The sunlight peeked in through the dusty windows of the small cottage, bouncing off of the wooden floors and illuminating the room in a bright golden shine.
Nona greeted the morning with a heavy yawn and groggy eyes, which she covered to allow her sight to adjust to the brightness. Leaving her paws to rest on her belly, Nona looked around her. She had woken up sprawled out in the cozy pile of blankets, which had been uncurled by her turning over in the night.
"Morning!" Ronan waved. He was sitting at the table, bouncing in his seat.
"Mmm. . ."
Nona's blurry gaze scanned the room. She saw Cinder sitting by the fire, her paws busy stirring a large stone pot cozied up inside of a pile of smouldering coals. Judging by the sugary fruit scent that filled the air, she guessed it was another berry dish, though from her lower vantage point, she couldn't see.
With a barely vocal grunt, Nona lifted herself onto her paws and arched her back as her front paws stretched out before her, finishing it all off with a big yawn.
Nona padded her way over to the table, taking up the same seat she had sat in the night before as she allowed her nose to fill with the delicious smell of their breakfast. Her stomach gurgled.
"Ooh- Ooh- Nona, guess what Cinder's making!-"
Her gaze fell down onto the table for a few moments before shrugging in response.
Ronan chuckled. "We're having Appltun cakes with jam! Have you ever had one?"
Maybe at some point Nona had tried Appltun cakes with jam, but with her memories gone, it wasn't like she could be sure. She shrugged again.
"Well, you're about to!" Cinder interrupted as she approached the table with the large cauldron, placing it on a cloth potholder on the center of the table.
"Ronan, can you go grab the buns?"
"They're cakes!"
"Pshh- same difference, now go!"
With another laugh, Ronan jumped off his seat and grabbed the cakes, making a mess as he dug through the kitchen before skipping back to the table and handing a brown bag to Cinder.
"T-Thank you, Ronan." She carefully unfolded the top of the bag and reached inside, pulling out a round yellow cake with what looked like brown sugar sprinkled on top before handing it to Nona. The Mudkip felt it in her paws. The cake was moist and rich, and it smelled like it was fresh out of the oven, despite the fact that it was packaged.
Nona took time to enjoy her meal, savoring the natural sweetness of the warm jam on the buttery cake. Ronan and Cinder did the same, with Ronan shuffling excitedly in his seat as he ate.
"Cinder." Ronan gulped down the last bite of his food. "Can we go now please?"
"Uh. . . yeah, the guild should be open by now-"
Before Cinder could finish her explanation, the sound of Ronan shoving his chair away from the table interrupted her. The Cubone ran past the table, hooking the bag on his arm as he did and stood at the doorway, bouncing on his heels.
Nona looked quickly between the two pokemon. "Where?. . ."
Cinder pushed her seat out, punctuating the action with a sigh. "Well, Nona, we're going to the guild today, that's why we got up so early. . . We're going to be registering our exploration team today- you remember right? You agreed to it yesterday." The Cyndaquil rubbed her paws together anxiously.
Agreeing to join an exploration team is definitely a strange thing to just forget about, and yet it still somehow slipped Nona's mind until this moment.
"We're going-. . ." Nona tried to speak, but the words caught in her throat. Waking up had left her already weak voice as nothing more than a raspy whisper.
"Mhm- yep," Cinder reassured her, "we're going as soon as you're done with your food- but we can wait though if you aren't done."
Shoving the last half of her cake into her mouth, Nona slipped off of the chair. She hummed to signal that she was ready, and the trio left the house with Cinder at the front.
As the Mudkip stepped outside, the first thing she noted was the wall of tall grass blocking them inside of their little clearing. Yet another thing she had almost forgotten- the fact that they would have to walk the same grueling path they took the night before.
Just as Nona was about to groan out whatever complaint her voice would allow, Cinder approached the mass of emerald growth. Was it. . . moving? Right before Nona's eyes, the towering blades bowed to Cinder's presence, opening up a narrow path. The grass bent into a bow shape, making a roofed tunnel.
Even if Nona could have spoken, she wouldn't have known what to say.
"T-Thank you-. . ." Cinder mumbled as she led the way inside of the tunnel. Ronan followed closely behind.
Seeing no other way to go, Nona followed them. As soon as she entered the tunnel, she noticed how the inside was almost pitch-black. Aside from the sounds of wet footsteps from Cinder and Ronan, there was nothing guiding her, spare the occasional scratch of grass against her sides if she got too close to the walls.
