Qi'an held the rod in her hands, feeling the smooth surface, the strength of the string, and the small barbed hook at the end. “There won't be any fish left if we use these to fish,” she said with a small smile. That smile was the first she'd given since her planet was decimated, and though small it was genuine. “What is...Gunslinger?” She'd heard the word before and understood it to mean a person who wields a gun – one of those weapons that could kill a person if they use it right.

“This is...amazing,” she uttered at some length, “Though it's gone...we can still go there, through this? Are there other people here?” Even if they were only ghosts of those that she loved, her parents, her brothers, she wanted to see them, to see that they could still be happy in some sort of universe. She boarded the small boat and took her seat with grace. Already used to the surface of the water, it took little adapting. The paddles, however, were as foreign objects to her. In Guangda, they did not have paddles, instead opting for enormously long sticks, long enough to reach down under the floods to propel the user forward. This, she assumed, was too deep for anything of that nature.

“I would love to. You have...never been? You found me there, so it is sad that is what you got to see. Guang Da was...it was...beautiful.”

/////

The twins returned with the medic's request, and the medic wasted no time in working on flushing Marco's eyes out. The medic's cool, collected face furrowed to one of worry when he saw the extent of the damage. Lucky for him, Marco wasn't fighting back. His chest rose up and down, up and down in steady but shaking breaths and occasionally he'd let out a gasp. “Boys, get me some gauze and medical tape. Now.”

They disappeared for a while, eventually coming up with the requested material. Once Marco's eyes were sufficiently flushed medic set to work setting up an alternative medical grade eyepatch. The eye that was formerly under the eyepatch was now exposed to the light, blinking and vulnerable. The formerly seen from lay shrouded in darkness, useless. The medic's rude face didn't return and the look of worry switched to one of pity as Marco now sat up and swallowed, dreading the news.

The medic cleared his throat, “Marco, right? You're an Ipho?” Marco nodded. “I'm...I'm sorry to tell you this, but your right eye...You won't be seeing from it again.” Marco deflated, burying his head in his hands. The medic put a hand on Marco's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, “I know this will be hard. Your right eye's abilities will no longer function, as I'm sure you gathered, but your left eye is likely to kick into overdrive; its abilities will heighten. You will need to learn to control it or you will be seeing many things you wished you never did. A glass eye won't be necessary. The venom only destroyed surface matter, so the integrity of your eye's solidity is still there, but likely, it will turn milky. To protect it, keep it covered at all times for a week, then only keep it covered in the daylight and at night let it breathe. Keep this up until the pain stops. I'm sorry, Marco. I did what I could.”

The twins stood motionless as they listened to the medic break the news to Marco. So he was an Ipho; that was how he managed to shoot so well. It was real, but he used his species abilities in ways that others hadn't thought of. But now, that was gone. They would still welcome him in, but he'd need to relearn how to shoot. Further, all secrets would now be exposed to him. There would be no lying to him, likely.

“Endless fish? That is...amazing,” Qi'an breathed, closing her eyes and feeling the sun warm her lids. So this is what happiness is. It's been so long... She set up the float and bait, then cast her line amazed at how smooth the entire process was. She was able to skip straight to her favorite part. “This is amazing,” she added after a moment.

She was on her feet in an instant, shielding her eyes from the sun to see the catch. She, too, was grinning ear to ear and her smile stayed even as Ilan's catch got away and she shook her head, laughing, “Need a stronger hook if those are the kinds of fish you will be catching.” She sat, waiting for her own rod to bow under the weight of one of this sea's dwellers and she found herself wondering if they'd actually eat what they caught or if they would end up releasing them. “So we are going to Gunslinger? Why? If you have all of this,” Qi gestured to the entire sea about them before looking back to her companion.

“I-I like being alone with you,” she said honestly, keeping her rod firmly in one hand as she kicked off her boots to dip her feet in, “I could stay like this forever. I want to see every planet with you and fish in every sea.” her voice still bore with it the residual high from the drugs they'd taken in earlier and she was dreamy. “I already feel as though we've known each other our whole lives, but it has only been a few hours, how can this be?”

She was silent for a moment, mulling several thoughts around in her mind. “Then you haven't actually seen it,” she said with an attempt at a smile. This one was slightly less genuine; her home planet, her physical home planet was destroyed. She would be showing him through a replica – but only when she was ready. For the time being, his taking her to a very different planet was the best course of action and she knew this in her heart of hearts. “The Yingya are...terrifying. They are tall and broad, have four arms, each of them with three claws. They destroyed everything and everyone...I don't even think they were taking slaves, they were so fearsome...”

> > >

The twins found Tennan when she was done at the mechanics, both standing with the hands respectfully clasped behind their backs when Roek cleared his throat, “How ya doin' there, Tennan? I take it ye went to see our mechanic?”

Damon bowed his head, “Hope yer feelin' better than Marco. The lad's blind in one eye. Led 'im t'the barracks an' 'e didn't utter two syllables. Might not be able t'shoot now. The lizard got 'is eye that 'e shoots with...”