Quinn's consciousness returned to her in slow phases. First was her sense of touch, feeling her body resting heavily in between two boulders, the wall of the cavern digging into her back. Then was her hearing, alerting her to the drip of water in some distant corner. Finally was her sense of self. No longer driven by some animal need to hunt, she was instead left weary. She opened her eyes slowly, dragging herself into a kneeling position.

Her clothes from the night before had long since vanished, torn to shreds during her transformation, and she shivered. First order of business: find the chest with her spare clothes.

It was right where she had left it, thankfully untouched. Hurriedly she donned the flannel and old jeans. Her hair was a mess too- it had escaped her braids completely, running down her back in tangles. She did her best to finger comb it- she had forgotten to put any hair ties with the rest of the supplies.

The water was partially to drink and partially to wash off the slime remnants. She hadn't gotten particularly injured last night, thank goodness, otherwise it would be for cleansing wounds as well.

By the time she was mildly presentable and heading outside, the early dawn sun was peeking through the trees over the northern mountain lake. Birds sang in the pines, as if mocking her ragged appearance and trudging, weary footsteps.

She made it to the house in time to turn off her morning alarm, set her pack down, and fall asleep, exhausted.

By the time the Egg Festival rolled around, Quinn desperately needed a break. She had figured farming would be more physically taxing than her old desk job, but it didn't prepare her for how tired she would feel at the end of each day. Of course, her rush at the mines was probably to blame for most of it. Every spare moment, every rainy day when she didn't have to water her crops, was spent getting deeper in the mines so she could find that perfect spot to transform.

But today was a festival. She could rest for a single day, couldn't she?

It was lucky she had packed a few special occasion outfits when preparing her move to Stardew Valley. The majority of her clothes were farm appropriate, but a dress every now and then couldn't hurt. Today was a day for a pale dress and a thin cardigan - which she changed into after planting and watering today's crops.

Birds sang as Quinn hiked past the bus stop and into town. She was a little bit late, thanks to her chores this morning. Everyone was already here.

She had long since met everyone in town at this point, so it was much easier to go around and say hellos. No one stared at her now - in fact everyone was just too busy enjoying the festival to pay her much mind. Just the way she liked it.

Marlon waved her over to where he was standing in front of Pierre's. "Lass, I hear you've been exploring the mines like no one else," he said. "You're likely to hit the bottom before next season ends, at this rate."

She couldn't help but smile a little at the quiet compliment. "If I'm lucky, sure."

"But be careful down there, you know. I hear there's something no one's seen before recently. Something big."

A pit opened up in Quinn's stomach. Her vocabulary was reduced to parroting words. "Big?"

"From the report, it seems to be bigger than a living skeleton, that's for sure."

"Report..?" How did he know what was down there, anyway?

"Linus was scavenging in the upper levels and heard it roaring down below, and was kind enough to let me know. I went down the next day and all I found were dead slimes. Whatever it was must've been hungry."

Hungry. That was one word for it, she supposed. Bloodthirsty might be a better term. But Linus - he was lucky to only be in the upper levels that night, and so was she.

A bit of her vocabulary returned. "Is it still down there?"

"That's the odd part - we haven't heard anything since that night. But my gut says this isn't a one time thing. The mines have a way of breeding the worst sorts of creatures."

"Well, thank you for the warning," she said. "I'll be careful."

Marlon nodded, putting on a lighter expression. "Go enjoy the festival!"

Her day ruined, Quinn turned to the setup in the town square, trying not to lose her footing as the world tilted around her. Damn it, her plan had gone to pieces so quickly. Of course other people were using the mines in the upper levels. She needed to go deeper.

Well, what she really needed was a cure for lycanthropy, but according to Rasmodius that was a slim chance. Her only choice was to mitigate harm. The only way she could live with herself these days was to cling to the idea that she was only hurting other monsters. If she got found out - or worse, if she hurt an innocent person here….