What was strange about this walk, though, was that the path never changed direction. There were no rooms- no sign of any other pokemon either- just the whispering of the grass in the wind and the grumbling of the muddy earth beneath Nona's feet, which somehow grew quieter, as if getting further away. We didn't turn, did we? How is it getting quieter? Is the wind dying down? No- even our footsteps, they're getting. . . I can hardly hear-
"Cinder. . ." Nona whispered as loud as her voice would permit, but it didn't seem like either of them heard her. It wasn't like this was the first time that Cinder and Ronan knew more than Nona did about whatever the current situation was, but that did little to comfort the trembling Mudkip as she started to believe that she would honestly have preferred to go through the dungeon again.
Before she could run back, Nona felt the silence in the air lift. She turned her head upwards and saw blue skies peeking through the green grass that now glowed with life under the sunlight. Everything slowly came into view as the whistling wind returned.
There was a loud brushing noise from up ahead before Cinder spoke up. "We're out!" The Cyndaquil exclaimed.
Cinder led the group out from the brush, and Nona hastily ran to finally feel hard ground beneath her and to be free from the mud and tangled grass.
As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, Nona saw that not only were they out of the tunnel, but the dungeon itself entirely! In only a minute of walking they had left the dungeon that the night before had taken almost an hour to traverse.
"You're probably wonderin' how we got outta there so fast," Ronan chimed, sensing the Mudkip's confusion, "that's another weird thing about dungeons- it's always easier to get out than to get in. Once you reach the middle, all you gotta do is turn around and it'll let you out no problem!"
Nona only nodded. That must have been why the tunnel was so dark- it wasn't just a regular path through the dungeon; it was some sort of special passage. The thought pecked at the back of her mind like a hungry Torchic. How did such a short path take them so far? Was it the same reason that the stump was able to teleport them out of nowhere? Nona's head stung, but at this point there was little questioning she could do.
"Ronan- wait up!" Cinder was sent scampering after her brother, who had bolted ahead into the woods while Nona wasn't looking.
With a soft gasp, the Mudkip bounded after them.
"I can't help it if I'm excited!"
"Well you could, at the very least, tell me before you go running off!"
The brother and sister bickered for what felt like the entire walk. Nona was only partially listening, as she was prone to do, her consciousness instead lost somewhere in her head. Normally her thoughts would be buzzing with questions, but the sudden warmth of the sun on her back made her drowsy and complacent in her confusion, instead having her mind drift where it will, like a leaf on the wind.
A strong spiced scent brought Nona out of her trance. As her eyes slowly began to focus again, she peered ahead to see a parting in the trees, with golden sunbeams leaking in through the dried leaves still on the branches.
The Mudkip gently pawed Cinder's shoulder, who flinched at her touch. "Are we there?"
Cinder rubbed the spot where Nona had touched. "Uh- yeah, mhm. We made it to-"
"Ambersap Town!" Ronan chimed, inserting himself in the conversation with an excited grin.
As the group spoke, Cinder and Ronan lead the way through the trees and onto a cobblestone street split with moss. The team had entered a large town square, with small wooden buildings adorned with dark wood beams and stone foundations lining the wide cobblestone streets. The square was blooming with life- shopkeepers calling out to the families passing by, children running along the crowds, and the trees surrounding the town sprinkling the air with flame-red leaves that danced through the warm autumn breeze.
Nona caught herself stepping towards the center of it all, enthralled by the energy of the town, but Cinder's firm, but gentle grip on her shoulder stopped her.
"We don't need two wanderers in our group, Nones," Cinder sighed.
"Nones?" Nona squeaked.
"What. . . Oh- did I call you Nones?"
Nona replied with a nod.
Her cheeks blushing, Cinder let go and rubbed her arm. "Sorry, sometimes I give people nicknames like that- I guess I shoulda asked first. I'll just call you Nona then-"
With a distressed gasp, Nona shuffled her paws and shook her head.
"Cinder, I think she likes to be called that, right Nones?" Ronan chimed in with a grin.
"Yeah. . ." Nona smiled a wide and goofy smile
Cinder laughed. "Alright then, Nones, Ronan, we should get to the guild before they get too busy. Let's hurry!"
