Smooth was the last thing Lucina would call their exit from the town of Rottenburg. Every rock the wheels rolled over threw everything in the air, her included. That made sitting a painful experience, though Lucina was very glad that there was enough room to sit at all. Better sitting on a bumpy ride than standing.
As the wagon rolled over yet another large stone in the road, setting off another clatter of silverware somewhere in the cart, Lucina took the chance to look around. There was Anna, of course, sitting at the front, with one of her daughters riding next to her. The other three sat in a circle in a small space they had cleared out for themselves by pushing out a few of the bags, eating candy together that Lucina presumed they had bought from the town just before they left, and of course, just on the other side of the stack of books to her left, she could barely make out Gregor's shoes poking out.
None of them were looking at her, too entrapped in whatever they were doing. She could leave if she wanted too. No one would stop her, but it wasn't as if she would get far with the gash in her hand, dribbling blood from her palm and through the planks in the wagon. It wasn't fatal by any means, but it still hurt a lot. What she wouldn't do for the sweet relief of a vulnerary.
Just thinking about her cut, her eyes slowly drifted over to the one responsible for giving her the cut: her own Uncle Gregor.
Well, I suppose he's not Uncle Gregor quite yet, she thought, her face twisted in a grimace as she glanced down at her hand, hastily wrapped in a strip she'd torn off her ratty cloak.
Uncle Gregor, the Gregor from my time, he was quite strong. Maybe it was just because I was a child then, but he feels a lot weaker than he did then. He hasn't been a mercenary for long, has he?
Lucina frowned. She flexed her wounded hand again, and hid her wince when pain shot through her arm.
She'd suffered from worse cuts. She'd survived much, much worse back in the future, but back in the future, there was always someone to heal her immediately after a battle. Here, she was left with this reminder. And what a painful reminder it was; every time she twitched her fingers, she was reminded of the fight that she had lost just an hour ago.
Lucina did not consider herself a sore sport. She could take a loss in a fair game, pat her opponent on the back, and let it go. Maybe she was just tired, maybe she was just hungry, or maybe it was the stupid scar that kept flaring up, rubbing her lost battle with a cup of salt, that irritated her every time her mind brought her back to it.
He couldn't have been much more experienced than her. The way he moved about, clumsy and giving ground to her with every strike, and considering when she was right now, he couldn't have been a mercenary for more than... a year? Two years, at most.
She had been fighting for much, much longer, so maybe it was her physical ailments, but maybe it was the fact that she had lost to a much less experienced opponent that irked her the most.
Losing never felt good. But... at least she'd had the chance to lose at all. Here, she could lose and live to lick her wounds. Back in the future, there would be no wounds to lick if you lost.
Before she could dwell on it for any longer, Anna's voice interrupted her thoughts. "So, now that we've put some distance between us and the tow, why don't we get you two fixed up?" She reached into a bag beside her, pulled out a heal staff, and tossed it at the three children sitting in the back.
It clattered right in the middle of their circle. The three girls exchanged glances, but as Lucina waited, none of them made to pick it up.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Anna called back. "One of you pick that up and start using that thing, chop chop!"
At last, one of the girls reached down and picked up the staff. It looked big in her hands, almost stretching from her head to her feet, and she held it above her head as she awkwardly waded through the bags and wares. Eventually, she stopped in front of Lucina and held it over her expectantly. Lucina sighed, but she still held up her wounded hand for the girl to heal.
Lucina waited. And waited.
After a minute of waiting, the girl lowered the staff, to Lucina's confusion.
"Momma," the girl asked. "How am I supposed to use this?"
"Didn't I already teach you?" Anna replied without looking over her shoulder.
The girl frowned. "No! You taught her." She pointed to the girl sitting at the front.
Anna glanced down at her, then turned back to the road. "She's sleeping, dear. You'll have to figure it out on your own, you think you could do that for me, hon? Momma has to focus on driving."
The girl paused. Her eyes lingered on the staff. "Okay, fine."
"Thanks, dear."
Lucina didn't think the girl wanted to figure it out for herself. She looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't really have a choice. Helplessly, the girl turned to her sisters, asking with her gaze if any of them knew how to use it.
One of the girls clutched a teddy bear to her face as she looked up in thought. "It's magic," she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "Try using magic on it."
"I don't know how I'm supposed to do that!" the first girl huffed.
