The sunrays, raining on Lena's face, had tickled her nose and caused her to wake. She opened her eyes. Lena had slept for a long time, and her first look was to the other bed in the room. An empty bed.

Finn sat on the roof and watched over the heads of the trees.

"Good morning," Lena greeted Finn, despite the morning having passed hours previous to her rousing. She stood at the last step of the stairs, impatient to receive an answer. "What are you doing?"

"Do you see that close by the horizon?"

"Is that—smoke?" she asked, now crouching by Finn's side.

"Yes. It's the smoke from our ship. You can see the fractured trees around it. It must have been an easy task for the guard to spot us from above."

"It looks pretty far. We'll be walking for a whole day, if not longer."

"Yes. We better get going before dusk."

"Shouldn't we wait until the morning?"

"No matter what time of the day we leave, we will evidently walk through at least one night."

Lena sensed bitterness in Finn's eyes, even though, all this time they had been talking, he had not given her a single look. Perhaps the lack of looks itself was the cause of her concerns.

"Alright then. Shall we eat first? Kassiopeia has left us something on the table."

He nodded and they walked downstairs together. Not one word was spoken between the two until they neared the end of breakfast.

"Do you know where Kassiopeia went?" asked Lena.

Finn shook his head and stared at the blank leaf as he chewed his last bite.

"She wanted us gone anyways," said Lena. "I'm guessing we will be forgiven for leaving without a proper goodbye. Don't you think?"

He gave her one quick nod and stood up. "She won't care. Let's go."

They walked the jungle till the end of the day but found no rest. Their journey continued through the fog as dark as ink.

"I'm tired of walking all day and all night."

"Keep walking," was his cold response.

"Can't we take a break? Even just a short one?"

Her request was declined, and so she followed him mute through the primeval jungle. They heard the beasts hunting, but the sound had traveled from afar, and so they tried not to let fright lead their way. The next day had come, and at its dusk, they finally paused to laze.

"I'm hungry. I hope you're right about the food stock in the ship."

"I packed some food," said Finn, as he pulled out a rolled-up leaf from his pocket.

"Did you steal it?" she joked.

"I traded it," Finn referred to Lena's act of kindness when she traded her book for breakfast on Pluviam. The corner of his mouth lifted vaguely.

For a moment, Lena thought that the Finn she knew had returned, but when he handed her a portion he did not let their eyes cross paths. Her bewilderment over his queer behavior resumed.

"I think we are lost," cried Lena, more exhausted than ever.

"I know where we're going."

"We have been walking for more than a day and have gotten nowhere."

She did not mean to speak of her distrust, and Finn took offense.

"You're a hypocrite."

"What?" asked Lena, provoked. "How am I a hypocrite?"

"When I promised not to lie, you promised not to be so pessimistic, but all you do is complain. I don't get you. One moment you are a ray of sunshine; full of excitement and happiness, and the next moment you tell me how awful everything is! Happy or upset, make up your mind already.

"Happy or upset? Yesterday I was a hair away from dying, I think I had the right to have felt slightly pessimistic."

"I agree, yesterday you had the right to feel upset, but you didn't, no, you did the opposite; you were smiling for no reason. And today, when we have the hope of getting home, you tell me that we are lost!"

Lena remained calm for him, although it came to her with difficulty as he shouted at her.

"By the way," he said, "may I add; I was the one who saved you, not that crazy lady! I chased her while she ran from us! I had to beg her for help before she even decided to listen to me!"

"Is that what's been bothering you?—that I said she is my hero when it was you all along?"

She dared not to even mention his mood swings. Her curiosity, however, was unexpectedly relieved. Finn began the subject himself

"No, that's not why! I don't care about that! My anger doesn't concern you, it is nothing that you have done."

"Then what is it?"

Finn shook his head, furious at her, or maybe himself. "Let's go, we may reach the ship before the sun rises anew."
"No! I've had enough!" said Lena with a fixed stance. "Tell me why you are so cold and distant all of a sudden."

"All of a sudden? I have always been distant to you, don't tell me otherwise."

"You're wrong," said Lena; and then, unwilling to let the subject drop, added, "you stood by my side when you could have run. Many times. When we found the security camera and heard the alarm; you stood by my side, just as you did during the first night, when you knew people were looking to kill me. You risked everything to get me away from Pluviam, and then stood by my side again during many more nights. When I was recovering from the poison you held me all day—"

"Stop," Finn cut in, feeling sick of her words. "It's not what you're thinking."

"I'm not thinking anything! I'm saying you were not always distant to me, but now you are and I demand to know why."

His head refused to think of a reason. He was in denial with himself, and the further she pushed him to open up, the more his heart barricaded. 

She thought, when she saw him this upset, that letting out his emotions would suffice him to break the thick layer of ice around him, but in failure, it seemed to have only become thicker.