With the final call to action, Ronan grabbed Cinder's hand and pulled her off down one of the paths. Nona was about to follow when she heard a shout from one of the buildings. A Swalot was standing in a large stone doorway with a sign hanging above that Nona couldn't read from so far away. The poison pokemon was shouting something and shooing away another pokemon, who shuffled away from the store, their tear-filled eyes aimed at the ground as they fled. The only features Nona could make out on the stranger was a large pair of wings on their back.
Suddenly aware of how much she was lagging behind, Nona tried her best to ignore what she saw and ran after her teammates.
The team romped together through the bustling streets of Ambersap town, dodging crowds of pokemon that all chuckled warm-heartedly at their haste. "We're almost there- just one more block!" Ronan shouted back with a laugh.
Sure enough, the team turned down one last street, and while Ronan and Cinder blazed ahead, Nona was stopped in her tracks, her mouth hanging slightly open in awe. The cobblestone faded into a hard-packed dirt that led into the surrounding woods. Towering high above the rest of the forest was a deciduous tree the size of what looked to be a dozen Abomasnow, though Nona knew it must have been even bigger. Built into the sea of yellow and golden leaves of its boughs was what looked like a city all its own. Wooden structures and bridges strung through the branches, with a spiral wooden staircase wrapped around the tree's mighty trunk. Without any sort of introduction, Nona knew that she was looking upon the Star-reach Guild.
Excitement took hold of Nona, and before either of her partners could call for her to catch up, she was by their side, their infectious glee finally getting through to her. The three raced to the top, with Nona surprisingly taking first- which was strange since Nona was awfully afraid of heights, but when you're faced with something as big and wonderful as a colossal treehouse, fear is easily forgotten.
When they had all reached the top, Cinder led the group inside, through the large wooden archway that marked the Guild's entrance.
The interior of the guild was almost as awe-inspiring as its height. The interior was entirely wooden and seemed to be carved out of the trunk of the tree, the floor and ceiling having thousands of rings showing the tree's age. The walls were lined with boards that were tacked full of crinkled papers and notes that Nona couldn't read from where she stood. Nona turned her head upwards to see that the main hall they had entered went up even further, with stairways leading up into other floors that all opened up into the same area. Light poured in from open windows dotting the walls, and winged pokemon fluttered and soared through the rafters and out into the blue sky.
Dozens of pokemon chattered and scurried around excitedly through the guild, each voice combining together into a constant loud roar that echoed through the wide open room.
Cinder gulped. "Well, uh, we should probably go to the front desk- Dash will probably be there. He can register us as a team. . . Ronan, do you think maybe we should come back later?" The last question was nothing louder than a whisper.
Nona squinted through the crowd, unbothered by the noise. Her mind managed to tune it out as her gaze sharpened. While a group of grass pokemon passed in front of her, she spotted a large wooden desk, engraved with carvings of trees and mountains, manned by a bewildered looking Smeargle with a black painter's cap atop their head.
"What? No- we finally have another member. We can't quit now!" Ronan puffed out his chest and scanned the crowd, though it didn't look like he was looking for anything particular other than to look brave.
With a whistle, Nona pointed her paw towards the front desk, and for the first time since their day had begun, Nona took the lead, carefully making a path through the crowd for the other two pokemon to follow.
When Nona approached the desk, the Smeargle only spared her a quick glance before turning to assist a Manectric holding a piece of paper in their mouth. "One moment please-. . ." They muttered absentmindedly.
"Dash- we wanna form a team!"
Ronan pushed a Raichu out of his way as he marched up to the desk and slammed his hands down on top of it, causing the Smeargle to jump. Seeing Ronan approach, Manectric rolled their eyes and walked off.
"Oh- well- Ronan, I've told you before- you can't form a team if you don't meet the Guild's requirements for strength, which you and Cinder have shown to be unable to- um-. . .do."
Cinder scampered up behind the other two and took her place beside them at the desk. "But it isn't just Ronan and me this time- we have a new member." She gestured towards Nona. "This is Nona the Mudkip, and she's gonna be joining our team this time."
Dash's eyes widened in surprise. "I suppose that if you have reason to be tested again, then I could get you registered- just give me a moment here to try to find the application forms. . ." The Smeargle turned on their stool to face a pile of uneven papers behind them. Their tail waved over the desk, revealing it to be soaked with a gradient of sunshine orange and hot pink.
