2 Chapter One

Talis stared at the cyan glow of the oval that hovered above the ground in front of her. Portal walking was nothing new for the girl, who was just barely out of her formative years, however, the difference between today's walk and the others before was that this one was a milestone, not just for her, but for everyone who lived on plane of existence. Ever since The Traveller showed the Netsu how to create the portals twenty-five years ago, the people went searching for another world to inhabit before theirs would be inevitably be destroyed when the neighboring planet Kutune once again orbited closer to their own planet of Erridium. Those like Talis who traversed the planes were called Portal Walkers. Talis was one of them, and today she was preparing to go on her one-hundredth journey to a different universe.

She inhaled and filled her lungs with the western winds that carried the scent of the fruits that grew on the nearby island of Matao. It reminded Talis of her childhood which she spent on that island and her mind wandered, as it often did before walks. She thought of her father. She thought of his tanned skin and chiseled jaw and wondered if she looked anything like him. She thought of how he didn't want her to join with the Portal Walkers, but she wanted more than a fruit picker's life. More than to live and die on the same island without seeing the rest of the world or the worlds beyond that cyan glow.

She tugged at her white tank top that stuck to her skin with sweat. The sun had gone down hours ago, yet the humidity remained. Like the rest of the Netsu, Talis woke when the sun was setting to avoid the unbearable heat of day. She took a tie made of braided thread and pulled up her long and wavy black hair into a tail that rested on her left shoulder. As she finished, she saw a large woman wearing a dark blue tank top and the same kind of shorts Talis wore. Kloe took her right hand and made a fist then placed it over her heart and smiled at Talis. Not for the first time, Talis pondered about shaving her hair off like Kloe's as she watched the moon shining on her best friend's head.

"Talis." Kloe greeted her then looked up to the sky. "Watu's kinda bright today."

Talis walked to her friend, feeling the sand beneath her bare feet as she did. She looked up at the moon that they called Watu. It shone brightly overhead and cast shadows on the beach with its light. Talis spoke as she watched a group of girls playing near the tide. "Kloe. I see your daughter came with you."

"Half the island is here by the looks of it." Kloe smiled. They watched as Sefina, Kloe's daughter as she and the other children laughed and played. Each of the children held a graphite rod and were drawing on their arms, chests, and faces in an effort to replicate the various markings their elders bore. Kloe whistled for Sefina to come to her and the young girl jumped up enthusiastically, dropping the rod onto the ground. Talis grinned as she watched the girl come bounding toward them while the rest of the kids continued playing.

Kloe picked up her daughter and kissed the girl on the forehead where a spearhead drawing was now smudged on the girl's face.

"Mala! My Tatu!" Sefina exclaimed.

"Language, Sefina!" Kloe stated sternly. Just because your father talks like that doesn't mean you have to."

"Besides." Talis started. "That's not where the spear would go."

Talis pointed to Kloe's right forearm where a spear was immaculately drawn with a deep indigo-colored ink. Sefina squirmed from her mother's grasp and dropped to the ground with a thud, landing hard on her bottom. The girl the sand off herself and gave her mother a stern look as the other kids laughed.

"Please, mom no more kisses, not in front of my friends." Sefina muttered.

"You used to love my kisses, Fina." Kloe said with a grin that pushed her eyes closer together. "Are you so grown up that you won't accept my love?"

"No, I just don't like getting all wet when you kiss me and smudge my Tatu."

"What about from your favorite auntie?" Talis asked her. The child walked up to Talis and gave her a hug.

"Good luck today, Auntie T." The girl exclaimed enthusiastically before running back to her friends.

"No husband today?" Talis asked Kloe as they watched Sefina play with the other children.

"Loto's busy with the council pleading our case."

"Our case?"

"Don't worry about it, Talis. You just focus on today, the big one hundred!" Kloe shoved Talis as she spoke. Talis smiled and hid her wince. Kloe pushed a lot harder than she expected to most of the time, even when she wasn't burning her Tatu of Strength.

