As she zoomed across the open landscape of the farm country between her home and the city that was her destination, Aisell found herself with nothing but time to think.

Unsurprisingly, her thoughts turned to Luke.

Obviously, she was relieved and ecstatic to find him alive, of that there was no doubt. But at the same time, she’d just found the courage in herself to move on, to begin to forgive herself for what she’d done to him.

Now that he was back, she’d have to convince him to forgive her too. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. The old wound was opened, slightly, but not nearly as bad as she would have assumed. She had to hope that was a good sign.

Aisell shook her head and her eyes snapped back into focus. Maybe riding this train of thought was not such a good idea when she was up in the air on her hover bike.

Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the sky ahead. She wasn’t particularly hopeful of catching a sign of the TETH shuttle, but if there was a sign, she didn’t want to overlook it either.

And then Luke showed up, out of nowhere with a wife- A wife!- in tow. She, and Lezah to an extent, had been killing themselves with grief, while he was off gallivanting around apparently have a grand old time. Married. Was there more? Did he have a kid too?

Aisell shook her head. That wasn’t very fair of her. It was obvious that even if Luke had wanted to see them (and a part of her hoped he’d wanted to at some point) he’d been prevented from doing so, if not by the tribe itself than by the injuries he’d so obviously sustained.

She’d spotted the slight limp when he walked. He’d probably had a fracture at some point. Aisell made a mental note to see if she could take a closer look once this all panned out.

She dipped below the cloud line to confirm her bearings. She was heading straight for town, and hopefully, straight towards where the tribe had been taken.

Of course, it was entirely possible that even if they were able to save the tribe, they would decide to vanish into the woods forever and she’d never see Luke again.

Aisell supposed she could accept that. At least she’d know he survived.

She really hoped TETH hadn’t taken them somewhere off world. They had a slim enough hope of finding them as it was…

Aisell shook herself again, snapping back into the present. She was coming up on the outer skirts of the city.

She angled her vehicle down and began her descent through the clouds.

*.*.*

“So what’s our situation, Thurfrit?” Drugar came up behind the younger man, who was peering intently through the glass wall of their prison.

“I’m not sure.” Thurfrit responded hesitantly. “From what I can tell, the giants don’t mean to harm us, at least not physically. I think they intend us to be some sort of… entertainment or something for other giants. There was a mention by the green haired one of some sort of ‘show’ that they mean to put on. I think. It is difficult to understand them through the walls of this cage.”

Drugar nodded. “Well, whether they mean to hurt us or not, by keeping us prisoner in this box they have demonstrated that they certainly are not our friends.”

“Leader, I think they mentioned a plan to move us again in the morning.” Thurfrit added.

“In that case we must redouble our efforts to escape from here.” Drugar said. “Fortunately, we know from legends that the giants sleep for a very long time. We must use that to our advantage. Stay here for now Thurfrit, and continue to try and listen in on them as best you can.”

Thurfrit nodded. “As you say, Leader.”

Drugar clapped Thurfrit on the shoulder and continued to make the rounds, checking in with the rest of his people, offering comfort and words of encouragement wherever he could.

Inside though, Drugar was understandably worried. Scared even. He had no idea how he was going to free his people from this strange enslavement they’d found themselves in. Inwardly, he cursed the titans. Could they not just leave his people in peace? What offense could the tribe possibly have offered that would bring such wrath down upon them time and time again?

Luke had spoken often of the good giants that existed, and Drugar supposed this was probably the case… but it was hard to be charitable towards them when nearly his entire clan was trapped in a glass box, with what seemed like no chance of escape.

Still, Drugar was the leader. He was the chief. He would but on a brave face and try to remain outwardly optimistic, for the sake of his people. If he cracked, it would give them all permission to panic, and that helped no one.

Drugar was the leader; he would do what he had to.

*.*.*

Lesis lay on the uncomfortable cot in the corner of the warehouse he’d claimed to sleep in. In the morning, they’d be packing up the humans and everything else for their little “exhibit” and heading straight for the Capital. Once they reached TETH headquarters, they’d begin making arrangements for a worldwide tour.

The publicity stunt would help people to realize that humans were intelligent. Perhaps not quite as intelligent as Titans were, but certainly far too intelligent to be kept as pets. In the long run, any discomfort these particular humans felt would be mitigated by their ability to help all humans everywhere.

