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Sheep. Aryas had a lot of sheep. On either side of the grey stone road there were red fences. Penned inside those fences for acres and acres were fluffy livestock out in the pastureland.

The smell was unpleasant for one thing. But it was peaceful so much so that it was disquieting for me. The sky was clear apart from a few pale wisps with the yellow sun pouring down on us. I couldn't tolerate the peace. I was all about action and the calmly milling sheep we're not about that life at all.

I kept my eye on my new dog. The last thing I needed was some kind of incident where I had to pay off some poor farmer over some dead livestock. The dog was well behaved and I really had nothing to fear. It trotted alongside the horses as we rode along. The stone road met the horses' hooves with steady clops.

The heart of the town, if it could even be called a town, was just a pocket full of buildings built side by side along the road to Vale. From the way the road bisected through the town and out the other side it seemed as though it was a way-stop for Vale and little more. A few buildings and then acres more of sheep was all there was to it. Pass that and you would pass the entirety of the town and let it recede into a tiny memory.

We would be stopping here at the inn. That happened to be the tallest building in the village. Four stories in all was the height. It was all brick around the base leading up to a rich wood on after upwards. It was so very different from the metal and glass of Atlas which had sleek and smooth spires. It was also much unlike the brick and low buildings of Mantle. It also lacked any elements of Mistrali design with the flaring roofs. This roof was slanted but it had no recurve to it that would make it stand out as Mistrali. No, this was Valean architecture. Plain in a lot of ways. Functional at its maximum.

I looked forward at once to the running water and a fresh shave. I neglected shaving while we camped in the country and that led to a motley of scratchy, itchy facial hair that was too short to be a beard but too long to be stubble. It scratched at me when I turned my head. Course blonde hairs bit into my neck and chin. I'd be more than satisfied once that was gone and taken care of by way of my razor and with the help of a touch of running water. The deep cleaning of my face that would come with moving a slick blade over it was just an added bonus. A gliding metal edge would feel so satisfying. And the burn of any shaving nicks would be pleasant. For the moment I looked and felt scraggly and unkempt. I was too old now to go days between shaves with no one the wiser.

I knew Neo preferred real beds, with feathers or springs to sleep on as opposed to our filthy camp bedrolls. We could wash those here as well. And while we were at it we could resupply on food, and water, and dust. These sorts of towns were good for that kind of thing. Rosé still hadn't mastered dust usage in its raw form let alone eating it. I wanted her to master the raw spells before she consumed any. And, if possible, I'd like to know what her semblance was so we could see how it interacted with the dust she ate. But that was me getting ahead of myself and putting the cart before the horse.

Of course I would like to know about her semblance. She would too, I was sure. I just needed to be patient. I spent more than half my life without my own semblance. It took about a year and half for it to develop after I had my aura unlocked by Pyrrha's. She had unlocked my aura. Now I had unleashed Rosé's. It was an interesting human chain we made. Each person being a link. I wonder how far back it goes. Someone must have unlocked Pyrrha's aura. And someone else must have unlocked theirs and so on.

If Pyrrha could see me now would she be pleased? I'd like to imagine so. And Neo would like a bowl of ice cream but that didn't put a spoon in her hands. Pyrrha would be horrified at some of the shit I had pulled. Before I ran into Weiss and Blake in Atlas I had been on a tear. Bodies kept piling up around me. I tried to be different now. Rosé was helping keep me in check but I still killed people. I still had to. That didn't sound like a good justification and I doubted that Pyrrha would have bought it. She had a noble soul - unstained by murder and theft. She was nothing like me now. Rosé was a little like her. If I stretched things then I could see it. I didn't particularly enjoy that comparison though so I didn't look for it often. It just happened sometimes.

I know Rosé enjoyed her hot showers. She liked them long and hot and steamy. She liked to- well, smell fresh as a rose, I suppose. There was none of that to be had whilst bivouacking in the foothills near cold rivers. The best you could do was wade into freshly melted stream water and wash the thick grime off yourself but it was cold as ice and you couldn't do much more about the smell.