The other girl, who was currently chewing on a bright red scarf, spat it out and said, "It can't be that hard. Momma does it all the time."
"But how am I supposed to do it? Momma never taught me. I can't even cast a Fire spell."
The third girl, scarf girl, Lucina dubbed, hummed. "I don't know. Maybe try imagining it? Maybe try..." Scarf girl waved her hand in a circle. "Maybe try pretending that it's being healed!"
"Okay..." The first girl, who Lucina noted was wearing a boot with a rather big tear in it, gazed back at Lucina, her gaze with a renewed focus. She held her staff up to Lucina's hand. Lucina kept it still, waiting with a straight face.
The girl's face tightened. Her brow furrowed, and her lips curled down. She stared at Lucina's wounded hand with such a strained expression, Lucina was tempted to interrupt her and tell her that she was doing it wrong, but with everyone else's eyes on her, she decided to keep her mouth shut, if only to keep what few cards she had left close to her chest.
Besides, surely there was someone who knew better here, right? Surely someone else would step in to correct her?
For a minute that felt much too long, nothing happened. Then, the girl's eyes went wide, and she exclaimed, "Oh, wow! It's all better now!"
It wasn't. Lucina could very much still feel the pulsating pain of her open wound.
"What are you, stupid?" scarf girl said. "That's not what you're supposed to do!"
The first girl–boot Anna, Lucina decided– turned back to scarf Anna. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
Scarf Anna shrugged. "I don't know. I guess heal staves do that blue glowy thing when they start doing magic. Maybe pretend you see the blue glowy part start glowing, and it'll happen."
"Fine."
Boot Anna turned back to Lucina's hand. Her eyes narrowed. Her teeth grit. She stared so long and so hard at it, that her face began to turn a slight red, and Lucina thought it would explode.
Then, boot Anna slumped back and sighed. "This is stupid. It's not working!"
"Maybe try touching it," the girl with the teddy bear–bear Anna–said, quietly. "Maybe the blue glowy part is magical, and you need to touch it to get it to work."
Boot Anna groaned, but what other options did she have. Lucina spread her fingers open, giving the girl a clear path to her palm. Bear Anna's idea was wrong too, but Lucina supposed that trial and error was as good a way to figure out how to heal someone as any. Better her than Gregor, anyway, seeing as his cuts littered his face–a result of her shoving his head into a glass window.
Slowly, boot Anna pulled the staff away. Lucina raised an eyebrow, confused. Just what was she doing?
Then Anna swung the staff right into Lucina's hand.
"Ow!" Lucina hissed, and she batted the heal staff away.
Anna yelped. In her surprise, she let go of the staff, and it clattered against the side of the wagon. She pouted at Lucina, like she had messed that up somehow. Lucina shot a glare back at her.
"What in Naga's name was that for?" she said as she shook out the pain from her hand.
"I'm healing you! It wouldn't kill you to hold still, would it?" boot Anna snapped back.
"Yes, it will. You could have broken my arm. That is not how you heal someone!"
"And you think you know any better, Miss Marth?"
Boot Anna crossed her arms and scowled, but Lucina could see the frustration written on her face. And, as much as Lucina didn't want to admit it, she could understand why. Nothing she had done had worked.
Lucina glanced over to where Anna was sitting. She seemed entirely focused on the road ahead. The Anna sitting next to her was still asleep, too. She wasn't going to be getting any help from them any time soon, and Gregor... well, he was a mercenary. Learning how to use a heal staff had never been one of his top priorities.
With a sigh, Lucina turned back to Boot Anna. "As a matter of a fact, I do."
"Okay, fine!" Boot Anna stomped over to pick up the heal staff, and she shoved it into Lucina's hands. "If you're so smart, why don't you do it yourself?"
"Because I can't!" Lucina said, stopping Boot Anna before she could storm away. "You can't use a heal staff yourself." Briefly, she mulled over in her head if she was really going to do this, before deciding that it was better than bleeding out on the road, or catching an infection with this ratty cloak wrapped around her wound.
"Come over here. I shall teach you how to use it properly."
Boot Anna looked none too happy about it. She looked like she really wanted to go back to her sisters. Lucina wouldn't blame her if she did, but then she would just call for Anna, and chances were, Anna would just force her to try again. In the end, Boot Anna seemed to figure that out too, as she returned to stand in front of Lucina.
Lucina held the staff out in front of her. "Take it with both hands. Make sure you have a firm grip on it."
