H'aanit closed the door carefully behind herself as she walked back into the inn room she and Primrose were sharing throughout their stay in Stonegard. She wasn't entirely sure how long she had been out by the Spectrewood simply crying for reasons that she struggled to describe beyond her own skills of reason and rationality, but she was glad to be back. It had taken a miracle for her face to be wiped clean of tears and red marks, but H'aanit was relieved that nobody had been able to tell that she had been crying for so long. Linde was remaining closer to her than usual though, a lingering trace of her protectiveness after all the horrors that the day had shown to them.

H'aanit had been expecting to glance up and see the room empty, but much to her surprise, Primrose and Ophilia were both sitting on the former's bed. H'aanit watched them for a long moment before correcting her expression back to its typical neutrality. "Goode afternoon," she greeted simply before sitting down on her own bed. Linde sat down at her feet, and the huntress reached one hand down to stroke gently at the snow leopard's head. H'aanit was silently relieved that Linde was so good at reading her emotions; it certainly made it easier for H'aanit to find comfort when she struggled to articulate aloud just what was bothering her.

Ophilia and Primrose glanced to one another for a moment that seemed to last much too long in H'aanit's eyes. The cleric rose to her feet and took a careful step towards the huntress, almost as if she was afraid of what was going to happen if she crossed too many lines. "Are you okay?" she whispered, treating the words as sacred glass.

H'aanit looked up at Ophilia and prayed that she didn't look as worn down as she felt. Before H'aanit had the chance to say anything, she was cut off by Ophilia interjecting. "I'm sorry about what happened to your master," the cleric whispered into the silence. "I wish there was something I could do to solve the problem right now, but... It seems like we won't have any easy solutions until we can go to see that woman in Stillsnow."

"Susanna," H'aanit finished for her simply. She shifted her attention back to Linde a moment later, desperate to say something more but ultimately uncertain as to what she was meant to tell the cleric and dancer. What could she say? There was no easy solution for anything that they were being faced with, and she knew it. Ophilia was right in saying that they were fumbling in the dark until they could go back to Stillsnow, but H'aanit couldn't ask everybody to drop what they were trying to accomplish in the name of her own quest. That simply didn't feel right to her, and she had no idea what would be waiting for her in Stillsnow on top of that. For all she knew, it was for the best that they couldn't return for a while yet; they had caused a notable upheaval the last time they were there, and H'aanit couldn't say for sure if the lingering traces of Rufus' ring would take that lying down or not.

Ophilia nodded. "Yeah," she hummed. She fell silent once again before she sighed and glanced up to H'aanit once more. "I'm sorry about all of this. Fearing the loss of someone you care about... It's terrible."

H'aanit looked up to meet Ophilia's gaze once again and saw that the cleric's expression had been torn to shreds by some unknown touch of grief. "Your father... Thou art thinking of him, yes?" H'aanit questioned as soon as she recognized that expression a bit more than she probably should have.

Ophilia hesitated before nodding. "He's still sick back home in Flamesgrace... And I'm holding tightly to the hope that there's something I'll be able to do to see him again before he passes on," she murmured. "But just sitting around and waiting for that time to come is agonizing. I don't think that I would ever be able to imagine walking into the forest and seeing... Well..."

"Stone," H'aanit finished for her, uncertain as to how else she was meant to say it. All of a sudden, her body felt tense again, like she was going to start to crumble if she wasn't careful. How could she still feel so fragile? She had just spent what felt like an eternity crying her eyes out near the Spectrewood, and it had been the greatest period of sorrow H'aanit had ever known. The last thing she wanted to do was repeat it when she was already exhausted as could be.

Ophilia nodded once more, seemingly uncertain as to what she was meant to say. She eventually drifted to H'aanit's side, placing one hand over the huntress' knuckles carefully. "We're going to find a way to fix this," she promised H'aanit. "But until then... It's okay to be scared. You don't have to be fearless all the time. The rest of us are here for you. We supported Primrose back in Stillsnow, and we helped Alfyn in Goldshore too. I think it's time that you let us do something for you for a change."

H'aanit did nothing but stare down at the place where her hand met Ophilia's in her lap for a long time. How was she supposed to respond to that? Z'aanta had always encouraged her to be open with her emotions, but H'aanit had never been able to bring herself to do it. The idea just felt wrong to her for reasons that she struggled to articulate. H'aanit never saw much of a reason in being open with how she felt when it never seemed to accomplish much. She appreciated Z'aanta's jovial cheer, but she could never echo such a demeanor. She simply wasn't made for it.