I did a lot of training. I did a lot of sweating. I stank. It happened that I also liked hot showers and getting rid of that stench. It wasn't just a Rosé thing. I enjoyed being clean just as much as the next guy. I just wasn't the daughter of a nobleman used to cleanliness all my life like Rosé was. In my travels across Anima there were long stretches when I went without showering. But my formative year at Beacon, the first real year of my life, I had spent with daily showers so I preferred them to not.

I dismounted at the entrance to the inn and tied both mine and Rosé's horse to some posts out front. The road was wide enough for cars but this place hadn't left horses behind. Nothing quite like grass fed transportation.

I walked into the inn with my party on my heels. There was a cute green eyes girl with blonde hair behind the counter. She had an oval face and her hair was curly. She was short. Not Neo short but Weiss short. She was this tiny tawny thin thing. She looked up at me as I entered from behind her counter. She looked bored, leaning on the counter with one hand supporting her chin but when I walked in her eyes lit up a little at having something to do. She straightened up, pulling her palm free of her face.

"Hello!" Her voice was bright. "My name is Olivia. How can I help you? Sir huntsman?"

"My name is Cloud Strife. This is Neo and Rosé," I gestured. "We need two rooms and two stalls for my horses and some feed. I also have a hunting dog that's staying with me. I'm willing to pay whatever fee or make any deposit necessary for it to stay with me."

"Right away," she told me brightly with rosy cheeks. "Two rooms. Two stalls. Feed. And a dog," she muttered to herself as she typed in a computer. "And… here's your total. And your room keys. I'll take your horses around to their stalls. Anything else I can do for you?" She handed me keys and a receipt as she spoke.

"That's all for now. Thank you, Olivia."

"It's no problem. Have a nice day, sir Cloud."

"Showers. Finally. Don't mind if I do," Rosé said as formed over her room keys. I gave her one and Neo the other.

"Red; heel." I ordered. Then I started climbing the steps to my own room with the dog magnetized to my wake.

Rosé and Neo entered their room and soon I heard the sound of running water. Almost immediately after we split up, in fact.

I made use of my own bathroom as well and I took my razor to my face. There was a small square mirror over the sink. I saw myself standing shirtless. There were the large clawed scars left in my stomach by Tyrian. But more than even that there were deep purple bruises and splotches of sickly yellow where I was periodically bleeding in small amounts internally and near the surface of my skin. I looked away from my ruinous chest with rapidity. Then I showered to tidy myself up. I took my time and I savored it. The hot water running down my back felt like the hands of a massage. I was sure I had dark patches across my ribs on my back just like I had on my abdomen.

Then I exited the bathroom to see Red waiting for me with his head on his paws. He looked up at me with sad dog eyes so I reached down and scratched his ears and he wagged his tail with a steady thump-thump against the wood floor.

Water was still running in the other room so I assumed that Neo was taking her own shower now. That was if Rosé went first. How they worked that out was none of my business to my thinking. I just leaned back on the feather bed and waited for the sounds of the plumbing to cease. I was pretty sure we were the only guests at this inn. They probably didn't see a great deal of travelers and most travelers were as likely to travel on through without stopping as they were to stay a night.

The hissing of pipes stopped in the other room but I kept waiting. Whichever one just got out of the shower would need a few minutes to get dressed or whatever. They wouldn't be ready to go out shopping just yet. Red let out one of those lay down sighs through his nose that dogs often release. It was a sort of bored contented noise. I empathized with it but could do nothing about it but scratch his belly which he exposed to me for more attention.

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I knocked on the girls' door three hard times once I figured I had waited long enough.

Rosé answered the door. She pulled it open and looked up at my face.

"Are we ready to go shopping or do you ladies need more time?"

"I'll go. I don't know about Neo…" Rosé trailed off and turned back to look at where Neo was relaxing on one of the beds. Her tiny form was spread eagle and hardly covered the bed even at her furthest reaches. She held up a hand. Then she held one thumb down.

"I'll bring you back something to eat, then. You just relax," I informed her.

Neo switched her hand around to a thumbs up and receded into the bedspread. She let out a relaxed little sigh as she let her hand droop.

"You and me then," I told Rosé.

"And Red," she cut in, closing the door behind her as she stepped out into the hallway.

"And Red," I agreed. I patted my leg and turned in the direction of my room. "Come on boy. Heel. That's a good boy."

We marched out of the inn into the quiet deserted main street that split the small village.

"It's so quiet. Where are the people?" Rosé wondered, looking around.

"I'm not sure." It was midday. The village center should be about as busy as it got and there was no one but us out. There was nothing but a gentle breeze.

I walked into the dust shop with the chime of a bell. There was an old man behind the counter. "Howdy stranger," he greeted.

"Not so bad. Yourself?" I returned.

"Oh same old same old. What can I do you for?"

"Burn and shock. Uncut. Three of each," I ordered.

"You know what you like, I see."

"Hey where is everyone?" Rosé asked.

"Well today is tribute day."

"Tribute day?" I asked. "What's that."

"The Branwens demand a price for not sacking the town and today they are coming to collect. Food. Water. Dust. Money. A cut of every little thing is their due. That'll be eighteen hundred lien, if you please."

"Good gods are you serious with that price?" I demanded. "It's highway robbery."

"It's that or nothing," the old man affected.

"I'm going to care of your little Branwen problem free of charge. Think you could demand a reasonable price."

"Can you really stop the Branwens?"

"Uh yeah. Easily. I'll kill them and be on my way. Cut me some slack here."

"These ain't just any pack of bandits. They've got aura, an' semblances."

"Work with me here. I'm trying to do the right thing. The Branwens are a piece of cake."

The old man leaned close. "You don't understand. Lady Branwen can be here herself in a heartbeat. It's one of her lieutenants out there raiding this town."

"You're saying I could lure Khutan Branwen out of the hole she's hiding in? Fine. I'll pay your price for dust. But I'm going to kill her as well."

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"Are you really going to kill Raven Branwen? I know you're good, master, but this is Khutan Branwen. She's legendary," Rosé informed me as we walked out of the dust shop. Red followed her closely with doggy incomprehension.

"Rosé… I almost had her once. I had her on the ropes. But she ran away from me. I'm going to kill her. I've only gotten stronger since I last fought her. And faster. If she doesn't teleport away from me again I can destroy her. And I will. She's bad news and she has to go down," I cut right back at Rosé. "I almost fucking had her. This time I'll put her down for sure. Let's eat and then wait for the bandits to show up. You're not going to get squeamish again on me are you?"

"I'm not exactly comfortable with killing people."

"That's a good thing. I'd be worried if you were. But you have to see the necessity of it. There's no prison that can hold Raven Branwen. She's a portal maker - probably the most powerful long range teleporter on the planet. That's how she united all the bandit clans. And I'm going to cut the head off this snake. She runs this show from Mistral to Vale. She owns one and half continents. If I have a shot at taking her down I need to fire away. Can you live with that? Because now is the time to say something."

"You really have to kill her?" Rosé asked me with big blue eyes turned upwards.

"Yeah. I really do. And her men as well. Price gaugers or not I'm saving this town. I'll be doing the whole world a favor when I do it too. She has got to be public enemy number one for Mistral. They had a huge price on her head."

Rosé opened her mouth.

"The money isn't the point," I forestalled with a raised hand. "I don't need it. It just goes to show what a good thing it is I'll be doing."

"Fine. I suppose this has to happen. Even I know that Raven Branwen has to be stopped. Her bandits would attack Winhill as well. She's an enormous threat. Can you really beat her?"

"I can destroy her. I just have to do it one shot."

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-WG