Boot Anna snatched the staff with one hand and held it out. Lucina frowned.
"I said both hands," she said. Anna adjusted her grip accordingly.
"Now, hold it over the wounded area. Do not touch it–" she pulled her hand away when Boot Anna moved too close, "–but keep it close. The end of the staff should be just above the wound. That's good. Keep it there."
"What now?" Boot Anna half asked, half grumbled.
"Are you holding on tight?" In response, the staff creaked. Maybe she was holding onto it a little too tight, but for this, it didn't matter, so Lucina didn't comment.
"That is good. Now, close your eyes, and imagine you are a river."
"A river?" Boot Anna's face twisted into a frown. "Why?"
"This is important. Have faith in me."
Anna grumbled again, but she did as she was told. Lucina smiled. "That is very good. Now, take a deep breath in. Then out. In. And out. In–"
"This is stupid!" Boot Anna's eyes snapped open, and she stomped her boot against the wagon. "This ain't magic. I'll tell you what this is, this is dumb and boring. You tell me to pretend I'm a river, but how am I supposed to do that? Rivers are dumb."
"You'd be surprised how important rivers can be. Their gentle currents, after all, ensure that life can flourish all over the country."
"But how am I supposed to pretend I'm like that? I'm not a river!"
Lucina hummed. How indeed?
It had been a long time since she had used a heal staff herself. In practice, she was a little rusty, but in knowledge... well, Brady was always quite eager to get on anyone's case if they implied that they didn't understand how it worked, so she liked to believe she had a solid grasp on the theory.
Of course, just because she knew, she was bound to take a few things for granted. Someone who had never done it before, they might have a hard time picturing what exactly she wanted her to feel. To her, she knew exactly what it was she was describing, but to Anna, it would sound like nonsense. She needed a way to visualize it, that was all.
An idea struck Lucina's head. "Would you happen to know where you keep the water canteens?" she asked Boot Anna.
"Yeah." Boot Anna narrowed her eyes at her. "Why? Are you thirsty?"
"No, I'm–" Lucina paused. "Well, maybe a little, but that's not important. I have an idea."
Boot Anna looked at her strangely. To anyone else, it might sound insane, but if this worked... and Lucina had absolute faith that it would, because what other options did she have.
After a moment of hesitation, Boot Anna reached into a nearby sack of personal belongings, and she pulled out a canteen and handed it to Lucina's waiting hand. Lucina made to open it, then remembered her wounded hand.
"Hey!" she said, calling to the other two Annas. "Could one of you help open this?"
Scarf Anna jumped to her feet. "Don't worry, I've got you covered!"
She twisted the cap, and it came off with a pop. Lucina thanked her, and she nodded for Scarf Anna to sit back down. Turning back to Boot Anna, Lucina nodded toward the staff. "Show me your other hand."
Boot Anna frowned. "You're not going to pour water on it, are you? That's wasting money."
"Well, you can save money on water now, or you can save money on bandages and vulneraries later. What do you think is cheaper?"
That gave Boot Anna a pause. She looked off in thought, before she said, "Water."
"Then hold out your hand, and close your eyes. And don't move the heal staff away, this is important!" Lucina said, reaching out to gently nudge the heal staff before Boot Anna could let it stray too far.
"Now, remember what I said. Imagine that you are a river. Imagine that you are a flowing stream of water, trickling down the riverbed."
"Where am I supposed to go?" Boot Anna asked, her eyes closed.
"You aren't supposed to go anywhere. You're just supposed to keep moving. You're always moving, always flowing."
"That's dumb. That's not how real water works!"
Lucina huffed. "Do not talk. It makes it harder to imagine."
To Lucina's satisfaction, the girl clamped her mouth shut. With half of a smile, Lucina reached out, and she upturned the canteen over Boot Anna's outstretched hand. A stream of water trickled out, flowed through the girl's fingers, and disappeared between the wooden planks below.
"You are a river," Lucina said slowly. "Feel the water flow gently through your hands."
The girl frowned. Then, her face gradually relaxed. "I'm a river."
"Yes, that is right. You are a river, bending, moving, and flowing. Take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. Yes, you're doing very well."
Lucinda watched as the girl's chest rose and fell, rose and then fell again. Lucina tilted the water canteen forward, and the flow of the water increased until it was gushing out, the water a shimmering, mirror like pillar from the open end of the canteen to the girl's outstretched fingers.
