Maybe having their first warm, decent meal in a while had done the trio some good, because when continued their trek further west the next day, they weren't as hostile to each other as before. It wasn't that they were on friendly terms, but that—rather than argue or find fault with each other at each misstep—they stayed quiet. They even took a slightly longer rest than usual midday, long enough for Ferris to gather some flowers for her sister and place them in Ciara's hair.

Weaving the stems around the base of Ciara's ponytail, the elder girl watched Castellar from afar. He sat by himself on a boulder, lightly cupping his chin in thought while staring at a map. In truth, she felt that the real reason for their delay was more-so likely that the skeleton still didn't know where they should make for next.

Once again, Ferris thought that, if she were leading, she would've just picked a path at random. Of course, if her choice led straight to danger, she also could've just gone back in time where she found the last golden star and choose again. No, even before she gained her ability, it just wasn't in her nature to wait for a better plan. Hesitating can you hurt or worse… It was better to take quick action and play things by ear with whatever life through one's way. It felt tedious and strange, to have to be so careful now.

It suddenly occurred to her that it had been a while since she'd seen the last star too. Using a bit of her magic, with one hand, she summoned a translucent, black bar in front of her. It was a trick she'd learned by herself on accident. She also learned that she was the only one who could see it. Ciara didn't even flinch when it appeared next to her.

There were words, but—like many others—Ferris had never learned to read or write. She knew that some highly-valued mages did, at least a little, so maybe she would too someday. As of now though, all she knew were numbers: The changed 'one' to 'two' next to a pair of indecipherable letters and, to the right of that, a string of them that seemed to mark the time since she her magic first appeared. Along the bottom, there were two more words she had a strong feeling about, but didn't really know what they meant or did since she'd never played around with them. They were still there though, and it looked like everything worked properly. She doubted that she'd somehow lost the ability to find the stars then.

In her village, she'd remembered them all: One in the forest, one near the alley where she'd first died, at the abandoned sector of ruined homes where she and Ciara took shelter, by the pond, by the inn on the far side of town… They were random, but they were everywhere, always spaced apart wherever they were the most useful as though someone had placed them there just for her. However, since meeting the skeleton, she'd only seen two: One just outside of the mage hunters' fort and the other by the border settlement's entrance.

It wasn't that she needed the stars at the moment—the girl still intended to hold off on using them—but their presence did give her a sort of comfort. They reminded her that it was ok to mess up, that she could afford a few mistakes. Ferris reminded herself to look out for them more often. Maybe it was a good idea to even create a map at some point, if she ever traveled across Ebott again.

She waved the bar away right before Ciara turned around to look at her, curious as to why she'd gone still. Ferris smiled, "You look beautiful."

The child raised a careful hand behind her head, "Is it done?"

"Uh-huh."

Her expression didn't change much. Ciara turned her focus back to the flowers growing around them, running her fingers along one of their stems as if deciding to pick some for herself.

Ferris gave her an encouraging pat before standing up with a grunt. "You keep playing. I'm going to talk to the bonehead for a bit."

She'd barely moved a meter away when she heard her sister mutter under her breath, "I don't like him…" She looked back: Ciara kept her head down with a stubborn pout.

Ferris chortled, softly agreeing with her, "Me either, but just be patient, ok? We'll meet other people when we get to the guild."

Stars, she hoped they'd take in Ciara too—without using her sister as potential leverage anyway. Castellar didn't make too much of a fuss over her sister, and it wasn't like he'd made any attempts to abandon Ciara along their journey, but she couldn't keep herself from worrying. Even with how badly they wanted her as a member, Ferris could only negotiate so much.

If she needed to work doubly hard to keep a roof over both of their heads and food on the table, that was fine, just as long as they accepted her sister. And if things went well… When was the last time they could relax with people their own age? There were others in Mollendale like themselves, but scraping to get by tested the limit of any kind of friendship and Ferris and Ciara had always been each other's priority. So, maybe that could change for the better too.