"I can't believe it- we're actually gonna form a team. . ." Cinder mumbled under her breath as she flapped her paws up and down beside her in excitement. Ronan was bouncing on his heels.
While waiting, Nona's eyes began to wander the guild, taking in the gigantic room around her once more and scanning the crowd just to see what pokemon were there.
Kricketune, Bayleef, Illumise, Togetic, Blaziken-
Nona's heart stopped as she saw the sickeningly familiar silhouette of Crasher swaggering through the crowd of pokemon, which parted immediately as the room began to fall silent.
The image of the Blaziken's sadistic grin drowned out her other thoughts. Her instincts commanded her to run, and she was in no state to disobey. Before she could process what had happened, she had hid herself deep in the crowd, cowering behind the tallest pokemon she could find, her vision narrow and her heart beating like a drum.
As terrified as Nona was, she couldn't take her eyes off of the towering avian pokemon as he silently ordered her friends to stand aside. Digging a hand into the satchel he held at his side, Crasher produced from it a bruised apple and a crumpled slip of paper, dropping both items haphazardly on the desk without a word.
"C-Congratulations, Crasher from Team-" Dash gulped. "-Team Eviscerate, on completing your- uh- your job. . . here's your payment: the 200 poke the client had promised." Without meeting the Blaziken's eyes, Dash held out a small handful of gold coins.
In one quick motion, Crasher snatched the money up in his fist, a few coins spilling out onto the floor, which he didn't take notice to.
From where she was, Nona could see Cinder's face go red and her fist shake at her side. "C-Can't you see we were here first? Who do you think you are pushing us out of the way like that?"
As his sister shouted at Crasher, Ronan noticed that Nona was nowhere to be seen. He quickly scanned the crowd, and he and Nona locked eyes.
"Nones? What are you doing hiding?" The Cubone approached her. "Sorry about that, Bayleef. I hope she didn't cause any trouble," Ronan added, looking up towards the pokemon Nona had been hiding behind.
"Pshaw- is' alright, Ronan! Is your friend here doin alright? I saw that she was scared and didn't want to spook her any more than she already was," a gentle voice responded.
Now that the adrenaline was starting to mellow out, Nona was able to look up and see a Bayleef smiling down at her.
"You were spooked by Blaziken over there, weren't ya? Can't say I blame you," another voice behind her called. A Scyther crossed his scythes in front of his chest and smiled.
Nona felt the Cubone place his hand on her shoulder, and her head snapped to him. "Hey, it's okay Nona. You'll be safe here with all these people around. C'mon- let's not let him ruin our day."
With her friend's encouragement, Nona reluctantly stepped forward and out of the crowd, turning her head for a moment to nod thanks at the Bayleef and Scyther. Ronan kept his hand gently placed upon her back the entire time, following his friend's pace.
"Yeah, shithead? What are you gonna do? I just had to turn in a job- fuck off!" Though Nona kept her gaze fixed on the wooden floor to avoid his gaze, she could hear Crasher loud and clear as he swore at Cinder. "Besides, whatever you and your pussy of a brother were doing, it can wait-" Nona could hear the Blaziken turn to leave, but his footsteps suddenly stopped. ". . . Huh, I see that Mudkip you guys found wanted to stick around."
Oh no, he saw me. Oh god he saw me-
Nona gulped and looked up. Sure enough, the first pokemon she locked eyes with was the tall fire type- his beak still curled in that sadistic smirk that still made her shiver.
"Guess it makes sense that you three would want to stick together. If shit ever goes south, it's always good to have someone slow you can trip up and leave as a distraction. If you guys were a team, you'd always have two distractions to use, Mudkip," Crasher snickered.
"Fuck off, chicken legs." A cerulean Feraligatr only a few inches shorter than Crasher pushed her way through the gathering crowd and stuck her maw right up to the Blaziken's face. "Who the hell do you think you are bullying some kids? Get a life."
Rage flashed behind Crasher's eyes, that same fire that Nona recognized from when he killed the Abomasnow, but he only chuckled, and it faded just as quickly as it had come. "Like I'm wrong?"
"Everybody has to start somewhere. It's not like we got any shortage of errands for the kids to run."
"Hear that?" Crasher pushed past the Feraligatr. "Errands- you might wanna get used to 'em, since that's the only jobs you little fuckers'll ever get."
A guttural growl escaped through the Feraligatr's bared teeth. Locking eyes with the water pokemon one last time, Crasher turned and walked leisurely towards the main door.