"As you breathe in, picture the river going up. As you breathe out, picture the river going back down." Lucina tilted the canteen back, and the trickle slowed to a steady drip.
Anna's brows drew back down. Her breathing slowed even further, slow and gradual like the waves lapping against the shore.
"That's good. That river, that is the energy inside you. As you breathe in, you take in the energy in the air around you. As you breathe out, you–"
"Let it back into the air?" Anna said.
"Yes, you do. Very good. Breathe in, and out. In. And out. Now, as you breathe, redirect the flow of that river. Let the river flow in, and when it comes up, let it overflow. Pour it from your body into your shoulder, then from your shoulder into your arm. From your arm, the energy pools into your hand, and from your hand, the energy goes into the staff."
"And then?"
Lucina smiled. "Open your eyes."
Slowly, Anna opened her eyes. She gasped. "It's all better now!"
Sure enough, the cut in Lucina's hand had completely vanished. The only trace left was a faint blue glow, pulsing beneath the skin of her palm.
"It is?" Scarf Anna scrambled up to see, and when she saw, she gasped too. "Oh, wow, it is!"
"Did I do that?" Boot Anna said. She looked up at Lucina pleadingly, and Lucina just couldn't find it in her to take her down.
"Yes, you did," Lucina said. "You have learned how to use basic white magic, so... congratulations."
Boot Anna cheered. Her glee was infectious, and Lucina found herself smiling with her. After all, she had been in the girl's very same shoes, when Aunt Lissa had taught her how to use white magic herself.
"Don't start celebrating just yet," she said, before Boot Anna could run off to tell her mother. She nodded toward Gregor on her left. "You have one more person to heal. Remember the river."
"Oh, I will!" Anna said, and before Lucina could blink, she was already off.
Lucina followed her with her gaze, over to where she knew Gregor was. As she did, her smile slowly fell, reminded of their previous confrontation.
Pushing aside her frustration at her loss, she was able to notice something else too. Gregor had been oddly defensive, especially about losing his job. And the way he had acted toward her, challenging her for a fight... what had that been about? His pride? Her Uncle Gregor would never do such a thing. Was there something she had missed? Or maybe this was someone else named Gregor, who just happened to look like him? Surely, there must have been a logical explanation for this.
"That sure was a strange way of teaching her," Anna said from up front, her voice snapping Lucina out of her thoughts.
Lucina blinked, then frowned, shooting Anna a slightly annoyed glare. "There's nothing strange about it. It's how my aunt taught me white magic, only she used a bowl instead of a canteen."
"That would explain it, then. My momma taught me with a cigar. Speaking of which, you're gonna have to pay for all that water you just wasted."
"Take it out of my pay, then."
"I'm not paying you."
"Ah." Lucina stopped to think for a better excuse. "You realize I taught your child for you? White magic is no simple task to teach. If you didn't want me rummaging through your things, why didn't you help her yourself?"
Anna shrugged. "Hey, I was busy keeping my eyes on the road, making sure we didn't hit any big rocks and tip over. You're welcome, by the way."
Rolling her eyes, Lucina said, "You have my thanks."
"My pleasure."
Still, as her conversation died down, Lucina found her eyes drifting back to Gregor. If he was the Uncle Gregor she knew, she needed to find out why he was acting so strange to make sure that his story played out in the same way as it did before. If she didn't...
Lucina shook her head. No, it wouldn't come down to that. No matter what, she would get to the bottom of this.
Lucina drove a tent pole into the ground with a loud thud. She had done this many times before, back in the future. Setting up a tent was a practiced motion to her, and when she turned to the tent supplies still laid out on the ground around her, she set to work putting them together as she had done a thousand times before.
Anna had picked out a spot just off the road to set up camp, set right next to a jagged boulder sticking out of the ground. It was obvious that the woman was well versed in camping as well, picking such a defensive spot. With the boulder at their side, the wind would have difficulty blowing their supplies away, and any bandits seeking to rob them of their possessions had one less angle to attack them from.
Behind her, Lucina heard Anna clear her throat. "Alright, listen up you two!" She pointed between Lucina and Gregor. "Since I'm stuck with you two, and since your little spat ended inconclusively–"
"Is not inconclusive! Gregor won!" Gregor said.
"–since your little spat ended inconclusively, how about we try a different method to see which one of you is better, hm?" Anna said, clasping her hands together with a grin.