Talis knew Kloe's marriage to be little more than a convenience. The old ways of arranging marriages for political alliances and such took a long time to die out in the fractured remains of the Netsu people after The Last War, but there were still some people, like Kloe's father, who insisted some traditions remain. Talis wondered who she would have been tied to if her parents had done the same. She scanned the crowd looking at all the different Netsu who gathered and saw him. She felt her heart race suddenly with a mixture of fear and resentment, but was calmed when she saw another friend, their leader and teacher, Natia pushing her way through the crowd.

"Talo!" Natia cried out to Kloe and Talis.

"Talo." They responded in kind.

Natia dressed quite differently from the others with her white blouse tied up to the neck and long sleeves along with her floor-length black trousers, the middle-aged woman seemed able to exemplify authority quickly with wardrobe alone. A Walker, Talis always thought, must wear something that will help them in any situation on whatever world they are in. Natia, on the other hand, was dressed for council meetings, public appearances, and dinner parties on a regular basis. The only hint of her previous life as a Walker was etched on her face in the form of a scar that cut across her left eye diagonally to the tip of her nose.

"Kloe, Talis." Natia held her hand in a fist over her heart in a salute. "Have you picked your other two party members?"

Kloe grabbed at the pockets on the left side of her shorts and fetched a slip of paper which she extended to Natia. The older woman took the paper inquisitively and read it aloud.

"I give permission for Kloe and Talis to go alone on this mission, sincerely Ruta, God of The Traveller." Natia suppressed a smirk as Kloe let out a hearty laugh. "Good try, Kloe."

"Thought it was worth an attempt." Kloe sighed smugly as Talis fought back a smile.

"I've got a number of healers and dark walkers that should compliment the two of you well." Natia told them with a hint of consternation in her voice. She indicated behind her at a tent where a group of Portal Walkers stood at attention.

Natia sighed and put a hand on Talis's shoulder, gently pressing her forward to take a closer look at the group. Talis recognized some of the Netsu and had been on walks with a few of them before. Experience had taught her that every group should be comprised of those who teach and those who learn. She and Kloe had gone on more than fifty walks together over the past two years, and the experiences they had shared brought them closer together, not just as teammates but as friends. Through it all they had seen many walkers come and go and even lost a few along the way. Having a party comprised of teachers and students, the older Walkers and the younger ones was the combination she felt best helped to teach the younger ones what to expect on these missions and keep the enthusiasm alive when walking.

Talis knew that in order to win over the group she had to show them who she was. She closed her eyes and summoned what courage she could muster. As she did the markings on her face glowed a dim red and Talis spoke. "I don't want to take anyone that's just going to get killed or get us killed, so if you feel confident that you've got what it takes to walk then step forward."

Talis scanned the crowd watching to see who would take the initiative. The group looked up to Talis in awe as she burned her Tatu. The gifts of The Forgotten God helped the Netsu to accomplish extraordinary feats. There were some in the group in front of Talis and Kloe who bore some of the more simple Tatu, such as Kiona, the Tatu of ice and water, or Afi, the Tatu of flame. Others bore two Tatu that worked in harmony. Kloe had two, both the Tatu of Defense called Pui, and the Tatu of Strength called Malosia while Talis herself was gifted with two; her basic Tatu was Ea, the Tatu of Air, while the one she used to affect the emotions of the crowd was called Musia, the Tatu of Inspiration.

"Elei." Kloe said, pointing a finger at a young man with a head full of messy hair full of curls. The hair was bright white, which told Talis that he had recently received the Frost Tatu, Kiona. "Show us your markings."

The young man shrugged his loose green jacket off and placed it neatly onto the sand. He indicated to his left hand where a design of curling ocean waves was drawn.

"I just earned this one." Elei said. His voice was a soft tenor. "And this one I've had for the better part of two years." He revealed his right shoulder where a lizard was drawn in light green ink. The Tatu of Blessings called Fama which allowed for Elei to heal others by giving of them his own life essence.

