Things continued for the next month in much the same way, until one morning.
As Muz-Ja sauntered down the stairs, ready for instruction, her mind buzzed with the tasks of the day. Upon her arrival, however, the table where Mileeta normally sat and waited sat empty - she was nowhere to be seen.
This worried her greatly, and she spent what felt like an hour searching around for her before stumbling onto her quarters. There, she found her - rifling through a large trunk, back turned to the door.
"Uh.. Hello?" Muz-Ja said tentatively, poking her head around the doorway and into Mileeta's room.
"Oh, hello Muz." she said, a tired, sleepless look in her eyes. "Come in, I have something to tell you." She beckoned Muz-Ja in with a slight wave of her hand, sitting on the foot of her bed whilst still going through the chest, full of various clothes.
"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Muz-Ja said, sitting next to her and twiddling her thumbs anxiously.
"No, nothing's wrong. I do have something to tell you, though." She replied, stuffing a small necklace into the trunk.
"What is it?" Muz-Ja asked inquisitively. She took a long breath and sighed. "Well, I recieved a message last night from Vicecanon Heita-Meen. She wishes for me to help our soldiers in Cyrodiil for a while.
Muz-Ja gasped softly, and a look of both sadness and worry moved onto her face. "So.. you're leaving then..?" She said.
"Yes. But…" Mileeta took a moment to think of what to say.
"But what?" Asked Muz-Ja, now more inquisitive than ever.
"...I was wondering if you'd want to come with me. It'd be a great chance to teach you more and I don't want to just leave you here." She said, smiling softly.
A grin quickly replaced Muz-Ja's worry, as she bounced up and quickly wrapped Mileeta in a tight hug. "Of course! Thank you so much! When are we leaving? Should I start packing?" She said, practically vibrating with excitement.
Smiling and laughing softly, Mileeta replied "Yes, I'm giving you the day off to get ready. We'll be leaving tomorrow."
And with that, after one final squeeze, Muz-Ja was up the steps and out the door.
Later that day, she had almost finished packing. Her clothes were neatly arranged in a medium-sized wooden trunk, as well as her alchemical supplies, and a few blankets.
After finishing this, she decided to spend the rest of the day fishing in the small pond by her house. As she sat on a root, feet dangling just above the water, her pole cast out, she began to think. Unable to take her mind off of the coming journey, she started to think about all the trouble that could befall them - or more specifically, Mileeta. Bandits, wild animals, Covenant or Dominion troops, rogue mages, and other possible dangers all swirled through her mind. It seemed, although she didn't realize it, that she was actually more worried for her mentor and friend than for herself.
Unwillingly, her mind eventually began to drift back to her dream. She'd spent all month trying to repress it, but it still hadn't left her mind. This started to make her more and more worried. "What if what happened to my sister happens to me? Or to Mileeta?" She thought to herself, trying not to imagine such a scenario. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed the sun beginning to set as the marsh came alive with the songs of a multitude of insects. She was only snapped out of her thoughts when a fish finally took the bait and yanked it off the hook, which was subsequently pulled out of her hands and into the dark, murky water.
"I think that's enough for today." She said to nobody in particular, sighing and standing up before walking back to the house.
Once there, she promptly undressed, curled up in her bed, and fell asleep.