Mayor Lewis snapped her out of her darkening thoughts. "Quinn? You okay? You look a little pale."

She plastered a fake smile on her face and adjusted her cardigan. "Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking about, uh, turnips."

"A farmer is always on the job, I see," he said. "But if you wanted a small diversion, I have something to ask you."

He gestured over to the baskets lined up in the town square, which Sam had told her was for the egg hunt.

"You want me to do the egg hunt?" she asked, leaving the 'I thought that was for kids' part silent.

"We need someone to beat Abigail," he confided. 'I would let anyone try, at this point."

Quinn thought for a moment, seeing the rest of the egg searchers move to the baskets. "You know what, sure. I could use a little fun today."

She could play the role of carefree farmer for the day. It was just running around for eggs. Staying in the good graces of her neighbors was her best chance if she was discovered.

So she took off the moment Lewis announced the start of the hunt, her long legs propelling her from bush to bush in search of the pastel eggs. It felt ridiculous for someone her age to compete with children, but if Abigail could do it, so could she.

It was a failure in the end, though. Abigail beat her fair and square, and all Quinn could do was laugh at the dirty patches on the hem of her own dress.

She was so caught up in her performance of normalcy that she almost didn't notice one pair of eyes lingering on her more than the others. She turned mid laugh, only to see Elliott staring. The moment their eyes met he quickly turned away, bending over to say something quietly to Leah, who was busy downing a cup of punch. Leah grinned, then looked over to wave at Quinn.

Immediately panic surged in Quinn, but she fought it down. She waved back, deciding the most nonchalant course of action was to head over.

He doesn't know, she said to herself. He can't know.

She had been so foolish to tell the wizard, even as desperate as she was.

Was she even going to last the spring here?

"Is it just me or is the farmer looking particularly lively today?" Leah asked, taking a sip of her punch.

"I wouldn't say so," Elliott said absentmindedly, his eyes still on the pale freckled shoulder that had escaped the cardigan. "In fact she looks like she could be ill."

Leah looked at him side eyed. "Oh?"

As if she could sense him, Quinn turned at that moment, and Elliott tore his gaze away. No, he wasn't staring. He was just… just checking she was all right. Something about her face had seemed distressed earlier, though on second thought he might have just imagined it.

"You didn't hear that," he said quietly, mortified at his own lack of discipline. What was he doing, talking about their new friend so presumptuously?

Leah was already waving at Quinn, beckoning her over.

Elliott shot a look at Leah in betrayal. "If you tell her what I just said, I will never speak to you again," he warned.

"Oh, calm down. I'm just saying hi, Elliott."

As Quinn walked over this time, Elliott was hit once again with the revelation that she was almost eye to eye with him. Since only a few people in town were even close to him in height, this was a rare but welcome occurrence.

The strange look on her face was back. He couldn't quite place what was so odd about it, but he could tell she wasn't having a great time at the festival. As Leah and Quinn made their small talk, topics of conversation fled from his mind.

All he wanted to ask was-

"Are you really alright?"

Quinn blinked at him, mid sentence. "Sorry?"

Had he said that out loud? His mouth opened a little wider to allow him to shove in more of his foot.

"I just mean - I thought you looked a little pale earlier."

"Oh, I just didn't have enough for breakfast," she said hastily. "But I've had some of the buffet now so I really am doing fine. Um, thank you."

"All right," he said, trying not to sound like he didn't believe her, which he didn't. But if she said she was fine, who was he to push? It wasn't as if he had any say in what she did.

He just wished he could get his act together around her.

—-

After a few more minutes of small talk, Quinn excused herself from the festival completely.

Her walk home was quiet and slow. The darkness of twilight was welcome, as was the solitude. She didn't have to force herself to be what she wasn't anymore today.

As she stood in the doorway to her house, she couldn't help but stare in the direction of the wizard's tower, hidden in the distance by the wide woods. Would she be able to stay here? Or would she have to run again?

Either way, there was no running from the wolf.