"When did you get the frost?" Talis tugged at her hair in a gesture that she knew would call attention to his own.

"I…" Elei blushed and stammered.

"The boy is just barely out of training." Natia leaned in and spoke softly to Talis and Kloe. "However, he shows great promise."

Kloe looked at Talis who shrugged. "You're in." Kloe said. "Anyone else? We could use a Dark Walker."

"I'm ready to walk." A small grumble of a voice came from the crowd as a girl with lean features stepped forward. "Name's Sida." She said.

The girl was young, still in her formative years. Her black hair was cut short in an asymmetric bob that was longer over the right side of her face than the left. The tips of the hair were a dark crimson and she wore all black, the usual dress of a dark walker. Talis hid a grimace as she thought of him again. She had to constantly remind herself that not all dark walkers are the same. No matter what the Erridites teach, a Netsu can't become cursed because of a Tatu. Sida extended her left hand where three arrowheads were drawn leaning toward a small circle. The symbol was the Afi, the Tatu of Flame.

"I'm not sure we'll need a firestarter." Talis stated as she recognized the Tatu.

"I'm a dark walker as well." Sida leaned in and showed them her eyes, the left a bright red, the other a dark black.

Talis pursed her lips together in thought. "Alright, greeners, get dressed. We walk in five."

"Greeners?" Elei asked.

"Yeah, little plant, you still have time to grow." Kloe smiled and shooed him away.

The rest of the walkers put their fists over their hearts in salute and parted as Elei and Sida walked through the group and back to the tents set up on either side of the portal.

Talis felt his presence like a shallow gasp of air. She looked down to see wisps of smoke cover the ground at her feet. A wave of hopelessness came over her. His voice, a whisper spoke directly into her right ear as he approached her from behind.

"So now you won't even consider me, Talis? I'm hurt." The man spoke a low gravelly voice.

Talis didn't turn around even as the dark energy accumulated in swirls of mist around her. She took a step to walk away. It didn't matter where, anywhere would be better than standing here next to him.

"Hey. I'm talking to you." He continued, and as he spoke a series of dark tendrils came from his chest arcing across the ground like a seeping wound. They gathered around Talis's feet and held her in place.

"Not today, Rewi." Talis said dismissively.

She felt his hand grab her bicep and she instinctively summoned a gust of wind in her palm as she whirled on him. The Tatu Ea, inked in her flesh to resemble three spirals of wind glowed on her left shoulder as she faced him. Rewi blinked in surprise at her reaction. The wisps of darkness around her legs retreated back into the Tatu on his chest. His expression changed into a grin as he watched the swirling vortex in Talis's hand. Her fingers trembled slightly and she glowed her Musia Tatu on her forehead red to calm herself

"You should go." Kloe's voice came as a welcome guest as she stood beside Talis. Talis recognized the familiar glow of dark cerulean that emanated from Kloe's right hand as a spear appeared in her grasp.

Rewi's grin vanished and he looked over Kloe. His eyes sized her up and down like a predator hungry for a meal. "Fine. Fine. I've got a group of greeners waiting for me anyway."

Talis stiffened as Rewi walked away, his dark wisps absorbing themselves back into his body. The gust of wind in her hand still held strong.

"Hey, it's alright. He's leaving." Kloe placed a hand gently on Talis's shoulder and the winds disappeared. "You still there?"

Talis nodded as she caught her breath. "I'm here."

Kloe put her arm around Talis and led them to the portal.

"Not a bad team." Kloe posited, keeping an eye on Rewi as they walked away. "Elei's a healer, that always comes in handy, and Sida seemed eager."

"I taught Sida myself." Natia told them as she stared into the blank portal. "She's a capable dark walker, should keep you safe out there."

"As good as Rewi?" Talis mumbled.

Natia sighed. "I won't force him upon you or your team, I hope you know that. If you want the best, then, of course, he's the right choice, it's why the council gave him the right to teach all the Tokui. Though the right choice for your walk may not always be the right choice for your team."