The opposite end of the spectrum remained foreign to her as well, hence why she had remained alone when she sobbed for everything that had happened for reasons that she didn't understand. Z'aanta's letter made it sound like he was going to be fine if all went according to plan. He had been serious for the first time in ages, but H'aanit had faith that he was honest when he said that he thought this Susanna woman would be able to help him. She believed him, but at the same time, that wasn't enough for her to calm her raging mind when it came to all of her greatest fears.

Before H'aanit knew what she was doing, her fingers drifted up to her chest where her parents' rings hung from a single loop of string around her neck. She had never known her parents, instead always finding Z'aanta to be her family. She had been able to cope with their loss thanks to Z'aanta, and he was the one who saved her from what would have been a life of isolation in the aftermath of her world crumbling from beneath her feet. Z'aanta felt more like family to her than her parents ever had, and she didn't know what to do when her family-the one that she loved the most-was breaking due to powers out of her control.

Ophilia watched H'aanit carefully before sighing. "I lost my birth parents a long time ago too," she murmured. "They passed away in a war between major settlements in the south of Orsterra. My adoptive father, the archbishop of the Church of the Sacred Flame, took me in after they passed away. I don't know what I would have done without him and Lianna. They saved me from endless loneliness and gave me a place to belong. I didn't realize that it was my home for a long time, but... I see now what it is, and... I don't want to lose it."

H'aanit remained silent at those words, still uncertain as to how she was meant to respond. A knot had started to rise in her throat by this point, and H'aanit had no idea how she could ever find the power to speak around it. "But there's still a way for us to keep fighting. You have every right to be afraid and hopeless right now, but... We're going to find a way out of this. It's okay to fear what's happening while still understanding that it won't be like this forever. We're going to find a solution and bring your master back home. I promise," Ophilia continued, her voice as melodic as it was soothing.

"It seems to me like we can trust this Eliza woman with taking care of Redeye for the time being," Primrose interjected, nodding her agreement to Ophilia's words. "That means that the rest of us can focus on trying to find a solution for the petrified condition of your master by traveling to Stillsnow."

Ophilia nodded as well. "I've heard much about Eliza, and I've met her a few times too," she agreed.

H'aanit finally found the footing she needed to speak, though it was far from being about the subject she knew she had to discuss sooner or later. "Ah, indeed. The Knights Ardante aren servants of thine Order of the Sacred Flame, yes?" H'aanit asked. She wasn't going to be able to avoid talking about her fear over Z'aanta forever, but at least she had finally found the power to speak around her nerves. That was an important first step, and she was willing to take it.

Ophilia nodded once more. "Indeed. She is well respected by the church and known as one of its most loyal servants," she said. "That means that we can have faith in Eliza to handle the fight with Redeye until we're able to join it ourselves."

"Thou intendest to fighten at my side if we must engage Redeye?" H'aanit questioned. She didn't know why she was shocked by this revelation given that the group had stayed by her side that far, but it still caught her by surprise in more ways than she could ever hope to word aloud.

"Of course," Ophilia said, speaking the words so easily that it seemed like nothing had ever come simpler to her. "We're not going to just abandon you when you need support most, H'aanit. That's not what friends do, and I like to think that we all think of each other as friends after how far we've come already. We're going to visit Susanna and see what we need to do to save your master, and after that... We'll follow you to fight Redeye."

"Even though thou now knowest about Redeye's powers of petrification?" H'aanit asked, still finding herself dancing around the subject of their alliance uncertainly. She was more than happy to have the rest of the group around, but the last thing she wanted to do was push them into danger prematurely if there was something she could do to prevent it. If they chose to do this of their own free will though, then who was she to stop them? H'aanit was a firm believer in choice even if she feared for the people who were making the decision at hand. People had to explore the world for themselves, and she wouldn't be the one to hold them back from doing what they thought was right.

"We can't just leave you to handle all of that alone," Ophilia insisted. "I know that none of us are quite like your master, but... Since coming to travel with all of you, I've felt like I've found a new family that I never could have expected. Everything is happening fast right now, but... I still want to try and fight in the name of something that we can all believe in. I have faith in all of you, and I'm not going to leave any of you out to dry as long as there's something I can do to help. You're all becoming my family too, and family doesn't just leave one another behind."

H'aanit looked up to meet Ophilia's gaze, and she realized that the gleam in the cleric's eyes was a familiar one to her. H'aanit had seen Z'aanta's eyes shine the same way many years ago when he insisted that he would look after her no matter what happened next. She had just lost everything, but he was more than happy to care for her through her darkest hour. Z'aanta had promised that they would be family then and forever, and just like that, all of H'aanit's previous fears had melted away in favor of a comfort and home that she never could have imagined.