Or so Lesis tried to tell himself.

He rolled over on the cot, the springs underneath him squeaking in an irritating manner. His mind kept flashing back to that lunch meeting with Gae. How she’d asked him to consider what that human who’d been about to get executed had felt about them using him as a martyr. …what was his name again? Lesis couldn’t remember.

He’d been so sure of it all then, it had made sense. If they could use ….him… as a symbol, it would enflame every decent titan’s sense of justice. They could ride the wave of righteous fury all the way to the legislature itself!

The ironic thing was, Lesis and Leny had been right. The moment that human had been out of danger of being executed, the majority of the “supporters” had patted themselves on the back and gone home, convinced they’d done a good deed. A large percentage of the new TETH recruits they’d garnered during the protest had never been seen again.

And yet… It had been easy to consign that human to death “for the greater good,” Lesis had never met him, after all.

It was much harder for him to do the same to this Tribe of humans. He had to see them.

With a groan of frustration, Lesis sat up in the cot and placed his bare feet on the cold concrete floor. A moment later, his pad chirped to make him aware of an incoming call.

Muffling the pad, Lesis slipped outside into the cool night air. Once he’d stepped a fair distance away from the building, he answered the call. He was somewhat shocked when Gae’s face suddenly appeared on the screen.

“Gae!” Lesis greeted. “Didn’t expect to be hearing from you…”

“What did you do with them?” Gae snarled, an upset frown on her face.

“I don’t think I know what-”

“Just stop, Lesis.” Gae snapped. “I know you took that group of free humans. I want to know where they are!”

“What, but, how?!”

“I’m at the Maris farm right now.” Gae explained.

“That still doesn’t explain how…”

“You didn’t get all of them.” Gae told him, lip curling. “How could you do this? They were free and happy, how could you take that away from them?”

“Look, I don’t have time to argue with you.” Lesis sighed, beginning to pace along the sidewalk outside the warehouse. “Just trust me, we know what we’re doing, okay? This is for the greater good.”

“The greater good!?” Gae yelled, angrily. “How could you possibly be arrogant enough to…” Suddenly Gae fell silent. She peered intently at the screen, as if trying to figure out a puzzle in front of her.

“Arrogant enough to what?” Lesis asked, wearily.

“What? Oh… nothing…” Gae muttered distractedly, before suddenly severing the connection and ending the call.

Lesis blinked in surprise at his suddenly black screen. He shook his head and placed the pad back in his pocket, turning to go back into the warehouse.

*.*.*

“Did your TETH pal give us any useful information?” Aezhay asked Gae as she stepped back into the living room.

The young woman didn’t respond right away, just absentminded reached down to the counter top for Yamanu and raised him to her shoulder reflexively.

“Gae?” Lezah shook Gae’s shoulder gently.

“What? Oh, no he didn’t tell me anything…” Gae muttered.

“Well then how are we supposed to do anything?” Aezhay wondered.

“That’s… that’s just it.” Gae continued. “He didn’t tell me anything, but I did see a sign behind him that told me exactly where they are.”

“Well, that’s good… isn’t it?” Lezah’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Well. The thing is…” Gae sat down at the kitchen counter. “I’m not sure he didn’t do it on purpose.”

*.*.*

“Right. Got it.” Aisell spoke into her pad before ending the call from Lezah.

“Good news?” Luke asked from where he stood on the saddle next to Quendra.

“Well, maybe.” Aisell sighed. “Gae says she knows where the tribe is being kept. It’s a warehouse on the edge of the southern district.”

“So what’s the problem?” Quendra asked.

“Well, Gae says that her ‘friend’ in TETH may have let the information slip accidentally, but it might have been on purpose.”

“Do you suspect a trap?” Quendra asked.

“I don’t know.” Aisell muttered. “The others are on their way, but we can’t wait for them. Gae’s buddy might be moving them as we speak.”

“All right then.” Luke nodded, moving to climb back into the compartment that he and Quendra rode in. “We don’t have any time to waste.”

Aisell watched as the two humans secured themselves in the padded compartment in front of the saddle and closed it behind them when they’d situated themselves.

She swung her leg over the side and mounted the vehicle again. In a moment she was up in the air again, soaring above the city and scanning for the warehouse Gae had directed them to.

After several minutes, she finally spotted the sign that Gae had told her about and angled her craft in a downward descent. Moments later, she settled onto the ground with only a soft thunk.