"As fun as it is taking the piss outta you losers, I got shit to do. But hey- I'll let you guys know if I ever need you to bring me a berry or something." With that, Crasher left the whole main hall with a tense air that everyone could feel.
Nona's legs were jelly and her stomach felt like it was full of boiling lava. Was this even what she really wanted? To join a team with Cinder and Ronan? Sure she trusted them, but what if Crasher was right and they weren't strong enough? Would she die? Were there other pokemon out there that would want to kill her like Abomasnow did?
"I'm sorry about him, kiddo," the Feraligatr consoled, crouching down next to the three pokemon with a solemn look in her eyes. "Don't let him get to you, alright? You guys are gonna make a great team."
"Yeah, of course we will!" Ronan exclaimed, his positivity lightening the sour mood the arguing had left behind, "right, Cinder?"
Cinder nodded. Nona could see a few tear streaks down the Cyndaquil's face, which she quickly rubbed away. "What about you, Nona? Do you still wanna join our team?" She sniffed.
"You still want me on your team?. . ." Nona whispered as she looked at the other two.
Ronan only smiled. "'Course we do! What does Crasher know? That butthead wouldn't know potential if it punched him in the beak!"
Nona snorted.
Feraligatr bellowed with laughter. "That's the spirit! I gotta get back to my team, and you kids gotta get back to your application." The water type put her arms on her knees and lifted herself back up. "You stay safe, ya hear? And if that guy comes back, you just give ol' Rouser a holler!" She pointed a thumb at herself as she walked away.
With that reassurance, Cinder called the other two back to the front desk. Dash walked them through the application process, asking for names, species, ages and the like- most of which Nona had to come up with on the spot.
"And you, Nona, right?" Dash pointed his tail at the Mudkip. "What are your known moves?"
"Um. . ." Nona stared at her feet.
". . . It's alright if you don't know- I'll just put it down that you aren't sure, and when training starts we can test you on it, okay?"
Nona nodded, the Smeargle's supportive tone easing her worry.
"One last thing, do any of you have any sort of illnesses, disabilities, or ailments that would need accomodation?" Dash asked, looking between the three pokemon.
Cinder looked up at the ceiling for a moment before shaking her head. "Nope, Ronan and I are right as rain!"
"Amnesia," Nona croaked.
"Oh yeah, Nona has amnesia! Don't forget to put that down-" Ronan chimed in.
Dash raised an eyebrow. "Do either of you know how she got it?"
"No, we just met her yesterday. We found her out in the woods, and she couldn't remember anything." Cinder looked at Nona and smiled reassuringly.
"Ah-" Dash's perplexed expression diffused into a sympathetic smile. "What most likely happened to Nona here was that she lost her memories by the hand of another pokemon. Unfortunately, these sorts of things happen more often than you might think- do you feel well physically? No extreme fatigue or loss of feeling in your body?"
Nona shook her head. Dash nodded in understanding. "Then it seems like she doesn't have any physical side-effects from something like dream eater- that's a good thing! Do you remember where you live? Any friends, family or partners? If you would like, we could spread the word that you've been found without your memories- someone might recognize-"
"No!-" Nona interrupted sharply, "Uh- No, that's ok. I didn't have any family here. . . no friends either."
It really wasn't worth wasting the Guild's time searching for relatives or friends that she was sure she didn't have in this world. But now that she knew that a pokemon could have done this, she couldn't shake the thought.
Still, that didn't explain how she was turned into a Mudkip. . .
"Oh. . . that's a shame. . ." Dash looked down at the application and added a few more strokes with a frown. "Alright- you three should be all set. The test will be held tomorrow in Featherfall Wood. Cinder, Ronan, you both have done this before, so you'll be able to lead Nona there when the time comes, right?"
"Right!" Cinder and Ronan exclaimed in unison.
Ronan grabbed Cinder by the hand and started leading her out of the guild, but this time he didn't run too far ahead, leaving enough time for Nona to catch up.
"Hey, Cinder. . ." Nona called, pawing at her side, "why did Crasher only get an apple?"
Cinder pursed her lips and looked at the ground. "For the Abomasnow, you mean? . . . Uh- well, Crasher's team- team Eviscerate- isn't like any other team. They're a kind of team called poachers. They don't take normal jobs. Instead, they get paid under the table to do illegal stuff. . ." The Cyndaquil looked at Ronan, who seemed distracted by a cloud. Knowing he was distracted, she leaned in closer to Nona and started to whisper. "Things like kidnapping, assassinations, and other really- really bad stuff."