Before H'aanit could register what was happening, tears were welling up in her eyes, and the salty liquid slid down her cheeks as she stared at Ophilia in the silence. She had cried so few times up to that point that she could count off on one hand how many times she had taken to tears throughout her entire life before then. And yet, here she was, crying three times in a single day without even bothering to fight it. This had been one of the hardest days of her life, and it felt like everything was falling apart, but she still shocked herself with the ease of her tears after all the years she had spent hiding her emotions whether she noticed it or not.

Primrose crossed the room to sit on H'aanit's other side, wrapping an arm around the huntress' shoulder gently. "It's okay," she whispered. "You can cry as much as you need to. We'll be here for you no matter what."

Much to H'aanit's own surprise, those words were all it took for the floodgates to come rushing open. Her tears began to flow faster and more freely than before, and H'aanit couldn't bring herself to stop them. Linde began to curl around her feet, and H'aanit watched as the snow leopard stared up at her with all the love in the world. The huntress smiled sadly as she found herself leaning against Primrose's torso, her fingers still intertwined with Ophilia's on her lap. H'aanit had never been one for physical affection, but everything about this felt so overwhelmingly right that she couldn't bring herself to protest. After how terrible the last twenty-four hours had been, she needed this whether she wanted to admit it or not.

Primrose and Ophilia were silent as H'aanit allowed herself to cry in front of other people for the first time in well over a decade. They didn't bother to try and quiet her, knowing that this was what she needed above all else. H'aanit knew that they were right about her needing to be open with her emotions, and she found herself rather shocked by just how... Simple it felt. She had been holding herself back for years without ever coming close to registering it, but this time, it felt like the world was coming into focus in a way words could never describe.

It felt like she truly was home.

For H'aanit, home had always meant her small wooden cabin in S'warkii, the one she had shared with Z'aanta her entire life. However, as she sat there crying in the inn of a town she had come to despise in the last few hours, H'aanit felt that sensation of love mount in her core once again. Home wasn't exactly a place anymore; it was a feeling, and that sensation seemed to manifest around the other travelers as well. She hadn't felt this comforted and loved since before Z'aanta disappeared, and it seemed like the light of catharsis and peace was finally aligning properly where it had failed to do so daily for the last year.

By the time H'aanit's tears had dried, she felt much better than she had even after she finished crying outside the Spectrewood. The constant comfort that came from Ophilia, Primrose, and Linde was more than enough to ease her raging mind and fearful heart. Even if times were uncertain regarding Z'aanta's fate, they were going to try and work out a solution. Until then, it was alright that H'aanit was nervous. Anybody would be, and it simply wasn't realistic for her to try and hide herself away from the world to try and ignore the obvious truth of the matter. It was alright to be open with her emotions even if she hadn't done so in years up to that point. It was everything she needed, and having Primrose and Ophilia along for the ride only made it easier for her.

"I thanke thee," H'aanit finally managed to say when she was able to speak once more. She found herself leaning a bit more against Primrose's body much to her own surprise. H'aanit had always felt that Primrose acted somewhat motherly around others and was great at taking care of them, but she never would have imagined that she would find herself on the receiving end of such kindness.

"We're more than happy to help," Primrose assured her with a small smile that had the power to bring light to even the darkest corners of Orsterra. H'aanit couldn't help returning the gesture, and she wondered when she had gotten lucky enough to stumble into a group that cared for her so much.

"If you ever need us again, you know where to find us. We're more than happy to help you in any way that you need," Ophilia said next, and H'aanit glanced over to the cleric. Ophilia was technically the reason that all of them had met. Her journey as part of the Kindling had brought them all together, and beyond that, she had pushed past Saintsbridge to meet her and Therion. If not for Ophilia, H'aanit would never have met the rest of them. Even if Aelfric had pushed her in the right direction, it was still a relief for H'aanit in a thousand different ways.

H'aanit let out a careful breath, surprising herself with just how grounded she was despite the way her mind had been whirling just a few minutes prior. For the first time since finding Z'aanta's statue, H'aanit was confident that they were going to be alright. It wasn't going to be easy, but nothing the group had done up to that point had been expressly simple to begin with. Fighting against Rufus and dismantling his ring had been difficult, and yet, there they were. The same applied to pulling the ruby dragonstone from Orlick's fingers and defeating Vanessa when she threatened the lives of countless innocent people. They had accomplished much, and they would no doubt continue to do powerful work as long as they remained together.

"What could I have ever donen to deserven thee?" H'aanit found herself whispering even though she didn't think she needed or wanted an answer. She was happy to simply be there with the other members of the group, and as long as they were by her side, she knew that she was going to be alright. This was everything that she had ever needed and then some, and she couldn't have imagined anything better.