Her fist balled the hem of her tunic. It wasn't like her, to hope beyond what was realistic: She always kept her expectations to a bare minimum. Just because these mages knew the truth about her power and things were going well so far didn't mean she could afford to be stupid with where she placed her faith now.

Castellar's eyes barely flickered her way as she approached, plopping down next to him, "I was serious about flipping a coin if you can't decide on your own."

His brows furrowed, "We can be a little more cunning than that. If you already knew how to see into the future, we'd be better off. You could've countered Valda with your own predictions."

So, seers could have trouble foreseeing the actions of other seers? Her crimson irises sparkled a bit as she felt a bit more pride in her magic than usual. The more she learned about it, the more special it felt, "Should I pick for us then?"

"No."

He went back to trying to ignore her, shuffling in his seat to put his back toward Ferris. With a bitter look, she peeped around him anyway. Not that it helped much: She could only make an educated guess of how close they were to anything. "Someone has to decide. We're going nowhere like this."

"Had you ever once left your backwater hometown before you were captured?" he pressed, "If you don't know the area and have no experience, then you have no business trying to take the lead here."

"Why not? Because things have gone so well so far with you alone at the front?" she quipped back, "If you knew other mages would find us this soon, then you should've already had another plan. You don't have to be a seer to think of that!"

At last, Castellar glared at her directly, "I never said there wasn't another plan! I said we could find aid in the Monster Kingdom, didn't I? In the very least, there should've been others waiting for us in Botan Grove." Castellar wiped his face. "Even if Avalbanshee's group didn't get to them first though, or if Valda hasn't planted others in that direction, a few days' delay could be expected. I doubt anyone on our side is looking for us just yet."

Unshaken by his raised voice, the girl leaned in closer, "Is wandering in just one, straight direction your second plan then? Just admit that you don't know what to do after someone's already outwitted you once. Since that woman can already guess ahead of you, now you're getting too scared to do anything. If you insist that we're in a hurry, then try to think on your—!"

Her feet kicked the air as she was suddenly yanked backwards and her cloak pulled sharply over her head. Ferris landed in the grass, pressed against the boulder on one side and Castellar on the next to the point that she could feel the outline of his ribs through his clothes. She tugged her hood back up a bit in order to see his own drawn around his face, the tail of his cloak also partially draped over herself. His hardened gaze was skyward.

"Don't move," he whispered, manifesting his longbow.

She only half-listened, unable to keep herself from following his stare. A large, dark shape glided over the tree-line. It wasn't either of the Monsters that were traveling with Avalbanshee, but instead one that looked like a terrifying cross between an owl and a bat—only a little smaller than the average Human.

The bird wouldn't have concerned her if it weren't for Castellar's reaction. If he only encouraged her to stay down or hide her face, that was one thing: The fact that he had already drawn a weapon, keeping it trained on the other Monster, meant something different. The acknowledgement in his eyes was the same as it had been for the ice elemental. He knew this person.

The danger of the moment came crashing down on Ferris at once. Ciara! Spinning in place, she looked for her sister and heaved a mute sigh of relief when she spotted her already ducked under the cover of a fat fir tree.

Apparently, she'd taken a cue from them and dived into hiding. There was panic in Ciara's eyes, not at the avian, but at Castellar and her older sibling. Unlike her, they were much more exposed.

Thankfully, the bird never turned back. They waited several minutes, but when the Monster never reappeared or made any potential signal around their location, the trio relaxed. They stood back up only after the bird had flown completely out of sight.

"That," said the skeleton, still keeping his gaze above the trees, "is why I'll lead."

Dispelling his weapon, Castellar grabbed his pack and shrugged it across his shoulders. It was a silent command to move again. Ciara ran to Ferris' side, grabbing her hand.

"That was a messenger," he continued, "and it looked like he was going in the same direction we are. Keep your hoods up and put your masks on. There's a town not far from here, so we'll try to hide there for the night if there's not any more trouble."