Nona's blood went cold. As if Crasher wasn't terrifying enough, knowing just what he was capable of- what he was willing to do for payment- it made her face flush and her stomach turn.
"That's why he was only given an apple. Poachers do little jobs like that so that they look like they're legitimate teams, but their real pay comes from their other clients," Cinder finished, raising her voice back to normal volume. "It's not something we can really do anything about. Those kinds of teams don't leave a lot of proof of what they do- definitely not enough to report them to any Guilds, and even if we did they would just threaten us like they did yesterday. . ."
The two girls walked in somber silence as Nona processed. Lucky for them, the silence didn't last long, as before they knew it they were walking along the busy streets of Ambersap Town with Ronan leading the march.
"Right- now we gotta get ready for tomorrow!" Ronan cheered, turning towards his sister. "Where should we go first, Cinder? I think we should stop by Shelby and Thatcher's shop for some oran berries-"
As Ronan and Cinder excitedly planned their haul, Nona was able to make some semblance of peace with Crasher's appearance- at least for now. After all, Ronan's cheer was infectious. It was hard to feel sad when you had a little grinning Cubone pulling you around town square.
The trio wandered the streets from afternoon to evening, stopping by general stores, berry stands, wonder orb parlors, and even stopping at a bakery to buy bread for that night's dinner. By the time they had finished, the bright blue sky was aglow with an orange sunset. Before nightfall, the group had made it back through the marsh and were getting ready to sleep and prepare themselves for the coming test.
Cinder set pieces of toast down on each of the three plates at the dinner table. Ronan clapped his hands and reached for a jar of plum-colored jam in the center of the table, spreading a healthy helping on his toast with his claw.
"So- now that we're on a team together- isn't there something we're forgetting?" Ronan said, taking a bite out of his food.
Nona exchanged a glance with Cinder.
". . . A team name! We need a team name if we're gonna start working at the guild. Now, I have a few ideas. What about. . . Team Two-Legs!"
"But. . . Ronan, Nona has four." Cinder stifled a laugh.
"What about our fight yesterday? It's what brought us together. We could pick a name based on that." Nona spoke up between bites of toast.
Cinder tensed. "I-. . . I don't know. Do we really want to remember that?"
"I think it's a great idea!" Ronan interrupted, "there are so many cool names we could pick- like Team Trip-up, since we beat that big snowball by tripping him!"
"Uh, maybe something like Giantslayers? Or maybe Team Titan?" Cinder eased up a bit seeing her brother's enthusiasm and started to join in on the brainstorm.
As the two siblings shared ideas, Nona sat in quiet contemplation, staring at her golden brown slice of toast. What was the one thing that she felt when Cinder and Ronan came to her rescue? Behind the fear and adrenaline, what kept her going? . . . The more she thought about it- the more she realized that she didn't really have any reason to trust these pokemon, especially not after the treachery of Team Eviscerate. Really- all she had was her faith. Faith that these two meant to help and not to hurt, faith that whatever instinct that caused her to charge at the Abomasnow was right to guide her to do so, faith in herself that she could survive the cold and rescue her new friends.
"Team Faith. . ." Nona whispered. She looked up and met the eyes of the other two pokemon. Things were silent for a few moments, and Nona wasn't sure what they really felt about the idea.
Ronan was the first to speak up. "Eureka- That's a good one! Cinder, whaddya think?"
"I like that! It's sweet, but still strong- just like us!" Cinder giggled, flapping her paws up and down in excitement.
Nona felt a smile spread across her face as she caught herself bouncing a bit in her chair. Team Faith sounded even better out loud.
"Team Faith! On our way to save the day!" Ronan shoved the last of his toast in his mouth and jumped off his chair, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as he did and running around the living room excitedly.
Cinder chased after him, her face blushing pink with laughter and joy. For the first time, Nona really felt excited to be on an Exploration Team. Whatever being in a team entailed, whether it be delivering apples or 'saving the day' as Ronan put it, she would be willing to face it if her new friends were by her side.
Sliding off of her seat, Nona crawled over to where she had slept the night before and buried herself in the blankets, the sounds of her new teammates' laughter lulling her to sleep.