Times were hard, but they were going to get through it. After all, that was what family always did.

Tressa couldn't help the way her eyes popped as she walked into the library of Stonegard. It was a small building tucked away in the upper half of the city, its walls made from the same pure rock from which the town found its name. Everything about the space was impressive as could be between the books that lined every wall and shelf and the gentle flicker of candlelight that seemed to cast everything in a gentle aura of mystery that Tressa didn't think she had ever seen up to that point. It felt like something straight out of a mystery novel, and Tressa couldn't keep herself from staring no matter how hard she tried.

Tressa shook off her shock a moment later, forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other. She was here for a reason, and she couldn't afford to get distracted. After the group got back to the inn, they scattered for their individual activities for the rest of the day. Tressa had taken to shopping for supplies for the next leg of their journey. The path to Saintsbridge was going to be long and difficult even if they stopped off in Wellspring for a short while. They had no business in the desert town for the time being, but it wouldn't hurt for them to at least visit the city once to ensure they could use the Warp Staff to get there later. As far as Tressa could tell, they would have to travel to Wellspring eventually since that was where the black market auction Heathcote spoke of was centered. The auctions wouldn't be starting for quite a while yet, but it certainly wouldn't hurt for the group to go there briefly.

That didn't change the fact that the party would have to push all the way through to Saintsbridge before they could do anything else, and that likely meant much more work in terms of travel than they had been forced to put in up to now. Tressa had been more than happy to take care of their supplies for the journey, but she had finished sooner than she expected, and that gave her all the time she could ask for to explore Stonegard.

In the end, she decided to travel to the library since she had heard that Cyrus was going there to look over the map that Barham had given him. Tressa was just as interested in the shrines as anyone else in the group, and if anything, her curiosity had doubled itself after she received the Tempest Spear in Bifelgan's shrine. She couldn't help wondering if perhaps the group would run into yet another shrine on the way to Saintsbridge, and if anybody was going to know, it was going to be Cyrus.

Tressa shuffled her way through the shelves carefully, and she eventually found Cyrus looking at the map from behind a small stack of tomes near the rear of the building. It was just like Cyrus to find a quiet corner to curl up in, and Tressa couldn't help smiling at the sight of him. She approached him carefully, but he didn't notice her until she tapped his shoulder. "Hey there, Cyrus."

The scholar immediately came out of his trance, seemingly shocked at the fact that he had company at all. "Ah, Tressa. I didn't realize you had joined me," he said. He straightened out the stack of books off to his right before meeting her gaze, and Tressa mused on how he intended to read so much in such a short period of time. "What brings you here?"

"I finished topping off our supplies, so I figured I'd see what you were up to," Tressa replied simply. She pulled up a chair from a nearby empty table before sitting down beside him, eyeing the stack of books off to the side. "What are all those books about?"

"The map that Barham gave me has quite a few notable locations marked, but some of them do not belong here," Cyrus explained. "Not all of these points can hold shrines because of the limited number of shrines. I've already marked down the shrines of Aelfric, Alephan, Bifelgan, and Brand that we have visited before now, but finding the others is proving to be a bit more difficult than I thought. Since there are a few locations that will not hold shrines here, I wanted to do as much research as I could to narrow down our searching scope."

"That way, we won't go to a location we think has a shrine and be disappointed," Tressa finished with a small nod. "If you can rule out some spots because they have powerful magic for other reasons, then we won't wind up going around in circles since we have the answers early."

"Precisely," Cyrus responded, nodding once again as he pointed to the map with one finger. "There are a few locations that we'll encounter on the way to Saintsbridge. One of the spots is just outside Saintsbridge while another is near Wellspring. Since we will likely be stopping in Wellspring briefly for the sake of the Warp Staff's power, we can investigate both of these locations along the way. Unfortunately, I cannot rule either one of these locations out as false, so we'll simply have to see for ourselves if they hold shrines or not when we get there."

Tressa nodded at that before her gaze fell on the marker over Flamesgrace on the map. "You don't think there's anything in Flamesgrace?" she asked. "It wouldn't be all that hard to check if there was a shrine there, but..."

"Ophilia has always had the strongest connection with the gods out of us," Cyrus explained. "If there was a shrine in her immediate area, she no doubt would have found it before she began her travels. On top of that, I can explain what that magical power is rather easily: the Sacred Flame."

"That's right," Tressa realized. "The Sacred Flame is from Aelfric's magic, and it's one of the strongest powers on the continent. I guess it makes sense that we could rule out Flamesgrace since that explanation makes a lot of sense."