Talis shook her head, trying to get Rewi's cloud off her mind. Even the word for the dark Tatu, Tokui bothered her. The Tatu was inked to resemble the moon in its waxing phase, but it was also taught in some religions, such as Erriditism, the one her parents followed, that all those that bear Tokui will one day become corrupted by the dark influence of the marking and turn against the rest of the Netsu. Talis didn't believe in that, at least she didn't think she did until she and Rewi ended things and she saw in him a darkness that perverted his mind and seemed to have changed him overnight.

Talis shook her head to rid herself of Rewi's influence and walked up to the portal with determination, ready to do her usual final check. She ran her finger over the oval, touching every part of the shining cyan light.

"Have we done the plant check?" Talis held out her left hand while keeping her focus on her objective in front of her.

Natia whistled and a young man wearing a white tank top and blue cargos ran up holding a potted fern which he handed to Talis. She eyed it for a moment, sniffed it and pulled at the leaves before pushing her hand through the portal and placing it in the entrance to the other world.

"Looks like it's dark in there. A Dark Walker might not be what we need anyway." Talis stated.

"There's a danger to darkness, Talis, but there is also safety." Natia said. "Sida is still learning, and frankly she could benefit from the wisdom the two of you have to offer. Bring her as a favor to me."

"I could shed some light for us." Kloe declared as she held up the spear in her right hand, and summoned a shield in her left. The weapons emanated a faint blue glow and Kloe smiled.

Natia continued, ignoring Kloe. "Tell me more about how it feels inside? Do you need to put on some heavier clothes?"

"It feels wet, like in the air, usually a good sign." Talis said as she bent over, reaching through the portal again, and picked up the plant. She inspected it and saw it looked the same. "Still, it looks very dark. Could use a Lighter."

"I'm aware of your desires, but you are still young, Talis." Natia began. "The council may not grant you a third Tatu even with your accomplishments until you are closer to your thirtieth year."

"Assuming Erridium will be around when I'm thirty." Talis looked Natia in the eyes as she spoke. "I think we both know that Kutune will descend sooner than I will see thirty years and there aren't enough Lighters on the teams to justify keeping me from receiving it."

"I agree with you," Natia said firmly as she placed her hand on Talis's shoulder. "and I'm sincerely hoping that this accomplishment today will convince the council to grant you a third, but for now focus on the task at hand. We're running out of time and the council is impatient. We've closed the portals on twelve unsuitable worlds this week. We could really use a win."

Talis shrugged off her superior's grasp and searched for the Netsu who gave her the plant to give it back.

"The council can come down here if they want." Talis smirked. "Tell them that they should go risk their lives by breathing on a plane with no livable air. Then maybe they'll be more willing to to send out more teams."

"There's got to be a shorter way of saying that." Kloe laughed. "Go breathe on a plane?"

"I'm sure you'll come up with something." Talis slapped her hand on Kloe's forearm, palming her strength Tatu.

"Careful with that, you'll blemish it." Kloe insisted as she pulled her arm away.

"You can't blemish a Tatu, it's on your soul, not your skin, you know that." Talis chided her with an elbow to the stomach. Kloe responded by picking up Talis playfully and throwing the young leader over her shoulder.

"I'll show you a blemish!" Kloe shouted as her Tatu flared a vibrant indigo on her arm.

"Kloe, put Talis down. Your team is ready." Natia told them.

Kloe spun Talis to face Elei and Sida, dropping her friend who landed on her feet with a loud thud, scattering bits of sand around in waves. Elei was wearing a green vest full of pockets like a fisherman might wear, his messy white hair pulled back in a tail with large sections of it still falling in front of his eyes. Sida wore a simple black tank top exposing her scrawny arms. She kept her hair down, the bangs awkwardly in her eyes, covering the red one. Both had their customary cargo shorts on along with sandals.

"Elei, Sida, hi, how goes it?" Kloe asked with a devilish grin.