She popped the lid off the compartment that Luke and Quendra were stashed in and waited as they climbed out and situated themselves.

Aisell pulled off her helmet and shook out her hair, before staring up at the warehouse in front of them.

“This… is a big building.”

“It is that.” Quendra agreed. “This is where they are keeping the tribe?”

“According to Gae, I mean ‘Seeks the Tribe,’ yeah.” Aisell lowered her hand and the two humans climbed into her palm. “The question is how do we get into the building?”

Aisell and the two humans walked along the wall of the massive edifice, looking for a door or window, some way to gain entry.

Eventually they came upon a massive metal door. Hesitatingly, Aisell tried the handle, but it was locked.

“Wait!” Quendra pointed upward. “That window, about halfway up, it’s open.”

“We don’t have any rope or anything.” Luke responded.

“Those vines there, I can climb them.” Quendra indicated a massive tangle of turquoise colored creeper plants that had attached themselves to the wall.

“That’s pretty high.” Aisell said uneasily. “Looks pretty dangerous.”

“No more than the Home Tree.” Quendra snorted. “I’ve been climbing since before I could walk. It will be fine.”

Aisell was about to protest again, but cut herself off. “All right.” She stepped up to the wall and raised her hand, which allowed the smaller redheaded woman to leap onto the vine and begin to scale her way up the side of the building.

“I’ll come with you.” Luke made to follow, but was cut off as Aisell swiftly moved her hand away from the wall.

“No!” Both women yelled in unison.

“You’re still recovering from injury, Luke.” Quendra admonished.

“Yeah, don’t think I didn’t notice that limp of yours.” Aisell added, curling her fingers slightly around Luke.

For a moment, the two women locked eyes, and a brief understanding passed between them. Then Quendra turned back to her task and Aisell was brought back into the present.

It was slow going, climbing those vines. Quendra had spent her entire life memorizing the quickest ways to ascend the branches of her home, but here she had to carefully assess each movement before she made it. She had to test each hand and foothold before trusting her weight, and her life to it.

She made progress though, little by little. Eventually, after several nerve-wracking minutes, she made it to the open windowsill, much to the relief of the two spectators below.

“How’s it look up there?” Aisell stage-whispered, craning her neck and squinting her eyes in order to keep Quendra in view.

“Dark.” Quendra responded. “I think I can get inside though.”

“Wait, what?” Aisell’s head snapped up and her eyes widened as she realized that Quendra was no longer within sight.

“What did she…? Did she just…?”

“Yeah…” Luke sighed. “She does that.”

Aisell and Luke stood there for a moment, Aisell shifting her weight awkwardly. “So… how did you two meet?”

“She kidnapped me.” Luke said matter-of-factly.

“Really?” Aisell responded mildly. “Bit of a past-time for you then, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. But you meet interesting people that way.”

Further conversation was cut off by a loud click, followed by the door swinging open, revealing Quendra sitting nonchalantly on the door handle.

“Well, don’t sit there staring with your mouths open.” The small woman snorted dismissively. “You coming or what?”

Aisell sighed and stepped through the door, Quendra jumping into her hand as she passed.

They stepped into the darkened interior of the warehouse. Aisell walked softly to muffle her footsteps on the concrete floor. She knew large buildings like this one tended to amplify sound.

The trio explored the large open room as best they could with the limited amount of moonlight shining through the windows lining the wall above them.

They continued like this for several minutes before they stumbled across what appeared to be a large glass enclosure.

“I think we found them.” Aisell breathed.

Quietly, she stepped to the cage and knelt down so she could peer inside. She was astonished by the sheer number of humans that had been packed into the cage that was far too small for them. There had to have been at least a hundred.

Aisell had assumed there were only a few dozen at most. This many humans, living unseen on their land… It was amazing.

Suddenly one of the humans stirred and looked up at her. The young man blinked through sleepy eyes until he awoke enough to realize what he was looking at.

He sat up, alarmed and was about to rouse the rest of the group when Aisell suddenly signaled for silence.

Miraculously, the human complied.

“I think you two had better get in there and explain the situation.” Aisell whispered as she lowered Luke and Quendra into the cage.

“Really?” A voice snapped from behind them as the lights suddenly flared to life. “And just what ‘situation’ would that be, exactly?”