"There are still quite a few locations here that need to be ruled out since I have roughly sixteen spots to look at," Cyrus frowned. "I believe I'll get there in time. This will get easier for me once we've reached Saintsbridge. After all, I'll be able to either mark down or rule out the two locations that we'll cross on the way there."

"You're right," Tressa murmured. "I suppose that you have everything under control then."

"It was a daunting task at first, but I must confess that I've rather enjoyed being able to make these deductions," Cyrus confessed, a smile quickly finding a home on his features. "This has been an intriguing experience, to say the least, and I'm excited to see where it takes us next. In the meantime, I would love to learn more about the legendary weapons that the gods have passed down to us."

"I wonder what the other weapons are going to be like," Tressa remarked. "I mean, we've already got four of them, and I can only imagine that the others are going to be just as incredible. Then there's the powers of the gods... I suppose we haven't really had much time to use them yet."

"I've done a bit more research into the gifts that ancient texts have related to the gods, and I've found that they match up with what we've heard about from the previous shrines," Cyrus told her. "Aelfric has the gift of a second chance, Alephan's strength is unparalleled focus, Bifelgan grants the power of good fortune, and Brand has a power beyond compare. It'll likely be a while before we can see them in action in full, but it's still an interesting matter to think about until then."

"You're right," Tressa said with a nod. "I want to see what all of those powers mean when we get the chance... Perhaps we'll be able to fight with those skills in the next battle against a god. I mean, we don't know for sure what shrine we're going to run into next-or if we'll even find one at all before Saintsbridge-but I'm sure looking forward to learning more about all of this. I never thought I would take this much interest in the gods, but..."

"Given how closely tied we have come to be with them, it makes a lot of sense that you would grow so intrigued," Cyrus finished for her, and Tressa nodded her confirmation as the scholar continued. "I've always found myself interested in matters relating to magic and the ancient powers of Orsterra, though I admit my research has often skewed more towards the former. I love learning more about the world we find ourselves in, and these new types of magic... They prove a hypothesis I have been working on for quite some time, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes us."

"We're bound to run into a god with a new element soon enough," Tressa commented. "Come to think of it, the Lord of the Forest could control the plant life in the Spectrewood... I wonder if that could possibly be an indicator of some new type of magic. Then again, I suppose only time will be able to tell what we're going to find there."

"Either way, I'm excited to see where this path takes us next," Cyrus smiled. "I never would have imagined that this sabbatical would prove to be so fruitful, but it seems to me that my research will be going much further here than it ever could have in Atlasdam."

"That's all the more reason for us to find out more then," Tressa beamed. She glanced back down to the map and scanned over all of the potential shrine locations. "We're going to find something great soon. I can just feel it. And when we do..."

"I can only imagine that we'll have much more knowledge about our world than we could have ever imagined," Cyrus finished. He looked back down to the map himself and began to scan through the locations Barham had marked before he reached for a book at the top of his stack. He flicked through a few pages, his expression slipping into neutrality as he was once again absorbed by his research.

Tressa couldn't help smiling at the sight, and she let out a small sigh before leaning back in her chair. She never would have thought that she would find something like this when she left Rippletide, but she was glad that she had given herself the chance to branch out. This journey only seemed to get more incredible as time went by, and she couldn't wait to see what came next.

She reached for her journal where it rested in her bag, and as soon as she got her hands on a pen, she began to write.

Another chapter! Woohoo!

This chapter is our last one in Stonegard before we wrap up H'aanit's chapter two and break our previous pattern of spending roughly ten chapters in each town. After this, we've got Sealticge and Dohter's shrines before the next major plot beats, and I'm looking forward to it. I think it's high time we mixed up the routine a bit, and this is as good a time as any.

Now, let's talk about the chapter itself. I adored both of the scenes here. H'aanit's conversation with Ophilia and Primrose (including a modified version of H'aanit and Ophilia's travel banter for this chapter) was tons of fun to work on. I really do love H'aanit finally opening up to the rest of the group and showing her fears for the first time thus far. Even if she knows that they're going to find a way to help Z'aanta, her anxieties remain, and she deserves to be upset about it. Poor H'aanit. She's really going through it, but at least she has the rest of the group looking after her.

Then there was the scene with Tressa and Cyrus to show that I haven't forgotten about the shrines. We haven't looked at the map much since getting it back in Noblecourt, but here's our chance to reflect on it for a short while. I thought it was a nice way to put a few characters together who haven't had much time one-on-one, so you get Cyrus doing research with Tressa looking in. It's a unique dynamic, and I absolutely adore it.

Next time, we're going to wrap up H'aanit's chapter two at long last and get ready for the next leg of the journey. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital