By the time everyone had made it back to Treasure Town, the sun had already dipped low in the sky, and the many lanterns and torches that lit the streets, storefronts and homes had begun to flicker to life. Karan pulled Candrila off her shoulders and looked over at Jace. "Getting late," she mumbled.

The goodra nodded and stretched. "Yeah. Probably best to check in and give our report tomorrow. Don't feel like doing reports or explaining everything until the sun comes up," he said. With a sigh of relief, he waved to the others. "I'm gonna have myself some tea and anything that isn't trail rations. I'll be by the guild tomorrow around midday. See you then."

"Hope you don't mind having to hit the road again soon," said Stone, grinning at the goodra. "We did all this to get you guys to help us with our own problem, remember?"

The goodra nodded and replied, "Yeah, Lizzie filled me in with what she could. Not a lot of details but it can't be anything too bad."

"I hope so," said Valor, his expression as serious as his tone. He glanced over his shoulder in the direction of Stalwart. "Whatever it is that happened in Crag looks like what we saw in that dungeon, just worse."

Jace's cheery smile faded and his expression turned pensive. "Worse, huh? Dungeons are all different, maybe you got an active one…" The goodra joined Valor in gazing towards Stalwart. "Hopefully it's just a dungeon and not anything worse."

"There's worse?" asked Thea, dragging her stare up from the ground next to Valor and looking the goodra in the eyes. "What the fuck could be worse?"

He merely shrugged. "World is full of surprises. Had pokemon from sister guilds tell stories about other places. Things they've seen. Made it sound like no matter how bad we've got it, things can always get worse."

Karan crossed her arms and scowled. "I've seen what worse looks like."

"Then I hope that's the peak of it," said Jace, shrugging. "See you all tomorrow."

As the goodra walked away, Karan turned towards the others and shrugged. "Do whatever."

"We should probably find a place to stay first. Then we can do whatever," said Valor. "Same place as last time, maybe?"

Stone nodded. "We all know where it is so that seems like the best idea, really. Once we get that done, I can shop for souvenirs." The lycanroc grinned down the street ahead of them. "Lots of nice looking blankets in some of the stalls; hopefully I'll find something that'll put up with these." She raised her enormous paws and chuckled. "And doesn't absorb too much dust."

Thea leaned against Valor for support and groaned, "I think I'll just spend the day in bed."

"Don't want to go looking for tea?" asked Valor, looking down at Thea.

The delphox whined. "I'd fucking love to but standing on my leg feels awful."

"I'll just carry you," said Valor, shrugging. "Not like you're heavy."

"No, I'll just take forever picking out a variety…" mumbled Thea, though her expression remained unsure. "That'll be boring."

The chesnaught laughed. "I don't have much on my agenda today, Thea, let's go find you some tea." At this, he scooped the delphox up and nodded to the others. "Can you handle getting us all a place for the night?" he asked, looking at Karan.

The weavile nodded. "Sure. Let's go, Candrila." Karan waved to the others and set off.

Stone waved after the weavile and shouted, "We'll all meet up at the statue of Ulysses after sunset!"

Stalls upon stalls selling anything imaginable. Carpets, blankets, teas, foods, pottery, paintings, and houseplants. All within sight – who knew what else laid beyond, but the many voices within earshot all clamoring over one another as they haggled and hawked laid the soul of Treasure Town bare before Thea's eyes. By all means, it should have struck wonder in her to see it, but all it did was fill her stomach with regret.

The delphox stared down at the tea in Valor's paw and offered it a weak smile. By all accounts it was a wonderful blend - a mix of dried cheri, pomeg and pecha with delicate notes of several local spices and flowers. And yet, as invigorating as the scent of the tea was, her aching leg and the echoes of her argument with Karan only depressed her.

"Valor?" she mumbled.

"What's up?" he replied.

"Do you like living in Stalwart?"

The chesnaught furrowed his brow. "Yeah? Everyone I know is there, and it's pleasant. Growing. Seems like what a town should be, and everyone in it acts how I'd expect them to."

"What do you mean?"

"That was a pretty nasty blizzard all those years back. Feels like that's the kind of thing that brings everyone together. Forces us all to see some kind of common goal, maybe have some kind of shared hope." The chesnaught shrugged again. "I don't know, something along those lines. I like protecting Stalwart. It feels like the right thing to do."

The delphox chewed her tongue. "But do you like it just because we're there? Or do you like the town itself? Are you protecting it or us?" Thea reached over and took the pouch of tea and handed the cacturne running the stand a small topaz. The cactus took the jewel and turned to attend a new customer.

Valor hummed as he thought the question over. "Well…" he began, dragging the word out as he continued to think, "I'd still try to protect Stalwart if you all died. But if you all left to go somewhere else… That's difficult. Depends on the details behind that decision."

"You overthink things too quickly," said Thea, half-grinning. "Outrider beat that into your head, didn't he?" She shook her head and continued, "I mean do you like Stalwart or do you like us?"

"You guys, obviously," said Valor, offering Thea an incredulous look. "I like Stalwart but…" He trailed off and shrugged. "You're all more important, you know? But… I don't know, is there a reason you're asking this?" Valor looked noticeably uncomfortable now – whatever was going on in his head, however, Thea could only guess at.

The delphox weighed her next words very carefully in her head. They danced on the tip of her tongue. Better to ask than be left wondering. "Do you ever think about leaving?"

Valor shook his head. "No. I think more about the reasons I'd have to leave. What about you?" He looked down at her and smiled.

She looked away, and instead turned the bag of tea in her paw over several times and stared at it. "I haven't thought about much in a long time." The lumpy texture of the different fruits and leaves within poked through the thin burlap at times and pulled her out of the black hole the thought had become. "Let's go wait by the statue for Karan to show up. I want to make tea and rest."

"Sounds like a good idea."

Early the next morning, Karan and the others were lined outside of the guild hall, waiting for Jace to arrive. The bustle of the crowds of pokemon heading up and down the lane parted somewhat as Jace lumbered through, offering the group a friendly wave and a wide smile.

"Nothing like a good night's rest after roughin' it, right?" he asked.

Stone stretched. "Yer tellin' me. I slept on dirt for a long ass time but I didn't enjoy a second of it." She jabbed a finger at Magnus and added, "And this bastard can float, he never had to rough it like I did."

"I was keeping watch, Stone!" said Magnus, indignant. "I didn't have to sleep much, unlike my very sleepy and easily worn out assistant."

"We would do nothing but hike for days, can you blame me? Look at me, I'm all hunched over and awkward!" shot back Stone. She raised her enormous paws for emphasis.

"You didn't know any better!"

"No, but now I do." She put her paws on her hips and offered him a cheeky grin. "And now I know how much it sucked."

"The more things change, it seems," sighed Magnus. One of his segments shifted to face Karan and added in a very tinny voice, "How do you put up with her?"

"Put up with me. Only fair," replied the weavile, shrugging.

"Well, let's not keep you all waiting any longer than you already have been," said Jace, pushing the doors open. "Lizzie! We're back, and in one piece!"

The sunflora tending to the receptionist's desk gave them all a cheery wave. "How'd it go?"

Jace shook his head, and the flower's disposition dropped several notches. "Oh. I see. Well, you're all alive, that's what counts," she mumbled, her eyes dropping down to the ground.

"Part of the job, Lizzie. Should I send them up?"

Lizzie nodded and gestured them all up towards the guildmaster's office. "Go with them, you can give your report while you're at it!"

"Yeah, I guess so…" muttered Jace. "Hate reports."

"They're important!"

"I know, I know."

Jace led them past Lizzie's desk and up the stairs and up to Overseer's office. He didn't bother knocking, instead choosing to toss the door open. "Guildmaster, you in?"

Karan followed closely behind and stepped in beside Jace, crossing her arms and leveling her gaze on Overseer, who sat on his perch beside the wigglytuff's chair. For his part, the Guildmaster looked up from a ledger in front of him, though the expectation and hope on his face faded when Jace said, "We've done as you asked."

The chatot clicked his beak in disapproval and beckoned them forward grudgingly. "No one bothers knocking. I could be very busy, but instead-"

"You're always busy!" said Guildmaster, offering the chatot a smile.

"Yeah, Overseer, is it really the time to start chastising?" groaned Jace, slumping over. "You start early, I guess. Save the nagging until a few hours past noon, will ya?"

"I don't make complicated rules and yet-" began Overseer before trailing off and sighing. "Well, you're back safe and sound, Jace." He cocked his head. "As far as I can tell."

"Couple scrapes, nothing major."

Karan made her way over to a stool before the desk and hopped up onto it, her arms still crossed. "The help you offered?"

The chatot looked annoyed and clicked his beak. "Yes, yes, I'll inform Lizzie that you've been moved into the priority queue."

The weavile's eyes narrowed. "Echoing Crag's bloated systems, are we?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, any self-respecting guild processes requests for aid the same way."

"Very quickly, I imagine."

"We- we do our best. We help everyone we can, but everyone needs help, and emergencies need help the most. And there are…" His eyes drifted to the ledger in front of Guildmaster. "Plenty of emergencies. Prioritizing you puts you next to real emergencies."

"I like real emergencies," added the wigglytuff, rubbing his paws together.

Karan's eyes flashed and she whispered, "This is an emergency."

"We're doing what we can, weavile!" replied Overseer, his voice rising. "If we could split in two, four or six pokemon each we'd have done so immediately." He shooed her from his desk ineffectively. "We're trying, but you need to be patient."

The weavile brandished a single claw at him. "I have an entire village threatened by-"

"And you don't know what we've got on our dockets, weavile!" shouted Overseer, staring back at Karan. "Is intimidation all you know, like a little one throwing a tantrum? What do you hope to gain from threatening the pokemon trying to help you?"

"Mom, why are you getting so mad?" said a tiny voice. Candrila clambered onto a chair and tugged on her mother's arm, giving her a pleading look all the while.

"Your own daughter has a better grasp of-" The chatot closed his eyes and shook his head, and he flipped through his ledger until he added, "We want to help, Karan. We wouldn't have written your name down and placed you somewhere if we didn't intend to. We're going to help, but if you're going to threaten us…"

"So why can't you?" asked Candrila in a small voice. "That's why we came to Treasure Town, right? Because this place helps other pokemon?"

"Yes, but- You see, your help is-" Overseer started and stopped several times then turned away. An awkward silence fell between them all before he finally said, "I appreciate what you did. You kept your promise."

"She's got a point," said Guildmaster, crossing his arms and nodding. "They helped." He leaned over towards Overseer and added in an undertone, "What did they do?"

"Checked on a ringer," said Jace at once. "Did a good job. But Overseer's probably told you like three times now."

"Four," muttered Overseer, annoyed.

"Close enough," replied Jace, shrugging.

"So, are we getting help?" said Candrila, cocking her head.

The bird closed his eyes and shook his head. "As it stands, your direct action was taken into account when we advanced you in the queue far more than someone who simply dumps a bag of unfinished wands or berries would. But you helped just once, many of those waiting towards the top have helped in far more impactful ways and many more times."

"Overseer, I can help them," said Jace, tapping his chest twice for emphasis. "It's just a dungeon, I won't take longer than a few days at most."

"We have a process for a reason," snapped Overseer, opening his eyes to look at Jace. "You cannot simply buck it because you've found some friends."

"These are freelancers right?" asked Guildmaster.

"No. I'm the Empress of Stalwart," said Karan at once, her voice bitter. "These are my friends."

The wigglytuff looked impressed, then gestured at Jace and Overseer. "These are mine."

"They did right by us," argued Jace. "Seems only fair we do the same." He crossed his arms. "Look, I know you've got priority emergencies that also happen to be part of the reason we've got material and gems rolling in, but none of those deals have pokemon attached that stuck their necks out for us. They didn't wade into the shit." Jace gestured back at Karan's friends. "But they did. You saw the delphox."

"You don't understand logistics, Jace," said Overseer. His eyes flicked from Jace down to Candrila and then to Karan, "We've got more on our plates than we can eat, but I don't let a single item on our docket ever fall through the cracks, no matter how small. This isn't small, I know it's an emergency. But we still have a process to follow."

The goodra looked at Guildmaster and shook his head. "And if Guildmaster was suggesting this instead?"

Overseer turned his gaze down to his ledgers and said nothing.

Karan raised a paw and cut through the conversation. "We're finished here." She hopped down from her stool and ushered her friends out, offering Jace a single, respectful nod. As she made her way to the threshold she paused and looked over her shoulder back at the chatot. "Expect you to keep your end of the bargain."

"We don't cheat pokemon out of the help they need," replied Overseer, his voice rising as his feathers puffed out. "We repay our debts. All of them and in full."

Karan paused in the threshold. "Oh?"

Overseer opened his mouth to speak, but Guildmaster offered Karan a broad smile and cut across him with a simple, "Why would he lie?"

The sun had barely begun to snake past the highest point in the sky, and it turned the still waters of the port into a glittering display so intense it made Stone's eyes water. The smell of the surf was as strong as ever. It beat the smell of grassland she'd long become accustomed to in Stalwart. Anything new, really.

"Hey! Hey!" shouted a voice from behind Stone. She and the others turned in time to see Jace stomping up to them. The goodra cut his way through the crowd that ambled up and down the main walkway beside the docks with relative ease.

"What's up?" asked the lycanroc, cocking her head. "Please tell me it ain't some stupid needling from that crusty bird."

"I meant it when I said I'd help," replied Jace, looking at each of them in turn. "I just need some time. Not a year's worth, but definitely some time. Maybe a couple of weeks, just enough time to get some stuff sorted."

"Appreciate it," said Karan, walking up beside Stone. "But it's likely to get you in trouble."

The goodra waved the worry aside with a lazy flick of his hand. "We get rest time between assignments. Ya need it, you know? But I won't have a sizable rest until the next assignment, and that's in a few days. Add on the time it takes to get it done and then…"

Karan nodded and offered him a rare grin. "Appreciated."

"Hey, don't just say yes, Karan," said Stone, looking down at her friend, incredulous. "He has to survive the next assignment first –"

Jace chuckled and interjected, "I'm pretty sure I will."

"- and we'll be cutting into his rest time with our own shit!" Stone crossed her arms and shook her head in disapproval. "We don't even know how long that dungeon in Crag will take to clear out."

"It can't be that long. It's fresh, so it should be pretty simple," reasoned Jace, rubbing his chin. "How did it spring up again…?"

"Randomly one day," said Thea, speaking up. "The rubble in Crag started spewing wildlings."

"Anything special about the site?" asked Jace.

"Long story. There used to be a city there," explained Thea, her expression becoming miserable. "Until it fell."

"Fell?" asked Jace.

"Stacked higher than the walls, and the walls are already very high. Completely collapsed. No one knows how many died," said Karan. "Easily hundreds."

The goodra's eyes widened and shook his head. "Lizzie mentioned a settlement… And that's the abridged version, huh?"

Stone grimaced. "Yeah. Karan can tell you the full version some day, if you ask." The weavile shot her a nasty look immediately. "Or not."

"Well, either way. Let me get my own stuff sorted and then I can head out," said Jace. "Just need to know where to go, we didn't have any maps to Crag when I checked on my way out."

"Hold on," said Karan, raising a single claw. "Are there other guilds?"

Jace nodded. "Yeah. Not on Grass though. Could pop over to Mist? Maybe Sand? Water has a sister institution…" He rubbed his chin and frowned. "But I'm not sure how slammed they are with work. Plus, you'd have to charter a boat out there."

"Well that doesn't sound worth it," mumbled Stone, looking out at the docks. "It'd take months to get to Mist. Got any way to ask them for help remotely?"

"No. Everyone runs a pretty independent operation. We correspond through mail or runners, and not very often…" Jace shook his head. "Water sent news of some new development on the horizon a bit back but nothin' since. Besides, the guilds don't share equipment too often. Too precious." The goodra tapped his chin and then added, "But asking in Mist yourself wouldn't be too hard. Ships'll get you there in just a couple of weeks."

Magnus nodded vigorously, his many segments a chorus of agreements. "I'd nearly forgotten about speedsters! But what can you expect, I tend to travel cheap."

"It took months when we went!" said Stone, looking at Magnus.

"It was a major transportation hull, Stone, those aren't speedsters. Moving tons of pokemon uses big ships with sails and rudders and all that because speedster engines can't push something that large without getting a whole bunch of them in one place. And they'd rather be on small ships charging a premium, not on some triple-decker wooden tub filled to the brim with pokemon that blew their last bit of shiny whatever on a ticket to anywhere but where they came from."

"You're telling me some dickhead brought engines — wait. What do you mean by they?" asked Stone, her eyes widening.

The single eye on Magnus' head closed with glee. "Speedster engines are just klinklang, shafts and propellers. Convince one of them to take poor pay and cramped quarters over a single zippy ship with good rates and a small crew. Easy to see why-"

"Who the fuck figured that out?" sputtered Stone.

The runerigus' expression became pensive. "Umm… that's a good question. Who – oh right, yes. I did. Of course, I'd nearly forgotten."

Stone grimaced at Magnus. "Why the fuck did you do that?"

"Oh not this again…" grumbled the Runewright.