"Why is it so important for you to know the source of my anger?"

"Because—" she began, and improvised the rest, "I don't think you yourself know the source of your anger. And I believe that if you talked about it you could find some closure."

"I don't want closure."

"Then what is it you want?"

Finn thought about his love, his love for the girl lost in space. He thought about Lena, too; how she distracted him from his mission, and how everything was taking far longer than he had hoped.

"I want to keep going," he answered, and walked his way.

He did not turn around to see if she followed. A part of him wanted her to, the other part wasn't sure. He heard her walking behind him, and his relief revealed to him quite plainly that the other part of him had wanted her to come, as well.

"I will respect that you don't want to talk, but tell me at least why."

"My thoughts are at war, Lena, and I don't know which side to fight on. I'm torn between them both, and winning either side means losing just as much. If I talk about it, it becomes too real to bear. I would prefer it to only exist inside my head until this nightmare is all over."

"I see," said Lena, walking right behind him. She grabbed his arm, whereupon his feet stood still on the spot. "But Finn, I just want to give you one piece of advice. If your head is at war, you don't have to fight."

"What do you mean?"

"It's true what Kassiopeia said; you can't fight fire with fire. It's best sometimes to be the stronger one and let it go. There must always be a way to make both sides happy."

"I don't think that's possible," said Finn, although he wished it reversed.

Each of his bones carried feelings of guilt and regret. He did not want to be so distant to Lena, but seeing how much he cared for her life scared him too much for him to disregard.

Taking her own advice into consideration, Lena decided to be the stronger one and let it go, giving him the space he desired. 

They did not walk for long after that. A few footsteps further they reached the ship. It was on the ground, not where they had last seen it.

"Could it have fallen from the tree?" asked Lena, bemused.

"Must have."

"But wasn't smoke coming out of its motor?" she said, and they both realized that its front was unscathed and intact.

"Yes, and wasn't the door broken off?"

But it wasn't this time. Lena and Finn understood that this was not their ship, unfortunately, before either one could express their confidence, Arrakis proved them right.

Out of the coverage of trees and bushes he came and raised his gun at Lena. With an evil smirk he said, "You must be the dumbest criminals I ever captured." 

Without thinking, Finn shoved himself between Lena and the gun to protect her life, whilst risking his own.

"They want me alive! You will pay the price if you shoot me."

"And who would know that I did?" Arrakis grinned and kept his aim on Finn.

"I would!" said Kassiopeia who had come riding on some massive animal. It looked like an immense bear, but skinny and athletic, with black skin and a giant panting mouth full of razor blade teeth. She spoke through her wooden mask. "Lower your weapon, boy."

"Is that a neconox?" cried Lena, forgetting about the gun. Arrakis held it to Finn's chest, not his head; guaranteeing a painful death.

Lena had Finn's arm in her grip and ducked behind him. The guard faced three people and a giant beast but looked poised still and all.

"Leave zem be," dictated Kassiopeia in her fierce voice, "You have no right to be here."

"Who are you to give me orders?" retorted Arrakis and chose the threatening beast as his new target.

"Kassiopeia, Queen of Genus Terra!" She puffed up her chest, her chin up high, daring.

"It was a rhetorical question; I don't actually care," he snapped at them, "Now take your disgusting pet and leave us to our business!"

"We do not act wiz violence on my planet."

"Lady, you're crazy," his arrogant voice hissed.

Arakis' eyes spewed fire; he looked from Finn to Lena, then Kassiopeia, and back at Finn. Each had different, yet similar and appropriate facial expressions.

One was boiling from anger, his eyes were slits, and his teeth displayed like those of a predator. The other hid behind him; her teeth chattered in the fright that crippled her and froze every muscle of her delicate body. The queen on her high mount, who showed no anger, no fear, and no bind whatsoever, was annoyed and asked him kindly to retreat.

"Not without my trophy."

Finn had grabbed a rock to defend Lena, but, although Arrakis had his gun aimed at the neconox, his eyes were now chained to Finn and left no opportunity to be attacked.

When Kassiopeia did not profess her objection to Arrakis' refusal, he registered that she was not a threat, and his aim returned to Finn's chest. The rock dropped to the grass.

"Do you think you're brave?" his despicable self teased Finn. "It's adorable, but it won't save your little girlfriend."

At a blinding speed, Finn's left fist collided with Arrakis' jaw. The pain of his fractured hand made Finn groan, but the adrenaline that struck him like lightning made him roar.

Arrakis staggered backward and shook his head as if he could shake off the pain like a dog could shake off water.

"You're dead," said his face, but words did not come out of his mouth. Arrakis brought the gun's optic mount up to his eye and shot at his surroundings like a sprinkler, taking no interest in who his bullets hit, as long as it would take their life.