking worried.

"Don' you worry none," hollered Firens, running as best he could. "Git back inside, everythin's gonna be fine."

When they reached the docks, Kuwa had clearly drawn his weapon and fired between a dock and his boat. Pieces of wood were still falling from the sky, and Lima and Oscar stood wide-eyed behind the general. Sora’s voice rang out.

"What happened?" she asked, landing lightly above the dock.

"A creature came outta the water and cut the moorings," answered Kuwa.

"If you’re gonna destroy a boat every time you see a fish, we might have to cut your stay short," Sora said, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey! I just saved yer boat from bein’ stolen by some monster! And heck, with three planks I can fix 'er right up!"

"Yes, because with you, everything's disposable and replaceable — just another tree in a forest, right?"

"He o' po wrong," added Lima, nodding. "There was somethin’ that cut them ropes. We didn’t get a good look in the dark, but it weren’t no human."

Ylva stepped forward to Kuwa.

"And she's not wrong either. Shooting without thinking won’t get us anywhere. I expected more from you."

"Hmph. Reflex... The shot just went off. But I'm pretty sure I hit it. That beast won't get far without patchin' itself up."

Sora crouched on the dock and studied the water for a long moment.

"Indeed... There's blood in the water. Must've calmed it down a bit. Oscar, Lima, head back home, it's alright."

She stood back up and raised her arms toward the debris. A breeze stirred around the group, slipping beneath the wooden planks and lifting them slightly. Then, with a spin, Sora sent the debris floating neatly over to stack against a small cabin.

"Wooow!" Ori exclaimed, then whispered to Ozan, "Will you be able to do stuff like that once you master your powers?"

Ozan sighed.

"If she ever agrees to teach me... and if I’m not completely hopeless."

"That's so cool..."

Flore walked up to Sora.

"Any idea what kind of sea creature could do that?"

"I got a hunch."

"Then let’s go huntin'!" Nochi cried, clapping his hands.

"No." Sora replied sharply. "First, we won’t find it at night — especially now that it's wounded. It'll be on its guard. We'll catch it tomorrow morning. And second, we’re not here to kill it. We're here to reason with it." She ended her sentence with a sharp glare at Nochi, who raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Hey, I fight with my bare hands, alright? I ain't the one shootin' at everythin' that moves..."

Flore quickly spoke up before Kuwa could respond.

"It’s fine. We'll try to communicate with it. Especially now that it’s hurt. Maybe it'll be more willing to talk."

"I don't see what it would even wanna negotiate for," muttered Sora. "Or why it's stealin' our boats in the first place... But fine. We'll figure it out tomorrow. Meet here at dawn. In the meantime, you can all sleep at our place — we got plenty of room."

"Aw, perfect!" cheered Nochi. "And there’s still some soup left!"

"And you," Flore added, turning to Kuwa, "if you have any non-lethal weapons, now's the time to get them ready."

"Yeah, I got somethin'. I’ll gear up."

"You ain' comin' home?" Firens asked his wife.

"Nah. I’m gonna fly over the area and see where it might've gone. I’ll catch up later."

She rose smoothly into the air over the sea as the group made their way back to Firens’ home.

There, after a good hot bowl of soup, they spread out across the two spare rooms in the cabin. The boys were a bit cramped, but Firens insisted Ylva and Flore have their privacy. Once everyone was tucked in, calm quickly settled in — along with a chorus of snores and the occasional clinking sound.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" Flore whispered. "At her age, Sora’s already traveled, been an adventurer, probably lived through so much... and now she’s leading and inspiring her people..."

"You might find it surprising as a human," Ylva murmured back, "but for us Valkyries, it's the norm. Men are a bunch of incompetents, only good for breeding. No way we’re leaving command posts to them. Women are strong — they just have to claim what’s theirs."

"Easy for you to say... when your women have wings of metal... or command the winds..."

"You’re the only daughter of the King of Potalu. You’re destined to rule that country. Don’t let your future husband take what’s rightfully yours."

"Honestly, I don't even know if I'll ever sit on the throne. I don’t think it’s made for me."

"You’d be surprised at how capable you really are."

"No, I mean — I know I could do it... But it's not what I want. I don't want to lead a city that claims to welcome all but won't even let a merfolk sit on its council. A city that hides behind neutrality and won't intervene in unfair conflicts. I don't want to be stuck on a throne, hands tied, serving as nothing more than a public face. I want to actually help people. All people."

After a long silence, she added softly:

"Ylva?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don’t know. Normally people offer encouragement or advice at this point..."

"You don't need it. You already know you can do it. Now you just have to make it happen. You should rest a bit. We get up early tomorrow."

Flore burrowed under her covers and whispered:

"Thanks..."

A few hours later, the group got up — though some of the younger ones struggled — and slipped out of the cabin without a sound. Kuwa and Nochi, wide awake, led the way. The general’s arm looked a little different — even half-hidden under his tunic, it was clearly bulkier. Two large capsules filled with a yellowish liquid were attached to it. Kuwa was still tightening some bolts as they walked when a jet of steam hissed out, right in Ori’s barely awake face.

"Whoops! Sorry Ori, been a while since I last equipped this thing."

"No problem..." muttered Ori, trying to smooth his wild hair back down.

"Hope you ain't gonna blow us all up, old man," teased Nochi.

"Should be fine," Kuwa said. "But just to be safe, maybe I oughta warm it up a bit..." He pointed his cannon arm at Nochi.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Ori cried, cutting short the brewing fight. "Kuwa, instead of switching equipment all the time and needing to warm them up, you should design it so you can swap modes whenever you want. Then your special gear would stay warm thanks to your normal arm!"

"That ain't a bad idea," Kuwa admitted. "Might be a problem with size and weight, but otherwise... Could work. I’ll look into it." He ruffled Ori’s hair. "You might even make a good assistant someday, kiddo!"

Ylva spoke up:

"For now, General, you should stay focused on the mission."

"Yeah, might keep you from shooting up my boats again," grumbled Sora from above.

She was gliding above them in the darkness, and landed near Ozan.

"I think I know where it's hiding. I lost its trail around the Red Rocks. There's a ton of sea caves there. At low tide we can walk to them, but the water shifts fast — gotta be careful not to get trapped. The tide's high now, so we’ll take the boat and corner it inside the cave."

As Sora laid out her plan, Ori whispered to Ozan:

"I don’t get it. What’s this about moms and water movin’?"

"Tides, Ori. You don’t see them much in Potalu ‘cause it's inland, but the moons pull the ocean. Depending on where they are in the sky, the sea rises and falls, sometimes by hundreds of meters. When the big moon lines up with the small one and the Earth, the sea pulls back."

"Whoa... I didn’t know the sky could move the earth like that."

"And that's just the moons. There are other celestial bodies too."

"Celestial bodies?!"

"Yeah! There are legends that say—"

"Are you two even listening?!" barked Sora.

They were so caught up that they hadn’t noticed the entire group staring at them. Sora sighed and shook her head.

"Just try not to get yourselves killed. Or worse — get in our way."

She turned and headed for the dock to board a boat.

"See, Ori," whispered Ozan, "our survival ain't even a priority compared to their efficiency..."

"You scared for your life?" Flore teased as she hopped into the boat. "You're free to stay behind, y’know."

"Haha, real funny, princess," Ozan said sarcastically.

Flore pouted and sat at the bow.

"Geez... what did I say?"

"I think she just doesn’t like being called that," Ori said, passing by him. Then he mumbled, "Wouldn't bother me though..."

They all boarded, and Sora raised the sail, steering them toward the Red Rocks.