"Boats are important! You can't just-"

"Now's not the time for this, Stone. It's over and done with, the damage – whatever scant amount of it you'll no doubt try to find – is done and we cannot go back. We can never go back, and thank the gods for that. You'll make it to Mist in record time because of me. So you can save your home." He paused, the air settling into a funk as he drew it out, and then finally added, "You're welcome."

"Right, listen, I have to get going, can any of you get me a map of how to get to your town?" asked Jace, cutting across the awkward silence that fell in the wake of Magnus' statements.

"We didn't bring one, but the path here is worn well enough," mumbled Karan, crossing her arms and tapping her chin. "Our room is down at the end of this street. Last building. Come tonight, might have a map for you."

Jace nodded. "Sounds good. There should be a cartographer a ways past where you're staying. Might want to book a ship while you're at it. Be seeing you all. I'll catch you at your lodging tonight to give you a letter, Karan. Might convince someone in Mist to help." With a single wave, the goodra set off, and disappeared into the crowd lining a street deeper into Treasure Town, away from the docks.

"Work to do," said Karan, turning to face her friends. "Get some rest, Thea. Stone and I can manage it. Come along, Candrila." The sneasel nodded and immediately clambered up her mother to sit on her shoulders and look around at the crowds of pokemon ambling past them all.

"I know cartography pretty well, Karan. I should go with you," said Thea.

"Your leg will be less fucked faster if you stay off it. Valor could carry you around but it's not fair to ask him to haul your ass around all day," said Stone, smiling.

The chesnaught shrugged. "She's not heavy, so I don't really mind."

"I said that so you'd get a break too, you idiot. Go find something fun to do, you can carry her around to that instead. Magnus probably knows enough about maps to know a good one when he sees it," said Stone, jabbing a finger over her shoulder at the runerigus behind her.

"At least one of us do," hissed a low voice from one of the Runewright's segments. New voices joined in, creating a cacophony. "Perhaps two. Or three. Let's make it four." The runerigus's expression shifted to clear annoyance. "I know enough about maps without your commentary, thank you. But yes, Stone, I do."

"Then let's go!"

Stone watched the crowds bustling past the cartographer's shop with mild interest. Treasure Town was obviously much more lively than Stalwart was. It was exciting, sure, but she understood now what had changed.

No, no, she understood how much had changed. Boats with engines. Or close enough to them, anyway. Specifics were for eggheads like Magnus – and he didn't give a shit about the specifics. He was dragging what he damn well pleased into this place they all had to live in and share and…

It felt wrong. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. It didn't seem right to change things with shit that was better left buried in that place she and Karan called home before they died. She suppressed a scowl. Of course, she'd done a pretty shit job of holding herself to that.

Or keeping it from happening, anyway. But Outrider's weird ass obsession with his memories didn't mean anything in the end. He wasn't a human. The fact didn't sit well with her though. Honestly, it made her stomach churn sometimes. All that because he thought he might be human.

Hoped for it. Really fucking hoped for it. And for what? She used to be human and every day she woke up some part of her told her to make sure the gods watching got a good look at her ass. Fuck 'em.

No, no, she was worried about her friends, like she had to be. Like she'd failed to be when Karan nearly lost her mind after Crag fell. Meeting Magnus was great – but now she'd run into a whole new problem.

Magnus was human. Once. Sort of still was.

She looked at the runerigus and watched him point out ships in the port to Candrila as he explained what they were likely doing and hauling. How much did he know?

How much did she really know?

"No maps," mumbled Karan, opening the door to the cartographer's and stepping outside, looking glum. She swept her gaze across Candrila, Stone and Magnus. "At least, none that will lead to Crag or Stalwart."

The sneasel spoke up first, pointing at the map tucked under her mom's arm. "What's that then, Mom?"

Karan handed the map to Candrila and smiled. "A map of Mist. We have general maps of Grass in Stalwart. Figured you'd like this." She looked more seriously at Stone and Magnus and added, "Could be useful."

Stone could barely remember Mist. How much had it changed? Would she even really be able to tell? Problems for another time. Jace needed to get to Stalwart when he was free somehow. "Only way Jace is finding Stalwart is if someone leads him there. Or he hitches a ride with a caravan," mumbled Stone, tapping her cheek with a claw.

"No caravan in their right mind is going to wait for a single pokemon to be ready to leave. There's trade to be done and money to be made, and time will make fools of them if they delay," said Magnus, his single eye becoming thoughtful as it stared down at the ground. "I have a decent memory of where to go, I could take him. I may not know Stalwart, but I knew Crag, if only briefly."