Natia glared at Kloe who straightened up and dusted herself off. Talis touched her forehead and pushed her hair out of her eyes, running her fingertip along the left side of her face and across the Tatu. The two younger team members shifted as the ink glowed a phosphorescent blue.

"Elei, Sida." Talis stated with a now more darkened tone resonating from her chest. "Thank you both for volunteering. I appreciate that you both are newly inked with your second Tatu and I trust that you will both use your abilities to the best of your… ability."

Kloe rubbed her shaved head, holding back a smirk.

"Do you have any questions for me before we embark?" Talis asked the greeners as she elbowed Kloe.

Elei stepped forward. "Elei, misia. Healer, and newly inked froster."

Talis forced back a chuckle at his formality. "Thank you for joining us, Elei."

"Yes, misia. Do we know what we should expect on the other side?" As he spoke Talis could sense fear in his voice. As a trained user of the Inspire Tatu, she was able to pick out small inflections and cadences in others that may go unnoticed by most, but to her sounded the same as a stutter.

Talis walked forward, her face glowing red with the use of her Tatu. She put her left hand on his shoulder touching the bare arm just outside of the green vest he wore. "If we knew what was on the other side of every portal then there would be no reason to go through it, now would there?" Talis smiled and the boy's eyes lit up.

"Misia." Sida started.

"Yes, Sida?"

"Rumor has it that the council is looking to give you a new Tatu after this walk." Sida said with a grin on her face. She reminded Talis of Sefina, Kloe's daughter. The young girl would always listen to grown-up conversations then use the information as ammunition at her own convenience.

"I haven't heard that." Talis lied as she side-eyed Natia.

"Sure you hadn't." Natia rolled her eyes. "Do you have your boots and packs?"

Kloe waved to her daughter again. "Fina! Where's my pack?"

The child ran up with her friends, bringing the belongings of both Talis and Kloe with them. "Sorry." Sefina whimpered. "The other kids wanted to see what you bring on missions."

Kloe grabbed the canteen, rope, dagger, boots, and medical kit and put them back into the bag. She handed it to Talis who lifted the strap over her shoulder and wore the carrier around her back.

"Let's get to it." Natia stated plainly.

Kloe scooped up Sefina and gave the girl another kiss. The child grumbled and ran off once more.

Natia guiding the group to the portal and turned to Talis. "Well? Any words for everyone before you embark?"

Talis swallowed and burned her Inspire Tatu, noticing that the rest of the walkers were gathering near the portal. "I want to thank you for joining us on this… momentous journey." As she spoke her voice got louder and the crowd turned to hear her speak.

"My friends!" Talis spoke louder in order to be heard over the chattering voices. "It's true, this is to be my one-hundredth walk!"

The gathered people let out a small cheer which was instigated by Kloe.

Talis smiled at her friend in appreciation before continuing. "It's also true that I will be the first Netsu to cross through one hundred portals!"

This time the cry was even louder than before.

"But this accomplishment should not belong only to me, but to all Netsu! We are strong. Resilient. We brave the waves and the creatures that dwell in the deeps. We bear the marks of the Forgotten God on our skin and praise the gifts that they bring us. We stand resilient, proud, and soon we will stand triumphant against Kutune in this world and the next! We are strong! We are fearless! We are Netsu!"

The throng erupted into a jovial expression of cheers and claps as Kloe slapped Talis approvingly on the back.

Kloe stepped forward toward the portal and her left arm glowed a bright blue as a shield projected itself into her grasp. She breathed in and her left hand illuminated a bright white spear. Talis watched as the Tatu glowed in either hand. Kloe began her charge into the vortex, looking back only for a moment to beckon the rest of the group forward.

"Good luck." Rewi said with a sneer, positioning himself nearest to Talis in an effort to get her attention.

Talis ignored him and nodded instead at Elei and Sida. "Ready?" They nodded back and the three followed Kloe through the portal to the foreign world on the other side.