Lucina could only eye her with suspicion. She knew that grin. It was a grin Anna wore whenever she had a scheme, something that would ultimately fall into place in a way that benefitted her.
She had a plan. The trouble was, those plans were never straightforward. Lucina hated plans like that.
Still, once Anna put on that grin, there was little anyone could do to stop it.
"How about we decide things with a contest? The winner gets to keep their job, and the loser..." Anna twirled her finger in the air. "Well, we're a little strapped on gold, so I'm afraid I can't offer any unemployment benefits, but I can offer you a coupon for any one of our stores, if that works."
Lucina opened her mouth to reply.
"And before anyone says anything, that was rhetorical. I don't have anything else to give you, so you can take the coupon, or go home."
Lucina closed her mouth. Just in time, too, as Anna suddenly turned to point a finger at her.
"Once you're done with that, go find us some food. As for you," she said to Gregor, "you can get a fire going, and make sure the place is clean while you're at it. As for nightwatch... you two figure out something on your own, I don't care. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be fetching us some clean water." She reached out and grabbed a canteen of water; the same one Lucina had emptied earlier today. "Watch the kids while I'm gone, won't you?"
And with that, Anna strutted away, disappeared into the forest like the rat that she was. No further instructions, content to leave them on their own.
Lucina eyed the four Annas, still on the wagon, playing some game to themselves. She noted that one of the Annas was swinging around the healing staff–Boot Anna, perhaps–and she thought to warn them not to break it, before deciding that if they broke it, it wasn't her problem.
Setting up the tent was like second nature to her. Moving with practiced efficiency, she was able to get it wrapped up in ten, clean minutes, even knocking against the post three times to ensure that it was firmly planted into the ground. She quickly grabbed the mallet she had left lying on the ground–a tool she had brought only to fin that she hadn't needed it–and made her way back to the wagon to put it away.
As she did, she passed Gregor, still hunched over a hastily dug fire pit with a flint. Lucina glanced around, and she noticed that aside from the children, still distracted with what she was fairly sure was a game of hot potato with the heal staff, there was no one watching them.
Now was as good a time as any to find out what was wrong.
Lucina shuffled into Gregor's line of sight. When he didn't react, she knelt down to his level.
"Hello, Gregor," she said.
Immediately, she wanted to hit herself. Hello Gregor? It sounded so stupid.
Gregor didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he was ignoring her. Either worked for her, and she adjusted herself until she was sitting down next to him.
"Look. I'm sorry for trying to steal your job," Lucina said.
Gregor grunted, but said nothing. Better a wordles response than no response at all, Lucina supposed.
"I asked for it, yes, but it was the first thing I could think of while Anna and I were discussing things in that inn," Lucina continued. "I acted without thinking about how it would affect you. That is my fault. I know how difficult it can be to find jobs as a mercenary, and telling you to just go find another job was... insensitive of me."
Gregor stopped what he was doing. He turned to look at her, and for the first time today, Lucina saw none of that hostility from before.
"Is okay," he muttered. "Gregor does many mistakes while he is not thinking. Gregor regrets fighting Marth, too. Was foolish to fight unnecessary, especially when she fight so hard."
He pointed to his head for emphasis, at the cuts she could still remember leaving there. Lucina winced. Gregor chuckled at her reaction.
"No, no. Is nothing to feel ashamed of. Marth fight rough. Is good for mercenary, fighting rough. It will help Marth survive."
"Oh. Thank you?"
Lucina wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Still, it was a small step. At least Gregor was talking to her now. From here, she could work her way up from smaller topics to figuring what this was all about. Perhaps a topic she was well versed in, one she could carry in conversation? Something like survival.
"So..." she started, motioning down at the flint, "you must be very experienced surviving, being a mercenary for so long."
"Yes. Gregor knows many things. He certainly knows much about surviving, and he is very experienced in surviving."
Lucina nodded. "Of course. That's what I thought. Now, Anna has assigned me the role of procuring food for us. The problem is, however, I know very little of the wildlife around here. What berries to pick, what creatures to hunt and how they behave. Do you think you could point me in the right direction?"
Gregor laughed quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly, but Lucina brushed it off. "But of course! Gregor is more than happy to show his expertise! Perhaps Gregor show her berries? Berries is safe, easy to find. Blueberries is very easy to find here. Search for bushes with blue, easy to see."