Karan crossed her arms and stared at Magnus, her eyes flitting from rock to rock that made up his form. Finally, they settled on Stone beside him. "Talk," she said simply, and beckoned for Stone to follow. "Stay with Magnus, Candrila."

Great, thought Stone, following after her. She followed Karan around the cartographer's shop and into an alley. The weavile put her paws behind her back and walked several paces ahead of Stone before stopping and leaning against a wall. Karan watched her draw closer and when she finally stopped and shrugged at her expectantly, the weavile tilted her head back against the wall and sighed.

"Magnus will lead Jace to Stalwart," explained Karan, watching the sky.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding. "And?"

"Need you to go with him," said Karan, looking her in the eyes.

The words were out of her mouth before she'd even finished considering what she'd said. "Oh fuck off, Karan. I'm not missing a chance to see shit just to-"

Karan raised a single claw and Stone shut up. Kept up a death glare. This shit was unbelievable. Why the fuck was she being sent home?

"Know you don't like this. Need you to do it," explained Karan. "You're smart. Why am I doing this?"

"For fuck's sake, Karan, you're gonna kick me in the cunt and then ask me to explain why you did that?" groaned Stone, her shoulders slumping. "I don't know, some ambassador shit or something, or you want me to take Candrila back or some shit."

"No. Candrila stays."

"What!?" shouted Stone, throwing her arms in the air. "Are you shitting me? Why the fuck does-" She paused and took a deep breath. "I love her to death, Karan, but why the fuck is your kid traveling the world with you and your best fucking friend is going home?"

"Magnus will be in Stalwart," said Karan, looking Stone in the eyes. Karan could hold a stare like no one fucking else. Sometimes it was hard to tell if the citizens she used it on wanted to run or fuck.

It was sometimes the former. Karan sure as shit made it clear it wasn't ever the latter, after all.

But it didn't scare Stone. No, those eyes just worried her. It meant there was work to do. She unclenched her jaw and said curtly, "Yeah, he will be. Pretty fuckin' obvious, isn't it?"

"What does that mean?"

"What does- That some weirdo is gonna be wandering around our town lookin' at shit and…" Stone trailed off as it dawned on her. She could feel her stomach twisting into a knot. "He's gonna do shit." She stomped a leg so hard it cracked through the cobblestone and left her up to her ankle. "That fucker is going to-"

"Keep your voice down. Stop destroying property," said Karan, her tone harsh.

Stone tugged her leg free and groaned. "Right, yeah, I get it now. What if we just send Thea and Valor with Jace instead? Keep Magnus here and-" They sure as shit weren't doing anything with Thea in that state, right? How could they travel if she was limping around?

Karan crossed her arms and scowled. "And bicker with him around the world?"

She immediately felt stupid and looked away sheepishly. "That'd probably get annoying." Nah, not even probably. It would. Even Candrila would get fed up with it.

"It would not be productive," said Karan. She strode over to Stone and put a reassuring paw on her shoulder. "Stone, I don't know much about human things. You do."

The lycanroc inclined her head and nodded. "Yeah…" Gods damn it all. She wasn't Magnus, hell she wasn't even that smart when she was human. But she knew way more than Karan did. Way, way more.

"Better suited to knowing what will change. How it will change. Watch him," said Karan, patting her once. "Please."

It made sense. Who the fuck else was suited to this kind of work? Sometimes she wondered if there were conscious humans in Stalwart and they were just smart enough to never fucking tell anyone.

Fuck that Rune Ore she found. Her eyes caught the glint of light on Karan's pauldron and chain gauntlets and she had to keep herself from groaning. Okay, maybe not something that harsh.

But the gods were still assholes.

Stone heaved a sigh and nodded again. "Alright, alright. Fine. Fine, but you – you owe for this shit. Real fuckin' big, alright?"

Karan offered her a small smile. "I'm sure I'll hate it. Revenge, no doubt."

"Oh you better fuckin' believe it," said Stone, firing up and failing to hold back a grin.

"Two things, Stone."

"Hm?"

"One: no guns."

Stone nodded, her brow set. "Don't hafta to tell me twice about that shit, trust me."

"Second, interfere when necessary. Obvious." Karan pointed at the lycanroc, her expression serious. "Allow help when necessary. Not so obvious."

Stone closed her eyes and shook her head, then looked down at her. "You ask for the easiest favors, you know?"

Karan simply grinned. "Let's go. Have a boat to charter."

"Oh, fuck off."