Gabriel was falling asleep, Re-l noted. She bit down on her lip and let him drift off, almost holding her breath. Only when she was certain that he was unconscious did she move, standing up and stretching quietly. She shoved the blanket back into her backpack, picked up the torch and headed out into the desert.

The sand had moved, and the landscape was changed, but the stars remained constant. She picked out the particularly bright one she had noticed on earlier nights and used it to find her bearings. There were the distant mountains of the Cave, which meant that the city was this way.

It was not particularly safe to walk at night, but Re-l did not intend to go far. She simply needed to be alone. There was no one in this world that she could truly trust, and she had to remember that.

Putting one foot in front of the other, she began to walk towards the city.