The sun had already set by the time the three of them crossed the edge of the No-Man's Land.
They had only passed through its borders, aiming to stay within the harsh region for as little time as possible. But they still ended up spending most of the day escaping that wretched place.
But perhaps it wasn't so bad that it was night time now.
Hana took a deep breath as she gazed up towards the clear sky, looking at the motes of light scattered across its peaceful expanse.
She stood there for a moment, bathing in the faint starlight, letting it wash away her fear and worries. She sighed, finally feeling the unnatural fear leaving her mind.
Then, she looked at Niko, who had been standing there, waiting patiently until she felt better. Hana nodded at him, and the three of them started moving forward.
"Over there," Leta pointed towards a distant, metallic structure, "If we go through there, we can avoid having to enter the No-Man's Land again."
Niko nodded and considered their options. They could keep going and head towards the strange structure, or they could take some time to rest and recuperate.
But then a strange sound interrupted his thoughts.
He scoffed, recognizing the sound, and turned around to see Hana lying on the ground, fast asleep.
He glanced up at the starry sky and sighed with a smile. Resting it was, then.
***
A soothing melody of animal calls spread through the air as the light of a new day spread through the sky.
Niko and Hana were standing near a tree, looking up at the tasty fruits hanging from its branches.
The food that Qulia had given Niko had ran out, so they needed to get some more.
Niko crouched down, looking up intently at the fruit. Then, straining his legs, he leapt up, shooting through the air and heading towards one of the tree's branches.
As he flew past the branch, Niko quickly reached out with his hand to try and snatch some of the fruits...only to miss the fruits by a hair's breadth, continuing to fly further and crashing into the ground several metres away.
Hana covered her mouth, barely suppressing a laugh, as she gave the tree trunk a gentle tap. As soon as she did, the tree shuddered and shook, the fruits on its branches falling off one by one.
And just like that, Hana effortlessly gathered up a dozen of fruits, putting them in the satchel and bowing politely at the tree before going to check on Niko.
He was lying on the ground, covered in dirt, looking up at the sky with an annoyed expression.
Hana chuckled and shook her head, before taking a fruit out of the satchel and offering it to Niko.
Niko stayed on the ground, waiting for a moment before taking the fruit.
He sighed as he took a bite. He would have had an easier time getting the fruits if Leta was around, but she had gone off somewhere early in the morning.
She didn't tell him where she was heading or how long it would take, but Niko wasn't too worried.
His feathered friend had a habit of flying off and disappearing for several days to handle some matters that she would never tell him about, but she always managed to find him again when she was done.
It might be troublesome if Leta took too long this time, since she was the only one with a map. But, for the time being, it was alright, since Niko knew of which way they had to go.
Once he'd had his fill of fruit and sulking, Niko got up, dusting off his clothes and getting ready to move.
Hana and Niko walked calmly through the forest, heading towards the metallic structure in the distance at a rather leisurely pace.
There weren't any Abyss Spawns in the area, nor did any other strange creatures jump at them from behind the trees, so the two of them could let their guard down for the first time in quite a while.
Niko was hardly fazed by the journey through the No-Man's Land, since he was used to facing such perils during his travels by now.
Hana, on the other hand, had never faced horrifying experiences like that before.
Or at least, she didn't recall any such thing.
So, she was still quite thoroughly shaken up by the recent events.
Still, she felt at peace knowing that they were out of that awful place and wouldn't be going back any time soon.
It was a strange and pleasant feeling, and one that was easy to take for granted during one's daily life.
So now that she had gotten a taste of that peace once again after so long, she felt like cherishing it as best as she could. So, she walked in silence, calmly taking in the beautiful view around them.
The green forest, the singing birds, the playful cubs of the animals of the forest.
Actually, it was rather strange to call it a forest.
While the ground was covered in grass and plants, there actually weren't that many trees around. But the handful of trees that were in that area were massive.
Their trunks were over ten meters in diameter, and their leafy branches spread out to cover an area that was almost thrice as much.
Because of these giant trees, the place looked like a huge forest of some sort.
And then there was the strange structure that they were headed towards.
From this distance, all Hana could make out were towering walls that seemed to be made entirely of metal, with the top of a castle being visible behind them.
But despite their sheer size that made them seem impenetrable, the giant walls were severely damaged, and had a large gap in them that revealed some of what lay behind them.
As the two of them drew closer to the walls, Hana could see a river through the gap, and beyond that river, she could discern the shapes of several houses.
It was a city!
Sadly, it was clear that no one lived in that city.
There were no sounds of the residents going about their day, no sight of people filling bustling streets, there wasn't even a single guard watching over the city's walls.
Upon reaching the walls, Hana noticed the rust and damage that covered their surface, clearly indicating that they were quite ancient.
She also noticed several strange structures mounted on the walls at regular intervals.
They were entirely metallic just like the walls, and looked like an armored boxes with a bundle of short, hollow pipes sticking out of the end facing the outward.
Hana tilted her head, wondering what the purpose of such strange devices could be. Unable to think of anything, she shook her head and kept moving, following Niko as he climbed through the gap in the walls.
Reaching the other side of the wall, they found themselves standing in front of a grassy plain, with a turbulent river running through it.
There was a drawbridge on the other side of the river, but it was raised up, so they couldn't use it to get across.
Looking around, Niko noticed a metal pole with a glass panel on top of it.
He guessed that this was what controlled the drawbridge, since there was an identical device on the other side of the river, that one connected directly to the drawbridge.
He touched the glass panel, hoping that it would do something. And, indeed, the panel lit up as soon as Niko placed his hand on it.
Sadly, it seemed that the device was damaged, as the light from the panel flickered erratically while sparks flew out from the device.
Shaking his head, Niko raised his hand, creating a bridge of bone that lead across the river.
The violent currents crashed against the bridge, the waves wailing in outrage as they collided in vain against the jagged bone.
Niko turned to Hana and, with a slight smile, gestured at her to follow him as he crossed the pale white bridge.
As they walked across, the waves struck the bridge again, splashing water all over Hana and Niko.
Hana squealed, giggling as she ran across the bridge, raising her arms to shield herself from the water.
Watching her go, Niko tilted his head, and shrugged, before following after her with unhurried steps.