"I see," Lucina nodded, pretending that this was new to her. "But where do you think I could–"
"Ah! But Marth must be careful." He pointed to a bush just a little further down the road. "Marth see that bush with berries? Berries is not blueberries. Is nightshade. Is poisonous berry, not to be picked."
"And just what makes you sure that they are not blueberries?"
"Oh, that is simple. Blueberries, they have little spikes on head. Gregor has heard it called crown, but if that was true, berries would be called crown berries, no? Nightshade, they do not have spikes. That is how you know is dangerous."
"I see."
Gregor snapped his fingers. "Another berry is good, is raspberries. Raspberries is bright red. Marth cannot miss it in forest, is very easy to spot, but Marth must be careful too. Raspberries, they have little thorns that prick hands if they reach too fast."
"Oh yes, I am aware. I've gone raspberry picking before."
"Has Marth?" Gregor stared at her for a moment, seemingly taken aback, before shaking his head. "Then Gregor has no need to speak more of it, no? Perhaps berries too boring for Marth. Perhaps she know all about them. What about beasts, then? Meat is very tasty. Gregor knows what animals here taste best."
"You do? Do you think you could tell me?"
"But of course. If Marth is to ask Gregor what best meat is, Gregor would say deer. It taste very good, even when cooked over fire. Gregor has learned how to make good roast deer."
"Yes, and do you think–"
"But if Marth is hunting for deer, she must be very careful. Deer is tasty not just to humans. If Marth is out finding deer, she might find wyvern instead. Wyverns, they like tasty deer too."
Lucina hummed, nodding her head in agreement. "Then... what should I do if I meet a wyvern."
"Is simple. Everyone knows. Does Marth not know? Ah, is no matter, Gregor will tell Marth. Wyverns, they are predators. They eat the meat, which makes wyverns scary, but truth is, they are not scary at all. Predators, they scaredy cats. They want easy meat, weak meat. If Marth runs, they think she is easy meat. What Marth should do instead, she should charge at wyverns. Then they see she is not easy meat, and then they fly away."
That got Lucina to stop her train of thought in its tracks.
That was... wrong, in the most horrific way possible. Lucina had dealings with wyverns before. She had the scars to prove it, and she knew from firsthand experience that that was an easy way to get yourself killed.
She'd have thought Gregor would know better. She wanted to correct him, but as she opened her mouth, she came to the realization that he did not want to be corrected. That was why he had kept interrupting her, wasn't it? If she tried to correct him, he might shut her down.
Quickly changing the words in her mouth, Lucina said, "Well, say I am to get in a fight with a wyvern. What techniques do you know that I could defend myself with? Do you think you could teach me?"
Now it was Gregor's turn to stop. He frowned, then looked away. "Gregor cannot teach you."
"What? Whyever not?"
"He is busy is all. Teaching Marth, he has no time for that. Training takes too much time from Gregor, and he cannot be held down by another big responsibility."
A frown played at Lucina's lips. The Gregor of her time, he would never say something so... so... so irresponsible. Her Gregor was a kind, responsible man who would have dropped everything to help her, and for a second, that irritating thought was all she could think of.
"Ah. I suppose that is true. A mercenary like you, working for money alone, of course you would want to avoid extra responsibilities. I understand."
"Does Marth?"
Lucina blinked, and suddenly, Gregor was up in her face, with the biggest scowl she had ever seen him wearing.
"Marth knows nothing of responsibility. She is spoil sword, from noble family. She does not know what responsibility is like, what is like to fight for reason. Gregor should have known Marth knows no better."
And before Lucina could think of a response, he stood up and walked away, leaving Lucina to sit there alone.
Well, that could have gone a lot better, she thought sourly. I'm sure father would have handled the situation in a calmer manner. Now I'm back to where I started this morning, and I still have no clue what's making him act this way.
Her eyes flicked down to the fire pit. When she realized that Gregor had forgotten to light that as well, her frustration only increased tenfold.
And now I'll have to do this as well, won't I? Anna better be pleased with this when she comes back, or, the first chance I get, I'm finding myself a new employer.
Characters aren't the only thing that can change over the course of a story. Sometimes, I can change too. I tried a new way of planning out my chapters after reading some other stories, and I'm pretty satisfied with the results.
Of course, that also meant I kind of got carried away by my writing, which is why the chapter is a tad longer than normal. Hopefully that makes up for the fact that this chapter is still late.
Until then, remember to get enough sleep, and stay safe!
